Actually, let's start with the equipment. My Felt B2 with Zipp 404 and 808 wheels and Dura Ace components is quite quick no matter who is astride. I run 95 and 90 pounds of pressure in the tires. At least that is the pressure an hour before the race. I switched to latex tubes two years ago and they leak air much faster than butyl. My wife gifted me with an aero helmet several years ago, and there was a study indicating they make quite a difference. I have a skin suit and shoe covers. Truthfully, I doubt the shoe covers help much, but at least I look like a racer.
Time trials are all about shaving a second here and there. Yesterday I was pretty sure I was the fastest in my category, 75+ men. Given my left knee problem, I opted to give up a few seconds by not using the start ramp and holder. I didn't want to chance it buckling at the start. I'm very comfortable in the tuck position on my bike, and my knee works fine while seated. So rather than sprint seven or eight revolutions to accelerate at the start, I quickly sat down and brought it up to speed with higher rpm's. Maybe two or three seconds deficit for the start.
Breathing. Even though I haven't seen a 160 bpm this year, I use that as my maximum heart rate, and 90% is 144 bpm. When I'm in good form, I try to stay between 90 and 94%. I can hold that for quite some time. So I am constantly monitoring my body with both my brain and the computer. At the same time, I'm looking at speed and cadence. Yesterday the outbound 10k was with the breeze at my back, and I took advantage by pushing a larger gear and slower cadence (82 rather than 88), for the most part. Each undulation in the road brought a gear change. This is where seconds are won. A slight incline brought a lower gear and higher cadence, with the opposite for a decline.
The return 10k was against the breeze and slightly uphill. I had not trained for anything more than 10k, so doing 20 put some stress on the body. I kept changing gears, making sure the speed increased or stayed the same, depending on the cadence, but this time it was a gear smaller. Also, I took a few (two) breaks to hydrate and breathe. Coming out of the tuck costs a few seconds, so these breaks lasted maybe five seconds each. There is one 3% grade of maybe two-tenths of a mile. Here I geared down and sat up and got ready for the last big push. Relatively refreshed, I resumed my tuck and higher gear. With the finish line in sight I wound it up and finished strong, pushing the heart-rate to 153.Early in my racing I lost concentration and stayed in a comfortable gear (rather than going higher and getting some more speed) for maybe thirty seconds. I came in second by three seconds. Maximum effort for the whole race is the goal no matter the placing.
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