ECV Team Time Trial, Peter Megdal, July 12
RACE REPORT FOR THE TTT ON JULY 12TH HAMILTON MA
Team A:
Eric Brandhorst, Greg Robidoux, Peter Megdal, Mike Pavlov
Team A results:
Place: 2nd
Time: 43:30
Speed: 27mph
Distance 19.7 miles
The day of the race it began to rain and the radar showed increasingly heavy showers on the way. The course was bumpy with parallel cracks, potholes and heavy traffic. Many riders were considering NOT doing the race under the conditions but decided in the end to race for at least the workout!
Teams left at one minute intervals. Team A was 4th to start. The road and traffic conditions were such that on a GOOD day with EXCELLENT visibility safety was marginal and as our practice ride showed riders were to uneasy to draft close enough for efficiency.
At the start of this race, I was terrified and wondered if I should have upped my life insurance policy. It was, I thought, really stupid to start.
Remember, we are all on aero bikes with no ready access to brakes with very sketchy road surfaces. Within the first mile, I understood that this would be a very hard ride since I could not see! The road spray with minimal rain was bad enough but as the ride progressed so did the rain – think about what it was like last night as you drove home from work – it was POURING!
We were spread out all over the road and we were dropping our own team riders and then waiting and then again dropping them – there was really no rhythm to be had! Since we were not getting a good draft behind the rider in front, it was more like an individual time trial than a team TT.
As the race progressed, the daylight began to wane and the rain intensity was horrid. There came a point where we could ONLY see the wheel in front and when taking a pull you could only see 20 feet ahead. WE were hitting cracks filled with water, potholes filled with water and the road noise from passing cars was so loud in the rain we could not communicate with each other either.
I was glad to finish without falling and I can honestly say this was the worst ride I have done in 20 years. I was petrified. The saving grace was having a good group of guys to ride with. We did have one broken wheel and almost all teams had wheel or mechanical problems due to the conditions.
Peter