The Wyreema Time Trial course that we use in Toowoomba is quickly becoming one of my favourites. Profile is here:
It's a 20km (a tiny bit longer actually) out and back. As you can see it's all downhill or flat until the last 6km or so where it all gets difficult. I think it is a hard course to judge right and make sure you have enough fuel in the tank for the last section.
We had a combined club race on this course yesterday and I am very pleased with how things unfolded. I have raced here twice before and this time tried a slightly different strategy. I rode a little easier for the first 14 km (a little under my threshold) and then absolutely hammered the last 6 km. So I ended up doing a PB of 27 min 36 sec (average speed of 43.9 kmh) and winning A grade (don't ask about field size; time trials are not popular in our cycling clubs). This bested the 27 min 50 sec I did in April. I am especially pleased about this as there was definitely some fatigue in my legs as I had just completed the toughest week (in terms of TSS, power users will know what I am talking about) week of the year.
The good news for me though, is that I managed to set a new masters record on the course. Andy Patten (from Brisbane) set the previous record of 27 min 42 sec last September the week after he returned from winning a silver medal in the world titles (40 - 44 years). This is very encouraging and hopefully a sign of good things to come for me. My next goal here is a sub 27 min which I think is well and truly achievable (especially with fresh legs).
I also want to say a special thank you to the club officials and volunteers who hosted this race. They did a great job and it frustrates me somewhat that so few people in Toowoomba want to race time trials (or anything other than criteriums for that matter). Supporting local racing is really important and I urge all Toowoomba club members (all three clubs) to make ALL club racing a priority. Glenvale is a beautiful circuit and an asset to Toowoomba, but there is more to life than criteriums people. Get behind your clubs!
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