Carlise TT

Nuking legs, flaming crotch, and passing out at the finish - yup it's a Time Trial.  It was a great day for a Time Trial, sunny and 75.  The did not start off very well though.  When I woke up first thing this morning I could immediately tell that my body did not feel right.  I wasn't hungry at all and I felt a slight ache in my legs.  This did not bode well for the trauma that I was going to be putting my body through later in the morning.

The feeling was only reinforced when I got on the trainer for my warm up.  The legs felt super tight and my head wasn't in the game.  I slowly went through the 45 min. warm up and tried my best to tell myself that I was fine and was going to do well.  Being the the first TT of the year I was hoping to turn a 1 hour 8 min. ride or less.  This would be about what I was doing this time last year.

The course is slight uphill on the way out for the first 12.4 miles.  It didn't help that there a headwind either.  The whole way I felt miserable and swore to myself that I would never do another TT again (this happens every TT and I still keep going back).  For the first leg I turned a 37 minute 20K.

The return trip, however, was blazing fast.  The headwind became a tailwind and this course turned downhill so I floored it the whole way home.  It felt great flying back hitting and holding 25-30mph+.  By the time the finish line hit I was done, I had left everything out on that road and timed my glorious meltdown just right - one more kilometer I and would have collapsed in a heap of useless bone and muscle.

Considering how I was feeling you can imagine the surprise on my face when I looked down at my computer and saw 1 hour 3 minutes and 40 seconds - 9 seconds faster than my previous PR!  Although I finished 5 out of 10 in my cat. I was still elated by the performance I was able to put down this early in the year.  By the last TT of the year I just may be able to crack the hour barrier that has proved so elusive to my palmares.  

Thanks for Reading!

Captain Crunch