New TT position and New Catlike Aero Chrono Plus

My helmet arrived today from Scotland today so I thought I'd post some pics of the helmet and position pics that someone might enjoy.

New Jersey 36k ITT

(pics will be added when/if I can get some)

48* and misty. It was about as flat as a course of that length could possibly be. This race is an interesting on because instead of a true 36k ITT it is actually 2 18k ITTs. At the end of the first half there is a finish line because on this road they can't stop traffic to allow a turnaround. After you cross the first finish line you line back up in the order that you crossed and they restart you back towards the next finish line at 30 second intervals.
My race started badly because I wasn't clipped into my left peddle at that start line and then I had trouble getting clipped in because I had accidentally walked though some mud in the parking area. It took about a quarter mile to get clipped in but then everything was working fine. I got into a rhythm and felt pretty good. Apparently I had bumped my cadence sensor when I put my disc wheel on because it wasn't showing any reading but I still had my speed and time display. I felt good and was happy that I didn't have any asthma related "issues" when I made it to the turn around.
Wow, that break in the middle of an ITT sure is nice. I makes me think that maybe this should be common protocol. Anyway, I had more trouble getting clipped in when I started the second half of the race. After that short break I felt much better on the return trip. It makes me rethink my whole warm up strategy (harder warm up from now on). I was feeling strong and all was going OK when I saw the 5k sign and I picked my effort up a bit for the last push to the finish. Next up was 3k and a little harder. Finally 1k and I was sprinting from the aero position. I was really hurting and was pretty sure my finish time would be pretty good but the finish line wasn't coming nearly fast enough. Afterwords I found out that the 5k, 3k and 1k to go road markings were painted on the road in 2008 and the finish line had been moved roughly 0.5 miles down the road this year. This made for a really painful 1k that ended up being 1.1 miles but it probably improved my time by starting my final push from further out so I'm OK with it. I truly had nothing, and I mean nothing, left at the end so all is right with the world. I ended up winning the overall in 0:57:41. My fastest race ever:)
48* and misting is a nice, although cool, temperature to race in but afterwords I was absolutely freezing. It took almost an hour after I was cleaned up and dried off before I started to warm up:) I guess winning warms your soul but does nothing for the rest of your body.

*Almost forgot to say "Thank you Rich" for letting me borrow his TT helmet:)

Lake Ontelaunee TT

My first race of the 2009 season was this past Saturday. A 10 mile TT seems like just the right way to start off the season. Just long enough to cause a significant amount of pain but still short enough to be able to go full speed even with mediocre early season fitness. It was a fun course and I really enjoyed it. It was a hilly course for a TT. I don't know if there was any flat ground in the entire 10 miles. Even though it was a bumpy course there was only one section where I felt like I was spinning out my largest gear (54x12). I wish I had put on a cassette with an 11 tooth cog for that section. I could have made the 3 seconds difference that I ended up loosing by.
Well, I guess I spilled the beans, I lost. I had a pretty good race but the cold weather was really messing with my breathing. I was having trouble the entire race after the first 2 minutes but it peaked 2 miles from the finish. I felt someone was sitting on my chest. I ended up winning my category and breaking the prior course record but I got beat by a master's racer. In the end it ended up being alot of fun for an early season race and I ended up winning my registration back plus $2 so it didn't cost anything. Also, I managed to get some USCF points to help in my quest for complete domination of the rankings this year and to improve on my final rank from last year of #19. I have kicked my training into high gear now with T Max Intervals. These things hurt but hopefully it will be worth it. With longer days and warmer weather on the horizon this should be interesting.

Lactate intervals

I finally made the switch from steady state intervals to lactate intervals. Also made it outside for a few rides this week. Other than that not very much exciting happening here. I can't wait to get some racing in.