Eleven all out, max heart rate, leg burning miles of bike riding bliss.
That perfectly sums up the first Tuesday Night Time Trial (TnT) on May 7 and my first-ever TnT (and definitely not last!).
Nick and I arrived at Twin Cities Spoke event about 90 minutes early, picked up our numbers, met up with our friend Nick, prepped our bikes and hit the road for a warm-up. Coach Joe left a detailed warm-up plan in my Training Peaks log, but once I started riding, I quickly forgot about it and just pedaled, thoroughly enjoying the wide shoulders with minimal traffic, no breeze, magical spring air and chorus of frogs from the surrounding wetlands.
The 10-mile out-and-back warm-up went quickly and before I knew it, we were at the start, lined up in order of our race numbers. Although I didn’t have butterflies, I knew I was nervous because my heart rate wouldn’t go below 100. It never gets super high when I bike and usually falls pretty quickly when I stop pedaling. Not today!
I chatted a bit with the riders around me, including a couple hardcore TTers decked out in skin suits, shoe covers and disc wheels. (Once we started, it didn’t take long for either to fly by me like I was standing still!) MSP is lucky to have such a fantastic + welcoming bike community!
Every 30 seconds a rider was off, hammering around the first bend.
And, then it was my turn. As the race official steadied my bike by the seat, I clipped in both feet, unsure if he would push me slightly or if he’d let go and I’d start pedaling immediately.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
He pushed me (whew!), and I was off.
And, with that first pedal stroke, my nerves disappeared.
A few thoughts on the TT:
- So many
hillsrollers! County Road 24 in Medina is far from flat, but like I’ve said before, life happens on the hills. - Holy high heart rate (max = 168 bpm). It averaged 155 bpm, which is way higher than my normal average.
- I’m getting more comfortable with being uncomfortable. I like it.
- New saddle needed. Around mile nine I was having trouble staying comfortable and kept adjusting.
- Serious fun. It doesn’t get much better than biking fast.
- Argon = awesome. Every time I ride it, it gets better.
- My SOAS team kit is crazy comfortable.
official results | 30:58.14, 21.3 mph average, 1st AG, 6th in open class.
Thanks, Twin Cities Spoke, for a great night of racing!
And, a few pics of my favorite guy looking fast + fit and rocking his Beaker Concepts kit 🙂
Last six photos courtesy of Twin Cities Spoke and Memories by Dee.
18 Comments
Very cool Erin! You’re awesome and an inspiration!
Is your heart rate similar when running too?
Thank you, Danielle!
My heart rate is always higher when I run… on the bike it’s usually between 130 and 140, except for at the time trial 🙂
Absolutely cool! Did you start out using clips or were you pedaling without when you first began riding? I’m still new to biking – not brave enough to clip in yet.
Thank you! When I first started road biking, I dove right in and used clips immediately. Did quite a few solo rides to get used to them before I started biking with a group (and, even then, it was scary the first couple times!). They definitely take some practice right away… do some rides where there isn’t traffic and repeatedly practice clipping in and unclipping. It gets easier!
Are you training for anything? Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I am! I’m training for a sprint distance tri in Seattle. The bike is definitely my weakest event and I am very much a newbie so I’m trying to read about other’s experiences biking. Any bits of advice would be appreciated! I enjoyed reading your post!
I love this!!! Congrats, Erin. Sounds like so much fun 🙂 I’d love to witness a time trial sometime!
Thank you, Hyedi! It was a ton of fun! Come watch sometime! The Nature Valley Grand Prix is coming up in June, too… it’s fantastic!
Wow! I had no idea something like this even existed! The biking world is such a foreign place, but looks fun! Congrats!
Parts of it are foreign to me, too, but it’s so fun! Thank you!
Great pics Erin! I like your reflections on the ride and “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable” so true and necessary to acknowledge with any endurance sport!
That’s my mantra for ironman training 🙂 It definitely works for marathon training, too! Thank you, Candice!
Awesome! Congrats Erin! Rockstar!
Thanks, lady!
Love the pictures…and I love your new logo too!
Thanks, Emily! My sis is pretty talented 🙂
Sounds and looks awesome!
Thanks for the pics — he’s my favorite guy too 🙂
You’ve got a new logo don’t you?? Love it!
Thank you, Mary! And, yes, I do… ami whipped it up for me this week 🙂 She’s so talented!
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