Race Report - Dam Time Trial 2014

Dam Time Trial, Friday August 8th 2014

The Dam Time Trial is a special event. The race is an 8-mile, mostly flat, out and back USA Triathlon sanctioned bike time trial across Joe Pool Lake dam in Grand Prairie, TX.  Just to make it interesting, the race starts at 6pm at just about the hottest time of the day.  This year as we drove into Lynn Creek Park the car temperature reading was 107F.  Being on the dam there isn't a single yard of shade.  It's a test of what you can do in the heat as much as how fast you are on the bike.

Race numbers had been allocated based on speed with the fastest guys going first.  I got number 8.   I was a little surprised at the low start number but also enthused that I had a good chance in this race.  Racers started at 30 second intervals.   There was a no-show one place in front of me to I got a whole minute to stare up the start hill.  It was a proper time trial start with someone holding the bike, feet all clipped in, ready to hit the gas....

The first couple hundred yards is up a gentle hill to get up to the dam level so accelerating off the start and getting up to speed is already getting the heart rate going.  There wasn't much wind and it was mostly from the side.  My aim was to push as much as I could beyond my FTP of around 220W.  Somewhere closer to 250W if I could manage it.  This race gives a perfect measure of where my cycling conditioning is - right in the middle of race season, no distraction about having to save something for the run.

There isn't really much to say about the ride itself ... I got caught by one rider just before the half way point.  This actually helped as it gave me someone to chase.  There's no drafting in this race but having him 20 or 30 yards in front gave me something to focus on other than the feeling of my heart wanting to pound right out of my chest.  He still slowly increased the gap but I could see we were reeling in the guys in front of us.

I sat up a couple of times to get so air into my lungs.  I felt like I needed to throw up.  I knew I was pushing at my limit.  Once the downhill into the finish came into view I took a few deep breaths and stood up in my pedals to accelerate into the finish.  I had no idea of my time but I crossed the finish line doing about 30mph.  There's a nice long strip of road to scrub off the speed and start to get some breath back.

I stopped my watch and saw that I'd beaten last years time - but not by much. Being an early starter I had to wait for the rest to come in ... but since most of the fast guys were in the low start numbers I was confident I had one of the fastest times in my age group.  

All the racers had agreed at the start not to bother with awards on the night and the organizers promised engraved awards would be posted out - it was too hot to sit around waiting.  So no podium pic.

Time: 19:37.6 @ 24.5mph.

Average heart rate was 183bpm and peak was 190!  I'll be updating my TrainingPeaks training zones after this one.

Beat my personal record by 2.6 seconds but given that the temp was 7 degrees hotter it is really a greater margin than just what the time shows.  2nd place in age group and 11th place overall.  Last year I was 6th in age group and 24th overall.

Three races in August so far, three age-group podiums.