Dismal Dash 41k Time Trial 2008 race report

Dismal Dash 41k Time Trial
March 16th, 2008
Suffolk, VA

Cat 3 (I should have raced 30+)
It's called the Dismal Dash because the road borders the Great Dismal Swamp. I don't think the surveyors or explorers who named it such had any idea how right they were.

The weather is almost always horrible (what should be expected? It is mid-March.) It was cold and windy, but luckily the rain had moved out by the time racers started leaving the start line.

My start was a little late, at 1:12pm (I was second-to-last to start. And not because I was in second place on GC. It has everything to do with alphabetization.) I'm not sure if this was an advantage or disadvantage. I had a cross/tailwind out and a cross/headwind back. And the windchill was about 45 degrees.

I dressed perfectly for the temperature, though. There is the bright spot of the day. I did suffer from the effects of the Qoleum Hot embrocation afterwards. I really need to buy some of the medium stuff. My legs were warm for the race, though, and also for hours afterwards.

I got off to a good start, and I felt really good on the way out. It was the wind. I averaged 27mph for the first 12 miles (and still got passed by my minute-man). Just before the turnaround, however, I forgot to downshift, and came out of it into a 20mph headwind in a huge gear, which I struggled to get back on top of. I also went into the turnaround a little hot, too, locked up the rear wheel, and slid the tire a bit. Neither of these things would make much of a difference, though.

The second set of 12 miles was HARD. I fought the headwind forward, and I fought the crosswind sideways. At times I was certain I was just going to get blown over with the gusts. I went as hard as I possibly could, watching my heart rate jump at times to 175-177, backing down to a reasonable 171 whenever possible. Even at the 177 heart rate, I was struggling at times to maintain 19mph.

In the end I averaged about 18.5mph on the way back, and finished with a time of 1:06:13 and an average speed of 22.5mph. I don't know my exact placing, but looking at the results I believe I was about 16th or 17th out of about 20. Had I registered for the 30+ race, I would have placed 5th out of 7, and would have gotten points for our "Best All-around Rider" in the state, and would currently be very close to the lead in my age group.

edit: I just got the final results. I was 24th/27 overall in the 1/2/3 group, 17th/20 in the Cat 3s. My times were 29:27 and 1:06:13 at the finish- I averaged 25.3 out and 20.2 back.