Airport Time Trial Summary

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Try Athlete

Last Airport TT of the Year a Success

by John Tenney
A successful season came to end on October 7th, as Topview Sports hosted the 10th and final (for this year) Airport Time Trial on Heintzelman Blvd.

This is a popular and successful series. This year, for the first time, overall results were kept and tabulated, and sponsors are providing funds for trophies for several classes (to be awarded at a future date).

Overall results are posted here.

Our own Hourglass Cycling team had several members make the results, including two podiums. Chuck Peabody won the “Eddy Merckx” division, John Tenney placed third in the Masters 50+. Randy Durkee was close behind in 4th in Masters 50+. David Dixon was 6th and Bill Edgbert placed 15th, only making a single race due to scheduling difficulties.

Chuck Peabody, winner of the Eddy Merckx division

Randy Durkee – 4th in Masters 50+

Dave Dixon, (6th Masters 50+) and Connie Houlihan (7th Women Cat 4) after race #10

Bill Edgbert, 15th in Masters 50+

The course and venue have been posted in previous articles.

Weather

It started ominously with a rain storm looming to the south.

Fortunately, it moved off to the east and not a drop fell on the course. The temperature was pleasant, in the mid 70s. Other than a nasty wind coming from the south it seemed to be a perfect night.

The light stayed with us until all post race activities, including several announcements by Tim Molyneaux concerning next year’s plans. Stay tuned, as we plan to be involved in the planning stages of next year’s series, including a possible bid for the State TT Championship.

Race Report

John Tenney, 3rd Masters 50+

I got a decent warmup but switched to a shallower front wheel due to the wind from the south. This turned out to be unnecessary as the reader will see.

As the race started there was a significant head wind for the “out” part of the out and back. I noticed it right away as my speed was less than it should be for the indicated power output. As I turned the last bend towards the 180 degree turnaround I saw my speed pick up and realized that the wind had died and we would not have a tailwind on the way back. Disappointed!

As expected, when I made the turn the speed did not rise significantly. I realized a PR was only going to possible by burying myself in pain. I picked it up, and the legs started complaining. I really needed Jens Voigt’s “Shut Up Legs” sticker for this section. My goal was to beat 18 minutes, and thus average over 23 mph for the course. This has been my ongoing goal all year. I might have made it if the tailwind had stayed. As it was, I ended up with 18:11 for a 22.92 mph average. A new personal record for me, but of course I am disappointed I didn’t break the 23 mph barrier.

My Power Meter output and analysis for the race

Race Report: Airport TT #6

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Try Athlete

Race Report for John Tenney at Airport Time Trial #6, May 13, 2014.

Venue and Conditions

The venue has been discussed previously (as excellent for a time trial) with one change tonight, all riders were entered to run 2 laps instead of one, making the entire course length 13.9 miles.

The weather was party cloudy and not too warm, around 82 degrees, but very windy. A strong crosswind from the east blew in at 15-25 mph. This made the race very interesting. Only 15 riders showed up, which is very unusual. Typically this race draws 30 to 40 riders. Claudio Mayol volunteered to take pictures using our camera, so we got a lot of great pictures. He has shown his hidden talent as a photographer.

Yes I gave Claudio a smile as I was trying to clip in. I started pedaling hard right after, I promise

Clipped in now, and switching to the aerobars (left hand is on already)

My Race Description

In the first race with our new sponsor on board, Hourglass Insurance Solutions, I was the first of three Masters 50+ to start, with Brian Davis and Kevin Clark right behind me. Obviously I expected to see them go by pretty quickly, as they are very fast riders. I started out with a relatively easy pace, as I had no idea how the 14 miles would treat me. Except for the first climb out of the taxiway overpass, I kept my speed at 21+ mph until the first turn. Brian caught me at 3:50 in, which was a bit discouraging. Kevin didn’t catch me until after the first turn, around 12 minutes, which was encouraging, as I noticed he isn’t blowing by me like he has in the past. I was able to keep him in sight longer, although he is still 3 or 4 mph faster than me.

The dog-leg towards the turn was downwind, and it felt great pushing it up to 25-27 mph up to the turn. Of course, turning back in to the tailwind was not so fun. I dropped below 20 mph in the beginning, but then I got a rabbit! Roger Hungerford, riding on a road bike, appeared in my cross hairs. Roger is 63 years old, very nice guy, and would definitely be faster than me if he had the aero bike and aero gear that I have. However, on his road bike, he was just a little slower than I am, and gave me something to chase. Probably made me push a little harder than I should have, as my heart rate went up to nearly max at one point, but I did manage to catch him in a slight headwind section. Keeping him at bay after that was my new goal.

