Team AC "headquarters" for the race
Praying to the time trial gods for a fast time
Spence warming up and ready for actionThe courses were different for each of the categories, but the challenge was the same - one rider every 30 seconds, alone on the road, no drafting - just you against the wind. And there WAS wind, especially later in the morning, when it seemed to be blowing 15 MPH straight into the first long straightaway.
The first race was the Juniors 13-14, where Spence and Skyler competed against a familiar contingent of Junior Points Series contenders. The big battle that was expected for this race (between Dylan Drummond and Spence) did not materialize because of an unfortunate flat for Dylan within about the first mile. So the boys went out, and did some serious battle with the course before the wind kicked up.
At just 10 km (about 6 miles) they had a short course with one turn and one U-turn, but that just meant it was either a very short time trial, or a very long sprint. It was clear from the times that it was more like a sprint.
Spence nailed first place (and the State Champion jersey!) by 1:15 over the 2nd place finisher.
Skyler finished within about 2.5 seconds of the podium.
Next up were the Junior 15-16 boys, with Bjorn, Alex and Bob out - about 30 minutes later than Spence and Skyler, the wind was starting to come up a bit, and their course was twice as long - 20 km (about 12.5 miles), so it required real discipline to go out strong (but not TOO hard), and hold a high level of power all the way through. Up against the Specialized riders and other boys riding $5000-7000 specialist time trial bikes, our boys did really well.
Bob (on his home-built duct-tape and cardboard rear disc) placed 10th (most of the places 1-9 were locked up by either the Davis or Specialized teams), about 2.5 minutes out of the podium.
Alex came in 13th, just 45 seconds behind Bob, with a strong steady performance.
Bjorn, who struggled with cramping legs, finished 15th about a minute behind Alex.
Given that this was the first time trial they've ever done, the boys did great. We also have many thanks to Chad, Ian Tuttle, Woody, Craig Upton, Jeff Peterson, Kris Lunning, Josh Snead, and others who loaned their expensive time trial gear (wheels, helmets, bars, etc.) for the boys to use for the race.
Next up were the Masters, with a full 30 km (19 miles) to ride - the course was a large rectangle about 5.5 miles long, by 3.5 miles wide. First out was Blair, who raced Elite 4. By the 11 AM start time, the wind was in full force, about 15 MPH steady into the first 5.5 mile straight (the good news was the tailwind on the back straights, which was a big relief after about 30 minutes of hammering out the first part of the race).
Blair took 13th place in his group, a strong finish against some obviously committed and experienced time trialists.
Then Peter and Rich went out in Elite 5, with Peter finishing in 13th place in his class, just 1:15 behind Blair's finishing time. Rich managed to hold a steady pace, and came in 17th, with a strong finish at the final straight.Finally, after noon, Ken headed out into the course, in the Men's 45+ class, with some serious "investment bikers" showing off their $10,000 tricked out time trial bikes.
Ken rode his 30 km without any benefit of aero goodies except the helmet, and finished in style. We took off shortly after Ken's finish, so we don't know how he placed at this point.
All in all it was a great learning experience, and Spence took home another win in the Junior Points Series - keeping the battle alive to the very end of the series!
A full set of pictures is up on the web: http://picasaweb.google.com/glocalize/200906DunlapTimeTrial?feat=directlink
And there was a pro photographer there from Hors Categorie (no relation) with good pictures of everyone:
Spence Peterson Skyler Taylor Bob Siegel Alex Howard Bjorn Fox
Blair Peterson Peter Sobrero Rich Siegel Ken Howard
In two weeks is the Mt. Diablo Hill Climb, and then next stop is the Golden Nugget Stage race out in Mariposa - 4 races over 3 days at the end of June.
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