ABD Indoor TT#2
February 1, 2009 – Winfield, IL
Cat 4 – 9th – 16:09.29
310 watts – 23.1 MPH

My enthusiasm for the ABD Indoor TTs seems to have wained this year.  I attribute my lack on interest to the level of my indoor training and the road construction on I-88. Otherwise, ABD puts on a phenomenal event.  I was reminded how cool (and painful) these races are when I did the second indoor TT of the series today.

This race featured the rolling 10K Computrainer course.  My goal was to maintain 290-300 watts and not to go over.  Not very hard on flat course, but much harder tnan the rolling. I started my race with a surge of adrenaline and soon realized I was going too hard (>330 watts).  My legs were also burning as they weren’t used to this explosive, higher end wattage.  After about 1.5 miles, I backed off to my LT pace.  It was hard, since I had a couple of guys neck-and-neck with me. Even at this pace, it wasn’t comfortable given the heat in the Winfield Middle School gymnasium. I was hamming it up for somone taking photos and I feel kind of bad since I didn’t look to be hurting compared to guys racing next to me.  Oh, well, it’s an indoor race folks.

I got a chance to chat with a few other riders, including some fellow teammates.  The weather had been decent this weekend so lots of people were riding outside. Still, it was nice to be in a race atmosphere in February. When I got home, I checked my time vs the those from past few years.  I actually ended up beating my best time by nearly 20 seconds, even though I didn’t go 100%.  Cool!  That makes me feel better about my conditioning thus far in the season.

As usual, a big thanks to ABD for putting this series on.  There’s a reason it’s been so succesful for 10 years.  I don’t know if I’ll do anymore of the indoor races, but I’m happy I did the one today.