[font=Verdana][font=Verdana] Hi gang!
I raced in my first time trial yesterday. It was the Fiesta Island 20K which is 5 laps around a 2.5 mile fairly flat course. The wind was about 10mph during my time slot. I'm 50 5'10" 205lbs. There was a mess-up in the timing gate so I didn't get an official time but my Polar HRM showed a speed of 22.7mph and a time of about 32:45.
I included the heart rate chart and was curious about your feedback. My max is at least 184bpm as observed on my HRM and maybe 190. As you can see on the chart, I went almost immediately to 170 because I started in too high of a gear but then the next 3 minutes I gradually went from 163 (88%max) to 170 (92%). I maintained about 169-170 (92%) for the first 4 laps and then in the last lap gave it everything I had left and maintained a heart rate of between 175-178 (95-96%). My speeds for the first 4 laps were almost the same but the last lap was a little faster. The speed was about what I expected, but I saw photos of me from the race and I'm not very aero at all! Time to flip te stem and get a new fit!
The heart rates seemed quite a bit higher than expected - maybe because of the race environment? Maybe because I had a viral cold and sinus infection all of last week? I also felt less hydrated than normal. Anyway, here's the link. I'd appreciate your feedback and suggestions.
http://jimsplace.typepad.com/photos/jims_heart_rate_char/091105tt.html
BTW - I'm really stoked! I've been dreaming for years of getting well-enough and light-enough to race my Rocketwing and FINALLY that day came yesterday! My speed was about 10th of the 15 or so guys in my age group. Pretty slow by most standards I'm sure... But yesterday was all about showing up, not showing off...
Thanks,
Jim[/font][/font]
Road Cycling · Public discussion
My first TT! - Feedback requested
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- Road Cycling
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- 13 September 2005
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- 20 September 2005
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- jshelton
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Congrats. Your time is very respectable, especially given your lack of TT experience in general and lack of practice on this course. Most of the guys you were up against have probably ridden this course dozens (if not hundreds) of times. I plan to show up there sometime next spring, but I will have ridden the course about a dozen times before I enter a TT.
One comment about pacing strategy. It's a little difficult to decipher someone's pacing strategy from a Polar HR chart (vs. a power meter chart), but it would appear that your pacing strategy was either: (1) constant power (i.e., constant HR); or (2) increase power in the faster sections (downgrade or downwind). Such pacing strategies are common but are sub-optimal. You are actually better off to increase power in the slowest sections (uphill or upwind) and decrease power in the fastest sections. This is due to the physics involved: you gain more than you lose. I ride with a PM, but if I ride a course with grade changes and/or wind shifts, my power varies by as much as 300w. You don't need a PM to apply this strategy. Just attack the slow sections of the course and back off to recover a bit in the fast sections.
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RapDaddy, sounds like you are simply saying that you can utilize your speedo to help pace the race...if below average power up, if above average rest.
Jim, I think you did great. Good job.
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