State Time Trial

Queen City Wheels hosted the Ohio State Time Trial today in Cleves, Ohio. We had a 33k event in the morning and a 10.2 mile event in the afternoon. With temperatures peaking at 105 degrees and a road temperature of 112, it was a challenging day to ride. I had opted several weeks ago to only ride the 10.2 mile event. I rode the 33k course a couple of times this spring and didn't feel like I could do two maximum efforts within hours of each other. Plus, I prefer the shorter course. My start time was 1:26:30 so it was during the heat of the day. I warmed up minimally with about 30 minutes of riding and several 30 seconds bursts up to 30-34 mph. Pretty close to what I do on Tuesday evenings but without the extra 10 miles of easy riding. it wasn't a mile into the event that I knew my time would be slower than normal. The heat had a pretty obvious effect of making HR go up and power to go down. My average speed was about a mile per hour slower at the halfway point that just 4 days ago. Its like my mind was telling my body to hold back and there wasn't much I could do about it. Even on the faster last 5 miles I wasn't hitting the usual 30+ mph on the few flat sections. I crossed the line at 22:57, or 26.8 mph. This was one of my slowest times over the last three years and 50 seconds slower than just 4 days ago. While it was still good for first place in the 50-54 bracket it was tough day on the bike. I'd prefer to finish with the feeling that I really was able to ride a great effort and while I no doubt had nothing left at the end the excessive heat took away any chance at a great time on that course. Thats why we hold the Tuesday night tt: 5 months every year to ride a new PR.