The cyclist behind me wins races. Ive seen him lined up at a start before. The guy in front of me is so serious he didn’t acknowledge my greeting. The cyclist who just rode past, warming up, is nationally ranked.
My inner self bemoans, "What are you doing here? Should just have stayed home and ridden around the Naches Loop."
Suddenly the timekeeper repeats my name, a guy grabs my saddle and holds the bike upright. I remember to clip both shoes in, and take a deep breath.
"Three"
"Two"
"One"
I don’t hear what comes next for all of a sudden blood is rushing to my head. I’ve either just fallen to the pavement or I’m really sprinting off the line!
Jack Frost Timetrial is the annual limbering of Pacific Northwest racers. From Victoria B.C. to Northern California, bicycle racers descend onto Vancouver Lake Park just outside Vancouver, Washington for a 12.4 mile test against the clock. The course is smooth asphalt with gradual undulations, but mostly just push as hard as you can flat. The cyclists are divided into age groups and racing classifications. The human powered cyclists have their own division.
Mid winter tough talk got me into this mess. Sweat and coughing up my lungs were going to get me out of it. I lined up at the start without the trappings of a time trialist. I had no skinsuit, no aero bars, no wheels designed to carve through the wind like a sharp knife. I was on my road bike, nothing special. I hadn’t really trained for the event either - just a few hours each week in a garage. I brought my windtrainer and warmed up in the parking lot for 30 minutes before my designated start time (assigned by age group and when you signed up). Riders were starting every 30 seconds. With over 300 cyclists, that made the start tent busy for the next 3 hours.
Out on the course, I was passed by riders every few minutes. My 30 second man (the rider who started 30 seconds after I did), caught me with in a mile. My 1 minute man took a mile to more longer, so I felt good about that. When the 5 minute man caught me just before the finishing line, I was angry. I sprinted after him, only to come up short just 50 meters from the end. I finished 42nd of 49 in the 40-49 age group. I can do better next year.
Also trying out the Jack Frost Time Trial were Mt Adams Cyclists Doug Kinzel and Elisabeth Tutsch. Other Yakima riders included Erin Hale, Donna Smith, Lloyd Campbell and Scott Steinman.