Well, it certainly was beautiful with great blue skies and nearly calm wind. By the time I got to the race staging area, the temperature had gotten even better although the wind started to pick up. Race temp was 17c with a wind at 17 from the north, meaning a cross-wind for the race. Didn't really matter as everyone that came was smiling because of the great weather.
This race was a team time trial put on by the bikeSABBATH guys. It was pretty basic, 30km out and back for a total of 60km. We would be riding through traffic and would have to take care at turns and stops. There was one official timer but everyone was left on their own to keep things honest. Really laid back and I think most everyone knew quite a few people there.I didn't have a team so asked the organizer to set me up with 3 others. I was matched up with Andrew, Darryl and Dan as we are all in the B class for road/crit racing. I have ridden with the guys before so knew that we all could ride and all were strong riders. I hadn't ridden in a team time trial before and didn't know what to expect. Of course, I knew that it would be very similar to a pace line and was glad to be matched with experienced riders.
We all cycled over to the starting line to get ready. The starting times were staggered and each of the groups were handicapped with time bonuses given racing categories and abilities. We were given a 5 minute handicap for the race.
There's really not much to report about the race. It was just 4 guys slugging it out in a pace line for 60km. Of course, there were the usual drivers who decided to see how close they could drive to cyclists.
I have to say that I was really pleased with our results. We finished the 60km in 1:36:00. Given that we had never practiced together before for the race, I think we preformed excellently. It was smooth like silk....We all just kept hammering away, although it was exciting to actually pass other groups (although it wasn't good to be passed by 2 groups). We worked well together as a machine and kept up a pace of 37.3 kph over the 60km.
Funny thing is that our team, with no experience working together, ended up in third place after all the teams finished and the handicaps were taken off our times.
Race results at: bikeSABBATH
More information at: bikeSABBATH