Time Trial Champs tomorrow...

Well here we go. This is it. The Pyrenees Time Trial Championships. Tomorrow is the big day, and although I had hoped to train specifically for this day, it just hadn't happened. This was to be one of my big aims for the season. But my time traveling up and down to Chateauroux and the recent racing frenzy has distracted me somewhat from the specifics of TT training.

I haven't felt great on the bike the past 3 weeks, but the races have gone well. I've been training up in flat and windy Chateauroux, which might actually be good TT training. But so far it is hard to tell, as those conditions plain don't suit me. What that means is that I haven't been able to quantify my training and it means I am going into tomorrow unsure of my form and fitness. But it doesn't necessarily mean I'm not in good shape. That we will only know tomorrow.

On my way home from Chateauroux yesterday I stopped off at the team house and picked up a disc wheel for tomorrow. That way I was able to clean and adjust it, and also do a short ride on it today to make sure all was in order and clicking as it should be. I know it sounds silly, but I'm really hoping this disc wheel will make the difference. I think I have a good chance of doing well tomorrow. I've doing some good TTs and I keep thinking back to that 3rd place in the TT of the Tour de Chateaux et Coteaux which was sort of in a similar area. Only I don't want 3rd...

Hopefully this thing will cut through the wind like a hot knife through butter

(Click on pics for larger images)

I'll be riding at 12:24 tomorrow, for a 25km TT somewhere in the Pyrenean foothills. I don't know if it will be rolling or flat, but the Pyrenean foothills are rarely "flat", so...

I'll be using the Power-Tap tomorrow, but without the PT wheel I will not have Wattage. I will however have downloadable Heartrate, Cadence etc.
I'm planning to average 175 Beats-per minute. That is what I've been aiming at in most TTs this year. Most of the time I end up a little below that. Between 170 and 175. So hopefully I'll get it just right tomorrow and be at 175; which should have me around the 350/360Watts mark. I haven't done a clear test recently, but going by my previous test, that should be about right. In fact I feel better now than when I did my previous proper test, so it might even be better... The key is not to go too much over that 175bpm, as I could go into lactate production and actually loose time. It's a fine line.

Bonjour? The Team's old wheels are no spring chickens, but they are still in good shape. Just how old are they you ask? Well, the team went from Bonjour to Brioche la Boulangere to Bouygues Telecom... you do the math. (notice how Jean Rene Bernodeau's team always has sponsors starting with the letter "B"! Interestingly enough, the same letter as his last name. Would kind of limit you when looking for a new sponsor wouldn't you think? Whatever, thanks for the wheels JR.