Race Report #2; Withrow Time Trail

Tuesday night was the first time trail bicycle race of 2006. I have done this once a monthly event for the last couple of Summers. A time trail is just that, you against the clock. The biggest trick is learning to pace yourself so that you don't go too fast to begin with. It's really easy to get excited and think that you can go faster in those first few miles. The total distance for this 'TT' is 13 miles over rolling country roads. The area near Stillwater, MN is quite pretty but it's hard to think of anything except your burning lungs. Each person starts 30 seconds behind the last rider so that there is no drafting. It's possible to catch that person if you are faster then them in which case you must pass them as quickly as possible. No free rides - it's against the rules. Same is true in triathlons.
The 34 minutes on the road are pretty uneventful and not that interesting to write about. Mostly I tuck into the aerobars and alternately watch the road and heart rate monitor. I managed to catch 3 riders in front of me. The race officals like to start the race with the slower riders so catching them is really no indication of being super fast. I got caught by one guy that WAS super fast. He blew by me.
I wasn't expecting to do all that great and certainly not as well as last year because I'm running more then biking so far this year. In the end I was not far off my average with a pace of 23.24 mph. My best pace ever was 23.9 mph. My friend and next door neighbor Jeff did much better at 24.62 mph. To put it in perspective, 25-30 mph is considered fast and professional racers would be well over 30 mph.
So now I've had 2 good indicators of my running and biking abilities this season. I'm quite happy with where I'm at.