The Personal Pain of the Time Trial

I have to say that one of the best things about bike racing is doing it as a team.  As cyclists know, the "moving chess game" that plays out on the road is so exciting because the "players" are constantly moving between defense and offense and your fitness, ability to oxygen process while thinking and nudging your legs to move at the same time is all that stands in your way of a successful attack.  Communicate a "move" with your team, successfully execute, and see what happens in the peloton, as they react.   All that race excitement due to team tactics aside, there is a different kind of race most cyclists simply hate, and many just don't do because the aim of the whole race is total pain, and hurt.  There is no lull in the action in a time trial, or defense based on any other team's latest move.  In a time trial the cyclist has only her bike, and sheer effort to beat the clock. 

The tricked out equipment one gets to see at a time trial race is quite over the top-- it is almost comical.   It is a race some cyclists only will do twice per season; max, and yet it seems "normal and sane" for many time trialists to scan Ebay for wheelsets that cost as much as a car payment or time trial bikes that might be more than a mortgage payment. 

Any how, I have to admit, as weird as it sounds, I like doing them.  I like the precision, the mental focus demands, the sound of my disc going "whoosh, whoosh" and the go-as-hard-as-you-can effort for a mere 60 minutes.  I wait for the countdown from 30 seconds with some guy holding my saddle praying that I get a hold that is steady and not too far left or right, getting set to go, and looking for my minute dude up the road, who I can't wait to over take.   I even think the TT helmet looks pretty normal, as long as I am wearing it near 150 of my closest friends wearing the same wind tunnel tested model ;-)

   I have a time trial coming up next week at Nationals in Louisville that I have been training for since January.  It is hard to admit that to more than 99% of the other moms like me, and people I see, where I teach school and go about my business going to my kids' swim meets and such. That a person could train for almost half a calendar year for something that will take so much effort, and actually pay to do it, when it is over in just about one hour, seems bizarre, to most people.

I will post back after my race is done and in the books so those of you that might wonder about how it went will have a brief update.

Ride Safe!

Jen