Ravin' on... Racin' Goals

[SheFly]

Nice job! I loved reading that you kept a 33 - 40 kph pace on the way back - sounds like you were rockin'!

Hills stink . I have finally started coming OUT of my aero position to climb the one significant hill on our course - helps to open me up and breathe better, and provides leverage when I get out of the saddle to climb the hill...

Congrats on a great race!

SheFly

[RoadRaven]

Thanks SheFly and Hawk, I still feel really good about this race (though SheFly, I meant 33-34kms, not 33-40kms... I wish...)

Still perfecting the way to climb on bullhorns and aeros... on my RR bike I go into the drops or stand... but the TT bike handles a bit different and am still getting used to it.

I used my new Viper on the front (I'm still too heavy to risk both Vipers yet) and I don't know if it made a difference (though it is lighter than my training wheel) but I FELT fast

This Saturday is a 34km race but with three small hill climbs... haven't done this one before - well, not in this direction. So based on other times i have looked up from past races, I'm looking for a time of 1:15 to 1:20... time will tell.

[SheFly]

Hey Raven - how did you do on Saturday????

SheFly

[RoadRaven]

Hmmm... how'd I go Shefly? Thanks for asking!

As far as the race goes? Well, I sucked - Lanterne Rouge AGAIN
Think I need to paint those words on a plain red jersey!!!

However, til I was dropped I did some really positive things, like dragging 2 riders who had also been dropped up to a fourth rider and then we all worked well as a team.

These three dropped me on the first hill... ssssooo funny though - Ivan kept looking behind and waving me forward - I just called back as loud as possible "haha, very funny!"

So from there on in it was time trial mode... whew... time to dig deep and suck it up on the remaining hills.

So I get over the first hill and whistle down the other side 50-60kph (getting better and better at cornering downhill) and manage to pull myself to within about 25metres of them before the next hill... and then I lost them completely. Dropped my chain near the top of this middle hill (losing 30secs or so as I had to stop to sort it out) and by the time I got over and down, they had disappeared from sight.

Another flat so I slipped my hands over the top of my shifters and flattened my forearms, trying to get the best aero position possible.

Last hill, and after dropping my chain again (think I was kicking it off somehow...) I really tried to drag everything I could out of my thighs, kept my heart rate above 158bpm all the way... caught sight of one of the three I had been riding with - he'd lost touch with the other two, and that gave me the incentive I needed to keep myself under pressure... unfortunately I never caught him, but it was good to have someone to chase.

I was pleased with my time... 3 (for me) significant hills, a fair ammount of mild head wind, about a minute lost to getting the chain back and riding without the benefit of others...

1hour 18minutes... one of the women I aspire to ride like did it in 1:06 2 years ago... so I'm well on track - she has cycled for some time and is smaller and younger than me.

I'll get there... and I just have to accept that this was not my course - but wow - what a fantastic training workout!

(Despite not winning one race and regularly being eligible to be Lanterne Rouge... and because I have turned up every week this series... I am 12th on the points table out of 31 riders in my grade!)

This Saturday is a Team TT... I have two other women to ride with so far, we are of similar ability and strength and have ridden well together in road races... we just need to find one more. It should be much better than my last experience

[Trekhawk]

As always great ride report. I felt like I was there with you. Well done.

[RoadRaven]

Loooooong post - apologies in advance, but this was a fun day

Well, my second Team Time Trial has been – and gone… On page 2 in this thread, I described my first TTT last December, which was – if nothing else – a disappointment. It left me feeling frustrated and angry and useless.

However… Saturdays ride was an absolute pleasure (though uncomfortable at times, and intense, but nevertheless a pleasure). A relatively flat loop course… a total of 37.5km in a 3 lap circuitt.

I had approached a couple of other vet women a few weeks ago and they had seemed keen to ride. However, D hadn’t been along to the previous couple of races, and C had been unwell although had felt she should be on track to race. They may not be there to race - ah well, thats ok, and if they turned up we wouldn't make up the required 5, but we figured we could sort that on the day.

The day is a stunning Hawkes Bay day, calm, sunny, mild… spring has arrived. But when we get to the race venue, my compadrees are nowhere to be seen – yet. So I head off on a warm-up (and spend about 10 minutes picking up shattered Steinlagers off the road til a marshall arrives with a broom!). I was feeling a bit hoha at this point – my last TTT left me nothing to anticipate this time, so I was happy to tootle off on my own if no-one else made it.

Get back as the briefing begins, and see C… great, at least two of us can ride together. A bit later, D finds us… excellent, but we aren’t allowed to start til we have 5. So we line up on the side and wait hoping someone else doesn’t have the numbers for a team and together we can make one. A visiitor to the club arrives last minute, this will be her third ride with us (next time she has to join)… she’s a vet and she thinks she is about the grade we 3 ride in… perfect!

