39.3 km Individual Time Trial

Day 2 was the 39.3 km individual time trial. This would be my second of the season, David's 100th and Mehdi's first. The course was gently rolling, 20km out and back with a fast downhill finish. The wind was from behind on the way out, road conditions smooth except for the 5 km before the turn around.

Mehdi was second out of the gate for the Flyers putting the pedal to the metal for the whole course and wrapping up the ride in 1:14.44 minutes with an average speed of 31.5 km/h. This included the time needed to take his helmet off, remove a bee that had stung him and then contrinue on. Congrats to Mehdi on a great weekend of racing.

I was the first Flyer out of the gate, feeling as strong as I possibly could given my crash at the Tour de Creemore 160 only a week before. My strategy was to go out slightly harder than I planned to, get into my groove and then push the pedals hard enough to go under 1hr 10 minutes. The first 20 km went by in 32 minutes and change, completely on track with plenty of energy left for the very strong head wind. I saw David only a couple kilometers behind me after the turn around and I thought for sure he would be breezing by soon. I wrapped the second lap up in 33 minutes, total time 1:05.54 and 5th place in my category (35.8 km/hr average).

David was the last Flyer to leave the gate and made quick work of everyone in front of him. His first lap was a lightening fast 29 minutes and then the wind took its toll. David asserted his team dominance as the lead time trial artist and finished in 1:04.18 minutes (36.8 km/hr average).