Why is this a big deal?

I have been cycling as a "cyclist" since 2005. I've been cycling for the adventure since 1999 and before that I was just like any other kid on a bike. I've seen and done a lot of things on my bike and as you probably gathered from my last post I am pretty competitive. Strava and dailymile are my main outlets for this and they truly do seem to offer some serious inspiration.

Since I started using Strava last September I have been creating and attempting to top every segment in Clay Springs and the immediate area. If a segment already existed I was trying to top it, if a significant portion of road or trail didn't have segment I created it and as you may know strava builds the leaderboard from all past and future attempts. The mountain segments were easy, since my wife and I are really the only ones out here. The road segments on the other hand vary from a good challenge to a substantial record. A sanctioned road race runs through here every summer as does the bike section of a major triathlon.

For this reason one segment in town has eluded me. The Sawmill TT is .7 or just about 3/4 of a mile long. I sold my Time Trial bike at the beginning of October in order to get my mountain bike but before I did I went after this segment. I was pretty out of shape and failed miserably. I was completely cooked too. I don't normally get sick to my stomach on a bike but I did that day. The average speed was far out of my reach that day even though I was fully capable of those speeds in the past. I waited until November of last year and went for it on my road bike. I averaged 31.8 miles an hour and had the third fastest time (but was ten places back because of numerous ties) I started out great hitting a top speed of over 38 mph but I just couldn't keep it going over the last quarter mile. I couldn't hold that effort for that long.

Finally after riding consistently on my road and mountain bike (mostly mountain) over the last few months I decided to go for it again. I found that I had much more stamina and was able to keep it up until the finish. I averaged 33.9 mph with a time of 1 minute 18 seconds and put a significant gap between myself and the rest of the field. Surprisingly I believe that I can actually beat that time by a good margin. I blew out my tire on a ride at the beginning of the week and had to borrow my brothers wheels until I get new tires. Not only was I not on aero rims and high quality hubs like I normally would be but I was riding on heavy and old thorn resistant tires. Couple that with the fact that I didn't commit to the segment until it had already started says that there is quite a bit of free speed to be gained. With increased fitness I think I can establish a really solid time.

One of my goals this year is to better all of my times on these segments. The following video is from back in the day when I rode with the Strada Cycling Team before the days of strava. This is from the Burger Shop to 260 segment. The Sawmill TT is in here but in the opposite direction, you'll see the interval training and the cool downs in between. I currently hold the record on this segment at around 23 mph (easily beatable now) I don't know how fast I was in the vid but the TT bike was always very fast.