P
psycholist
Guest
I just had to write about this. An acquaintance asked me to do the bike leg
for a relay team he was putting together for a local Olympic-distance
triathlon. He wanted to win, so I don't know why he asked me. I'm 48 and a
dedicated roadie, but I've only done one TT previously in my life and that
was years ago on a standard road bike. The result wasn't impressive.
But I said yes. I borrowed a friend's Cervelo PK3 early in the week and put
about 120 miles on it over the course of several days ... to get used to the
feel and the gears. Those little DA shifters at the end of the aerobars are
just awesome. I always thought they were friction shifters, but they click
into each gear very precisely, or you can just hammer on it and shift all
the way across the cassette. Very cool.
I got used to the bike far easier than I thought I would. Yesterday I drove
to the course and did a preview ride on the bike with the race wheels (Zipps
.... disc in back). It was sweltering and humid. The course turned out to
be rather technical. Lots of turns. A couple of jaunts down roads where
you just turn around at a driveway and go back the way you came. Two passes
through this small town. Lots of rolling hills. But the worst feature was
the start. It was 7 miles of gradual uphill and it was all dead into a
headwind. By the time I finished that 7 mile stretch of the preview ride, I
thought I was really in for a sufferfest. I just rolled on through the
course making note of everything and got around in about 1:11.
So today was race day. The swimmer on my team started in the second wave
and, by the time he reached the transition zone, about 25 people were out on
the road ahead of me. Of course, almost all of those folks had already swum
and would do a 6 mile run after they rode, so they were holding something in
reserve. Not me. I went out blazing. The wind was 180 degrees opposite of
yesterday. It was a tailwind up that 7 mile rise. I managed to pass all
but about 7 riders (guys who got out several minutes ahead of me). It was
just the coolest feeling to bomb down the road on one of these tricked-out
time trial machines (and believe me ... it doesn't get much better than a
Cervelo PK3 with Zipps). I never really thought I'd have that opportunity
and I was almost tempted to revert to my road bike. But once I got out
there ... well, I hate to say it ... I was Lance. "He's coming down the
finishing straight like a grand prix motorcar!"
As I passed the 15 mile mark I glance at my computer and saw 2 hours and 3
minutes. Hmmmm. Forgot to reset my computer. So I don't know my split
yet. I think it was about 1:05 for 40K. Given my age and the technical
nature of the course, I was quite happy. I woulda made the the podium for
my age group at the state TT championships last week. I think any attempt
on my part to go harder would have been offset at some later point by dead
legs. I wasn't dead at the end, but I don't know how I could have gone much
harder. But the hour seemed like it lasted 10 minutes. I couldn't believe
how much fun it was.
I know this isn't everyone's cup off tea, but if you ever get the chance to
try something like this ... go for it. I'm really glad I did. Oh ... and
we won the relay division. Our runner did a 34 minute 10K which was quite
impressive. Still, one individual beat our relay time by one minute. WOW!
Bob C.
for a relay team he was putting together for a local Olympic-distance
triathlon. He wanted to win, so I don't know why he asked me. I'm 48 and a
dedicated roadie, but I've only done one TT previously in my life and that
was years ago on a standard road bike. The result wasn't impressive.
But I said yes. I borrowed a friend's Cervelo PK3 early in the week and put
about 120 miles on it over the course of several days ... to get used to the
feel and the gears. Those little DA shifters at the end of the aerobars are
just awesome. I always thought they were friction shifters, but they click
into each gear very precisely, or you can just hammer on it and shift all
the way across the cassette. Very cool.
I got used to the bike far easier than I thought I would. Yesterday I drove
to the course and did a preview ride on the bike with the race wheels (Zipps
.... disc in back). It was sweltering and humid. The course turned out to
be rather technical. Lots of turns. A couple of jaunts down roads where
you just turn around at a driveway and go back the way you came. Two passes
through this small town. Lots of rolling hills. But the worst feature was
the start. It was 7 miles of gradual uphill and it was all dead into a
headwind. By the time I finished that 7 mile stretch of the preview ride, I
thought I was really in for a sufferfest. I just rolled on through the
course making note of everything and got around in about 1:11.
So today was race day. The swimmer on my team started in the second wave
and, by the time he reached the transition zone, about 25 people were out on
the road ahead of me. Of course, almost all of those folks had already swum
and would do a 6 mile run after they rode, so they were holding something in
reserve. Not me. I went out blazing. The wind was 180 degrees opposite of
yesterday. It was a tailwind up that 7 mile rise. I managed to pass all
but about 7 riders (guys who got out several minutes ahead of me). It was
just the coolest feeling to bomb down the road on one of these tricked-out
time trial machines (and believe me ... it doesn't get much better than a
Cervelo PK3 with Zipps). I never really thought I'd have that opportunity
and I was almost tempted to revert to my road bike. But once I got out
there ... well, I hate to say it ... I was Lance. "He's coming down the
finishing straight like a grand prix motorcar!"
As I passed the 15 mile mark I glance at my computer and saw 2 hours and 3
minutes. Hmmmm. Forgot to reset my computer. So I don't know my split
yet. I think it was about 1:05 for 40K. Given my age and the technical
nature of the course, I was quite happy. I woulda made the the podium for
my age group at the state TT championships last week. I think any attempt
on my part to go harder would have been offset at some later point by dead
legs. I wasn't dead at the end, but I don't know how I could have gone much
harder. But the hour seemed like it lasted 10 minutes. I couldn't believe
how much fun it was.
I know this isn't everyone's cup off tea, but if you ever get the chance to
try something like this ... go for it. I'm really glad I did. Oh ... and
we won the relay division. Our runner did a 34 minute 10K which was quite
impressive. Still, one individual beat our relay time by one minute. WOW!
Bob C.