One incident kind of marred the race for Roger and I, as we came up to the mid-point turn. We had one junior rider, who was being followed by him mom with blinkers on. This is OK, but taking up the entire right lane is not. As we cam under the last bridge we had to go in to the left lane to prepare for our 180 turn, and there was traffic coming from behind. We both had to slow down until traffic passed by. Probably cost us both 10 seconds at least. My suggestion is that if you are going to follow behind your junior rider that you get all the way to the left of the lane, leaving room for a rider to pass without leaving the bike lane by very much.

The pickup truck was a mom following her son. She was only looking out for him, which I get, but she kind of got in the way of our 180 turn

The second lap was painful. My saddle sores starting making their presence known. I had to stand up and shake things out a few times. Each time I did this Roger got closer. Fortunately the tailwind section helped me pull away a bit, and turning back in to the wind, my aero setup helped me stay away.

Finished strong, under my goal of 39 minutes, at 38:40.

Power Agent and Endomondo data (Endo includes cool down lap)

Airport Time Trial Race Report

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Try Athlete

When I can, I like to make a “Trophy Pic” like this for my wall

Airport TT Race Report: John Tenney
Venue/Weather/etc.
As has been said previously, the Airport TT venue is an excellent place to time trial. In addition to the wide bike lanes, today we had support from the Orlando Police (who left two squad cars at the start line with lights on to slow down traffic) and a representative from GOAA Ops who gave us up to date weather. Great support for this race!

And the weather was definitely an issue. It was raining when I got the course. I waited in the car for 15 minutes for it to stop. When it finally did stop raining it still looked pretty ominous. Fortunately Claudio Mayol (a race volunteer, there every event) convinced me to stay and at least ride the course. So I took a ride up and down Heintzelman and it wasn’t that bad although very windy. The south end of the course looked really ominous – with dark skies and thunder clouds. Still, I got back to the start totally dry. I decided to go on with it, but I elected to do only one lap (Tim was giving us the option of 1 or 2 laps, 7 or 14 miles.)

Race
The 14 milers left first, and then the junior 7 milers. I was the first of the adult 7 milers to start so I expected to be passed early and often. Oddly enough the first guy to catch me did so about a half mile before the turn and he inspired me to try and catch him. I stayed at least 25 yards behind him (and everybody) so no drafting took place, don’t worry. Another guy caught me just after I made the turn and I let him go, and then decided to chase him. Although I never caught him I kept him in sight. No one else caught me the rest of the ride. I was trying to catch Clay Zinnert in front of me but he is improving and although I gained a little I never seemed to get close enough to make a difference. Clay did a 20:31 which is not his best but hey, before this year that would have beaten me every time!

It was difficult to say where the wind was coming from although I was getting knocked around a lot. I’d say it was a crosswind from the east most of the time. When the course takes the little jaunt to the west at the south end I did feel a little push.

There was (for once) no traffic affecting the 180 degree turn. I slowed to 16 or so because the road was damp but got right on the pedals and picked it up again right away. Except for the first climb from under the bridge my analysis shows I did not go below 21 mph on either leg. That is an improvement.

I crossed the line still pushing, although starting to run out of gas. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. I finished in 18:38 which beats my old record by 20 seconds. Average speed over the 6.94 mile course was 22.35 mph, also a new personal record for any time trial.

It started raining shortly after I finished so I headed for the car, loaded up and drove home very excited about a great effort tonight.

14th out of 16 at tonight’s Airport TT, but a new personal record of 18:38, average speed of 22.35 mph

Orlando Airport Time Trials

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Try Athlete

by John W. Tenney
One of the best ways to check your cycling progress is a time trial, and for those in the Orlando area one of the best events is Topview Sports’ Airport Time Trial Series. Promoted and overseen by Tim Molyneaux, this event is drawing larger crowds than ever.

With some new sponsors this year, the event is even more attractive, with race day prizes awarded. New sponsors include Winter Park Cycles and The Fit Lab

Races are held on Tuesday evenings (see schedule below) and typically end well before the light fails, but the Heintzelman Blvd venue offers excellent street lights for those that want to ride later. The course is an out and back with a total length of 6.94 miles. It’s basically flat except when it goes under a couple of aircraft bridges (see photo below) although the wind is usually a factor, since it is in a large, open area (airport duh) the breeze can be strong.

SW 737 on Aircraft Bridge at Airport Time Trial

Fairly common site on either of the two aircraft bridges that cross the route

The 2014 schedule is as follows:

January 21 (5pm start)
February 18 (5pm start)
March 18 (6pm start from here on)
April 8 and 29
May 13 (special 14 mile course)
June 3
August 5
September 2 and 30

The results are updated (live) using a pretty cool app called WebScorer, which posts the results to their website. Here are the complete results for TT #3.

The Orlando Runners and Riders team is starting to appear in respectable numbers at these events. While we are yet to be a threat to the podium, our times are improving and what’s more important, we are having fun.

Orlando Runners and Riders results from Airport TT #3

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