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3rd Saitama Time Trial May 10th

Phil

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Sep 1, 2007
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Entries now being accepted for the Saitama Time Trial on the JCRC page.

5/10(日)
第3回埼玉県タイムトライアルロードレース大会
(埼玉車連) 利根川上流河川敷内工事用道路10km
(加須市大利根町区域)個人TTとチーム

May 10th (Sun), in Kazo City, Saitama
Individual and team time trials, flat course, 10km and 20km races.

Scene of past glory for me, but moving up a grade so unlikely to repeat. I know there are more than a few TCCers who could do very well in this. One of the rare opportunities in Japan to try a flat TT.

Anyone interested in entering a TTC team?
 
Pete, Charles, really good to see you guys today, thanks for coming out. Turned out I was 8th, 5(?) seconds out of 6th, so missed my goal :( Will post full post-mortem once the results are up on JCRC site.
 
Was good to watch the TT today.
Phil, rode strong...faster than last year too.
Had to run home so didn't get to find out your placing...
Nursing some sunburn at the moment... :eek:

Was a great day to be out on the bike...

Chazzer had a big day too... hope you got home safely...
 
At home

and nursing some spectacular suntan which matches my new bling but all of which is in the shade compared to Phil`s excellent efforts. Well done sir !!:D

chazzer
 
Hi Guys

Would have loved to join the flat TT, but am not in Tokyo before Wednesday :) Hope to meet some of you guys on the road, as I am in Tokyo for the next 3 weeks.

Thomas
 
Results

Unregistered, 10km: http://www.jcrc-net.jp/kekka09/09saitt/s09st1mk.html
All results: http://www.jcrc-net.jp/kekka09/09saitt/r09saitt.html

My time was 0:14:41.603, for an average speed of 40.83.
About 4.5 seconds out of 6th spot, but a looong 39 seconds behind the winner.

Was slightly disappointed not to make the podium, but did improve over last year, so can't really complain.

Post Mortem

Training
Had fewer kms, and less intense kms, than at this point last year. That said, I did try to train specifically for this race. In retrospect, however, I don't think I did enough of the right kind of training; too many leisurely 2*20min intervals, and not enough intense 3*5 or 5*3. Also probably needed to do two interval sessions a week, rather than one.

Equipment
Considered getting an aero helmet or wheel cover, but decided against it. The Ridley is 2cm higher in the HT than the Pedal Force, and so I couldn't get as low at the front--I think this might have cost a couple of watts.

Riding the Race
Went much harder this year than last; this is probably where most of my gains came from. Last year I kept the HR around 172-174; this year I went out at 178 and it didn't go under that until near the very end...went over 180 a couple of times too. Don't think I could have ridden any harder.

(Once again, I was struck by how much easier it is to maintain a high heart rate in actual competition; in training, I almost never got it over 170, and when I did I would invariable pull back or end the session, it was just too hard. Actually doing races really is the best training...)

Reality Check
And just in case I needed reminding that we're all just little cycling minnows competing against other cycling minnows in a tiny pond, three Bridgestone Anchor pros came out to ride the 20km; at least one of them had competed in the Olympics and raced with the pros in Europe. They were top three in their category; the winning average speed over 20km?

48.96km/h

In cycling, there's always someone who is faster than you...and there's always someone who can soft-pedal past you like you're a 3 year-old riding a Big Wheel around the driveway.
 
Wha...
My riding buddy at Oi Tanaka San (syzergy) took fourth on the individual.
Amazing what rolling around Oi all Sunday morning can do.
 
good job anyway

Phil,

I think you did pretty well; I don't know the track, weather conditions, wind etc. but to ride faster tan 40 km/hr over 15 minutes time is a respectable achievement. I checked some other endurance race results from my databank,
first 15 minutes, and her you can draft but it is hardly more than 40 km/hr.

Obviously there are riders better than us, but hey, these guys only ride and we live, blog, drink and do lot's of other things.

I fully share your observation about performance in training vs, performance in racing. Amazing what competition can do with your body.
 
I have another out of town riding friend from the states, William, who's a national level time trialist. He comes to Japan for business sometimes and I escort him around to some riding areas. On those occasions he was using his regular road bike. We did some intervals together. One time he didn't come around for a pull, I slowed and he rode up to me and told me I was too strong for him. I was shocked that a guy who can roll a 30+ mph time trial would say that. He insisted to me that he in fact isn't so strong and time trailing is about many factors that don't play out in regular training rides on road bikes. Positioning and aerodynamics chiefly among them. I still think he was BS' ing me to some degree but it also shows that you get good at what you train for. For example, Tanaka san was exclusively using his TT bike for training starting last November, so he had this event in sight for over four months. Living in Tokyo and not getting a lot of good group training time trail is the sensible choice for competitive event so hats off to Tanaka for pulling a good ride. I wonder if he'll try a break away at the TOJ race, if so his road bike may not work the same magic but I hope so.
 
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