2021 Race Report #2: ABD Kaneville 16 KM Time Trial #1 – UPDATED RESULTS

My second race of 2021, and my 100th consecutive time trial since June 2010, was supposed to be the WBR Harvard 20 KM Time Trial on Sunday, May 9. Due to COVID restrictions, this race has been postponed to May 30th. COVID restrictions were still being observed, but the gap in start times has been shortened from five minutes to two minutes. There were officials at the start, turn-around, and finish lines, masked and socially distanced. Race numbers were mailed to competitors a week before the race date. Awards will be mailed or available at the next race.

The weather was ideal at my 9:43 a.m. start time: 63 degrees (felt like 63 degrees), 59 percent humidity, and steady wind at 5 mph from the Southwest. The wind direction meant a tailwind during the second half of the square 9.67 mile course. There were five competitors in my age-group.

I had planned on completing a structured 40-minute warmup on local roads, rather than my stationary trainer, before heading to the start line. A couple of weeks ago, I had to purchase a new GPS computer and had not set it up properly to pair with the cadence and power sensors on my race bike. So, I aborted my structured workout and wasted 10 minutes unsuccessfully trying to pair those sensors. I was only able to complete a 30 minute ad-hoc warmup on local roads.

After my performance in the first race of the season, I knew I could push bigger gears (53×17/15) and maintain a faster average speed, especially without a 14 mph wind headwind inbound. That’s exactly what I did. I missed the win by only 15 seconds. My official finishing time for second place was 0:25:30 (22.75 mph). The winning time was 0:25:15 (22.97 mph). The third place finisher recorded a time of 0:25:35 (22.67 mph). CORRECTION: The starter made a two minute error in the start times for two of my competitors. As a result, I finished fourth, not second. The corrected winning time was 0:23:35 (24.60 mph). Second place was 0:25:01 (23.19 mph). Third place was 0:25:15 (22.97 mph). I finished fourth with a time of 0:25:30 (22.75 mph). The good news is that the time gap between 2nd and 4th place was less than 30 seconds. My challenge is to close that gap by lowering my body weight and pushing even bigger gears.

Race replay: ABD Kaneville 16 KM Time Trial

My next race, my 101st time trial, is the SKR Kankakee 20 KM Time Trial, Kankakee, IL, on Sunday, May 23. I’ve raced this particular course three times since May 2019.