Taleo Benicia ITT 7/25/2010

Category: W1/2
Field Size: 7
Length: 12.4 miles
Teammate: Haley (4th), Andi (2nd in W35+)
Place: 3rd

I had heard beforehand that it was a rolling course that could be windy, but that didn't prepare me for the amount of wind we encountered on the course this morning. It was crazy windy - I don't even know in mph how windy it was, but it was very windy with a lot of gusts. It was so windy that Andi lent me her 404 front to use instead of my 808, but even that ended up being a bit scary, since I've never really practiced riding in my aerobars in super windy gusty conditions. Also the only rear wheel I had available (other than a normal training wheel) was an 808 clincher turned into a disc using a wheel cover. If I'd thought about it early enough and found the tools, I probably would have chose to take the cover off and had a much easier time, but it didn't occur to me until 2 minutes to my start time. Oh well.

I had a nice fast start, especially since there was a downhill bit almost right away, and I settled into a good hard pace. I soon discovered that the wind was very tricky, because it would be steady for a while, but then it would gust hard then drop off suddenly, so I had to be careful to stay steady and not overreact. I think it was less than halfway to the turnaround that I decided that I didn't feel safe/comfortable in my aerobars because I was having trouble controlling my bike. So I spent the rest of the race on my bullhorns, most of the time trying to crouch down low anyway. I felt a lot more comfortable like that, and I was able to focus more on going hard than staying on the road, though I still had to pay attention to where I was going. On the way back the wind wasn't quite as bad, since it was more of a headwind than a crosswind, but I wasn't confident enough to get back in my aerobars so I stayed up. I saw some people going the other way who weren't in their aerobars either and that made me feel better about it, that it wasn't just me who was uncomfortable with the wind. I had seen a couple of the ladies that started right before me after they turned around and they were in their bars, but I don't think any of them was riding a disc wheel so they weren't feeling the crosswind gusts quite so badly. When I finally crossed the finish line, I think I was more relieved about not having to fight the crosswinds anymore than I was about being about to go easy, which is quite a change from the usual TT. I probably could have pushed myself harder physically, but I just glad to get back in one piece.

Despite the wind, I had fun and it was a good race. I was super excited for Haley too, because this was her first race coming back from her broken collarbone. She had a pretty good race too, and she didn't have to fight the wind as much because she was using normal spoked wheels. She was able to stay in her aerobars on her shiny new Leopard bike the whole time and put in a really solid effort. Nice job Haley, it's good to have you back!

Andi had a good race too - she'd had Haley and me to use as guinea pigs to figure out what equipment she should use and what the expect in the wind since her start was later. She was brave (and more experienced than me) so she opted to use her disc anyway, but used a very shallow front wheel just in case. I think she actually had fun in the wind, and her effort earned her 2nd in the masters women.