My second event of the season today. This was the Frostbite Time Trial, an 11.8 mile time trial up north of Fort Collins, pretty close to Wyoming. This event was supposed to be last weekend, but was postponed due to weather. Ironically, even though this is called the "Frostbite" time trial, the weather couldn't have been better. Even though this is the beginning of March, the weather was in the upper-50s, and I rode in my shorts and short-sleeved jersey. I actually got a little bit of a sunburn, which is a nice change from recent rides.
The day started with some normal preparation at home. Last night, I had the car mostly loaded up, with my trainer, extra wheels, pump and toolbox. And I got the bike rack on the car. This morning involved getting some breakfast, packing up my pre- and post-race food, and getting my clothes and other gear ready. I brought my entire kit, since I wasn't sure what the weather was going to be like. Then, I got the bike onto the car, threw everything else in, and hit the road.
After driving for about an hour, I got to the start line, and found a parking spot along the side of the road. I walked over to registration and picked up my bib number, then back to the car to start getting ready. I pulled out the trainer, got the bike ready to go, got my racing clothes on, and hopped on the bike. I probably rode the trainer for about 25 minutes or so, getting the heart and legs pumping with some high-cadence intervals, which rockin' out to some podcasts. I probably should have used some more intense music or something, but I pretty much only listen to podcasts these days.
During my warmup, I was also sucking down some Cytomax for hydration and carbs, and ate a banana and a blueberry Clif bar. At that point, I was pretty much ready to go. I put all my crap back in the car, hopped on the bike and went for about a 5 minute ride, just to get a feel for the aero bars again. Then, off to the start line.
At the line, I jumped in my place according to my bib number. I took a few more swigs of Cytomax and then dropped off my bottle on the side of the road, where I would pick it up when I was done. The race was only 11 miles, so I wasn't going to need anything to drink during the race, and I didn't feel like carrying the extra weight. Then, I almost had a little disaster. When I was moving up to the start line, I did something a little weird with my aero bars. I put all my weight onto the right elbow pad of the aero bar for some reason, and it moved a little bit. Not enough to cause a big problem, but enough to be annoying. I've spend the past few weeks riding those aero bars at the exact same position, and now it was thrown off a bit. Again, it didn't cause any big problems, but it was slightly different than what I was used to.
Once I was at the line, they had a guy holding the bike up, so I could stay clipped in for the start. The starter counted down the last few seconds, and gave me the go-ahead, and I took off.
It was about 5.5 miles south, then turn around, and head another 5.5 miles back north, along the I-25 frontage road. Racers went off at 30-second intervals. The whole time, I could see the guy that took off 30 seconds before me, but by the turn-around, I still hadn't caught him, although I was getting closer. After a few miles, a fellow Zilla who started 1 minute behind me, as a Cat4, caught and flew right past me. Fortunately, that was the only rider who passed me the whole ride.
About 2 miles after the turn-around, I finally caught and passed my 30-second guy. That felt pretty good. It makes you feel like you're actually making some progress. At least I knew I wasn't going to be last.
At the 1-kilometer-to-go marker, I put on the gas, as much as I could. I really didn't have a whole lot left. But enough that I could try to push it a little. Up a little grade, and then the finish was in sight. I pushed as much as possible, huffing and puffing my way across the line. I chatted with a few Zillas who finished shortly before and after me, and then headed back to look for results. Nothing was posted yet, so I went back to the car to get some normal clothes on. Then, I walked back to the registration area to find the results. Posted on the side of the porta-a-john. Classy. Anyway, the results has been posted, and I was shocked to see I got 5th place! I think the results they posted showed 26 total riders, but in the end, the official results showed 27.
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| Men Cat 5 results. 5th place! |
After I got the results, I chatted with some teammates again for a little bit, and then climbed in the car and headed home. A quick stop at Qdoba for some lunch, then home. After putting everything away, I decided to go for a run just to burn a few more calories. And the weather was just too nice to pass up.
All in all, a good day. There are a couple races next week, but I still haven't signed up for them. We'll see how the weahter is, and if I've got any other plans. Stay tuned . . .
Food:
- Breakfast: Fruit / protein smoothie
- Lunch: Steak salad at Qdoba
- Dinner: Sauteed sausage, peppers and cabbage again.
Exercise:
- Frostbite Time Trial
- 4.2 mile run
Today's weigh-in: 186.0
