Put the call out for some hot laps earlier in the week and Timmy's response was to suggest a 20km time trial as something to prepare us better for Nepean Triathlon in 7 weeks time. So with a degree of nervousness I dragged myself to Centennial Park at lunchtime. Passed the HuRTs crew along the way (Charlie, Hoey, Renee and many others) and wished I was with them rather than about to endure over 30mins of pain.
Met someone resembling Tony Martin at the CP cafe, full-on tri bike, fancy helmet, smooth Rapha gear and all. Then Tony starts talking in a soft Melbourne/Stoke combo accent and I realise it's Timmy. He sets the route which involves 3 laps of a figure of 8 around the Park and, importantly, includes a nasty 700m hill up to Woollahra Gates - basically the reverse of the hill you come down in the JPMorgan CC.
We start up at the Paddo gates in a special box that Timmy marks out for the occasion. He says we need to keep the laps consistent and something under 12mins per lap would be good. He says go, I jump off, he misses getting his shoe in the cleat and I've got a gap zooming down the hill. It levels out and I get into a rhythm only to hear this "WHOOSH" as Timmy comes flying by. I seriously spend 500m balls out trying to get back onto his wheel, I feel the legs going lactic and think, holy crap, he's gapped me already and we're less than 2km in! But eventually I get back on, recover and take a turn at the front as we go past Champ and a Brother Branagan.
Continues like this for a bit until we hit the hill, I turn onto it and get out of the saddle and work it pretty hard knowing you can recover at the top. Turn at the top to see I've gapped Timmy by about 10s. Come around the U and finish the first lap in 10:40. Second lap is all solo, just trying to get into a rhythm, deal with the wind (strong into the face heading up to Fox Gates) and give the hill another nudge again. Turn at the top and see the gap is probably about 20s now and finish lap 2 in 11:15. Same again for the third. Push the hill a bit harder knowing I'm nearing the end and finish lap 3 in 11:17 for 33:12 all up. Timmy comes past in 33:47. Average pace was 35.7km/h which isn't bad given the wind and the fact it includes 2km of hills.
In truth, I reckon I got all the time gains on the hill and he was about the same, if not a bit quicker on the flatter sections. So plenty to work on before the big dance at Nepean. Easy ride back to the office and a great session to knock out over lunch.
In other news, I received a call from a very excited Maggie this afternoon to tell me she's also been picked for the 800m next week at Regionals in addition to the 1500m. The girl who pipped her on the line for 2nd in Zone after she eased up (she won't be doing that again) has had to pull out. I'm more stoked for the fact that she's so stoked. I'd be crapping myself that I had to do two tough races in one day.
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