MATTS Double Bong 40K TT
August 9, 2009 – Kansasville, WI
Masters 30+ – 3rd – 58:12.43
247 watts – 25.3 MPH

Now, I know how a hamburger on Uncle Ned’s grill feels.  Just looking at the weather conditions before the Double Bong 40K TT, I knew my performance would be uglier than Aunt Martha’s pickled herring potato salad. Some people can’t take the cold, others the wind, but for me it’s the heat.  I’ve never raced well in it, even when I’m conditioned. Still, I was determined to push myself as much as possible after some great speed in my last two races.

The Double Bong is normally held in May, but this year it was moved to August.  The Wisconsin State TT champsionships were held on the same course the day before, so crowds were fairly light compared to earlier in the season.  In fact, I was surprised by the number of no-shows. I guess the heat scared a lot of people away. And, it was toasty.  Temps were 86 degrees F (97 degrees F heat index) when I raced at 9:30 AM. The wind helped cool you down a little, but the air was thick enough to require a machete (or a disc wheel).to cut through it.

Rose and I got up to the start about 45 minutes before our race.  I wasn’t too anxious to do a long warm-up in the heat, especially when I was planning to start easier than normal. The winds were out of the SW at about 15-20 MPH with gusts up to 25 MPH. I knew it would be hard on the back stretch of the 20K loop, but the wind would make the finishing straight a lot of fun. I felt good at the start and was happy to have my Camelbak full of water, because I knew I would need it. The first 10K went well.  Considering the headwind, I was averaging good speed, with strong power output, and my heart rate wasn’t too high. The next 10K were with a tailwind and I began to worry with heart rate creeping towards its max.  My split at halfway was 28:00 even, which I was happy with considering the conditions.  Then the heat began to take its toll.

My easy run the day before reminded me how much the heat can impact heart rate.  I’ve had heat stroke several times before and always get nervous when I start approaching my max HR and I can begin to feel the overexertion. The one advantage to having pushed it too much in the heat before is that I now know when to back off. Just after turning into the headwind for the second lap, I knew the heat was getting to me.  I really struggled for the last lap. My legs felt awesome, but my HR came skyrocketing everytime I picked up the tempo. I just wanted to get this race over with.

I was definitely bonked at the finish.  Talking with other guys, it was clear you either got cooked or you smoked the course. I thought my speed was respectable for the conditions, but was embarrassed by my power output compared to my last race at the Bong back in May. In fact, my power output for 2 hours during a tempo ride the weekend before was about the same as the race today.  My heart rate ended up telling the whole story. I don’t think it’s ever been this high in a race before.  It reminded me of a 5K cross country race that I did a few years ago when the heat index was over 100 degrees F.

Oh, well.  The Bong is always a challenging course. You often either freeze or fried, so until next spring when there will likely have snow on the course…:)