After a bit of cajoling, the starter lets our team line up (depsite having only 4 riders, but you need 4 to cross the line, so as long as we work together…)… the count down begins… and D says – sorry to do this to you guys, but I’ve got a flat! So the three of us head off and D walks her bike over the starting line, and we will pick her up on the second lap.

So, we set off, H and I have had a chance to warm up, but C hasn’t, so we ride this at a steady pace with H and I doing a bit more work than C while she finds her legs. I am impressed by how well we work together – I begin to think that this was a good race to come to and how it is nothing like the last TTT. C’s husband and daughter team pass us with words of encouragement. That feels good.

Lap 1 is over, we pick up D and C has found her legs and the pace picks up. A nasty head wind in a couple of places, but we rotate well, take turns according to our strengths and even find time to chat occasionally! Our average is looking good. Half way through the second lap we see a couple of riders who, Tour de France style, have been taken out by a labrador, they are ok, but shout a warning. We are passed by my partner and son's team, they don’t seem to notice us but it doesn't matter, they are intent on not letting the fastest team in the club catch them so I feel good knowing they are all together and not in pieces on the road.

Lap 3, and our pace still hasn’t dropped. We are working so well together. This is so much fun. We still haven’t been passed by everyone and we have passed a couple of teams. We aren’t last, I think to myself – and strangely for me – this doesn’t matter so much. I am enjoying myself so much, our final place doesn’t really concern me.

We dig it in on the final straight, I take it up to 36kph (into the head wind) and then when I start to drop back to 35, D takes over, and as she drops off we approach the finish. We cross the line together, H and C whooping with pleasure… we rocked. We absolutely rocked.

We were the only four woman team, we had only three riders for the first lap and four for the following two (many teams still had five riders when they finished). Yet despite the disadvantage of team size, we still came 17th out of 22 teams and we all felt good about it. We did a very comendable time of 1hour 11mins. Did I say our team ROCKED!!!!?

[SheFly]

Yahoo! That was a FUN race report to read - so much different from your last TTT. And you were kranking at 36 kph . Congrats on a terrific race - in the end, feeling good about what you have done and HAVING FUN are the most important aspects of the race.

Well done.

SheFly

[RoadRaven]

On the 14th July we raced around Apley, and we did it again yesterday... on the scale of the other 124 riders there my ride was probably unremarkable... but in relation to me... it rocked.

I shaved a full minute off my July time despite an extremely strong nor'wester on the way out and nasty cross gusts on the downhills. I could have probably got another minute or so because the tail wind back was mighty, but I was towing two other vet women and everytime I got up over 45kph they dropped off. Next time I think I'll just TT it on my own if I am in the same position and go for a PB.

One of the more senior/better riders who was supporting some of the other riders there passed me and slowed down and passed me a few times as he checked on other riders. He came up to me afterwards and told me what he thought I was a very strong rider... that was nice to hear.

Afterwards I sat and waited for my partner to arrive back from marshalling, and chatted with a few other riders. One was telling me how her husband was comparing her to one of her training partners (as in, you're not as strong/fast/quick as her). I sat and listened and thought how very lucky I am to have a partner who believes in my ability so strongly and unquestioningly even though we are poles apart in ability. He has never once told me that I am not good enough, fast enough or should be doing better (or ever given me reason to believe he even thinks this).

He is one of the main reasons I keep turning up to races... cause he knows that just finishing a race can be challenge enough.

Saturday was a good race day... and I wasn't last home either!

[Trekhawk]

On the 14th July we raced around Apley, and we did it again yesterday... on the scale of the other 124 riders there my ride was probably unremarkable... but in relation to me... it rocked.

I shaved a full minute off my July time despite an extremely strong nor'wester on the way out and nasty cross gusts on the downhills. I could have probably got another minute or so because the tail wind back was mighty, but I was towing two other vet women and everytime I got up over 45kph they dropped off. Next time I think I'll just TT it on my own if I am in the same position and go for a PB.

One of the more senior/better riders who was supporting some of the other riders there passed me and slowed down and passed me a few times as he checked on other riders. He came up to me afterwards and told me what he thought I was a very strong rider... that was nice to hear.

Afterwards I sat and waited for my partner to arrive back from marshalling, and chatted with a few other riders. One was telling me how her husband was comparing her to one of her training partners (as in, you're not as strong/fast/quick as her). I sat and listened and thought how very lucky I am to have a partner who believes in my ability so strongly and unquestioningly even though we are poles apart in ability. He has never once told me that I am not good enough, fast enough or should be doing better (or ever given me reason to believe he even thinks this).

He is one of the main reasons I keep turning up to races... cause he knows that just finishing a race can be challenge enough.

Saturday was a good race day... and I wasn't last home either!

Well done Raven!!!
Yes sometimes its good to be reminded just how wonderful your partner is. Obviously from your conversation they are not all like that.
Sounds like you have a gem.