I'm back!

After a long hiatus on the blogging scene I decided I am going to give 'er a try again. Lots of fun stuff going on recently so try to keep up!

Yesterday was the Hines Park Time Trial. A 20k (12 mile) out and back TT on relativity flat, notoriously windy Hines Drive. This was my first official road time trial so I didn't really know what to expect. It couldn't be that hard, right? Ride until I'm about to puke, then scale it back a notch. The cool thing about this race is they have an Eddy Merckx category (meaning no aero equipment). Looking at the times from last year and given my (lack of) training I figured this would be the right class for me to enter.

The first thing I noticed about this road racing thing is how organized it was. When I rolled up to the start tent the guy ahead of me went off at exactly 10:00:00am. I'm amazed they were able to start on time after sending 100+ people through the gate starting at about 8:00am.

Off the line I felt good. I pedaled my way up to what felt like a pretty good pace and held it there. I spoke with a guy before my start that mentioned a fairly strong headwind on the way back so I tried to keep my head down and hammer until I saw the turn around. It felt good to pass some people on the way out. It seemed like one by one I was reeling them in. I saw the orange barrel and cones for the turn around up ahead, clicked it down a few gears and slowed to make the tight turn. Once I was clear the head wind made itself known immediately.

6 miles back went fairly quick, but seemed to be full of hills that I didn't remember on the way out less than 15 minutes ago. Picking off one after another rider I set my sights on a rabbit quite a ways up the road and didn't pass him until less than a mile from the finish. We both commented on how brutal the wind was on the way back. I put my head down and pushed the biggest gear I could through the finish line. I missed the actual finish chute (I was going so fast everything was a blur... yeah, right), but the race volunteers were able to record my time manually. I felt great yesterday and my time of 32 mintues and some change was good enough for 10th place (unofficial).

Thanks to Kristen for the photos!

This week is the last Flying Rhino's Wednesday Night Worlds race at the Waterford Hills Racetrack in Clarkston for the summer. Be sure to come out and ride!

The Birmingham Bicycle Festival will be on August 28th in downtown Bham. They'll also be hosting a criterium race on the same day. Also going on that (busy) day is the $150 Bicycle Challenge. Can you build a bike for $150 or less and ride it 62 miles? If you're interested in building a bike to ride with us and want an invite please let me know.

Ride on friends! 1gear1love