So this was the 1st race to be at and the one im good at the ITT..!
'ITT or Individual Time Trial is a race over a relatively shorter distance, where cyclists start their race one by one in fixed intervals of 30 sec or 1-2 mins, and are not allowed to make use of the slipstream of a rider in front. The fastest cyclist wins the race'
How i Started Racing.
Well i'm the youngest rider in Trivandrum Bikers Club. So Anoop Kutty, asked me to go along with him for a 130km ride on a roadie. So i rented a roadie. The next day, i was hiding behind his wheels and completed the 130kms under 5 hours at a speed of 27kph. The hardest part was coming back, The Hot Steaming Sun..!
So i decided on getting a Merida Scultura 200 and start racing..!
Training.
There was not much of training though. All i did was loop shankumugham and kovalam - kazhakuttam a couple of times and that's pretty much it.! :P
Bangalore.
Anoop Kutty also joined for the race. We formed as Crank TBC Racing Team, by Crank Cycling Joint. We took off in a train on Friday evening, getting dropped by our former Team Director, Praveen. Well travelling with non-padded bike bags in trains is a big risk. Though we didnt have much probs with travelling as there wasn't much of a crowd. :) On Saturday Morning, we reached Bangalore. Im at Bangalore for the 1st time. Ashok Kumar, our local fan picked us at the station.
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| 1st time at Bangalore..! Sleepy..! |
The Race.
In my category, there were 7 riders in which, only 5 show up.
The 1st one to start is a Aman, a casual rider in bangalore on his Bianchi Cameleote.
The 2nd one was Sreenath L from our former state, Kerala, showed up as Team Carrera from Cochin on his Carrera Veleno.
The 3rd one was Pranit from Raleigh.
The 4th one was me.
Last 5th, Vishwesh from Trek Firefox on his Trek 1.5
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 Me enjoying the view. :P 15kms done..! |
Warm Up.
Warm Up was kind of dead. We Reached at the Venue a bit late, so i couldn't warm-up.
There are two reasons that i wouldn't win for the race;
1. Im not comfortable in the cold. Asthma..
2. No Warm-Up means SHUT UP LEGS...!
Course.
The Race Course was mostly rolling with short climbs. I went as aero as possible but in the 1st half i slowed down a few times due to the lack of coldness. Vishwesh overtook me and shouted "Stay Aerodynamic..!" I managed to get an average speed of 36kph during the 1st half. The U-Turn was well maintained. Just like he said, Slow and Steady wins the race. :P
2nd Half.
The 2nd Half was completely filled with crosswinds. I dehydrate a lot and the one mistake that i made, 2 water bottles. My water was finished and i suffered a lot in the end. I overtook Aman, and finished strongly, sweating..!
The Results.
The Podium was Earned by Sreenath from Cochin, Vishwesh and Pranit.
I came 4th.
Learned a lot of lessons during the race.
Next Race.
So i couldn't participate for the TTT yesterday due to the lackness of team members and xams.
I'll be there for the Upcoming 100k Road Race.
Will YOU be there?
AK, out...!
Note: This blog is similar to Anoop Kutty's Blog. the108kgbaby.blogspot.com.
Watch this space for more.
Pic courtesies: Raghu Mohan. More pics on FB.
