Mike's Bike Blog

FunFar stages a bi weekly time trial on an 8 mile course down MoPac. Tonight was the first time for me to throw my wheels into the hat. It was a little on the windy side and very hot, 95 degrees. Lucky for me the Bike Noob showed up and gave me advice and pointed me in the right direction on getting my chip and explained the concept of riding over the mats. I was glad to have the seasoned time trial veteran to lead me through the process.

My plan going in was to break the 8 mile course into 4 segments of 2 miles each. The first 2 miles I wanted to start out at a conservative pace and ratchet it up every 2 miles. Having not done the route before the closest I could compare it to is a 20 minute threshold interval. Whenever I do these 20 minute tests I go out too hot and struggle the last 5 minutes.

There was one problem, I failed to set up the distance to be displayed on my Garmin for the lap! I knew the first 2 miles point was around Escarpment Road. The best I could do was keep an eye on my watts and speed. I figured the 1/2 way point was the turnaround point and I would just try to keep my speed as consistent as possible and hope for the best.

On the first 2 mile stretch I had a carrot to chase, the rider who started 20-30 seconds before me was in my sights. After I passed him I felt relieved that I wouldn't be last. I was worried about the turnaround point as you have to cross the 2 lanes. I could see some other riders up the road make the crossing early instead of waiting till you get at the turn and have to negotiate the cars making the turn at the light. With no cars behind me I moved over into the shoulder on the left side of the road. When I made the turn I came in a little too fast and almost came into the head on traffic. I'll have to be more careful with that turn.

Coming back in I just kept an eye on my speed, I knew I needed to be around 24 mph to have a 20 minute time. I passed 2 more riders but I don't think they were doing the time trial as they were riding side by side chatting. When I saw the finish line I turned it up another notch and caught another Time Trialist on the hill leading up to the finish line.

My official time was 20:35:55 and averaged 23.3mph. How did I do with my pacing?

Mile 0-2
Time: 5:17
Avg Watts: 300
Speed: 22.8

Mile 2-4
Time: 5:32
Avg Watts: 288
Speed: 21.7

Mile 4-6
Time: 4:53
Avg Watts: 264
Speed: 24.6

Mile 6-8
Time:  4:57
Avg Watts: 305
Speed: 25

I'm not sure if my pacing was very good when my ending watts were the same as the beginning watts. Next time I might try to not go so soft of miles 2-4. I think I was way to conservative on this hilly section. Bottom line I had fun and it gives me a benchmark to cut my time down by 36 seconds. I passed 2 riders on full on time trial bikes with skin suits and aero helmets. I felt good about that plus I was not passed by anybody.

Me warming up at the Veloway, photo courtesy of the Bike Noob.