MATTS Single Bong 20K Time Trial
April 15, 2007 – Kansasville, WI
Cat 4 – 13th – 30:29.83 (First Race)
Cat 4 – 15th – 30:39.67 (Second Race)
253 watts – 23.9 MPH (First Race)
249 watts – 23.8 MPH (Second Race)
After a disappointing race two weeks before at the John Fraser Memorial TT, I was looking forward to getting in a solid performance. Well, I didn’t expect to have two!
My first Target A race of the year was the Double Bong 40K TT. Considering the distance, I opted to race the Single Bong twice to mimic the 40K effort. I thought the workout would be worth more than my final places. After completing the two races about 30 minutes apart, I realized that my pacing was down since my times were only 10 seconds apart. That got me pumped for the 40K.
Race conditions were nice with temperatures in the mid-40s and a slight wind out of the NW. The day was made better by outstanding performances from fellow XXXers. Three of the Posse–Andrew Nordyke, Adam Clark, and Al Urbanski—showed up to put in some good performances. Considering the relatively few TTers on the XXX team, this was a pleasant surprise.
In the end, I realized I should have entered both the Cat 4 and Masters 30+, rather than Cat 4 twice. Oh, well. I’d highly recommend to people focusing on the 40K TT to race a 20K twice early in the season, because it will give you a good idea to your pacing and endurance. The ABR officials are pretty good with giving you time between your starts, as long as they have spots in the schedule. For example, I could have had an hour between my starts if I wanted instead of 30 minutes.
Good pacing is key to having a successful 30K+ TT. The Bong course isn’t terribly hard, but will influence your momentum enough to force you to have to think about your effort. I really nailed it today.