Fitchburg Day #1- Individual Time Trial June 2007

The morning started out ok. I warmed up on my road bike on the trainer in the parking lot for a bit and then jumped on my TT bike to make sure it was working ok. When I rode the course the night before it wouldn't shift well at all. I asked around and found a mechanic that adjusted the derailleur.

When I was warming up my heart rate monitor decided to die. Great. Had to do the ITT without my heart rate. I would have to monitor myself based on perceived exertion. I was fine with that, as long as my bike worked. As I rode the mile or so to the start, I went through my gears to make sure I could go from big ring to small ring with no problem. The shifting problem was back. I would have to stay in my big ring the whole time in order to avoid not being able to switch back into the big ring if I went into the small ring on the climbs. For most time trials this wouldn't be an issue, but for this time trial it really was. There were some significant climbs.

I rolled to the line and just figured I would do what I could and should direct my frustration into my legs. The first hill was extremely painful in the big ring. I stood up and powered through the climb the best I could. There were a couple other climbs that I attacked the best I could, but I was exhausted. I like to spin up hills and having no choice but to be in a hard gear was awful. Since I didn't have my heart rate monitor I had no idea if I was going hard enough or too hard. My breathing was heavy and I was drenched in sweat. I kept going though, reminding myself that there was a sweet descent into the finish. I got as aero as I could in the descent and powered to the finish.

After crossing the line, I continued up the road spinning my legs out. I was convinced I had messed up my chances of a top 5 finish. I had passed 2 women, but they seemed to be struggling and have learned that passing someone is no accurate indication of how well you did. I ran into Cecelia from Radical Media, my future teammate and we chatted and commiserated as we made our way back to the parking lot.

I was pretty upset after this race. I felt great and my equipment had failed me. I found out later that the bike shop had put the wrong derailleur on! No wonder I couldn't shift. A while later I learned that I got 4th. I almost cried, not out of happiness...but out of some kind of twisted emotions that I couldn't stomach. Anger at the bike shop, frustration with all of the training I had done...relief that I didn't totally suck .etc... I can't help but wonder how well I could have done if I could have shifted into the gears that I wanted. Could I have beated the girl in 3rd only a few seconds ahead of me???

I took a deep breath and moved on. Time to go ride the circuit race course with Lisa. This was her first time doing Fitchburg so it was important she ride the course and see the final turn at the bottom of the descent.