Race Report: Calaveras Time Trial

Race: 2024 Calaveras Time Trial

Date: July 13, 2024

AVRT racers: Robin Betz (writing this report), Emily Selman, Hannah Chen

Top Result: Robin 1st Merckx Women, 3rd Open Women, Hannah 2nd Merckx, Emily 1st Cat 4, 3rd Merckx

Course: 10 mile out and back with rolling hills and a 1 mile, 300 ft climb before the turnaround.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/segments/611015

Nutrition: A TT is too short for eating but I had oatmeal for breakfast, a latte, and a 200kcal bottle in between races.

Race Summary:

The day started with the womens’ Merckx category and I was the first rider. After a short warmup, I headed to the start with the intention of leaving my water bottle there, but of course I forgot to take it off my bike. At least I’d taken my front bottle cage off so the aero penalty wasn’t too bad.

I didn’t have my best legs today, so I aimed to really nail my aero position and pacing to get the most speed with what I had available. I was able to punch it up each roller and over the top, and focus on getting super aero on the downhills. [pic]

I rode the climb as hard as I could knowing that the downhill would offer a small rest opportunity, and managed to not overcook the single tricky corner on the way back. Then I counted down the miles on my bike computer and did my usual time trial thinking tricks of trying to do mental math, which I find a good distraction from the effort: “I’m 2 miles out. At 30 mph, that’s 4 min. At 20 mph, that’s 6 min. I’m going about 25mph, so only 5 min remaining! Oh, now it’s 1.5 miles remaining. How long will that take?” At Z4 heart rate that train of thought takes about 3 minutes to formulate and the finish line tent was soon in sight.

I know I’ve done a good time trial when I have to just stand over the bike, put my forearms on handlebars, and gasp and pant and try not to throw up for a few minutes. My efforts were rewarded with a win in the category!

Up next was the open category, which I’d brought my time trial bike for with a 90mm front and a rear disc wheel. I knew I should be faster than my previous run, but was also pretty tired, so again focused on making the most of what I had and keeping the best aero position possible: shoulders shrugged, chin up, and hands not death gripping the skis.

This run was a bit harder - I definitely felt the previous one in my legs and mentally was also pretty fatigued and not able to dig as deep. My power meter also was negging me the whole time since I’d forgotten to adjust it for the shorter cranks on this bike, but I ride to feel during TTs and didn’t let it get in my head.

The aero position on the TT bike is worth a lot of time, even on the hill– with 10 fewer watts I managed the same time on the climb, but since I don’t descend on this bike a lot I was actually slower on the descent due to wanting to be on the brakes to corner. Some blustery wind on the way back was a bit stressful but at least distracted me from the effort.

I ended up with the 3rd fastest time overall and was happy with it. You can’t always control how your legs are or who else shows up, but races are always an opportunity to do your very best and TTs even more so. I hope they run this course again next year because I’ll certainly be back!

Race pics by Greg Beliera