My first TT race report
06-09-08, 11:15 PM
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My first TT race report
Backstory:
The race was 13.75km and was held at Bear Creek State Park near Denver Co. It was the Paralympic National Campionship and Paralympic Team Selection Race for Beijing. I have been doing able bodied races since I started last July so this was my first Para Competition. I raced in the CP4 class since I have Cerebral Palsy. I flew into Denver from SC the day before my race.
I woke up race morning at 3:45 and tried to fall asleep. I got out of bed at 5:45, got breakfast, and rolled my bike outside to a very chilly 50 degree morning. My bike was loaded into the box truck and the vans pulled away. I was left behind. I finally got a ride after 7AM and realized I would not get to pre-ride the course.
I grabbed my bike and started making preparations to race. I took my leisure since I did not start until 9:26:30 AM. I found a trainer and started my warm-up an hour before race time, pretty much perfect. I got in a great warm-up and traded some trash talk with one of the Visually Impared riders on a tandem in good fun.
I rolled to the line for my start time and when the holder was keep me upright and I was in the pedals my left leg started shaking. One symptom of Cerebral Palsy is spasticty and when I get nervous my leg shakes. So I'm shaking in my pedal when I get the "go" signal and as soon as I started my leg was ok.
I rolled up to speed on the first stretch and was having to keep myself from going too fast. The course turned nasty after that. I took the first sharp turn and was faced with the first hill. It was short and it was steep and it killed the momentum I had. By the top I was starting to feel the burning in my lungs. My legs were fine, but my lungs were on FIRE. I was feeling the effects of the thin air. After the hill I came to a long section of S cueves and rode through them pretty fast. I rode through some very tight turns and started the return trip. My legs were still feeling good and my lungs were still burning. I was not accelerating up the hills or out of the turns well at all, but I was able to hold a lot of speed in the flat, straight sections. I came to the last sharp turn directly into a steep hill. It was very painful to ride up but the finish was close. I rode hard to the line but I looked at the clock and knew it was not enough. My time was 21.52 which was an average speed of 23.4mph. Not nearly fast enough to make the Beijing team.
My goal speed was 26mph, but a mix of elevation, a technical course, and no TT experience kept me off my goal. I'm planning on heading to Lowes Motor Speedway to see what I can do on a more traditional TT course at sea level.
The race was 13.75km and was held at Bear Creek State Park near Denver Co. It was the Paralympic National Campionship and Paralympic Team Selection Race for Beijing. I have been doing able bodied races since I started last July so this was my first Para Competition. I raced in the CP4 class since I have Cerebral Palsy. I flew into Denver from SC the day before my race.
I woke up race morning at 3:45 and tried to fall asleep. I got out of bed at 5:45, got breakfast, and rolled my bike outside to a very chilly 50 degree morning. My bike was loaded into the box truck and the vans pulled away. I was left behind. I finally got a ride after 7AM and realized I would not get to pre-ride the course.
I grabbed my bike and started making preparations to race. I took my leisure since I did not start until 9:26:30 AM. I found a trainer and started my warm-up an hour before race time, pretty much perfect. I got in a great warm-up and traded some trash talk with one of the Visually Impared riders on a tandem in good fun.
I rolled to the line for my start time and when the holder was keep me upright and I was in the pedals my left leg started shaking. One symptom of Cerebral Palsy is spasticty and when I get nervous my leg shakes. So I'm shaking in my pedal when I get the "go" signal and as soon as I started my leg was ok.
I rolled up to speed on the first stretch and was having to keep myself from going too fast. The course turned nasty after that. I took the first sharp turn and was faced with the first hill. It was short and it was steep and it killed the momentum I had. By the top I was starting to feel the burning in my lungs. My legs were fine, but my lungs were on FIRE. I was feeling the effects of the thin air. After the hill I came to a long section of S cueves and rode through them pretty fast. I rode through some very tight turns and started the return trip. My legs were still feeling good and my lungs were still burning. I was not accelerating up the hills or out of the turns well at all, but I was able to hold a lot of speed in the flat, straight sections. I came to the last sharp turn directly into a steep hill. It was very painful to ride up but the finish was close. I rode hard to the line but I looked at the clock and knew it was not enough. My time was 21.52 which was an average speed of 23.4mph. Not nearly fast enough to make the Beijing team.
My goal speed was 26mph, but a mix of elevation, a technical course, and no TT experience kept me off my goal. I'm planning on heading to Lowes Motor Speedway to see what I can do on a more traditional TT course at sea level.
06-10-08, 05:28 AM
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Bummer on not making your goal, but congrats on doing your first TT.
TT's are great fun.
TT's are great fun.
