As The Raven Flies Time Trial

Last Saturday I participated in my very first bike race, and the only reason I did was because a recent acquaintance suggested this race. However, I was planning on doing a few bike races through the season to work on my bike racing skills, and this one was perfect timing! This bike race was a time trial one. I don't know if I could handle those other races where you start in a pack. (I know there is a specific name to this type of race, but since I'm still new to the scene of bike racing, bare with me) Anyways, they actually scare me a little bit. Probably, because I have no experience riding with a group of people. I've only been on one group ride and ridden with one or two people at a time. Otherwise, it's just me, my bike and the road. So group riding is definitely something I will need to be working on!

Ok, now for the specifics of race day. Since I had absolutely no idea how these events go I was a little nervous. Well, there are always a certain amount of nerves before any race. But I had no idea if I brought the right gear, what time should I show up, should I bike the course before I race it?

I ended up getting to the race an hour and a half before start time. We (a few of my family members) got there so early that we weren't sure if we were at the right spot since there wasn't any kind of race setup yet and there was only one other car there. I saw that there was a TT bike in that car so I figured we were at the right spot. We drove around a little bit to make sure and by the time we got back to the initial spot we started at, the race organizers were just starting to set up registration. Now that it was confirmed that this was the spot where the race was to take place we went and parked. By this time a few more people were starting to trickle in.

Since I still had no idea what to expect and came so early I figured I should ride the course. As I started to get my bike out and put my gear on I saw some of the other people pulling out their trainers, bikes and they were all decked out in their biking gear. Since it was a little chilly that morning I had on a pair of my running capris, a long sleeve and a bike jersey. My apparel may not have looked like I was a serious cyclist but at least my actual bike gear did. I had my amazing Cervelo P2 TT bike and my aero helmet. At first, I thought the helmet was too much and should've brought my road helmet since I didn't see any others with an aero helmet...yet. But there was no sense in thinking that my gear was over the top. Rather that I'm here to do my best with what I've got and to beat ya'll :) That may sound a little cocky but that is always one of my goals in any race I enter. I want to win!

I've now ridden the course and gotten a good feel for it. The "hills", how to ride the corners, good spots to surge, potholes to avoid, and the roughness of some of the road. I made it back just in time before the first racer was sent off, which was at 10:00am. My time to take off was at 10:22am. Each racer was to take off at one minute intervals.

Once I had gotten back to the start area there were many more racers now. A lot of them were spinning away on their trainers and others were going back and forth on the road. I now saw some of the other people's gear and realized that my gear definitely was not over the top.

It was now about time to get to the start line. So I put on my number, had one last bathroom stop and was now time to wait in line for my turn to go out and hammer it! This part seemed like it took forever as I was watching the clock tick closer and closer to my take off time. As the time got closer I started to get a little more nervous. Also, checking out my competition. Most of the women were decked out! Aero helmet, TT bike, race suit, etc. But this does not always mean they are fast. So my goal, other than to win, was to catch as many women ahead of me as I could and to not let anyone catch me!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1... GO! I went out as fast I could, but made sure not to burn myself out right from the start since the first hill was only about 100 meters into it. The rest of the course went pretty smoothly. There were a few other ups and downs but the biggest climb was the hill at the beginning of the race and at the end. On the way out I caught 3 women and after the turn around I caught another 2. Also, I am happy to say that nobody caught me or even got remotely close to me :)

Waiting

It's my turn next!

Off I go

And I'm gone

A nice view on my cool down ride!

After I crossed the finish line I went to find my family. First to see what they thought of it, which wasn't a whole lot considering they only got to see the start and finish, tell them a little of how it went, but mostly to let them know I was going to go for my cool down. I had never biked out in this area before and let me tell ya, it was beautiful! I was only planning on doing about 30 minutes but once I got out there it was very difficult to turn around. So I ended up doing about 40 minutes. When I got back from my cool down most racers had finished. I had no idea how they were going to be doing awards or when and I wasn't sure if I had placed or not so we decided to leave. Especially, since we were all starving! Later that evening I got online to check the results and I ended being the overall fastest female. Not bad for my first go at a time trial race. Or maybe it was because I got six inches of hair slashed off the night before ;)

Just had to treat myself to a Shirley Temple :)

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