Georgia Cup Time Trial #5

Saturday definitely marked a good to great day. I was given an option to go on an easy 1.5 hour training ride or follow my race schedule and give a time trial another go. Despite the foul weather, I left town around noon and headed up to Gainesville to take part in the Georgia Cup #5 time trial. I really like racing with this group. It is really a testament to how races were back in a day. There is a guy with some numbers, a table and a computer. That is about it.

I was still struggling a bit with recovering from Gulf Coast but I thought this would be the better workout for the weekend. And despite my fatigue, I warmed to the idea of taking out some frustration on the bike. I arrived shortly after one. The weather wasn't cooperating. It would rain then the sun would make it hot. Humidity was though the roof.

I reluctantly brought my trainer with me. All the cyclist set up shop under the elementary school's awning. The downside of course was that no breeze came through. I hopped on the trainer for about 15 minutes before I reached my threshold point. I focused on just getting warmed up enough. I was warm enough, I was drenched in sweat. I then hopped off and went for a quick spin on the open roads.

The course was a simple out and back on country roads. The terrain was gently rolling with no major sustained climbs. I had an idea of how long it would take me so I mentally divided the race into quadrants. Looking at my power, it worked out pretty well.




As usual, I started out a bit hard. I knew when I hit the two mile marker, I was flying. By four miles, I was feeling good. I can tell that I backed off during the second part of the race. I was pushing it but not quite as hard as I was.

When I hit the turn around I was a bit winded. Plus, I could see how many people were close to me. At this point I had been passed once but others were gaining. I picked it back up a bit on the return. When passed, I tried to pace off him. This seemed to work for a few minutes but in the end, my legs simply didn't have the power in them.

The final stretch was uphill. I ran out of gas at the 45 minute mark. You can actually see where my power dipped as I let out a huge sigh and tried to refocus. I pushed hard up the hill but I was pretty spent at that point. Fortunately, I didn't have to run after this ride.

I really enjoy these events because it breaks up the monotony of training. However, they are VERY humbling. It kills me to know that I had a 2-3 minute headstart on someone only to have them blow by me as if I was standing still. What I try to keep in mind is that a lot of these guys are pure cyclists. They don't train for the swim or run. I am sure if I was able to devote 4-6 more hours to the bike, I would be up there too.

Results:
Time-50:20
Distance: 19.6 miles
Speed: 23.4 mph
Watts: 235
AG Rank: 3/4
Overall: 13/32