DICE 40K TT
July 18, 2010 – Cordova, IL
Masters 30+ – 3rd – 57:29.39 (8th Aero)
263 watts – 25.9 MPH
Cat 3 – 5th – 1:06:53.84 (1st Aero)
276 watts – 22.3 MPH
The whole aero vs non-aero debate reminds me of one of my favorite Onion articles that was a Point:Counterpoint between a humidifier and a dehumidifier. The aero folks snap up the latest wind cheating technology in order to shave seconds from their time. The non-aero folks are traditionalists who think it should all come down to guts and training. Let the best strongest rider win, not the geekiest.
The Craig Schultz Memorial (aka, DICE) 40K TT today gave me a chance to see both sides of the argument. I rode aero in one race and non-aero in my second. So, what did I think? I’ll get to that a minute, but first want to tell you a little about the race and course.
The DICE TT was serving as the ABR Midwest Regional TT championship. I thought that would bring out some strong riders, especially since the Cordova course is pancake flat. This race has become one of my favorites. It’s about 3 hours from Chicago, so it makes for a nice overnight trip. I usually stay in Le Claire, a quaint town right across the river in Iowa with several hotels and places to eat. Plus, it’s only a 15 minute drive from the race. The TT starts in Cordova at a park that has an air conditioned recreation center. Yes, air conditioned! When the heat indexes were expected to be in the mid-90s, that’s a huge added benefit. The 40K course is L shaped with one corner, a turnaround, and almost no protection from the wind (except the corn).
I got to the start with no idea with what my start times were. I soon found out that I was the first rider off…yikes! Thankfully, I’ve got my prerace routing down and have learned race preparation is vital for TTs. I got in a short warm-up on the course and was soon cringing. It was overcast, by temps were already in the 80s with humidity also in the 80s…acckkk.
The Aero Race
I’ll confess to having just about every aero trick you can think of. With TTing as my primary racing focus, I learned a lot about how to cheat the wind. Unfortunately, you can’t cheat the humidity. I thought I would be OK with my Profile Design Aqualite, but soon found myself pretty schlacqued from the heat and fighting to maintain pace. The last 10k were horrible, but somehow I managed to average around 26 MPH. Slower than last year, but not bad considering the conditions. I sure didn’t feel like racing a second race, especially just 20 min after finishing my first 40K. Thankfully, my old school mentally got on my case and I decided to go for Round 2…
The Non-Aero Race
I had no idea what to expect for second race. The heat had whomped me in my first one. I knew my average MPH wouldn’t matter, since I never really raced non-aero before. I decided to just monitor my power output and keep it around the threhold wattage I used in workouts. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself feeling better after the first 10K. I also had more of a chance to hydrate, plus riding in drop bars instead of aero bars helped to cool me off. I ended up pacing myself well the entire race and didn’t fall apart towards the end like I did in my first one. I also ended up winning the non-aero category, which made me feel good especially after racing one 40K already today.
Well, there you have it. 80K of TTs in one day. I normally love having the aero gear and going fast, but today I was more happy with the old school route. Let the aero vs non-aero debate continue. I like both!