clarks tt cx

I have been meaning to get down to Draper and ride the clarks TT on the cross bike for a while. Tanner told me it was in a good shape and prime for CXing. This afternoon I had to ride out to Sandy anyway so I just kept going down to Corner Canyon. The recent moisture has really helped the trails down there and they were all fun even on the CX bike.

I rode up to the bridge, took my LS jersey off and stashed it in the bushes, put some gloves on, and hurried to start so I would not run into the traffic I passed on the way up. Because I don't have a watch or HR monitor with a functioning battery, my new/old cell phone does not have a stop watch, and I don't have a computer on my cross bike I had to rob the one off my road bike and stash it in my Jersey pocket. Worked well other than the futzing around to get it out.

I started slow compared to what you would expect for a TT, just a steady fast tempo for the first few minutes. Because the grade is mellower at the bottom you can't gain much time by starting to fast and you can sure lose some. I never let my legs load up and just slowly let the terrain up the pace for me. Everything went well except about 3/4 of the way up I had that unmistakable feeling that I need to use the restroom, yup #2. Ohran always says that's a good sign of form when you need to poo while on a ride. Anyway, I made it to the top without incident but hit the John as soon as I got back to the parking lot.

My time was 8:24. I knew I was going faster than the last time I did it but unfortunately it's not because I am stronger. Gearing a 34 up front and a 12-27 rear cassette. I used 3 and 4 down for most of it and may have got into the 2 on the steepest part.

Why it was faster:
-The cross bike is better for standing up and pushing a big gear, in a short TT you don't need to spin like I did before. The cross bike is also a little lighter, although I was on my B bike with heavier wheels and tires. I should bust out the carbon tubulars. A rigid MTB single speed set up super light would also be really fast or even better would be a 16.5lb Cannondale Flash. Maybe next spring I will try it on a Flash! A little bigger volume tire would be better, I was worried about pinching in a couple high speed rough sections in the middle and actually had to slow down.

-Negative split pacing is faster. Look at the world record run times, negative split pacing probably accounts for 75% of all the world records, maybe more. Marathon, 10,000 meter, 5K does not matter. Faster in the 2nd half is faster overall. Last time I went out to hard and the legs loaded up early. This time I cruised into it and was never hurting all that bad, I could have gone harder for sure.

-Good dirt, not sticky but not dusty. Smooth with no horse marks, this is critical for the cross bike. When I did it before in June it was rougher and dusty. The MTB may have been as good at that time.

-Cool temps, maybe even a little to cool. My legs got that cold stiff feeling in the shade but it surely is faster than burning energy cooling the engine like in summer months.

It's to bad I live so far away because I would like to do it more often, it's a fun gauge and for a guy that does not do intervals it is a good way to get some intensity in without burning up the CNS.

The ride back on the road was nice and made for about a 3hr ride with a 8 minute effort in the middle.