Stage 3 – 10 May 2003 – 4km (2.5 miles) Individual Time Trial

Conditions: hail, thunderstorms, rain, wind – 70F

After a few hours rest we drove for an hour in heavy rain to the start of the uphill time trial.  As we pulled in to the parking lot, the hail started as well as lightning and thunder.  We sat in the car wondering if the officials would cancel or postpone our race.

Luckily, the hail eased and the steady rain was not enough to deter the officials from pressing on.  My scheduled start was just after 5pm.  We made friends with a guy who owned an RV and set the trainers up under his annexure to warm up.  My legs felt like bricks and I needed a good 40 minutes on the trainer to ease out the soreness.

I have always advocated to pre ride a time trial course.  This way you know exactly what is up ahead and it is easier to plan your level of exertion.  Pre riding the course also helps you to plan out whether to start in the big ring and what gear is best to ride it in.  Well, today I didn’t pre ride the course and I only have the rain as my feeble excuse.  I relied on another riders feedback as to how steep it was and what to expect.  Needless to say, I didn’t’ ride a good time.

The gradient of the climb according to our race bible was 6.8%.  It was certainly steeper at the start but levelled out a lot towards the top.  I was the 4th starter and after catching both Shawn and Emily by the 2km mark I then lost my rhythm.  I usually count each right pedal stroke and this helps me keep a certain cadence but I forgot to do this today and had trouble staying focused.  I finished 1min15sec down and slipped back into 9th on GC.  Joan rode really well to finish 6th, 51sec down.

Emily, Shawn and Christine rode at tempo, and as they are not GC contenders it made sense for them to rest up for tomorrow.

Results:

1 Susan Palmer-Komer (Can) Genesis Scuba / FFCC                         10.22

2 Grace Fleury (USA) Genesis Scuba / FFCC                                     0.05

3 Lynn Gaggioli (USA) Velo Bella                                                     0.07

6 Joan Wilson TDS                                                                             0.51

10 Helen Kelly TDS                                                                           1.15

16 Christine White TDS                                                                      1.41

18 Shawn Heidgen TDS                                                                     2.25

20 Emily Gloeckner TDS                                                                   2.34