Some thoughts on the NSG time trials from Pittsburgh:
Very happy to win the gold in the 5k (6:42) and the 10K (12:19). The 5k was an odd course with a short but steep climb 30 seconds out, then a 180 degree turn at 1.2 miles and then 5 speed humps over the last 2 miles. I was able to ride that section pretty fast with a speed around 28.5mph.
The 10k was mainly uphill to the turn and them a screaming return. I was around 23.5 on the climb and 35-40mph on the way back. The course was short but they calculated times based on 10k. I may have the all-time 60-64 record if that is the case.
The timing system as noted by
Tom Boder was the best ever. The running list of the next 10 riders up on the large screen at the start was very helpful. The live results on the other screen at the finish were fun to keep track of. For the record those times are not necessarily the final times but pretty close. Kudos to those people and all of the volunteers. From the bib pick up to the awards presentation?, it was well run.
I think it should be standard that time trial ?courses should be flat to rolling, and the distances should be as dead on accurate as possible. Neither course met those standards. While they were fun and competitive to ride, I do not think that they represent what we train for which is power overtime and whatever aerodynamic advantages we can come up with. If they actually count the 10 K times in the all-time top 10 finishes, my 12 minute 19 second result will be far and away the fastest time ever for the 60-64. But as we know that course was about 7/10 of a mile too short. I am not sure where the games were held in 1999, perhaps Houston, but there were some insanely fast times that year. Someone rode a 12 minute five second 10K. Once again, it all comes down to having fairly similar courses from one year to the next. When you look at the swim times over history, you don’t assume that anyone ever actually only swam 80 m as compared to 100 m in the freestyle
Overall, I do believe the cycling community from Ohio contributed greatly to the overall Ohio medal count. I know that
Wrenn Herman won gold and silver and Chris Ca?rville won bronze and silver. Some others not in the group from Ohio like John Price, John Hudson and others won medals. I will do some research later and probably invite them to the group. If you happen to know them, let me know and we will connect.
I certainly don’t want to come across as continually complaining about these national events. I always have fun, I’m always meeting new people, and I always enjoy seeing all of you. I truly just long for some sort of consistency from one event to the other.