Hey you, non-bike racer. Stick with me. I'm going to try to make this worth your while. First, I will define what the foop a time trial is.
Time Trial: An individual bike race where participants are timed over a specific distance and ride by themselves as fast as they can.
You can't ride in a pack and draft off people. It's a good test to see how fast you can ride over a long period. There's no strategy except gauging your effort. Since you can't draft, aerodynamics are important and so there's all sorts of equipment designed for time trials which include; aerodynamic disk wheels which do not stir the air as much as spokes, aerodynamic "space helmets", shoe covers, I could go on.
The time trial is often called the "race of truth". And the truth is, I did poopy today.
In October I rode a 24:32 at this, which I was proud of. The course has a hill on it and is a twisty-turny 10 miles on narrow bumpy farm roads.
Today I didn't even break the 26 minute mark.
BUT! I have a good excuse. And excuses are worth time. For example, say you had a cold this week. That's gotta be worth at least 15 seconds. That is, your time should be 15 seconds slower than normal if you have a cold. So when your time is posted, people will factor that in and you will be less embarrassed. To make your excuses more credible, make sure you get them out there before the start.
Here is a list of common excuses used before and after time trials and their approximate worth. I've arranged them in increasing order of how much they would slow you down:
Took a corner too hot: 5 seconds
Chain hung up on shift: 5 seconds
Car got in the way of turn: 5 seconds
I forgot/don't have aerodynamic "space helmet": 10 seconds
I have a cold: 15 seconds
I have the flu: 30 seconds
I forgot/don't have aerodynamic disk wheel: 30 seconds
I haven't been on my bike in ___ days: ___ days times 5 seconds
I drank too many beers last night: number of beers minus 2 times 5 seconds
I had a flat: Infinite*
I got lost: Infinite*
* your sorry ass will probably not even finish.
You might notice that some excuses that apply to everybody are omitted. Excuses like these (like "it was windy" or "it was raining") usually apply to everyone and do not effectively explain why you had a sucky-ass time. So avoid these.
After I received my time of 26:10 or whatever, I was really puzzled. I thought my training had been coming along fine this year. So, I was disappointed and I went for a short spin to loosen up and have some "quiet time".
And then, it happened.
I started feeling the bumps in the road a little more harshly than normal. I peeked back and noticed my rear wheel was flat.
My excuse had materialized and it felt so much better to know it wasn't completely my fault.
BUT BUT! I could have prevented this. Last night I inflated my rear wheel and threw it in my car. This morning, I noticed it was deflated. I should have changed the tube out. But, I was too lazy and was hoping it just because the valve was open a bit.
Being a dumbass: Inexcusable.
While I was riding the last leg of the 10 miles, I looked down and was surprised at the low speeds I was generating. I usually can hammer out 25+ mph with not much effort on this stretch. But, my bike 'puter kept telling me 23. I figured it was because I had used myself up and was not yet fit for time trials. But, maybe my rear tire was really soft.
What was my real time? I am getting over a cold. I did drink three beers last night. And my rear tire went soft. Let's say "half" a cold excuse = 7.5 seconds. 3 beers should be 3-2 x 5 seconds = 5 seconds and the whole soft tire thing could be worth 30 seconds.
26:10 minus :42.5 is still 25:27.5
I had a bad day.
So, bike racer guy. Have a bad day? And where to from here?
Here's whatcha don't do:
One dude got lost. I'm serious. He rode back into the parking lot and threw his helmet down really hard in anger and yelled up a storm while his girlfriend watched and told him to get over it. He blamed it on the flagger guy not flagging him the right way. Pfeh. There's a map of the course on the web site and you could easily come out early and do recon. So, this, my friends, is a lame excuse. Acting like a big baby makes you look and sound even dumber, especially in front of your girlfriend.
I don't do this. Largely because I like my aerodynamic space helmet too much. And, I don't have a girlfriend.
The best thing to do is to take the number you pinned to your jersey and keep it. Stow it away somewhere and take it with you when you train. It will remind you of the frustration you felt and be good motivation for your training.
I didn't have a good day. But my space helmet doesn't have any scratches on it and number 239 is going to be in my back pocket Tuesday morning.
Now you go and have a good day.
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