My 12th race of 2020 was the second outdoor race of the season and the replacement for the April 26th race postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing was observed by expanding the start times between riders from the usual 30-seconds to 10 minutes. Each racer self-started because there were no officials at the start or finish lines. Instead, finishers were instructed to record their race with a GPS device and upload it to Strava for verification and awards.
The weather was hot, humid, and windy at my 10:00 a.m. start time: 82 degrees (felt like 88 degrees), 81 percent humidity, and wind at 12.5 mph from the SSW. The wind direction meant a headwind on the outbound leg of the 12.10 mile course. There were five entries in my age-group.
I started right on time and quickly accelerated to 22 mph into the outbound headwind. I only averaged 19.65 mph for the first 6.4 miles before turning around on the out-and-back course. With a tailwind, my average speed increased to 22.0 mph for the 5.8 miles to the finish. My official time was 0:35:22 (20.6 mph) and a second place finish. The winning time was 0:33:29 (21.28 mph).
I had fixed the connection to the power pedals on my race bike after the last race, but the readings were widely inaccurate. I recorded professional level power numbers between 400 and 600 watts while on the course. I had failed to update my crank length nor calibrated the pedals before the race. I again had to rely solely on my heart rate reading, which was consistently at, or slightly above, my lactate threshold. And, I still have not been able to schedule a time to get my new aerobar extensions installed, followed by an updated bike fitting. This would have improved my aerodynamics into the outbound headwind.
I was well prepared for the heat and humidity. I started sipping 16 oz of energy drink during the 90 minute drive to the race site. I carried 16 oz of a hyperhydration drink to consume during my warmup, plus 16 oz of protein recovery drink for post-race, an additional 16 oz of energy drink, and 16 oz of plain water. I calculated that I lost 5 pounds of water weight to sweat, which is a 3% loss, enough to impair aerobic performance. A 2% loss is sufficient for dehydration. It could have been much worse if I hadn’t worn my white speedsuit, white shoe covers, white aero sleeves, white gloves, and white aero helmet. The entire race course was exposed to direct sunlight.
Race replay: Rock River Multisport 20 KM Time Trial.
UPDATE: The next live race is the Stray Kats Kankakee 20 KM Time Trial on Sunday, July 26, which I raced last year to my first victory of the season in 0:37:31 (20.57 mph). Due to the 5 hours of round trip driving to Kankakee and the expected hot and humid weather, I have decided to race this event virtually for the second time this season. The first time was on May 17, 2020, with a time of 0:31:23 (23.00 mph).