Big Mig, waiting for an appointment with the Man with the Hammer.
You have three questions going through your mind:
How far to go?
How hard am I trying?
Is the pace sustainable for that distance?
If the answer is “yes”, that means you’re not trying hard enough. If it’s no, it’s too late to do anything about it. You’re looking for the answer “maybe”.Chris Boardman, on The Hour Record, Rouleur
Cyclists, whether on the start line of a race or at the café before a group ride, are a chatty bunch. How’s your training going? The legs feeling alright? How do you like Di2? I could never go electronic, need to feel the cable, you know – need to be connected to my bike.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “substantive conversation”; we are more leg than brain, after all. But no matter how good the form has been, we are always worried that it has somehow left us, and worry tends to make the mouth go. Chatter distracts the mind from the doubts that should have been nagging us the last month about our training, but who only turned up about ten minutes before we arrived to the start, long after there was anything we could do about it.
The Contre la Montre, on the other hand, always shows a different rider. No matter how dominant the rider, they are always deep in thought, never chuckling, never grinning. There is no one to lighten the mood, no distracting the mind from the pain and inherent uncertainty of the body’s ability to cope with the suffering that is to come. There is an appointment with the Man with the Hammer somewhere on the road you are about to travel down; he is as unpredictable as he is ruthless.
The rider who waits on the start line of a time trial is a rider who is squaring up with the reality that no matter the state of their training, they are waiting for the man.
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View Comments
@chris
If you're drinking champagne while cycling, it's because you've been handed a glass by your DS from the team car because you're about to ride into Paris wearing yellow.
Wow, there's a 90 year old entered into my last TT of the season on Sunday. Makes the two 74 year olds look positively youthful.
It's a Veterans TT Association event (Vets = Over 40) so it lists the ages and our Standard target times for 25 miles. His is 1:36:06, but frankly who cares - wonder if I'll still be doing it in 40 years.
@ChrisO
Respect! My mum gave up skiing at 90 the season before last.
@ChrisO
Let us know if this individual shows up on a C bike with Di2 shifters and disc brakes… Cheers
Well he's off 8 minutes ahead of me so if I don't see him I'm having a bad day.
@RobSandy
Tautology: imperial pint
Oxymoron: pint of champagne
Oxymoron: metric pint
Capisci?
@KogaLover
100% agree old bean.
Well bloody hell, the old chap won on handicap.
He did a 1:20 something which put him 15 minutes below his Standard time and in first place.
He was off 8 minutes ahead of me and I didn't pass him until about 10 miles in.
I just managed to squeeze under the hour with 59.45. Was hoping for a little more but a 58 was probably my aspirational target so it's not far off. It's a course where pacing is very difficult.