My apologies in taking so long to write this one up! I've been waiting on some photos, but what the heck - I'll write the report and add the photos in later.
The time trial took place on Yarra Boulevard, a stretch of road about 15 minutes ride out of the Melbourne CBD. It winds its way through a park of sorts, with very little traffic. Check out this bikely link to have a look.
Unlike a traditional TT course, this course was very hilly. I think at any given time we were either descending or climbing, and they were not gradual inclines.
Normally in a TT, the goal is to dish out a reasonably constant level of power the entire way, so that you are just hitting the wall as you finish. This becomes a bit harder on a hilly course, because you cannot go as hard on the downhills as you can on the uphills - at a certain point it makes sense to just tuck in and coast as fast as you can.
Thus, the goal is to go above your usual TT power on the climbs, and 'recover' on the descents. I could go into the physics of it... but this is the fastest strategy on a hilly course (similarly, in a flat TT you should go harder into a headwind than when you have a tailwind).
Anyway. The course itself was a 6km stretch of road - each lap was out to the turnaround point and back to the start. We did 3 laps of this for a total of 36km. The TT was probably the most important race for me, because I knew it was probably the only one that I would be finishing!
I had number 6 on my back, and as such kicked off pretty early in the list.
There is not much to write about in a TT report! I followed my strategy of going hard on the hills and recovering as much as I could on the descents. I still pedalled as much as I could while descending, and got into an aero tuck whenever my speed got sufficiently high.
Speaking of aero... Sam had lent me his teardrop TT helmet for the occassion so I was looking very pro! (pics to come...) In actuality, I felt like a bit of an idiot wearing it - definitely a case of more show than go!
My first lap I went out perhaps a little too hard, but finished it in a bit under 18 minutes, which was good. I was initially aiming for about 19 minute laps. The second lap wasn't quite as quick, probably because I was fading a little from my initial effort. The third lap I think sped up a little, with the adrenalin of finishing kicking in - I find this usually hits me as soon as they ring that bell signifying the last lap!
In the end I finished with a time of 54:22. This put me 26th out of 43 starters, which I was happy with. The winner's time was a smashing 48:42!
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