State TT 40 K
TT report from the busted broke, repaired and still searching for a state title MEC... You won’t confuse this with an Ed P report…
We had numerous team members attempt the double on Sunday, by attending both the State RR on Saturday and then show up for the "race of truth" State 40 k TT on Sunday.
The weather was much more agreeable as compared to Saturday, with cloud cover providing some temp relief. However, winds were brisk with a 10 MPH headwind on the way out.
This course is the same every year 40K out and back with a turn-around at a cone in the middle of the road. Well marshaled and well run, the best of the best in NJ show up and usually put up some impressive 52: xx times in the 40K. TRY IT SOME TIME >
When you see the best of the best TT’ers come by you spinning a 54x11 at 90 RPM, you get a whole new perspective on how much you really suck, or how much you have to learn (for us glass half full types…)....
I believe we had the following members at the event competing in numerous categories
Eric Wally (Senior men’s)
Chris Fritz (35+)
Joe Schiavo (somewhere over 55+ J )
Ryan H. (35+)
Dennis G. (Open T)
Myself (open T & 30+) that’s right 2 – events or 80K total, why just suck at one…
Note of interest from my career in racing… (My tenth year doing this particular TT race) this is where I caught the race bug, way back in 1998)
If I missed someone, sorry…
This event is performed in Age brackets and includes a senior men’s race, 30+40+50+ etc… all the way up to 75+ They even have a TANDEM category ( more on that later…)
Results:
Eric W > The best I can describe this is: unbelievably bad luck: EW had flatted at the turn-around and then while walking the bike back, another competitor (forever known as the jackass not looking up) ran into him on the shoulder of the road… Not exactly a good day for the team hammer.
Chris Fritz > 35+ 12th place 1:00:44 – RIDE of THE DAY – and Chris brings home some serious 35+ points!
>>>New TT bike and almost pulled a sub-hour 40K TT, I’m going to repeat this several times so sue me >>> TRY IT SOMETIME…
Ryan H > 35+ 1:02:55 A good Ride from Ryan who pulled a 12th place finish in the State CAT3 Road race the day before and was NOT on TT specific frame for this event…
Joe Schiavo > 55+ (yeah, the years he’s counted anyway) 1:07:02 less than 10 seconds off of Joe’s PB and there was a significant headwind on the way out… Nice Ride from the Bionic Italian!!!
OK and now for the Tandem story…
Dennis G. / Mark C. > Open Tandem competition (first ride on a bicycle made for two for yours truly EVER…) and that’s where the story takes a turn for distraction
We trained really hard (15 minutes on a borrowed SMALL frame the day before the event…) Ok, OK, I’m making excuses… I have to, as we lost the competition to my arch TT nemesis Tom Cheney, and even worse his riding partner was the very lovely Mrs. Karen Cheney Who smoke us by a minute with a 1:00:08 time on their custom built race frame tandem with full ZIPP disk/race wheel treatment
– Note to self: don’t underestimate the level that people will go to get a gold medal…
Go ahead, have fun with it you all, we did however gladly accept the Silver Medal and promise to where it proudly until the EPO/HgH tests come back on the Cheney family… At which time, justice will prevail…
Onto the final event – MARK C. > , just to top it all off I figured if we did lose the Tandem event, I could register for the 30+ category and somewhat mask my poor showing in the tandem with a PB in the Solo 40K..
Good news I did get 6th place in the 30+ SOLO event > Bad news My time was 1:05:51 which is pretty much as bad as it gets for someone aspiring to crack the 1:00 barrier… To cap it all off, I met Will O’Donnell at the start who was behind me by 30 seconds (not for long) and said I quote “Hey Mr. Cowin, how old are you?” “Do you know this is the 30+ group?” and to cap it off “It’s really cool to see guys like you still coming out competing against the young guys” >>> Hey Will, I got something for ya, it’s a draft card (oh wait that’s my AARP card – damn…)
(All kidding aside, Will is a really Good/nice guy and probably Ryan P’s only comp in CAT 3 – he’s from Westwood Velo)
For the RECORD the best time this year was a 52:40 Mike Gisler, and Mr. O’Donnell put up a 53:09 good enough for 4th overall > both are from Westwood Velo, they got some serious horsepower on that team… MOST times appeared to be slower on average this year…
Anyway, if ever you want to catch the fever and try the “race of truth” let me know, I am reg’d for 3-6 TT’s of varying length’s every year and will be at the State TT in Chatsworth every possible year.
NEXT TT for ME is 6/9 (this Saturday) 8.4 miles out / back flat fast on West river Drive Phila PA… Nice event to try a TT www.bikereg.com 2007 Lincoln Mercury Amateur Time Trials
Many more to choose, Kingwood in NJ is a really nice one as well… late July and it’s one way almost all down hill> A real nice race,…
Try it Sometime!
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