Tangjia Zhuhai Monthly Night ITT

Individual Time Trials are not something I normally participate in or look forward to racing in as they hurt, and I have never really done that well in them anyways. My teammate and friend Steve has been really getting into them and wanted me to come out and do this one that is on the same course as the weekly Wednesday Night Race. So I kitted up with all of my aero gear that I never use (skinsuit and helmet, bars were not allowed) and we rode over to meet Steve and XinXin before riding the rest of the way to Tangjia for the start of the race at 8:30.  We got there fairly early at 8:05, so had time to sign in and ride once around before the start of the race. One thing I love about racing in China is the entry fees are reasonable compared to the excesses of the USA. The entry for this little local race was 20 RMB or about $3 US.

the 1st U turn for the second time, I swore I saw my 30s man only 15s behind me, which made me scared of getting caught.  I turned up the speed a little more and tried to stay on the gas for the rest of the race to make sure I was not caught, but it was nothing to worry about.  I passed 2 more guys on the way around the last time, but got caught going the same speed as a car on the return to the finish line.  I tried to pull out away from him, but he came over, and when I tried to pass him, he sped up. He eventually pulled away and I was able to put on a final burst of speed pushing for the finish line.

I finished in 23:21 according to the official timers, which was good for a 41 kph average speed. That is not that fast in the US, but here in China that was enough for 1st place by 90 seconds over 2nd. I won 500 RMB, a sweet green Rudy Project helmet that perfectly matches my new Pinarello bike, and a leaders jersey for the series, as I set the fastest course time so far. That was the last race for the year, so I get to hold on to the title of fastest for awhile. I couldn’t believe I actually won a time trial even though my teammates all expected me to win and Cara thought I would as well. It was a nice treat to win a race, no matter how small, since it has been a long time since I have won. Maybe I can attribute it to my new racing bike that I have been dreaming about since I was in high school…