Alright. I'm going to resume blogging. Monologues are my speciality.

The Changi Coastal Rd ITT* took place this morning. *Anyway just in case some people actually still visit this blog, ITT stands for Individual Time Trial.

The race was once again divided into categories: Ladies, Youth, Men's Cat C, Cat B, Cat A and one fixed gear cat. Over distances of 24km and 36km.

This time I partook in Cat A. Hah, my first Cat A race in my 4 yrs of cycling. Training so far for the event: About 2 weeks, alternate or so days of commuting to work. That's all! Now about the bike.. Of course, I do not own a time trial bike. After I purchased my laptop, I threw ideas of acquiring an aero wheelset out the window. BUT I did acquire a new set of aerobars (Profile Design T2 Cobra) and more race tires for this season (same old Michelin Pro Race 2. Pro race 3 is a little out of budget at the moment)

I'll post more pictures of the event when I get my hands on them. And also of my bike. The T2 Cobra and my previous Carbon Stryke aerobars are pretty different really, and it took me some getting used to and a few try outs to get things right. Interestingly, mounting brackets are in reverse, and I had to go to Yong Seng screws to get a custom spacer and screw set done for the arm rests. The new position rotates my arms slightly more outwards vs the old position, although i can't really tell which is better.

Ok, back to the actual race. I woke up on time and reached timely enough. All the previous categories were either over or underway, and only Cat A was left soon. I was already suspecting something weird when I rode to the cometition venue. I was really stretched out and sitting all the way back. Turns out my saddle had mysteriously slid all the way back! (see picture above) Luckily I noticed and slammed the the seat all the way forward before I went for my final warm up. Must thank Ronnie for getting me to the warm up and start line on time, as well as for the small tips here and there.

And soon I was out of the starting lane! Goal no.1: catch my minute man!

The thing about ITTs are that each competitor is dispatched at 1 minute intervals. So, my motivation came from catching the fella in front. As usual, I over exploited my anaerobic glycogen stores for the first 15 secs and was myself surprised when I accelerated to 49kmh. Ok, it very very quickly dropped to 43kmh, and I maintained a steady 41kmh for the first half lap. 36km was equivalent to 3 laps of Changi Coastal. So far so good?

Well, things started falling apart once I made the first U-turn. Yes, my minute man (some fella from Swissvalley) was about say 40 sec away, but I had definitely blown my aerobic threshold. The return stretch of the first lap was utter pain. And mentally demoralising as my speeds plummeted to 36kmh, and at times 34kmh. Great, I was thinking that my race was over. Give up? Someone once said I always gave up easily. So I fought on, but the outcome looked apparent. Finally, I started the 2nd round. Surprisingly, things got better. Apparently the direction away form the starting line was much faster than the one towards. So I was now at 39kmh comfortably. And yes, my minute man was still about 40 sec away. Darn him. So much suffering and still not there yet.

The rest of the race was just me, my bike, and pain. Speeds barely made it near 40kmh. Sigh. So much for my earlier mental models of 42kmhup and 38kmh down. Now it was more of 39kmh up and 36kmh down. Sometimes as I pedalled, head looking down, my bike would swerve left and right. On the last half lap, I was finally passed by someone. And no, it was not the fellas minute man. I was his 5 minute man! Oh well. I later found out from Daniel he was a former UK pro triathlete.

Hmm, at the end of the race I was told I put up a good performance given the fact that I rode my non-time trial specific bike. Hmmm, was I supposed to take that as a compliment or feel annoyed that my bike was considered inappropriate? Ha ha. I guess the former lah. Time trial bike...... 1.5k for no-brand frame, 2.8k for Zipp deep front and disc wheels, $1k for Ultegra SL group set, 400 bucks for aerobars. 250 for aero helmet. Still got accessories? Sorry, I don't have $6500 to spare.

Anyway, it was a good workout. Even though I was obliterated by about half the field. So much for feeling 'fast' at out local triathlons huh.... Thanks to Daniel for sponsoring drinks =)

Next race: TTT (team time trial)