The Race: Tour de Toona Altoona Sunset Time Trial
The Course: 3 miles (finishing time of 6:08.78)
The Field: Pro 1/2 women
The Finish: 35th out of 77
This was my first TT ever, and with it being slightly less than three miles and on a hilly course with 15 corners, I knew it was going to be interesting. I’m mostly over the chest cold I’ve had for the past nine days, but I’m still feeling sluggish and coughing a lot, so that left me anxious about being able to put out a good effort. In the end, things went by so quickly I don’t remember much except that my mouth was incredibly dry. I rode hard, didn’t crash, and had a respectable finish. I could have saved time by being more precise in my lines and cornering, but I’ll chalk that up to inexperience. I’d also like to have some TT equipment the next time around – I don’t know if it would make a difference, but it would probably make me feel more prepared.
Also, as I went through the first corner of the course, a disheveled man cradling a ferret wandered onto the course in front of me. I was so surprised that all I could think to say as I flew past was “Nice ferret.” I don’t even like ferrets.
of course if it had been a red-tail boa, you might have been tempted to try to cut a deal! First time-trial down and behind you. Ride #1 in your mind.
I was at the Toona crit a fw years ago and one of the race marshals was a homeless man with a pet fox on a leash…