Bob Schwartz wrote:
> One of the early season races near here is a 16 mile, 4 corner TT.
> A big square, 4 miles to a side, held in the near ghost town of
> Willard, WI. I say near ghost town because not all the houses are
> abandoned yet, but the abandoned rail right-of-way is long enough
> gone that it is difficult to tell where it went. It does have a
> public structure large enough to host the event, and the fact that
> hardly anyone one lives there anymore is a plus for the event.
>
> This is a rural area and one of the defining characteristics of the
> race is wind. Regardless of where it is coming from, there is nothing
> between there and the course to slow it down.
>
> I have been doing the race on our tandem with my kid. This year I asked
> if she wanted to solo. She thought about it awhile, and said she did.
>
> I fitted her mountain bike with aero bars and took her out for a couple
> of rides. Riding with her elbows on the pads was disquieting for her
> at first, and she worried about not being able to easily reach the
> brakes. But she adjusted. She rides with her heels on the pedals and
> we've discussed why it is better to ride with the ball of the foot over
> the pedal axle blah blah blah. I thought about adding toe clips to limit
> the heel pedaling, but decided against it. One must choose one's battles
> wisely.
>
> She weighs nothing and I knew she'd have trouble into the wind. We
> talked a little about where it is im****tant to be slippery to the wind
> and where it is less im****tant and she could ride more upright.
>
> She was a tendency to ride in the biggest gear and slog up hills. We
> talked about choosing an easier gear when the riding is hard. I was
> tempted to tell her that cadence was a red herring. But I didn't.
>
> I went off first and started well. This race uses two start lines and 15
> second gaps so there are lots of rabbits to chase. This was a good
> spring for skiing, which doesn't mess up my knees like bike riding does.
> So I've been ****fting some of my exercise time away from the bike. I
> think I'd been out for maybe 100 miles total before the race, so I was
> in fine FM form. Even so, this is a good course for larger riders. The
> hills are rollers and a lot of wind favors guys that can plow through
> it. So I reeled in a fair number of earlier starters and didn't see
> anyone come past me until past the half way point.
>
> I finished OK, not great, 31st out of 78 starters. I know, I know, I
> need to start stocking the fridge with bags of blood. Especially if
> I am going to be so reticent about actually riding my bike.
>
> After fini****ng I turned around and headed back out on the course
> looking for my kid. I found her about 4 miles out. This was just
> after the worst headwind leg. She had been passed by almost all of
> the later starters. I asked her if she was OK and she said she felt
> pretty good. She started 15 seconds after me and was probably not
> too far past the halfway point when I finished. I think she had a
> hell of a time in the headwind. She weighs nothing and, even with
> the aero bars, was riding a bike with the aerodynamic efficiency of
> a dog turd. But if she had a hard time she wasn't going to let on.
>
> She finished the race and took first place in her age category as
> the only entrant. This was her first solo bike race, and she wore
> the medal for the rest of the day.
>
> The race had a special prize for the true fatty master. It was for
> the most speed/pound. I thought I was a contender for that. But there
> was a large guy that had about a 10% advantage in the numerator, which
> was enough to overcome my slight advantage in the denominator. So I
> went home empty handed. C'est la vie.
>
Wait a second, this thread was for less-than-inspiring race re****ts.
That was inspiring. Congratulations for your kid. Now you can sell the
tandem.
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