Bakeoven Road.

Today’s TT is 23 miles up Bakeoven Road and then 23 miles back down. It is not easy.

The route starts with three miles of steep climbing before reaching the plateau, but the climbing is not done. You stairstep up for 15 miles before the incline increases again up to the summit. After the turn around, you face a headwind all of the way down broken up by a half dozen short climbs. The TT is not fun.

Perhaps I was intimidated by it, perhaps it was the sore throat that I woke up with. I thought I had an hour before my start time and was just getting ready to go for a short warm up ride when a knock came to my door. It was Martha who told me that my start time was not an hour away, it was now!

I jumped on my bike and raced off to the starting line. I was afraid that I had missed my start, but as I pulled up, my 30 second rabbit was just staging. I was on time, but just barely.

Because of my error, I had no time to warm up. So, I decided to use the short steep climb as my warm up. Last year, Kenneth told me that the racing begins at the top of the steep climb and not to work hard on the climb. Remembering this, I followed his advice. In doing so, I was passed the four people who started behind me. This did cause me some grief, but I knew deep down that they were stronger climbers than I.

For the next fifteen miles, faster folks would catch and pass me, while I would catch and pass slower folks. As the incline steepened near the summit, I finally came upon my wife. As I slowly passed her, I expressed my dislike for this hill. She agreed.

My ride plan for this section was to ride hard, but not above my max. Last year, I worked as hard as I could and used up too much energy. I bonked at the end of the race. I did not want to do this again this year. So, I sucked down some gel and held my effort steady.

Near the top, I was passed by a racer in a sleeveless jersey. However, unlike others, he did not pull away from me. I could pace him as the climb ended. Near the summit, there are two short flats/descents that I hit hard. In doing so, I passed Mr. Sleeveless and put some distance between the two of us. Just before the turn around, I saw Carly coming toward me. I decided to try to catch. At the turn around, I was cheered on by Rob Miles who assured me that it was all now down hill (even thought I knew it wasn’t).

Stage Three - Bakeoven Road

As soon as I reversed my direction, the wind hit me. It was not the strongest Bakeoven headwind I have faced, but it was certainly sizable.

I was now descending the steep section near the summit and I let out all of the stops. I peddled until I was spun out and then tucked into an aero position. My speed increased to above 35 miles per hour. I could see Carly in the distance and she looked just as fast as I me. But I was slowly gaining on her.

Stage Three - Descending Bakeover Road

The first short uphill came and I decided to use my momentum. I shifted into a small gear and spun up the hill. This allowed me to crest the hill with some speed which I could quickly increase as the road began to drop. This is how I caught and passed Carly.

For the next fifteen miles, I slowly caught and passed folks. No one caught me.

I was now at the top of the last steep descent, and unlike last year when there was no wind, I was alone and I had to pedal to keep my speed up. I zoomed around the hairpins turn and dropped down into Maupin. I even sprinted for the finishing line.

Time: 2:49:10 (2:52:13 – Official time)
Distance: 45.89
Average Heart Rate: 136 bpm
Average Power: 199 watts (peddling)