On Track for Nationals

Sunday I went out and raced the Carlisle 40KM time trial as a prep for Nationas and to see how my form is coming along. This was the first 40K I've done all year, so I was eager to see how I would run.

The Carlisle course is on rolling roads with mostly elevation gain on the way out and then generally downhill on the way back. On Sunday the roads were wet from morning rains (which stopped just in time for the race!) and there was also a steady headwind on the way out which turned into a nice tailwind for the return trip after the turnaround. Here is the course profile:


After warming up, I headed out to the start line which was about 1.5 miles away from the parking area. About 5 minutes before my start, I noticed that my rear tire seemed a little low on air; I must have gotten a slow leak! I thought to myself "I better ride fast or I'm going to be stuck out on course with a flat tire!" My plan of attack was to go out fast into the headwind, but keeping a high cadence and conserve a bit for the way back with the tailwind. My plan must have worked well, because I won with a time of 50:50. The next finisher in the Pro/1/2 was about 2.5 minutes back! At the awards presentation the race promoter announced that my time was a new course record. Cool. Turns out my rear tire was going flat too. I started with 135psi and after I finished it was down to about 70! Official results can be downloaded here.

This time trial helped to confirm my form heading into Nationals. I'm feeling pretty good right now, but I still have a bit of speed to squeeze out of my legs before July.

Thanks for reading. -- Al