My Hell of the North, the Dismal Dash TT Race

You really know you're dedicated to a sport when you get out of warm bed with a beautiful wife at 5:00 AM in the morning especially when there are no kids in the house. Add to that the fact it was 38 degrees outside and steadily raining with gusting winds of 10-15 mph. I packed the car with everything the night before, so it was time to get dressed and head to Suffolk Virginia for the Dismal Dash time trial.

In the planning stages this seemed like a great weekend to race. The most of the kids were with the "other parents" and my wife Deborah was headed to Charlotte for a cheerleading competition with our 12 year old daughter Marrah. I would be on my own regardless of what I decided to do on Sunday March 15th, so I added the Dismal Dash to my race schedule for that reason and because I've never done a time trial before. What I didn't consider was the changeable weather we get in the southeast this time of year. It was gorgeous earlier in the week.

The race is named the Dismal Dash because the ride was through the Dismal Swamp area of southeastern Virginia near Norfolk. On any normal day the area would seem to be far from dismal, but not today. Today? Well quite dismal.

I got in the Jeep and pointed the car north for the two and a half hour drive as the rain pounded on the windshield. I looked down at the outside temperature gauge in the Jeep and it read "38". I was hoping it would get warmer on the drive north, but soon realized that just wasn't going to happen. Liberal amounts of caffeine and pre-race nerves kept me awake through the dark and rainy drive.

I got to the race site and checked in for my 9:20 start in the CAT 5 race and my 11:20 start on my Masters 40+ race. I found out later I was the only person who signed up for two races. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time! I got my race numbers and timing chips then headed back to the car to get ready. I had about 45 minutes to get warmed up.

For reasons I can't currently explain, I pack and load the car meticulously, but turn in to a mess when I get to the race site. I'm two for two on that issue. I finished getting dressed, got the trainer out and under the hatchback, unloaded my bike and...and...I lost the 9:20 timing chip. DAMN! Where the heck did I put it? I tore the car apart and finally found it, but losing it killed 15 minutes of warm up time. Greaaaaaaat!

I warmed up before taking off into the rain and wind and cold. Putting the trainer away and grabbing full a water bottle I mounted up and headed over to the starter's gate. Today the starter area was a small shelter like you see in parks or at kids games. I felt reasonably good until the two guys who would start after me rolled up with their super aero TT bikes complete with Zipp 404s on the front and rear discs as well as Giro teardrop shaped helmets. These guys easily spent over $8K on their rides and looked like they were lean seasoned triathletes. I passively listened to them banter about this being a"tune up" race. It would be interesting to see how long it would take before they passed me.

The starter checked my number, "number 19? ok, 30 seconds...10...GO!" I pushed with my right foot as the left locked into my Speedplay pedal and tried to accelerate at a steady pace without hitting my lactic threshold in the first 30 seconds. I noticed the steady rain hitting my face and the rooster tail my front wheel was throwing as I headed out of town. The wind seemed to becoming from the southeast or a nearly full on head wind. I'm pretty sure it wasn't my speed.

I should have talked to some of my triathlete friends about pedaling technique because I couldn't really decide what gearing and cadence to lock into. I tried 39-11, which was...ok, but I thought I wanted more resistance on pedaling, which would mean a faster speed. What about 53-13 or 14? That seemed better and my speed picked up, but I had a hard time sustaining a steady cadence in any of those gearings. I settled on 53-14 and tried to push to 53-12 on the very shallow descents, and by very shallow I mean 1% for a couple of tenths of a mile. The course was nearly pancake flat the whole way.

My heart rate seemed to climb for no easily understood reason and I locked in at a rate I knew was above my lactic threshold thanks to the testing I did Monday. I'd pull back on my cadence and it would get better, but not for long. "Screw it," I said audibly and just pushed forward. By the time I made the left hand turn at the 5 mile mark, my face seemed to forget the rain and I just got used to the fact I was going to be looking through speckled glasses for the race because I left my cycling cap at home-the one thing I forgot to pack. I slowed into the turn not wanting to wipe out, and pushed forward out of the turn.

