Rock Hill Bicycle Club – TT Recap 5.12.10
First, let me apologize. I wanted to get this recap out sooner, but I didn't get home from the TT until after 9 pm Wednesday night. I had to have some dinner and then it was off to the bed. Thursday morning, my middle daughter was going to Raleigh on a School field trip which meant getting up at 3:30 AM to knock out my workout.
But let me get back to the RHBC TT. I had been pointed to RHBC web site a while back and when I saw they were putting on two TTs per month, I contacted Chris Reinke the club completion director. Before driving down, I wanted to confirm that these events were open to everyone.
Chris responded quickly to my email and indicated that the events were open to everyone and free but they do encourage people to kick a little something into the "kitty" (they put out a jar) to help out the club. Hey, you cannot turn down this type of offer.
The club has a couple of different courses that they do. As I understand it, we did the hill course (Series 2) on Wednesday. They have a second course (Series 1) which I am told is flatter.
I left home a little early so one, I could find South Point High School and two, I wanted to drive the TT course. This would be my first open road TT which is a little scary. I am not exactly the most stable when riding in the TT position.
The club meets in the front parking lot of South Point High School. When you sign the release document, they ask for your expected finish time for seeding purposes and hand out numbers to everyone.
We all then head down to the starting point. It probably takes no more than 15 to 20 minutes to send everyone off.
I estimated that I could ride the course in about 25 minutes. I thought this was fair guess since I had just road 25:05 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
As they lined us up, I guess my seed time must have been faster than most because I lined up toward the end with all of the really fast guys.
I was counted down and took off pedaling hard down the hill. I then tried shifting onto the large rung and promptly throw my chain off. Ugh. So right at the foot of the hill, I came to a complete stop, got off to put my chain back on the large rung. I then have to dig hard to get rolling again. My effort was made tougher because I was now climbing the hill. The guys right behind me in line just flew by me. Definitely, I was starting this effort in the toughest way possible.
But I finally got things rolling. It took a few miles for me to settle back down and get my rhythm back.
There is a link to my Garmin Connect below. I am pretty happy with the analysis. My heart averaged 151 with a max of 164 while for my cadence I averaged 96 rpm with a high spin of 121. If I can get stronger where I can push bigger gears while maintaining the same RPM, maybe I can start to catch up with these guys.
The first mile of the course has tough little hill in it. There is a slight up grade between the 6 to 8 miles and then coming up finish there is an upgrade. In two places, you have to cross rail road tracks. The first one is rougher than the 2nd because it is on the open road. The 2nd is just after a right turn so you are not going as fast. Trafficwise, I didn't have any issues. A few cars passed me, but I would say more riders passed me than cars. The RHBC does a good job with course monitors with someone at every corner. Not once, did I feel if I was lost on the course or in danger of being hit.
This is a low key event but they do a good job with it. If you are looking to get out on a Wednesday night, I would suggest making a trip down to Rock Hill. They meet around 6pm and the TT kicks off around 6:30.
Here are the dates for upcoming events:
First rider off at 6:30 pm
Series 1 schedule (New Life 7th day Adventist Church, 1375 Ogden Rd, Rock Hill)
May 26
Jun 30
Jul 28
Sep 8
Series 1 route can be found here:
http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/sc/rock%20hill/695126650952250228
Series 2 schedule (South Pointe High School, rear entrance off Robertson Rd, Rock Hill)
Jun 16
Jul 14
Aug 18
Sep 22
Series 2 route can be found here:
http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/sc/rock%20hill/811126650993751376
Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner
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