...time trialing is addictive!

Three years ago, I talked DH into doing a time trial that was being hosted in Maine (we were on vacation, and have a house there). It was a 13 mile out and back. We both showed up with our regular road bike, which, at that time, still had MTB pedals on them. I was VERY intimidated - other racers had skin suits, full TT setups, etc.

It was a relatively "flat" course (a few rollers for good measure), and I ended up having the fastest "First Timer" ride, and the second fastest ride in my age category (36:18/21.1 mph)! That was it - I was hooked.

We came back home, and found a weekly TT put on by a local bike club. I have now been doing this TT for three seasons, on a fiarly regular/weekly basis. Last year, I upgraded to a dedicated TT bike, and this year added aero helmet and a skinsuit (now I am one of those dorky looking people ).

Our local course is a 9.75 mile loop (all right hand turns), and includes one significant (?) hill (it's a big ring climber). The first time I did this course, I finished in 27:18 (21 mph). By the end of the season, I had reduced that to 25:45 (22.71 mph). I set a PR this season, hitting 24:32 (23.72 mph). I am hoping to best that in the next few weeks, before this season is done.

DH and I also started doing this race on our tandem in the first season. In our first attempt, we finished in 23:07 (25.32 mph). This year, we added a TT-specific tandem - full aero bars, disk rear wheel, etc. Just this week, we hit a PR of 21:08:01! This is within 9 seconds of the course record for tandems (which we are hoping to break!).

As I said, this gets addictive! I have learned that the TT is my specialty, but this experience has also launched my road racing for the season, and in my first year (this season), I competed in and finished 12 races! The TT skills come in handy as a great base.

Have a great time! I love competing against myself....

SheFly