TJ Woodruff ONLINE

The season kicked off with a tough Tumacacori Road Race on Sunday. Twelve circuits of the six mile hilly course is tough, but a early season challenge is always fun. A KOM on the third lap blew apart the field and I was left to ride with four others (one a French-speaking Canadian MTB pro). We kept a solid tempo for the remainder of the day and I came across 15th. Not an mind-blowing result, but a good workout none the less. I haven’t done much road racing in recent history so my tactical senses were a bit rusty out there. I’ve got a thing or two to learn on that front.

With Fontana under two weeks away I’m excited for another go at the NMBS scene. It should be fun to test the legs and see how far along the fitness is. I’ve had some good days, but the consistency is still developing.

I’ve been dialing in the bikes and trying to figure out the tire setup and all. I went as far as to test various PSI levels (from 20 to 50) and evaluate the work requirement to cover a set distance on an uphill dirt road climb. Riding with the MTB PowerTap 2.4 SL Disc brake hub allows such scientific ‘research’. At least I can verify my setup with something more than the mere sense of speed. I’ll admit that numbers will never replace the sense of feel, but they are a good way to take an objective look at things and sometimes what feels fast isn’t always the case.

The ‘08 schedule is coming together so I’ll post that on the site soon. Thanks for reading, -TJ

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Race Report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.