"Race of Truth" Series Begins

Two time trial series, both three miles, will commence starting June 14. Three purposes of "the race of truth" are: 1) to see what condition you are in presently; 2) to train you to become a faster rider; and 3) to compete with others in your category. To determine if the Chattanooga area riders are up for the challenge, the series will initially last through the months of June – September, for a total of eight trials.

While both courses are an accurate three miles — measured with a Jones counter — they are as different as night and day. The trial beginning on June 14 will be a traditional flat, out-and-back time trial. Riders will start at one-minute intervals, race to a cone in the road, turn around and return 1½ miles to the start. Sounds simple enough, right? The other three mile time trial will be a climb up Mowbray Mountain, one-way only. Again riders will start at one-minute intervals, and the finish will be marked with a line across the road, on a flat section adjacent to a deserted cinder block building on the right.

The Competition: There will be four divisions — "under 30" and "30 and above" for both men and women. There is no age limit.

Rewards: Hopefully, riders will participate in the series for the camaraderie and competition such an event will provide. Ideally, local bike shops will provide a jersey for the winner of each of the 4 categories listed — a yellow jersey or pink, as in the Tour de Italy now going on. The PR committee will look into this matter.

Winning Times:
7 minute range for the flat TT — it will take quite an effort to break this barrier.
18 minutes for the mountain trial should take honors. (These are only predictions.)

What’s Needed: Riders to test themselves in this difficult "adventure". Also, gearing to climb the mountain in relative comfort. (ha!) We will also need ride officials to monitor the turn-around and record times. (Special perks!)

When:

Races will begin at 6:00 pm on Wednesday. If it rains, a makeup date will be announced.

Where: The flat trials will be on Frontage Road, parallel to US 27. From Chattanooga, take Thrasher Pike exit and proceed East (right). Frontage Road is on the left, 100 feet before the railroad crossing.

The mountain course is at Soddy Daisy. From town, traveling on US 27, go one exit pst Thrasher to the Harrison Lane Exit. From here go west (left) to a traffic light. Turn right onto old Dayton Pike and go about ¼ to ½ mile. Look for Dollar General Store on left. At this point, turn left onto Mountain Road. The race starts at Daisy Community Church on left.

Additional: Anyone with a bike and a helmet can participate. There is no admission fee. As this is a potentially dangerous event (if one doesn’t pay attention to their surroundings), riders must sign a waiver before starting. From time to time some riders will be passed. Passing riders are required to pass on the left and let the other rider know their intentions. All riders should ride in a straight line. Triathlon bars and mountain bikes will be allowed. Anyone drafting during either time trial will have their bikes confiscated by the rules committee!

At the end of the series, the winners of each division will be those with the lowest total time for the eight races. However, if the majority of riders desire to use their best 6 times — 3 flat TT and 3 mountain TT — then a change will be made in the format. Riders must decide prior to the July 19th event.

There’s not much time before the initiation of this event, so get out there and train! Remember to keep the rubber side down!

Questions: Call race director Tom Baker – 423/842-5618 home, 423/870-3886 work.

Time Trials Results: Flat Course close; Mountain Far apart.

Two of the eight scheduled time trials have been run, with eight riders participating in each event. The first was the "flat" course on Frontage Road in Soddy, out one-and-a-half miles to a turn around, then return. All riders were within 4 mph of each other, despite the fairly strong wind slowing riders on the return leg. The average speed was 25 mph out and 20 returning. Joe Randall brought both his bambinos, one quite new to life, and warmed up on rollers next to his car. His performance was the most amazing of the group — 7:44, for 23.3 mph. Most of us thought Joe’s training would be quite behind, due to the swell in his household, but obviously he has been able to crank some quality miles of late. Brenna Fairchild of Team Peggy proved what we all must know by now: women can smoke on the bike! Note how close the times are — Ty Geren’s 7:10 led the way, but as a two-time iron man we expected him to be a "little" ahead of the rest.

Mowbray Mountain Mauls Many

The three-mile time trial up Mowbray Mountain in Soddy on June 21 broke the eight-man field up considerably. Unlike its 3-mile flat counterpart of a week prior, where all riders were separated by less than 1 1/2 minutes, the mountain separated, literally, the sheep from the goats. The top mountain goat was Byron Mulligan, no surprise to those who have seen this guy crank out the miles. His time was 14:31, 12.4 mph, which sounds unimpressive, but only if you didn’t know the terrain. The route featured several switchbacks and a few "walls" where riders were hoping merely to continue pedaling and not have to push! Ironman Ty Geren was close at 15:11, the only other rider to better 10 mph!

The next flat time trial is July 19, the next mountain time trial is July 26. Be There!

