Author

Peter Allen on May 11, 2008

Race name: MATTS ABD 2-Man 40K Team TT Race date: Sunday, May 11, 2008

The time trial is by far the easiest and most fun event in cycling. Actually, I’d say the longer the better. It’s so enjoyable that you should get a teammate to join you any chance you get. Yeah, I know, enough with the blatant sarcasm. TTs suck, but having someone to share in your misery is actually pretty cool. I think that was everyone’s general sense after racing in the MATTS ABD 2-man team time trial on Saturday, May 10.

This TTT was the first one of the year and held on the ever popular Garden Prairie 40K course. OK, there’s some sarcasm there, but there’s also some truth. The course is pretty fast and the roads are good condition, but the slightest wind can feel like a cyclone. That was the case on Saturday AM. Temperatures were perfect in the mid-50s, but there was a 5-10 MPH out of the east that felt much stronger than it really was. However, it made the return trip all the more fun and led to some fast times.

In fact, the fastest time of the day was posted by a SOLO rider. Former XXXer Reid Mumford (now of Kelly Benefits) smoked the 24 mile course in just 48:50. Umm, so how fast did Jeff Holland and I go? Uh, about 10 minutes slower--how embarrassing. Not really, since he beat every other team. I just needed to get the only low point of the day out of the way. The rest of it was great.

On the way to race, Jeff and I talked race tactics while his wife dozed off in back (I don’t know how spouses put up with our “shop talk”). We planned on rotating every few minutes until we each began to tire. We practice this rotation during the warm-up, but we were both anxious to get going. You could feel the excitement building. Jeff and I were both tricked out to the max in our sweet Pactimo skin suits, aero helmets, and dedicated TT rigs (thanks to Mission Bay). We knew we were going to go fast.

Well, we probably went a little faster than we should right out of the start. I know Jeff is used to crits and I’m used to TTing solo. We both ended up pushing some heavier wattage the first few miles into a slight headwind. Let’s just say the adrenaline was kicking. Jeff announced his was a little tired and I was more than happy to back off a little and get into a groove. After about 15 minutes of racing, we got a good rotation going.

I let Jeff call the shots to when he wanted to take over and when he wanted to rest. We definitely had different cycling strengths and LT wattages. I pulled longer at more steady wattage, but Jeff was able to rest then give a much stronger pull when he took over. Finding a rhythm and communicating is key to a successful 2-man TTT. It makes the race go faster (literally).

My favorite part was both us hammering into the finish at close to 30 MPH. Checking my PowerTap, we had just covered the course in 25.2 MPH. Not bad for having never practiced together. Our faces were covered with salt (a sign of a good TT). We were still gasping for air when we saw our teammates John Dugas and Peter Strittmatter at the starting line. We gave them some tips and I think our post race enthusiasm was contagious, since the two went on to post the best Cat 4 time of the day.

Whew! Despite being on the course for a little under an hour, it sure seemed to go quick. This is probably one of the biggest differences between a solo and team event. When you’re by yourself, you can only focus on your own pain. Having a teammate requires you to focus on them and the race. While a 4-man TTT requires more practice, a 2-man event can be done at the spur of a moment with a teammate.

After getting in a cool-down, Jeff and I took part in usual post race chit-chat with other riders. We also had a chance to catch up with fellow XXXers Chris Riekert and Ed Amstutz, who went on to post the third fastest time of the day and win the Cat 1/2s. This made for a very fun awards ceremony. XXX ended up with 2 first-place finishes (Chris, Ed, Jon, and Peter) and one third (Jeff and I). Without doubts, the best team showing of the day.

With my primary focus on TTs, I usually don’t get a chance to share in the excitement of seeing teammates get on the podium so this race was a treat. There are a few more team time trials this year and I highly recommend you try one if you get a chance.

Thanks to Jeff for racing with me (and his wife for being a good sport in watching one of the most boring spectator events ever). We both had a blast and it was great being out with several teammates. ABD out on another great TT, and I don’t think anyone went home disappointed.