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03-08-08, 04:54 PM
Squiggy Time Trial in Tampa this morning. Drove down last night in an amazing storm. 30 mph in torrential rains on I-75, jackasses with hazards on in the fast lane, trees blown over, yada yada.
After last night's storm, the weather was actually fairly clear skies, but with some of the strongest winds and gusts I've ever ridden in, anywhere. I felt pretty good for a guy finishing off the flu. I warmed up for about 8 miles on the road before my start time. Wind gusts were probably 30-40 mph; I was having serious difficulty staying on the road in crosswind sections.
I started just a hair too hard, probably; 3 or 4 minutes of a cross-tailwind section before turning into the headwind. I was getting blown sideways 2 feet by gusts and going 20 mph. Caught sight of my minute man about halfway in, and shortly after that, we both passed my two minute man. About this time, we made the tailwind section of the loop and it was Katie bar the door home, at 29 mph. I finished in 17:33, good enough for 9th in the Cat 5s. Doubled over coughing and nearly puked as soon as I stopped. :)
There were some people who raced both in Master's and in a category, and the race directors gave them the option of using their first time in the Category race also. I might move around a place or two, [edit: 9th] they didn't have these people slotted in yet. There was less wind in the morning, so this sort of irked me, but it's not like I was 1 place off the podium anyway.
After my friend Wes ran, we headed up to Clermont and did a loop of Buckhill, Sugarloaf, and Grassy Lake Road (the "mountains" of central FL..ha). The steady wind and the gusts were so strong that Wes got blown off the road twice, and I was scared to pedal fast downhill. A couple of times I was going 30+ downhill and gusts pushed me sideways a foot or more. Crazy wind conditions!
Oh yeah, I won't inflict a graph on everyone, but I averaged 263 watts for 17:30. I hope I can do better when I'm healthier.
After last night's storm, the weather was actually fairly clear skies, but with some of the strongest winds and gusts I've ever ridden in, anywhere. I felt pretty good for a guy finishing off the flu. I warmed up for about 8 miles on the road before my start time. Wind gusts were probably 30-40 mph; I was having serious difficulty staying on the road in crosswind sections.
I started just a hair too hard, probably; 3 or 4 minutes of a cross-tailwind section before turning into the headwind. I was getting blown sideways 2 feet by gusts and going 20 mph. Caught sight of my minute man about halfway in, and shortly after that, we both passed my two minute man. About this time, we made the tailwind section of the loop and it was Katie bar the door home, at 29 mph. I finished in 17:33, good enough for 9th in the Cat 5s. Doubled over coughing and nearly puked as soon as I stopped. :)
There were some people who raced both in Master's and in a category, and the race directors gave them the option of using their first time in the Category race also. I might move around a place or two, [edit: 9th] they didn't have these people slotted in yet. There was less wind in the morning, so this sort of irked me, but it's not like I was 1 place off the podium anyway.
After my friend Wes ran, we headed up to Clermont and did a loop of Buckhill, Sugarloaf, and Grassy Lake Road (the "mountains" of central FL..ha). The steady wind and the gusts were so strong that Wes got blown off the road twice, and I was scared to pedal fast downhill. A couple of times I was going 30+ downhill and gusts pushed me sideways a foot or more. Crazy wind conditions!
Oh yeah, I won't inflict a graph on everyone, but I averaged 263 watts for 17:30. I hope I can do better when I'm healthier.