Tandem Cycling - Race Report

Today, we participated in the second practice time trial this season. The time trial series is a fund raising event for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The four time Trials that are positioned before sanctioned time trial races in the district.

We had a perfect day for the race with clear skies and temperatures in the 50 to 60s. There were 94 entries consisting of individual men, women, teams and tandems.

Our time, by our watch, for the 9.7 mile course was 26:48 which was a 2 minute improvement over last month’s TT over the same course. Out of the total field, we were 46th out of 94 entries.

We were extremely pleased with our time and improvement over last month:) . The race was a lot of fun and the people who run the event do a great job in organization and making it safe for riders.

We road as team Genentech. Below is a pic of us, may be near the turnaround, on the course today. Next week, we are racing in the Berkeley Bicycle Club Team Time Trial. This is a sanctioned TT race over a 16.6 mile course with 3 climbs:eek: and 3 fast descents. There are 150 teams signed up with 7 tandem teams. We are riding the course on Sunday for a preview.:)

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/rallen94402/BctMarTT1.jpg

How do you like your stoker leading the stroke? Have you tried the other way around?

How do you like your stoker leading the stroke? Have you tried the other way around?

We have tried both and the stoker likes it better leading.:)

Great TT time improvement!
It pays off to pre-ride the course. Another good practice it to TT a distance a couple miles longer than the intended event.
Good looking TT team!

Congratulations. You guys are lookin' good. The competition must be pretty strong.

Thanks for the compliments and encouragement.:)

By my calculations that's 21.7 mph average. How hilly was the course? How curvy were the descents (could you let it fly on the descents)? Were any of the climbs short enough that you could carry speed from the previous descent to "sail over" the climb? What was your max speed? To knock 2 minutes off a 28:48 time is a 7% improvement - impressive! Congrats!

By my calculations that's 21.7 mph average. How hilly was the course? How curvy were the descents (could you let it fly on the descents)? Were any of the climbs short enough that you could carry speed from the previous descent to "sail over" the climb? What was your max speed? To knock 2 minutes off a 28:48 time is a 7% improvement - impressive! Congrats!

Here is the course profile. The stated amount of climb is 400 feet. The web site is http://www.scaledup.com/beattheclock/.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/rallen94402/canadatimetrial.gif

You start by descending applying max power to the turnaround with a couple of intervening hills. The return is primarily uphill for the last 2.5 miles. The return climb is not difficult but it is difficult, for us, to hold above 20 mph and it is at the end when you are tired. Our max speed was 34.2 mph and the course is essentially strait and very easy to negotiate. The only technical part is the turnaround. You cannot sail over the hills on this course. You attack the hills at pace and hold cadence as long as possible. As the bike starts to slow and the cadence slows, we put out more power trying to hold on as long as possible before shifting into a lower gear.:)

Really cool to see a race report in the tandem section.

and that is a monstrous rear brake. Or are my eyes deceiving me?

cdr

Really cool to see a race report in the tandem section.

and that is a monstrous rear brake. Or are my eyes deceiving me?

cdr

No your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a Winzip brake with a 10 inch rotor. I must admit, it is a little bit of heavy artillery for time trials:rolleyes: but it works great in the mountains with long steep descents – no fading.:)