Onslow Tarbabies Individual Time Trial (ITT)

 

Like the recent OTB Criterium, Mossy again worked his magic and ably assisted by Digger organised a time-trial for our members. Even for those, like me who aren’t quite fast enough to “race” but like to pretend all the same. :).

 

Whilst great claims can be made about rain-proof courses it is the middle of winter in Wellington right now and I must admit that I had my doubts about the allegedly non-rain affected course.

Event takes place even if wet. The course is not exposed and not affected by rain.

Ride Data:
Distance:	17.6km	821 Calories
Time:	32m 25s	32.6 km/h 39.5 km/h MAX
Heart-rate:	Avg: 94% of MAX	Max: 98% of MAX
Cadence:	Avg: 96 rpm	Max: 111 rpm
Ride Data:	Garmin Connect / RideWithGPS
Location:	Wellington, NZ	17 July 2010

… If only Mossy could organise the weather as well as the races?

 

This was the first tine I had ever ridden in a time-trial and at 18km it was contrast of extremes both in the weather, as well a the riding from my last event, the Grand Tour: Highland Double Century under the Californian sun.

 

The course was three laps of a 6km circuit. The first-half was more-or-less flat with a southerly tail-wind, whilst the second-half lap had a few minor bumps to accompany the return head-wind.

 

My laps got progressively slower, with recorded lap times of 10m29s; 10m51s and 11m05s.

 

Lap three began with Scott charging past me as if I was at home sitting on a stationery trainer. Perhaps he had thought it was a handicap race? Whether it was time-trial or handicap he certainly left us all in his wake (both figuratively and physically) on this amphibious day.  I could feel my legs as the final lap progressed, and the rain in my eyes after removing my completely fogged sunglasses certainly didn’t during this, my final and slowest lap. Unfortunately toward the end of this lap John F, and John H both passed me to convincingly destroy me against the clock having started 2 and 3 minutes behind me respectively.

 

Heart-rate Zones:
Zone 1:	0 min
Zone 2:	0 min
Zone 3:	0 min
Zone 4:	1 min
Zone 5:	30 min

Riding the short time-trial was at a vastly higher level of intensity than I usually ride with in the long endurance rides I typically participate in. Hopefully this will help me increase my capacity to ride harder during the pending spring endurance rides. Aside from the first few pedal strokes, I was riding with both high cadence, and heart-rate with the ticker running in “Zone 5” the entire time – great workout!

 

I recorded a time of 32m25s today for an average speed of 32.5km/hr. ‘twas atrocious weather, but as always I would have liked to have been a little quicker. To achieve that I'm going to have to add a lot more intensity to my training. Hopefully we’ll have another ITT soon so I have an opportunity to seek improvement.

 

 

Date	17th July 2010
Weather	Steady rain, light southerly, Temp approx 10deg C
Route	Liverton Road, Upper Hutt
Name	Start	Lap 1	Lap 2	Finish	Net Time
Kara	15:13	15.23.28	15:34.33	15:45.37	32:37
Jackie	15:14	15:24.32	15:35.34	15:46.33	32:33
Craig	15:15	15:25.29	15:36.20	15:47.25	32:25
Mike	15:16	15:26.35	15:37.13	15:47.52	31:52
Chris	15:20	15:30.08	15:40.34	15:51.02	31:02
John H.	15:17	15:26.45	15:36.48	15:46.45	29:45
John F.	15:18	15:27.34	15:37.30	15:47.23	29:23
Tim	15:21	15:29.51	15:39.13	15:48.24	27:24
Scott	15:19	15:27.48	15:36.46	15:45.47	26:47

Tour de Roadworks

Tour de Ranges Roadworks 2010

It was not the best start to the weekend when I was trapped at Wellington Airport for an extra 90-minutes due to rain and fog in Wellington. Waking up in Auckland on Saturday morning it was not any better with rain and mist covering the entire region witnessed during the drive from the North Shore down to Clevedon at the other end of the City.

 

The start of the ride was a little unusual with ‘GO’ being spoken without a proceeding countdown causing some confusion among the cyclists at the front of the start line. Once off the line there was the usual helter-skelter start as riders tried to get the preferred bunches at the front of the field. The hills through the first ten kilometres ably performed the duty of sorting the riders into groups nearer their own fitness and ability.

Ride Data:
Distance:	108km	5,358 Calories
Time:	3:58:55	27.1 km/h
Elevation:	Ascent: 1158m	Descent: 1168m
Ride Data:	Garmin Connect Player
Location:	Auckland, NZ	23 January 2010

 

The route of the Tour de Ranges Roadworks has the potential to be a brilliant mix of scenery, undulating hills and very low motor-traffic volumes. Unfortunately the road conditions for 2010 were a let down due to roadworks and to a lesser extent the weather. Personally, I would not train on roads in this state. The gravel on the roads equates to shredding expensive tyres and potentially dangerous blowouts. Having ridden in other events that have altered their courses in the past, the further into the ride witnessing all the puncture repairs I was a tad surprised that the course had not been changed or relocated to elsewhere in the Auckland region today. It was certainly enough to give those at the elite end of the spectrum rather potty mouths! Fortunately I did not have lightweight race tyres on today and managed to complete the course puncture free. It felt like I was in the minority not puncturing today!

 

While I witnessed many punctures in the first 10-15km, with a smidgen of loose gravel sprinkled over the sealed roads the real trouble was further up the road. To call it roadworks may be kind, as that would presume that there would have to be some road. There were two or three large sections of roadworks in which the road became a loosely formed track with its surface consisting of rocks rather than bitumen or even gravel. Along these sections the distance to puncture ratio continued to decline rapidly with countless riders on road edge swapping inner-tubes and re-inflating their tyres.

 

Somewhere near Hunua my right eye became irritated. I presumed I had water and spray in it from a wheel in front of me. Unable to clear it, and regretting leaving my cycling glasses on my dining table in Wellington I was riding as a one-eyed alien the rest of the way to the finish. A combination of being half blind, rain and mist meant I completely missed the promised views of the Hunua Ranges from with the Tour de Ranges Roadworks gets its name.

 

A gradual incline from Mangatawhiri led to a sweet descent down to Kaiaua bringing us to the coast and even some sunshine! Wow! Without the rain and mist it was nice fast ride along the Seabird Coast before the route became more undulating with a couple of short climbs before the King of the Mountains climb up Snake Hill. The KOM, U23 and line honours went to Tom Findlay an hour-and-a-quarter in front of me – best I stick to my day job!!

 

Once over Snake Hill, it was back into the rain and mist with the last 20km was gentle and undulating offering the chance for me to regain my breath before I made a sprint at the line to ensure I finished in under four hours – 3:58:55 phew!!

 

St John Ambulance kindly rinsed my little eyeball at the finish but in the end it was a visit to the doctor and with aid of his magic gue and a couple of days it sorted itself out. Must not ever leave my glasses behind again!!!

 

Looking forward to returning with the roadworks completed and the hope of more sunshine. Any meaningful statistics on punctures today would make enlightening reading. There must have been 100 or so? More?? Not what one normally thinks of when speaking of cycling a century!