Stoney Trail Time Trial

Today was Speed Theory's time trial out on the Stoney Trail extension east of Calgary. It was billed as a flat, straight course so a pure test of speed with no technical turns or climbs. What made it interesting was the weather. The race was almost cancelled as Calgary is having a little cold snap and woke up to snow on the ground this morning. I bought the ERTC winter cycling jacket but didn't think I'd use it until much later this year. The start was pushed back two hours and that was a good call by the organizers. The snow and rain stopped just before I left for the race and the start area was dry as I warmed up.

I really need to buy another trainer as there was no where to ride before my race due to the mud and gravel of the construction site. Once on course, the road was very nice since it hasn't been open to traffic yet. My heart rate monitor wasn't function properly for the whole race and I really like the feedback to know how hard I'm pushing myself. I'd like a power meter to gauge my effort but am not willing to spend the money on one yet. I could have pushed myself more but I'm not too disappointed in my effort.

The course was a simple five kilometres out and then straight back, repeated three times for a total of 30 km. The variability of Calgary's weather was amazing to experience over such a short stretch. As I said, the start was dry and remained that way the whole time I was there. The turn-around was a different story. On my first lap, everything was dry and there was a light cross-wind out of the East. On my second lap, the wind picked up and it started to rain. On my third lap, the wind felt quite strong and the rain had turned to small, stinging hail. A number of racers, myself included, rode a short distance after the turn with their right hand on thier cheek since the wind was slightly in their face and blowing the stinging hail as they charged into it at top speed. But, everything would clear as the start/finish turn-around approached. Once again, I was caught from behind by a few racers while catching no one. I did have one good moment going into the first turn as I went through the turn much faster than a racer who had just passed me. I made up 20 m and pulled right beside him after the turn but he left me behind again as he got back up to speed.

I logged 30 km for the race and finished in 53:18 for an average speed of 33.8 km/h and hit a maximum of 44.7 km/h. I had the highest average speed on my first lap before the wind picked up. My heart rate monitor wasn't working well but I might have averaged about 166 bpm. There was about 80 m of climbing for the entire race.