Hey Jshelton

looks like you did fine! did you have fun?

now you have a starting point to work from, and i know you'll be faster next time.

ride hard and have fun.

Dan...

what was your time?

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"The aspect of sport that you learn is that you have your good times and your bad times, but you share it with great people." - George Gregan

Thanks Dan! My criteria for success was "Did I do the best I could do?" Based on that, I was successful.

Since I've only been on the bike since May and I've only done a few time-trial training sessions I felt pretty pleased. However, I do feel my speed should have been higher and I can't help but wonder if my cold was affecting my performance. I see lots of room for improvement just in my aero position. I should have guessed that when my aero bars are at about the same level as my saddle that I'm not going to be that aero!

Anyway, more than anything else I truly had a blast. I love how alive it makes you feel! My next TT is Oct. 8 and I'm really looking forward to it!

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Jim

As I mentioned I didn't get an official time because of a snafu at the timing gate. It might have been my fault because I'm not sure I passed through the orange cones where they measure time.

However, from my Polar HRM it looks like it was just about 32:45. I'm sure that's considered by most people to be pretty slow but that's not what matters to me right now. My guess is that after I get a more aero position, more training, lose more weight and get some more experience I'll improve quite a bit. But as long as I'm doing my best, I'm thrilled just to be racing!

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Jim

Jim,

I don't have time at the moment to visit your link, but I had to respond to your post. I'm 49, but my racing age is 50 and I discovered time trialing this year ... and I'm desperately hooked. I've been riding for the last dozen years ... and riding a lot. But nothing has grabbed me like the TT bug. I'm doing everything I can find ... including lots of triathlon relays. I got second in my age group in the state TT championships a couple of weeks ago. Goal was to break an hour for a 40k TT. I'd never even come close before, but I only missed by 27 seconds. Really ticked me off.

Anyway, I'd say, if you think you can go lower, GO LOWER! After the things I've learned about aerodynamics over the last few months, I'll never ride my road bike on the hoods again. If your 50-year-old back can take flopping that stem ... FLOP IT! Good for you!

Did you have fun? Did you feel alive! My only other helpful observation for the future is that, if you went faster on the last lap, maybe you held too much back. I know Lance usually starts slow and finishes strong. However, he's got a team of technicians and he's studied like a lab rat. The only way I know I've left it all out there on the course is if I'm dragging my sorry ass home like I've been in a war. And that's about how I usually finish. Every time I've finished strong I've been disappointed in my overall time. Every time I've felt totally spent at the end and had nothing left I've been near or have achieved a personal best.

Gotta run, but I hope you're as hooked on the TT game as I am. I did 22.7 in my warmup race for the state TT championship, then uncorked a 24.8 on race day. Go figure.

One word of caution. We ain't spring chickens. Make sure your doc has checked you out and knows what you're up to.

Bob C.

Thanks Bob! This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for! My focus for my first race was to make sure it was a fun experience - and it was! I wanted to make sure I didn't go too hard too fast and then have a miserable second half of the race!

I feel like I paced myself well, bit that I might have been able to start my all-out effort a bit earlier. Although I was panting loudly at the end, within about 10 minutes it was if I hadn't even raced. So maybe that's part of the learning curve...

A good thing is that I can go much lower and feel comfortable so I'm going to give it a try. I'm very flexible in my back although my stomach is still a but big at 205 lbs, but it sure beats the 330 I weighed a year ago! I'm still losing and expect I'll get down to 175 before too long...

BTW -- With my medical condition - pituitary failure - I have several doctors watching me like a hawk! I just saw my cardiologist 2 weeks ago and I share my HRM charts with her to get her feedback. She has cleared me for TT or any intense exercise.

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Jim

Good job Jim, congrats on a first TT.

It was a little bit breezy out there past 8am.

- Gary

Great job out there! That's a pretty good time for the amount of training you've put in already. That's about where I was my first year of riding. Experience helps quite a bit at Fiesta since it's very easy to not push through certain sections. I'm not sure it was a starting gate issue since there's nothing there, but you have to be sure to go through the cones for the finish and be sure to let them know your number as you pass through the finish.

congrats on your win, you beat my buddy Grant

fast in my books! :D cheers to your 1st time trial

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"The aspect of sport that you learn is that you have your good times and your bad times, but you share it with great people." - George Gregan

Thanks, although I do have to attribute some it to being fresher after not racing the TTT.

[reply] Experience helps quite a bit at Fiesta since it's very easy to not push through certain sections.[/reply]

EXACTLY! Looking at my HRM chart I noticed that I backed off on the slight downhill sections simply out of habit! I also made the mistake of letting my cadence slow at times when going into the wind or up slight inclines. I should have shifted to a bigger cog!

And I think I could have started my all-out effort at the end a little sooner.

BTW - I don't think I passed through the cones at the finish but that's OK! I will next time.

Thanks for the feedback! This is great!

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Jim

Thanks Gary! I really appreciate your feedback and support over the last several weeks that I've been on this forum.

I started at 7:56 so I had some wind the whole time. I also looked at the race photos and I've got to flip my stem! I have felt I was way too high and could easily be comfortable getting lower. I really felt like a sail going against the wind! Regardless, I had a great time!

Frankly, on the way home there were quite a few tears of joy... As a few of the folks here know, it was long road for me just to be able to race.

I'll sign up for the Oct. 8 race as soon as registration is available.

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Jim

I'm no Bjorn, but it is as powerful and as low as I can comfortably get right now

http://www.printroom.com/...5125&image_id=77

"my Polar HRM showed a speed of 22.7mph which includes a minute of waiting to start."
- - Actually, the Polar doesn't average in the 0 mph time. 22.7 wold be your actual speed average. Not bad for 50.

"I included the heart rate chart and was curious about your feedback."
- - Quite interestingly, it doesn't look like you went out too hard, which is the mistake 95% of even experienced riders make. In fact, it looks like you were afraid of blowing up and took it a bit easy early on. I'm not sure if pushing a little harder early would have helped much, but you did seem to have a pretty strong finishing kick, so maybe you could have sped up just a tad in the earlier laps. With asthma, it's critical not to overcook early.

"My max is at least 184bpm as observed on my HRM and maybe 190."
- - Knowing your LT would be more valuable.

"The heart rates seemed quite a bit higher than expected - maybe because of the race environment?"
- - Absolutely. The adrenalin factor.

"Maybe because I had a viral cold and sinus infection all of last week?"
- - Now I'm even more impressed by your speed.

"yesterday was all about showing up, not showing off..."
- - You bet. Next time you'll have a few less butterflies and you'll probably race a little better. Experience helps.

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Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

Gary - Looks good to me! I don't see how you could get much lower. Love your bike! I saw it on the rack but since I haven't met you didn't know it was yours.

Here's the link to my race photo. It looks like I'm sitting up pretty high and I know I can go a lot lower, even with my big stomach!

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=clinster&gallery_id=245126&image_id=297

Man! It's hard to believe that even after losing over 120 lbs that I'm still that big! Oh well...at least I'm on my bike!

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Jim