For the past four weeks we have designated one day of the week for pure time trial training. Be it 10, 20, or 40k we are out there hammering and dialing in position. The slightest adjustments now will make the biggest difference on race day. And that first race day was this past weekend.
Myself and Zach made it an early morning and packed into the back of Ryan Johnson’s van for the three hour trip north to Fayetteville, AR. The occasion was the Iron Pig Time Trial. Being its first year we really didn’t know what to expect. We did know it was 18 miles and slightly up on the way out, slightly down on the way back. We arrived about an hour before our 10am start time and picked our way through the race packets, the registration table had been abandoned. We also quickly realized that the TT was more of a perk, for the main event being a duathalon with several hundred participants. The cyclist didn’t really have any idea what was going on, and not many people knew where to tell us to go. We found the start box about a half mile away.
After a very brief 25 minute warm-up it was go time. Moments after leaving the start box I realized I had no clue where the finish was (I later found at that some people asked while in the startbox and they didn't know either). Back at the main event there were cones everywhere, and people everywhere. Whatever. I hammered out and the legs felt great. The turnaround came quick and I still had a bit in the tank because it was over a mile early. After turning around it was mainly stair stepping downhill back into town. I averaged about 40mph for well over 45 seconds, then held 30mph on the flat sections thanks to that lovely tailwind. I came back into town and saw all the cones, still no clue where to finish. I went to take a right where a sign said “bikes”, logical decision right? Wrong. They directed me forward and I got in a few more pedal strokes to the finishing clock. Also, it was 16.5 miles, not 18 as advertised. I got off the course and did hill repeats with the left over energy. Kidding. Kinda.
Post race was typical, we all spoke about how we felt and how none of us knew where to finish. At least we were all in the same boat. The plan was to go ride another 1.5 hours before driving home but we wanted to see results first. Turns out, I won and Zach got 2nd! We decided to hang out for about 30 minutes as told for awards. So… fast forward through two Michelob Ultra’s sample beers and 1.5 hours of duathalon awards and we hear this- "Oh, and for those of you awaiting TT awards, they are still on the slow boat from China so we will be mailing them to you". So… no awards. No training ride. Just a post race stop at the chicken shack and it was back to Little Rock. A fantastically fun and rewarding day, despite all that jazz.
