21.95 miles, 1:08:53 ITT time, 5th place B Group.

Course Description of the ITT course:

This week’s stage, the third-to-last stage, will be an individual time trial.  The course is a truncated version of the half-Ironman course at St. Croix (it’s actually an easier version of the real course, because the climbs aren’t quite as poisonous).  We’ll start at about Mike 4 of that course, and end at about Mile 26.  The overall distance will be just a bit short of 22 miles.  The course is net downhill, and the total climbing will be just over 1,000 feet.

I was still tight/sore from Sunday’s Boney Mountain Trail Half Marathon. My calves were sore more than my quads. Going into tonight’s race, I was a little leary if my body had it in there to hang for the huge climb, The Beast. The Beast is a climb that varies from 6% to 20%, and the CompuTrainer was yo-yoing up and down during the whole climb.

Fortunately, it went well. I didn’t bonk. And ironically, my legs felt better after, than before riding. For the ITT stage there was no drafting, so there was a lot less games to play with the other riders. Most of the night I was trying to stay ahead of Trevor. He was really good at the descents, so I had to pay attention and keep hammering it even on the descents.

 Bill’s Race Report – B Group Thursday

Another quick night tonight, bought about by Mike Webb, Allison, Scott and Trevor for the Pushers, and Bill, Alvin, Joe & Amy for the Gunners. 

As befits a time trial, the stage started off briskly, with Mike moving into the lead, followed by Bill and Alvin.  These three rapidly opened a gap between themselves and the rest of the field. The gaps stabilized at 100 feet or so between each of these riders, and stayed that way for a few miles.  On the first significant climb, Bill put in a surge which caught Mike and moved past him on the descent.  Alvin came along and closed his gap to Mike without passing.  Behind them, Allison had started strong, but was starting to fade and was passed by Trevor, who set out after Joe, and Amy.  Scott was keeping an even pace, and settled in between Alvin and Joe. 

At about Mile 8, Mike picked up the pace and caught Bill up, passing him and eventually opening a gap of almost 300 feet, while Alvin stayed about 300 feet further back.  Matters stayed that way all the way to the top of the long climb.  As they neared the top, Bill put in a surge and closed within 100 feet or so, then made up the rest of that gap on the descent, passing Mike for good at about Mile 10.  That gap expanded, very slowly at first, until Bill had a gap of about 600 feet at the bottom of the Beast.  Alvin meanwhile, put in a bit of a surge to catch and pass Mike right at the bottom of the Beast. 

Further back, Joe and Trevor were playing cat and mouse, with Joe a bit quicker on the climbs and Trevor faster on the downhills. Joe was generally able to stay ahead of Trevor, but only had a gap of about 200 feet at the bottom of the Beast.  Amy was holding a good pace and had hopes of being able to catch Trevor on the Beast, but it was not to be today. 

Up the Beast, Bill was able to gap Mike by about 500 feet at the top, while Mike was able to gap Alvin (who had tire slippage issues) by about 350 feet or so.  Going over the top, those gaps rapidly expanded on the steep descent, with Bill arriving at the bottom about 1/2 mile ahead of Mike, who was about 1/2 mile in front of Alvin.  Joe was able to hold off Trevor on that climb, while Trevor was able to keep Amy at bay.  Those gaps also expanded once they got over the top.  During all of this, Scott was rising strong on his own, and held station in 4th. 

On the long run-in to the finish, Bill was able to hold the gap to Mike, who was able to hold off Alvin, and so on back through the pack.  The final times at the line were: Bill 1:02:03; Mike 1:02:53; Alvin 1:04:04; Scott 1:06:35; Joe 1:08:53; Trevor 1:09:17; Amy 1:10:38 and Allison 1:13:06.  The Gunners put about 6 more minutes into the Pushers tonight, making their total gap for the week about 20 minutes.  In the team overall, the Gunners are now a smidge over 3 hours in front. 

In regard to individual honors, the individual leaderboard looks like this as of the end of Week 9: 

Since there were no sprint or KOM points on offer this week, those standings are unchanged, with the sprint points first: 

then, the KOM points: 

Next week is the penultimate week, and will be a climbing stage.  The course profile will be released Saturday afternoon.  Meanwhile, have a great few days, and congratulations to all the riders who did such a wonderful effort this week!

Bill’s Race Report – A Group Wednesday