by John Naegle
Everybody was nervous about turns 3 and 4 (a narrow left-right combo
about 300 meters after the start). We lined up 20 wide and 5 deep on
a road that would only support 6-8 wide after 50 meters and then 2-3
through the left-right combo. I started in the front row and jumped
hard to take the hole shot and stay out of trouble. Ended up second
and able to go through without braking on the first lap. For the next
4 or 5 laps, I settled into a good rhythm and stayed top 15 for the
rest of the race. I ended up going a little over threshold each time
up the hill, but wasn’t losing places unless people were punching it
hard, in which case I either cornered better or used my greater mass on
the downhills to move back up. With 3 to go Collin Huston from
CLNoonan put in the only real attack of the race. He dangled 10-15
seconds off the front for 1/2 a lap. I bridged across to him on the
downhill (proving that breaks were doomed in hindsight) and traded
pulls with him for a little bit. We were pretty quickly absorbed,
but at least it felt like a bike race — so many races go by without
any attacks. Toby was looking really strong the whole race, so I
decided to try and lead him out if I could get into good position.
Lost a few positions the last time up the hill. Toby was probably top
6 at this point and I was around 15th. Somebody in a Caisse d’Epargne
jersey ended up leading the group through the last corner… He ended
up braking really hard and dangerously slowing the whole group down.
After the last corner it was slightly uphill for 50 meters than about
a 1km downhill to the finish. Somebody took a flier and almost held
it to the end (he took second). It was basically impossible to move
up on the downhill so I couldn’t do much to help Toby. I sat right on
the yellow line until we had the whole lane then jumped (at 40+ mph, I
don’t think it was much of a jump) but was able to move up from around
15th to 7th. Somebody drifted into me during the sprint and we
almost locked handlebars, but neither of us panicked and we held it
upright. Toby ended up 4th and I was 7th.
by Eric Martin
My first lap I was mid pack sitting in and getting the feel for what was a
sketchy set of initial turns due to some bad bike handlers near my flanks.
At first, I didn’t go for the hole shot even though I had good position b/c
I still felt wonky from the Thai food of the prior evening and the
subsequent dehydration I felt at the start. Still, it felt good to be at the
races and confident I could regain my early season form. At about lap two,
something felt funny. My right felt funny and my pedal efforts did not
translate the usual accelerations/power that I can generate and had
difficulty hanging on. I literally was spit out from around 20th to off the
back on the top of the a climb that usually suits my style of riding.
Finally, after my third time into the chicane while leading a chase group of
maybe 5, my pedal shot off of both my pedal spindle and then my cleat. I
looked for the hay bales and/or a soft landing but managed to stay up
and slow to a stop.
From that point on, my race was over as I pedaled with one leg with my tail
between my legs over to Eager, Silva, et al. I am lucky that I didn’t go
down, and I felt shaky for at least 30′ afterwards. I suspect, and in
retrospect, that the failure occurred on the downhill where we were going
~40 mph, and that my cleat was sliding along the spindle into the first
series turns.
Yes, these are the recalled Time pedals, and yes, they have failed once before
on a very fast descent. I did add Loctite to the threads following my 1st
failure, but this was not enough.
I can no longer recommend Time pedals to others.
Results on VelocityResults.net