Officials:
Timer: Joe Lane
Starter: Barbara Lane
RD: Tom Baker

 

FLAT July 19 Name Age Time MPH 1 Byron Mulligan 42 6:39 27.1 2 Charlie Bastnagel 35 6:56 26.0 3 Kevin Richardson 35 7:15 24.8 4 Kym Flynn 27 7:29 24.0 5 Danny Cox 42 7:30 24.0 6 Grant Schlisner 31 7:35 23.7 7 Russell Robertson 47 7:37 23.7 8 Kelvin Hale 42 7:51 22.9 9 Tom Baker 55 7:54 22.8 10 Coleman Armstrong 46 8:16 21.8 11 Jim Boles 29 8:22 21.5 12 Ross Fox 49 8:36 20.9 13 Tim Jeffers 45 8:39 20.8 14 Mark Wilson 50 9:41 18.6

MOUNTAIN July 26 Name Age Time MPH 1 Byron Mulligan 42 14:26 12.5 2 Travis Hutchinson 21 15:09 11.9 3 Charlie Bastnagel 35 16:08 11.2 4 David Grant 32 17:57 10.0 5 Russell Robertson 47 18:10 9.9 6 Kelvin Hale 42 18:32 9.7 7 Tom Baker 55 19:34 9.2 8 Ivey Williamson 34 20:20 8.9 9 Ross Fox 49 22:35 8.0 10 Jim Boles 29 23:45 7.6 11 Bill Colvin 69 25:35 7.0

 

FLAT August 9 Name Age Time MPH 1 Byron Mulligan 42 6:45 26.7 2 Charlie Bastnagel 35 7:03 25.5 3 Kevin Richardson 35 7:10 25.0 4 Russell Robertson 47 7:35 23.7 5 David Grant 32 7:47 23.1 6 Tom Baker 55 7:52 22.9 7 Kelvin Hale 43 8:01 22.5 8 Joey Jeffers 16 8:18 21.7 9 Ivey Williamson 34 8:20 21.6 10 Brenna Fairchilds 35 8:24 21.4 11 Brian Jerd 32 8:41 20.7 12 Tim Jeffers 45 8:45 20.6

MOUNTAIN August 23 Name Age Time MPH 1 Byron Mulligan 42 14:04 12.8 2 Charlie Bastnagel 35 15:46 11.4 3 Rock Thomas 44 16:07 11.2 4 Rick Bowman 29 16:40 10.8 5 David Grant 32 17:50 10.1 6 Kelvin Hale 43 18:23 9.8 7 Russell Robertson 47 19:20 9.4 8 Matt Wake 26 19:47 9.1 9 Ivey Williamson 34 20:03 9.0 10 Ross Fox 49 24:02 7.5

 

FLAT September 13 Name Age Time MPH 1 Paul Van Kooten 40 6:57 25.9 2 Charlie Bastnagel 35 6:59 25.7 3 Ty Geren 29 7:06 25.6 4 Kevin Richardson 35 7:10 25.0 5 Jason Howard 25 7:17 24.8 6 David Grant 32 7:31 24.0 7 Danny Cox 42 7:33 23.9 8 Larry English 47 7:39 23.1 9 Kelvin Hale 43 7:52 22.8 10 Michael Hranek 48 8:08 22.2 11 Brenna Fairchilds 35 8:09 22.2 12 Joey Jeffers 16 8:23 21.5 13 Ross Fox 49 8:26 21.3 14 Ivey Williamson 34 8:28 21.2 15 Tim Jeffers 45 8:32 21.1 16 Mark Wilson 50 9:06 19.9

MOUNTAIN September 27 Name Age Time MPH 1 Jeramie Huff 25 14.44 12.2 2 Byron Mulligan 42 14:45 12.2 3 Charlie Bastnagel 35 15.55 11.4 4 Paul Van Kooten 40 15.55 11.4 5 David Grant 32 17:15 10.4 6 Kelvin Hale 43 18:25 9.8 7 Larry English 47 19:22 9.3 8 Ross Fox 49 23:37 7.8

Van Kooten Scoots to 2-second Win

Riding for Team Bubba, Paul Van Kooten (40 yrs old) eked out a 2-second victory with a time of 6:57, 25.9 mph. On the back of Paul’s team jersey was printed an apropos message: "If you can read this, I’m going too slow." On the front was this gem: "Whine like a man." Close behind in second place was Charlie Bastnagel. Ty Geren came in third in 7:06, with Kevin Richardson fourth in 7:10 and Jason Howard 5th in 7:17. The first woman was Brenna Fairchild riding for Team Peggy (on the back of her jersey was this message: "Ride Like a Girl".) in 8:09, 22.1 mph.

Race officials: Tom Baker, Joe Lane, Gina Howard

In The Works:

A new time trial series begins in the spring and will feature a point-to-point 5-mile race along with a mountain counterpart, 3 miles up Lookout Mountain on Hwy 136. (highway to Cloudland Canyon and Trenton). The 5 miler is tentatively set for Straight Gut Road, one of the fastest stretches in the area. Along with these individual time trials will be added Team Time Trials, consisting of three members riding together, their time ends when the last rider crosses the line!! Start picking your team!!

Time Trial Series Roast
(Hamburgers and Others)

Oct 22, Sunday, 2:00pm Parking lot on Alexander Bridge Road in the Battlefield. 30 miles or so ride, 15 mph and up.

This will be Recognition Day for all the time trial series participants. After the ride, we’ll grill hamburgers and each trialist — whether they did all eight rides or only one — will be presented with an appropriate bike component or gadget, donated to the bike club by anonymous benefactore. Each rider will be individuall recognized and presented with their award and further "praise" for their determination and grit may be forthcoming from the race director. The cookout fee for the time trialists is free, while it is only $5 for all others. Don’t miis this event!! (Where else could you have a good meal, ride with your buddies, and see some of the club’s most "deserving" members get their just reward??) If you’ll be coming, please call Tom at 842-5618 so he can add ore water to the soup.

Questions: Call race director Tom Baker – 423/842-5618 home, 423/870-3886 work.

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