echappist

just thought of something good. @MDcatV will need to watch a USMNT soccer match with me if i get the faster time. This will be punishment for him as he usually does not deign to watch matches involving teams he describe as third rate

Ygduf

You should be dominating then.

I'm thinking of contracting ringworm for the anti-inflammatory properties. Might allow me to train harder?

Wylde06

Im doing a 40k TT Sunday.

Something told me it was a good idea to sign up for a 40k TT.

Im actually kind of looking forward to it.

MDcatV

my TT bike is ready chappy, except i put my disc wheel on upside down.

shovelhd

Is that a carbon wheel?

MDcatV

no, nobrac

TheKillerPenguin

I had a buddy that made a wheel cover out of wood floor patterned linoleum. It was accidentally lenticular.

Ygduf

if you're going to post pro photos you have to credit the photographer

MDcatV

save10

i aint gonna lie. i'm looking forward to these TT race reports (and possible excuses!)

furiousferret

It's getting real in here.

MDcatV

should i pre-write it? I got there and was feeling the effects of bilhazaria in my spleen but decided to race anyway. I was standing in line for the port-o-john and telling everyone I've been feeling kind of sick lately, been really busy at work so havent been training, and we'll see how it goes, you know, standard bathroom line conversations, when out of nowhere Chappy rolled past in his volvo and ran over my foot ...

bostongarden

Haha!! This is going to be good. You both better show for the race! And, I expect a comeback from Echaperone.

echappist

@MDcatV is wayyyy too clever. no retort for me except for the fact that i'm still saving up for that Volvo. We'll both be there as we pre-registered. Definitely not looking for the brutal 10 mph headwind we face for the first 1/3 of the race

btw, i brought hard cider for consumption afterwards.

Wylde06

Looks like my start time is 9:29 tomorrow..which is awesome because its supposed to be hot and humid so the earlier the better

spdntrxi

cover the "a"and"n".. merica.. that would be cool.

longe

Hilltowns. Cat3. Not going up hills like I should. Can't be on top form all season and I know my peak was a few weeks ago, but doesn't mean I'm really OK with it. My fitness by the numbers is where it was back in April, as it really should be according to the plan. Doesn't validate the feeling of getting whooped much tho! Guess that's how its gonna go if I want to have something for a decent dirt season! Have to race the last 3-4 road races with extra smarts I guess. *stuffs face with Newman's pizza*. Really though, today's blow-it fest probably could have been avoided by doing a real warm up- should have recognized the two cat 4 climbs just about right out of the gate.

TheKillerPenguin

Also Hilltowns. Tried basically all the things to get something rolling. The last 8 miles of the abbreviated course were downhill so it seemed that the earlier something rolled the better chance it would have of making it to the end. I did manage to go OTF solo for a little bit but there was a lot of non technical not super steep downhill and there was blood in the water. Also I meant to attack on the last kicker on the course which was about 1k out, but I confused the second to last kicker at ~3k out with it and basically attacked over the top of that into a false flat downhill for no reason. Pack finish, 11th.

MDcatV

TT is over. It was like the superbowl, the pre-race build up out did the race itself. Chappy didnt run over my foot, in fact we had a very pleasant chat while warming up and he hooked me up with an ice sock to use for the race. Thanks for that, it was pretty hot out there.

By the way, you should see the trunk of his car, it has like everything in it.

Anyway, the race itself, it's flat, like maybe 3 feet of elevation gain over 40K, and is through marshland on the eastern shore of Maryland. I'm told that there are some trees lining portions of the course, but honestly, I think it's just swamps. There was a headwind at the start and a crosswind all day, I never found a good rhythm and struggled with the wind the entire 40K. Typical TT mindset: start, I'm king of the world! 30K to go, wait, how many miles is that, OK it's like 6.2/10K so that makes, oh damn, there's the 25K to go sign, now I need to do a 3.1 mi/5K, so I have, oh **** 20K to go and I'm at 30 minutes and 5 seconds, I gotta get on the gas ... damn, I really feel like I'm pushing too big a gear, i'm going smaller and up the cadence, well, that doesnt feel any better. I'm thirsty, holy **** I wish there was a hill to sprint over, please, would a large car pass me to block this damned wind for a minute, 10K to go, I'm crosseyed but that's OK because I cant see out of these sunglasses anymore anyway. There goes he started like 5 minutes behind me. I think my dick is numb. would this damned wind please help me. 5K, I want to quit. 3K grind! 2K, OK, I can make it go! 1K, my gawd, 1K is sooo far, are you kidding me, it's still 500M? there's the line! drive! done, where am I?

I finished at 57:51. My goal was in the 56's so a little disappointed, but it was best I could do today. I didnt see @echappist after, but assume I'll be watching the USMNT with him sometime soon!

echappist

glad to help! though @MDcatV couldn't be bothered to sip hard cider with me afterwards

As for the soccer match, no need, i didn't go much faster, though i'd appreciate the company. Hopefully usmnt at least makes it to the finals where they hopefully pull another dos a cero on Mexico.

I couldn't get my HR over 167 (LTHR around 175) no matter what I did for 95% of the race. I'm concerned that something is wrong as my fit on the TT bike as my TT bike power is at least 10% lower than my road bike power, all this after i spent $400 on a fit this year. My position last year was uncomfortable, but at least the difference was only 5%...

And to think that all the while back i hated EMX ITT; it may be the only thing i can still be good at.

MDcatV

in!

echappist

hell, i'll even drive out to surburbia to watch it, which has the added benefit of me sniping your KOM beforehand

bostongarden

Whom do I contact for a refund on my Pay-Per-View fee?

mike868y

also, hilltowns. did a proper warm up which helped, but still slipped off the back at the top of the third major climb, about 10 miles in? (yes...there were three big climbs that early). chased really really hard with a group of 7 or so to get back on. we somehow managed to get back in the field at which point I had NO IDEA WHAT TO DO because my mental race plan ended after mile 10 as i figured i'd be off the back. considering (I thought) our team still had like 7 guys in the field i got to the front and played around, using what little energy i had left. got shelled riiiiiight before the final descent into the finish at which point i realized our team only had two guys left in the race. got to descend 10 miles alone in the rain which was...fun? anyway, good day, didn't better than i expected, saw a bunch of friends, good stuff.

longe

10 minutes into the race I pedaled the hardest i ever have for 3-7 minutes and that wasn't enough to keep me with everyone on those first two hills. a few people attacked off the whistle and several of us took off from the group immediately. until we hit a 700ft bump in the road.