race report: tuesday night time trial, 07.01.2014

You know you biked your legs off when you say, “I think I may die,” at the end of the race.

Not much to say about last week’s Twin Cities Spoke Tuesday Night Time Trial, other than it was a painful 13 miles punctuated by a few eff bombs and laser focus on all the watts.

It was arm warmer temp – not what you’d expect for July 1 in Minnesota – and I shivered through my eight-mile warm-up and the 10 minutes I waited in line to start (number 39 this go-round). But, once I was racing, I was roasting. Per coach’s instructions, I held back a bit the first couple miles (to the first pothole-riddled corner or so) and then let my legs rip. 

It hurt – a lot. About halfway through, I started some positive self-talk and really zoned in on my target watts. So fun to see what your body can do when you quiet your mind. 

After super cyclist Leah Prudhomme passed me around mile eight-ish, I focused on not letting her get too far ahead; thank you to the race photographer for the encouraging words to keep pushing and chase her down! Still some work to do, but pleased I cut the gap between us to less than 90 seconds compared to the first TT where she had more than two minutes on me. 

Passing a couple other ladies the last few miles gave me a little morale boost to keep pedaling as hard as I could, and with about a half-mile to go, I kicked it up – snot and foam faced – about 15 watts to the finish. 

Overall, much happier with this TT, as it was better all around; my average watts were higher, my average speed was higher and I cut nearly 90 seconds off my previous time. And, I have a shiny new critical power number. Boom! 

Official results // 34:24.26, ~22.8 mph average, ~222 watts, 3rd open class, 2nd AG

Two takeaways: Have average power on your Garmin home screen (in addition to 3-second power) and restart your Garmin at race start instead of hitting lap. 

Thank you, Coeur Sports, for keeping me stylish and comfortable on the bike (the chevron kit! the seamless chamois!) and to Osmo Nutrition for keeping my properly hydrated and recovering well! I am so very grateful for the support of these two incredible companies run by rock star women! xo.