MATTS Bong 1.5 30K TT
May 31, 2009 – Kansasville, WI
Masters 30+ – 5th – 42.57.68
276 watts – 25.8 MPH
Some days you have it, some days you don’t. Today was my first major target race of the year–the Bong and a Half. That’s right, we’ve had the Single Bong (20K) and the Double Bong (40K), now we have the Bong 1.5 (30K). I thought this would be the right distance and time to shoot for another W in Masters 30+ and try to crack 26.5 MPH. Based on my training and results to date, I thought everyone had come together (including the weather for once).
Yeah, well, sometimes I think the target race thing is the ultimate jinx. I think I’ve had 1-2 target races in my life, where I’ve had a great performance. Most of the time, my best results come when I least expect it. Still, they are important to help structure your training cycles.
Conditions couldn’t have been anymore perfect. Sunny, low 60s, and slight SE wind at 5 MPH. I immediately knew I’d be going for the deep killer–the Hed Stinger 9. My legs felt great and I had decent sleep throughout the week. In fact, I had an early start time even though I hadn’t registered until a few days before the race. I thought this would be a low key affair and perfect chance to hammer. Ha!
Let’s just say I was happy to have preregistered. With all of the races this weekend, I didn’t think many people would show up to a TT. Turns out nearly 300 did, when we would normally get about 100. Vision Quest alone brought almost 50. The DoR line snaked down the hall, but the preregistration line was empty. Woohoo! I decided to register for a second race, but I knew the logistics would prove challenging.
Unlike the Single and Double Bongs which start and finish in the same spot, the Bong 1.5 would start near registration but finish on the far side of loop course. Thus, riders would have to ride about 6 miles back to the start. I had about 40 minutes between my races, so I figured this would be OK. My plan was to go hardest for my first race, then just do the second as part of my training and build some more TT endurance.
I got a good warm-up in before my first race and got to the line with about 2 minutes before my start. I felt pretty good the first 10K, but soon started to get fatigued. Uh, oh. Considering my TTing experience, I knew this wasn’t a good sign. The wind was neglible, in fact it was weird racing this course without wind. Normally, it’s about 10-15 MPH so you have to gauge when to really push it considering the rectangular and rolling nature of the Bong course.
As my race progressed, I just focused on the riders in front of me and didn’t worry about the numbers. The thirty second start intervals ensured their were lots of riders out on the course to chase. Rounding the corner on my first lap, I started having memories of my crash last year when I wiped out at nearly 30 MPH and broke my clavicle. Let’s just say I took it a little slower this year.
After the turn, I had a Vision Quest rider pass me. I thought the had just started so I latched onto him hoping that I could feed off his pace. Turns out he had started 30 second behind me! Had I known this, I might have pushed it more; however, I don’t know how much more I could have pushed it. I was pretty spent at the finish. I knew I had a decent time, but it wasn’t a stellar performance.
Looking back at my power data, I was on track for my first 10K, but my last 10K was off over the same part of the course. Uh. It was a mediocre, uneventful race for me, but I at least felt as if I gave it my all. Like I said, some days you have it, some days you don’t.
Here’s my data for the day:
