Stage 1: Time Trial

I rolled into Buckeye, AZ at around 10:30 feeling refreshed and ready to go for the time trial.  I spent most of my warm up cruising down the strip of road leading to the start house doing a mixture of tempo, LT, and endurance intervals.  I also managed to get in some turnaround practice as well.

The actually time trial went relatively well given that this was the first time trial that I’ve done.  The biggest problem that I encountered was actually related to the course.  It was pancake flat, which lent it self to bigger riders.  In other words, inertia was not my friend, but it served others well.  Other than that, I had some issues really getting moving, even though my pacing was fantastic, I just had problems really opening up after the turnaround (My strategy was to ride high tempo until I hit the turnaround and then push toward my threshold).  Mental fitness as good as well, at no time was I having issues with my “inner talk”.

Things that went well:

–       Mental Training

–       Pacing

–       Fast start and turnaround

–       Getting into my power zone after the initial sprint

Things to work on:

–       Comfort in the time trial position

–       Power in the position