Race report - CMC 2up time trial

It was a foggy day in Auckland. Even at 1pm, on our way to Waiuku, there were pouches of fog in the hills. Today was my first seriously intense workout since my stint as a staggiaire in the plains of the Taranaki. My mates Martin, Carl and Gordo and myself were the racing party, with no support crew or supporting vehicle.

We raced the Counties Manukau Cycling 2person TT, an event held once a year by the cycling club. This was my first time doing a 2person TT and the first serious TT (40km) since the qualifying race for Budapest.

We parked in Carl's mum place in Waiuku and rode to the start (13km) as a warm up. There we registered and got cold over 1hr until our turn to start came. Gordo and Carl were team 1 (the vixens) and Martin and I were team 2. There was just 1min difference in the start.

The course is a flat out and back 10km and we had to do 2 laps. Head wind on the way in and tail wind on the way back, temperature was 14/15 degrees. The plan was to do 1min each on the way in and 2min each coming back and try to stick to 35/36 and 42/45 kmh. It's a funny dynamic, because you have to keep a constant dialogue with your partner to check speed is OK, turns are fair, and the general comment when passing or being passed. I'm quite a talker at races and had no trouble, and I had to warn M. a couple of times so he didn't get  carried away.

We cought the guys after the first turnaroud and it was all working pretty much to plan until 2km to halfway, I kind of bonked for 5km and had good ol' Martin doing more than his fair share of the work in the front. I was not 100% with a runny nose and some coughing, so I didn't feel guilty for that.

After a good gel fix I was back in the game and took some turns in the front, allowing my mate to drink and gel himself. The speed dropped from 35 to 33.5 onto the headwind and after the final turnaround I put my head down and went for it, unfortunatelly I wasn't doing super well and Martin was able to tow me at a higher speed. I happily sat in the back for 5 of the last 10m and was able to drive the last 3km.
We finished in a respectable 64.5min and waited for our mates.

We rode back 20km to the cars, and jumped on another 1hr trip to Auckland. It was a fun event and I wouldn't mind doing it again. Triathlon races are bike TT's in the middle of a swim and a 10km sprint, and the more practice I get, the better I'll be for Budapest. The weather could have been more gentle, but all in all I'm happy with my afternoon (probably because I didn't measure my HR, ha ha ha)

Date: 26 June
Sport:  Cycling
Time: 140min
Dist: 68km (40TT)
Comment: racing, that's the name of the game