speedvegan

15 km

Launched !

Time: 25:40.41

Geoff and I went out to dinner with one of my co-workers and his wife a few weeks ago. I was telling them about the triatlon I had just done that morning. I mentioned how much I loved the bike portion and how I wish I could just race my bike sometimes. My co-worker said “Well, you know, you can.” I had thought about this before, but being a Floridian trying to keep races local limits my options to crits and circuit races. While these are both excellent events, I am sure, they’re just not my cup of tea. I prefer to train alone. I don’t like packs. I don’t like drafting. That is one of the reasons why I like triathlons. It’s an individual race. So I considered the other options. I remembered a friend commenting on a recent Time Trial in the Northern part of the state. I started looking for Time Trial races in Florida that were within a reasonable driving distance. Most of the ones I found at first were part of a stage race that also included crit and circuit race events. Then I found the West Palm Beach Race Series – only Time Trials. I decided to try it out.

The event’s website hadn’t been updated since last year’s season. There’s absolutely no information about the 2009 season anywhere. I found a “copy” of an email with 2009 dates on somebody’s blog. I sent an email to the address on the site but never heard back from anyone. I assumed it would be at the same time and place as last year – about an hour northwest, west, west of here, literally, in the middle of nowhere. It was like taking a leap of faith.

Sure enough, we arrived to see cyclists everywhere, warming up. It was a beautiful site. I’d never seen so much open space in South Florida. So this is what people from the Midwest rave about ? Nice. The surroundings didn’t do much to calm the chaos inside my body. I was a nervous wreck. “What if I don’t hear the ‘zero’ and the guy lets me go and I fall to the ground ?” “What if I miss the turn around point ?” “What if what I’m wearing is totally inappropriate ?” “Look at all those aero wheels…” “I don’t even have an aero helmet !” “And this guy’s got booties !” Sigh. Geoffrey did his best to calm my nerves, but I was a mess until I was out on the course, just me and my bike.

The race itself was extremely organized and very relaxed. No pre-registration (duh ! no website !), no goody (read: garbage) bag, no nonsense. You fill out an application, you pay $15, you get a number assigned to you which matches your start time and off you go. About five minutes before your assigned time, you line up and wait your turn. When your turn arrives, you get a 15 second count down with a big manly man behind you holding your bike up. At zero, the guy lets go and you’re racing.

I made a few mistakes today. The biggest one was opting not to take water with me on the bike. It’s less than 10 miles. What’s the worst that could happen ? I was DYING of thirst. All I could think of for 25 minutes was my aching, dry throat. Lesson learned. Other than that, my ride was good enough for how I’ve been feeling lately. I kept a pretty even 24mph on the way out and 20-21mph on the way back (headwind).

There are a few things I’m planning to work on for the next event, but I’m extremely happy with my results today. My time was really good for a first timer who didn’t know what to expect at all. It was scary, but I did it. It can only get better, right ?