Time Trial Season, so far

So we've had 7 time trials at Cleves and the state championship already this season. Oddly enough I rode my best time at Cleves so far this year on the second week when I snuck into the 21's at 21:58. My two slowest have been the last two weeks at 22:38. The second week was windy and I recall going by the powerplant, on the slight uphill, at 28 mph and holding over 30 for most of the flat sections covering the last few miles. Even the uphill finish was at 26+. The last two weeks have been almost windless and going off early at 5:30 does seem to put a few of us at the height of the daily heat. Last week was particulary brutal with very high humidity. That was as close as I've ever come to stopping on that course in several years. I finished but I felt horrible for 30 minutes after.

If you don't currently weigh yourself before and after your training rides and races, you may want to start to. I drank no fewer than 6 bottles from my arrival at Cleves at 4:00 pm to the time I left around 8:30. I was still down 6 lbs when I weighed myself! This is 3.5% of my 170 lb weight. That type of dehydration has a a huge effect on performance. I know it's taboo to carry water on the bike for a tt but my dietician is convincing me that the water loss is way more detrimental than the added weight. Power drops by over 10% when you're down that much. Might be time to start using the Camelback vest on the hot nights.