Charlie Baker Time Trial - 4/16

Wednesday night was the first Charlie Baker Time Trial of the season. The weather was amazing for April, Sunny and ~58°F at 6 PM. There was a good turnout and it was a lot of fun. Philip Keyes took some great photos at the event, they can be seen here: http://singlespeedphoto.zenfolio.com/p75019710

I’d never ridden with aero bars before this week. On Monday I set up my road bike with aero bars and adjusted my saddle position up a bit and forward to the 5cm UCI limit. I took some photos, tinkered with it a bit more, tried sitting on different parts of my saddle, and eventually decided it was good enough. I think my hip and arm angles were pretty close to 90 degrees. My head tube prevented me from getting as low as I’d like, but I was still able to get about 7cm of handlebar drop with the aerobars and raised seat.

On Tuesday I did 2 hours at tempo pace to try out the position. I thought it was a little sketchy at first, but I was pretty used to it by the end of the ride. I was surprised how much differently the bike handled in this position. The high saddle position and increased center of gravity really does make it more difficult to corner. Maybe I shouldn’t have made fun of Michael Rassmussen when he ran off the road time after time in the ’06 TDF TTs. On second thought, naw, he still deserved it.

I made Tuesday’s ride down a route that I had ridden the previous Tuesday but in my road position, also at zone 3. The idea was to try to gauge any differences from riding in the position (weather was similar). Power for the two rides ended up being within 1%, but my speed was 0.8 mph faster with the aero position. Actual time spent on the aero bars was probably around 70% (due to climbing and accelerating from stops), so maybe the position made around a 1 mph difference at cruising speed. However, heart rate was 10 bpm higher. Both rides were after a day of rest, so it did seem like I may not be able to produce the same power as my road position. I’ve read that this is common early on with aerobars and that the difference gets small with practice.

On Wednesday my hands and forearms ached from the day before. Even shaking hands was painful. In addition, my upper quads and hip flexers were unusually sore, no doubt the result of the new position. I’m sure I’ll get used to this. I rode 30 miles at Z2/Z3 before the race and was plenty warm, maybe even ever so slightly tired. My legs did not feel fresh and springy, but felt strong doing short LT intervals. Not ideal for setting a big PR, but perfect for getting in a strong workout which was the goal.

I always wonder if it is better to sprint off the line of a time trial and get your speed up quickly or just ease into your pace. It seems like the pros look pretty relaxed off the line but maybe they’re really hammering it, who knows. My plan was to ease into the race but adrenaline got the best of me and I powered off the line at 700 watts. The first minute was something like 325 watts, the first five minutes 290 watts. Average for the race ended up being 258 watts. This didn’t blow me up or anything, but certainly wasn’t the plan.

Two riders passed me during the race and my finish time was 26:26, pretty slow. Average speed was 22.1 mph. I remember thinking before the race that 250W with aero bars would get me into the 25’s, but I guess not. Maybe the course is rough? Windy? My position isn’t very good? Maybe it’s a combination of all and I just need more power.

Last year I did this race in June without aero bars while sick and my time was 27:30. I recall thinking that was about as slow as I’d ever possibly go. With aero bars and better fitness I figured for sure I’d be able to take at least 2 minutes off of that time. All things considered I’m definitely a little disappointed not to have been faster, but I’ve also definitely caught the TT bug. Wheel covers and an aero helmet have moved way up on the wish list. Hopefully I can close the gap between aero position power and road position power.

Oh yeah, this wouldn’t be a complete race report if I didn’t mention that my grundle area felt like it’d be run over by a cement truck by the end of the race. I kept sliding further and further forward onto the rock-hard nose of my Specialized Toupe saddle. The pressure was just ridiculous. I gotta do something about this.