A passing sign reminded me I was in the Dismal Swamp area. Dismal seemed to be the word of the day. My heart rate settled at or near 170 bpm and my legs ached, but I was still pretty dry on the inside so I settled in for cyclist suffering. I pushed on seesawing between 17.5 mph and 20 mph. Riding on a flat area seemed a lot harder than I thought it would be. At about the 10 mile mark, I heard this rumbling behind me and looked to my left as the first tri-guy in the starter tent passed me on the left. Expensive wheels sound different in the rain...more intimidating. He was nice though smiling and encouraging me to push forward harder. Having wheels like the guys who had the Zipps would be nice at some point in the future I decided.

The turn back to Suffolk came at 12.5 miles which was basically a turn from the right lane going south to the other lane going north. I over shot and the officials let me know and pointed me back the other way over the timing bumps. Ok, half done on race one. My average speed was 19.3 mph at that point, I hoped I would finish with that speed or better.

At the 17 mile mark I realized I was out of my element or I didn't fuel correctly or both. My speed was dropping and I changed gearing over and over again, but still couldn't get comfortable or settle into anything approaching a rhythm. How did the tri-guys do it? Was it the aero bars that gave them the edge on settling into a cadence? I didn't know at that point, but made a note to do some questioning on the subject.

I started to get a second burst of energy at the 21 mile mark, so I picked up my pace and finished stronger than the previous several miles. Crossing the line, I looked at my watch. I had 43 minutes before I would head out again. I did the first race at 1:21:13 or 18.7 mph. Not bad, but disappointing that my average speed dropped from the first half. I'd find out later that I would finish 36th out of 39 in the CAT5, which meant nearly half the field no showed for the race because 64 registered originally. Wimps!

Getting back to the Jeep after winding my legs down a bit, I checked my watch to see now I had 34 minutes before I would head out again. I took my Windstopper jacket off to change jerseys. The jacket kept me dry, but was like a sponge and seemed to weigh pounds more than it did dry. I changed into a second base layer and jersey while getting out my cycling rain slicker. I wanted to see if this helped with the weight because I wasn't noticing the cold as much as when I started. I checked the temperature in the Jeep again, 44 degrees. WOW a heat wave! After a couple of squirts from the water bottle and some nutrition, I threw on my rain and slicker. Watch check, 12 minutes to go, so I closed the hatch and remounted my bike to warm my legs up again before I headed back to the starters tent.

"Anyone else doing the course twice today beside me?", I asked the guy who was there the first time I headed out. "You're kidding, right? Not that I know of", he said looking at me like I was insane. "30 seconds...10... GO!" and I was off again. In my head according to the starter as well as on my bike.

The second leg was the virtually same as the first with the same cadence and gearing struggles, but I was also feeling the effort from the first race. I made the turn at the half way mark at an average speed of 18.5, which was disappointing, but I decided to ride as best I could and make notes on lessons learned. My legs were ready to stop pedaling as I crossed the line the second time. My second time was 1:23:57 or 18.2 mph. I later found out my CAT5 time would have put me 4 slots higher than I finished with my Masters time in that group. DAMN!

I rode a bit to avoid shocking my legs by just stopping. After about 5-10 minutes I loaded my bike and changed clothes for the ride home. The rain had picked up as I got into my Masters race and it kicked up a notch again as I pulled on to the road to head home. I was glad to be in the warm Jeep with time to think. I was reasonably satisfied with my effort since it was the first time. I had also ridden 50.5 miles in roughly 2 hours and 45 minutes, not too shabby for a 46 year old guy. However, I was frustrated that I couldn't seem to settle into a rhythm for either race.

I felt surprisingly good the next day maybe because I drank loads of water the rest of the day and stretched once I got home. I also didn't load up on junk food despite huge cravings. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to do well in TTs unless I get some training and a TT specific bike. I'm sure a different bike wouldn't have shaved a huge portion of my time without training, but I think it might have helped me feel more comfortable. More lessons learned on the journey!