Event: Steve Dunlap Memorial TT
Where: Davis
Distance:18.62 miles
Category: M45+ 4,5
No of Riders: 32
Position: ?
Other FFRT members racing this event: Sandra, Lindsey
My start time was 12:29, but I got there about three hours before so that I could ride the course. The organizers scheduled a break between 9:30 and about 10:30 so I figured I would ride the course at an easy pace for a warmup during this time. Unfortunately, it was raining most of the time I was out there and I got totally soaked. I was prepared for this and had a full change of clothes for later. Even though it was raining, there was very little wind.
I had pretty much dialed in the Leopard TT1 during the week and had the bars, seat position, height, bar angle etc, dialed in for me. Unfortunately I decided the previous evening not to use the tri-spoke rear or the UFO 18 spoke front wheel. These would have been more aero than my own wheels that I used, but I just didn’t feel comfortable after working on the stuff the previous night. I had re-glued the rear tubular on the tri-spoke and adjusted the side load bearing play, but the tri-spoke is a bit untrue (and can’t be adjusted) and the tubular is a bit out of round. Also, I don’t have a floor pump with a small enough chuck head to fit into the small cavity to pump the tire. The best I could do was to use a frame pump, but I could only get about 90 psi into the tire. The front UFO wheel has a very nice aero section rim with recessed nipples and bladed spokes, but I checked the spoke tension and about 4 spokes were very much under tensioned compared to the rest. So I decided to play it safe and ride on my own wheels.
At 12:29, the rain and drizzle had stopped a bit before and the roads were drying out. The Leopard has a Cateye computer with cadence si I set it up to display cadence and distance. I had mounted my Garmin Edge 500 and was using it to monitor Heart Rate, speed, and distance. My plan was to ride at a cadence range of 95 – 105 and HR of around 170. The HR may sound high for my age, but I’ve always had a fast revving heart. Sticking to the plan, I felt ok for the entire event, but I only caught one rider and about 4 guys passed me along the route. One of the first guys to pass me did so at about mile 6 and he started 3 min back? He was flying!
I don’t know my exact placing, but I’m sure I’m in the bottom half of the group. My effort was good, but I see a few sections where I might have been able to gut out a few more watts to gain a few seconds. With the exception of turns, I stayed in the aero TT position the entire time.
Leopard TT1 – flawless! The basic setup of bars, SRAM Force rear, SRAM shifters, Ultegra front all work with precision. The crankset, bearings and derailleur pulleys have very low friction. I also used the Rudy Syston S. Comp TT helmet. This thing is heavy but very aero. It has an integrated eye shield that can be raised or lowered and I did find that lowering it decreases drag a bit, but decreases the cooling too. I flipped the shield up for more that half the race to get more cool air. You guys should give this gear a try this season. You’ll like it.
-West