Welcome to Team Bikeman: For nearly two decades Team Bikeman.com has been a mainstay in bike racing. Beginners all the way up to pros proudly compete in the red, white and black of Team Bikeman.com. Our resume is extensive with state, regional, national and master's worlds champions in our ranks. We are truly a national grassroots racing team with membership from coast to coast. We compete in mountain, road, cyclocross, time trial, triathlon and pretty much anything else you can do on two wheels. We don't discriminate, if you do it on a bicycle and someone is timing it, we will race it. If you feel you would be a good fit for Team Bikeman.com contact our Team Manager.
Team Bikeman Sections: Race Report Archives | Team Rider Profiles |
|
|
Rehoboth 2 Man TT |
|
|
Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
|
|
Written by Chuck Nguyen
|
|
Monday, 20 August 2007 |
Rehoboth 2 Man TT (Bikeworks)
Rehoboth, MA
8/16/2007
I can’t say that I’ve been looking forward to the Rehoboth 2 man TT this year. First off, my legs aren’t there yet and I know this is going to hurt more than usual. Second, I just got my new TT rig about two weeks prior and haven’t completely dialed it in yet. So, that’s my whine for this race.
Like last year, I would be riding with LT Steve. He’s been laying a smack down at the TT this year losing only occasionally to the “basically a pro, but with have an 8 to 5 job”. So, you have a peppy 4 cylinder import trying to hold the wheel of a diesel powered locomotive. The course is 8 miles long and relatively flat with a few rises that kill at TT intensity. Last year, our strategy was switch off every minute. This year with LT having much better fitness than I, the plan was to switch off whenever he needed a breather. My plan was to go out a little slow and hold some reserve for the last 2 miles where LT tends to fade a bit.
The field this year was much smaller because some riders opted to rest their legs for the Tour of the Hilltowns race the following weekend. Coming to the line, we were one of the favorites because we were only one of two teams where both riders had TT rigs and this makes a huge difference. We started second to last.
It was a perfect start. Both of us clipped in cleanly off the line. LT lead us out up the first rise. The next 1.5 miles after the rise are crazy fast because of a negative gradient. I felt like a superhero in the slip stream going down this first stretch as I was easily pushing a 53x11. I kept on yelling at LT that we needed to catch the two riders that started 1 minute before us.
I felt great, actually too good. This is where I made a crucial mistake. I was feeling so confident that I yelled up to LT to switch off, probably earlier than I should have. After he was comfortably on my wheel, I started to push the pace. We rotated regularly over the next 4 miles. Unfortunately, right around mile 4.5 I really started to suffer. My power output was dropping faster than Britney Spears’ career. I was obviously way too eager and now suffering. LT dragged me for basically the next 1.5 miles having to slow down at times just so I could keep his wheel.
We caught the team that was ahead of us with about 3 miles to go. Unfortunately, one of the riders flatted leaving another guy solo. I was able to recoup as we road down a short descent and pulled through to give LT a short breather. After the last right hand turn, we sprinted to the finish for a time of 18:06 (average of 26.5 MPH). That was good enough for first place. Not all the big boys showed up, but a win is a win.
Chuck
 |
|
|
|
Show/Hide comment form
