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:)