I just got back from my race and it went really well for both of us. Of course there was some type of drama at the beginning though. The zipper on my skinsuit actually ripped open on me. Eva(OA racer from PA) was pinning my number on and then I started warming up on my trainer. When I got up off my trainer I noticed my zipper was attached up top but it was slip for about 18" in the middle...it looked ridiculous. Eva was tugging at my zipper trying to fix it...I'm sure it was quite entertaining for the witnesses. In the end I had to pin it together with extra race number pins and I really cooled down from my warm up doing that. I had
to run and rush to the start line and part of my cycling cleat broke off since I had to run in gravel. That caused more problems than I'd like. I was supposed to start some 4 minutes before Eva but there were once again missing riders so she started about 4 minutes in front of me(she was much more prepared for her first ever bike race than I was for an event thats my specialty). Anyhow I wasn't prepared at all and
once I got to the line I couldn't clip my pedals in...they were full of dirt and gravel so they gave me another 30 seconds. I got my left foot in...then I had to get my left foot in. Again...that took a while
and I didn't really get it in until I got about 10 pedal strokes into the race(I've got really bad luck with pedals as this is the second race in a row where something hasn't gone right with my pedals).

Once I got started it was pretty much all smooth sailing. The person in front of me had a minute on me rather than the normal 30 seconds due to my mishap and I didn't pass him for a while but I caught him by
the 10k mark...after that I was passing people pretty
regularly....especially after the turnaround. Thing is I didn't pass Eva before the turnaround...that was a really good sign since I was passing a lot of people but no Eva. I came up on Eva and she was hauling butt. I watched her pass another cyclist from a far distance
and that gave me a little extra boost. I passed her pretty far into the turnaround...nice job Eva...I knew her time would be faster than some of the guys for sure.

Now to the course...it was mostly false flats but more downhill on the way out than in and there was just a slight tailwind(compared to what I'm used to) and I knew the way back would be hell. At the turnaround you had to call out your number and they stopped your time...we all
had to get inline to start again. That made it really tough to get started again. I think I had at least a 3 minute rest...a 30 second rest is beneficial...and so is a 10 minute rest but 3 minutes just makes your muscles cold. Anyhow I was making really good time. The way
back wasn't quite as fast. Again there were false flats but on the way in than on the way out. I think I put in a pretty even split with the way back being tougher(and a hair longer) but...we'll see when the complete results come out later. I just know my time was 49:06 for 36
Kilometers. My average speed was 26.5mph...not blazing but the false flats were a killer and that is faster than my average speed from my last time trial. Anyhow I won my category by a minute so I can't complain about that. Its nice to finally get a Time Trial win in
considering the bad luck I've had in the 5 time trials I've entered...I pretty much won a time trial last year by 30 seconds but due to me starting 10 minutes late...my official time was 9:30 slower
than it really was.

Eva really kicked butt. She was really hesitant about doing her first bike race(she's a duathlete/triathlete) but she finished second amongst the women with pretty meager aerodynamic equipment. No aero helmet...no aero wheels(ksyriums and 650s at that)...no aero bike...just aero bars. She came in at 55:15 minutes and finished
second amongst the women...not bad considering most of the women looked like they were under 25. Eva could really be a great time trialist if she had the right gear and focused on it. Well...even if she didn't focus on it and just had the right gear...most likely she would have won the women's event by over a minute if she had the gear her competitors had. She was also the
only person to post a negative split(thats saying a lot considering the second half was nearly a half mile longer) and she did that by 1:30. Everyone outside of the top four overall(I was forth overall) had second splits over 2 minutes slower...very impressive. 90% of
the field posted second splits 3 and 4 minutes slower than their first splits. Hopefully Eva gets the cycling bug and does more races...this is a great sign.

We had a great day...you can't complain about two podium spots for Organic Athlete!!!