Ice Breaker TT

Today was my very first bike race and it was a blast! The race was a 10-mile time trial where you ride out 5 miles, turn around, and then head back to the start. If it wasn't for my kick-ass boyfriend I wouldn't have even made it out there. When my alarm went off at 6:30am I was grumbling and thinking the typical "Why oh why am I getting up at 6 in the f*** morning to go ride my bike?". After lots of prodding I finally got up and the weather actually looked decent -- just very cloudy. By the time I had a quick breakfast and was ready to load up my bike a typhoon had come in. It was POURING rain and the wind was gusting hard. I was ready to bail at that point but Marcus urged me to go since he didn't want me to be the person who never shows up for races. I very reluctantly agreed.

The drive down to Flaming Geyser State Park was rainy and windy and I was tempted to turn around lots of times, but went ahead and stuck it out. I was one of the last people to register and got a 10:50 start time which also made me one of the last people to run the course. I was a little depressed since I figured I'd be the slowest person out there and being last would make it obvious. Plus, I had about two hours to wait around until it was my turn.

The late start time turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the first people riding the course had to deal with very gusty winds. By the time 10:50 rolled around the weather had improved and it was warmer and the winds had mostly stopped. I got in line to go and had so much adrenaline pumping it was insane. It was a little nerve-wracking that I had to clip into my bike and wait while someone held me up. Then I got the 5-second countdown and I was off. I took off quickly but was taking care not to go out too quickly as my biggest concern was lasting the entire 10-mile course. Surprisingly enough I was zooming along at 25mph. I had been warned that there was a big headwind on the way back, so I was trying to take advantage of the tailwind on the way out as much as possible without wearing myself out for the ride back.

As soon as I got to the turn-around point and headed back it was like hitting a wall. The headwind was so strong it was really a downer. I was working hard and having lots trouble even getting up to 16mph. Most of the way back I was fighting my legs and just trying to stay between 14-16mph. The race went so unbelievably fast though that I was at 9 miles before I knew it and then I could see the finish! I cranked hard and crossed the line with a time of 32:08; about a 19mph average.

I went into this race with no expectations since this is my first year and speed is not my forte. Honestly, after my performance testing at CycleU where I struggled to do 18.5mph for a 5-mile time trial, I was fully expecting not to average over 18 for the Ice Breaker. My time was a pleasant surprise and even better was that I wasn't quite the slowest Cat 4 racer!

Official Results