July 11, 2008

My first bike time trial!

My experience on a bike has never been real pleasant. One of my best friends since college is Mike Dunlap, Mike is a former 2:18 marathoner back in the early 80's, then a knee injury forced him out of running, he gave biking a try and the rest is history! Mike is one of the best 50+ age group riders in the country, he has always told me I should give it a try. I just recently did my first duathalon and did the ride part of it on a mountain bike, but I had a ball!

Jack Murray, owner of Jack and Adam's Bicycles in Austin came to my rescue! You will not find a nicer person and one who has so much knowledge about endurance sports as Jack! This past Wednesday Jack got me all fitted properly on a brand new bike he was letting me test ride, I had no idea there was so much to know about getting fitted and how to shift the gears and what not!

My friend David Wolfe, who is a awesome rider, told me his club was having a 9 mile bike time trial this past Wednesday evening outside of Pflugerville and invited me to come. My wife Jill and I loaded up our bikes and away we went. Jill got me all registered while I was out doing a warm up, I didn't feel like Lance Armstrong, not even close, but my warm up went well until I got back to the starting area and stopped to talk to Jill. I had forgot that my feet were in those little cage things on the pedal and when I stopped, I fell right over on my right side, I got my first road rash and hadn't even raced yet!

We started in 30 second intervals, I was quite excited! We had a nice tailwind at our back and I was tooling right along, that is until we had to turn into the wind and hit the uphills!

I finished 2nd to last and had a ball! I averaged a little over 18 mph and the bike Jack loaned me was incredible! I have to admit though that some parts of my body that stay on the seat were a little sore when I finished, but I'm excited already about the next time trial!

If you are a beginner like me or a expert and are looking for a new bike or gear, stop at Jack and Adam's in Austin, I promise they will help you out!

Owner Jack Murray and the staff emphasize customer service as their first priority. With a wide selection of triathlon and cycling gear, unmatched customer service and industry knowledge they aim to make your experience at Jack & Adam’s second to none.

The official results to the time trial are on Violet Crown website.

They are off to a great start - plenty of competitors and plenty of wind and hills to make this really challenging.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I love your stories! Congratulations on your first time trial, tri & du! Now I can really talk to you other than about being a midwesterner and struggling to get back into running after a couple knee surgeries. ;) I LOVE the bike.

I hope to see you again soon. Perhaps at the sweet & twisted tri in August, which Jill & I have talked ourselves into for a social event. ;) OX

btw - about the soreness in the seat - more training/conditioning will take care of that. Or desitin.