Hi and welcome to our coverage of this years version of the Tewksbury Time Trial, NOT bought to you buy OLN but by me. In the interest of keeping it interesting, we take you to Joe's imagination, where we join Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin:
Phil: Thank you, Joseph and Welcome to our coverage. Standing with me to my left is my Mr. Paul Sherwin.
Paul: It's an absolutely lovely day out here Phil and looks like this is going to be a good ride.
Phil: Yes, well with that in mind we get started with our coverage of the race, which is already in progress, and here we see Joe Sieracki getting ready to go. He looks a bit nervous out there right now doesn't he Paul?
Paul: Yes, he does a bit, you know, I was talking with him earlier and he did note that he was a tad bit nervous but knows that he shouldn't be and that he has to just go out there and ride. He does know that this hill has 2 major climbs on this 20 Km, one is a long 4 Km climb that he is not concerned to much about, because the grade is only 4-7%. The second one is the one that he is worried about, because it has an extremely difficult grade near the end of the climb, it starts out at 4-6% but shoots up to about 18-20% for about 300 meters and after going through 16 Km of this course and all of the climbing before it, it's not what one wants to have to deal with at the end of the day.
Phil: Yes, well that very may well be Joe's beyond category climb today. He's about to go now, let's have a look...
[At the start line, left pedal clipped in, ready to go. Countdown begins.....Cinq....Quatre....Trois...De////// HEY Wait a minute, this isn't France!///// Two...One...GO!]
Phil: And there he goes for the start of his first ever Time Trial in Tewksbury. Clipped in pretty flawlessly there and seems to be setting a good tempo up the first minor climb.
Paul: Right Phil, At the beginning here, there is a short rise for about half a kilometer and then it's all downhill for the next 5 kilometers or thereabouts. He really should take advantage of his descending skills here.
Phil: Yes, that he should. We all know he doesn't climb like an angel. Some days he even feels like Robbie McEwen out on these hills, but as he crests the top he throws it into the big chainring here Paul. It looks as if he's about to tear the asphalt apart here.
Paul: Yes, he's not getting out of his seat, but he is gaining quite a bit of speed here on the descent, not being steep, he has to use his power, but it doesn't seem like he has to put much effort into it at all, he seems to be spinning out the big ring here, so not much effort will be wasted here which is good, he'll need it for later.
Phil: Could very well place him in the top of the field for this section of the course as we see our camera man's motorcycle speed of 71 kilometers and hour. He's ripping down this descent!
Paul: Oh, he is Phil. That's putting him at about 45 miles an hour down this stretch of road.
Phil: Absolutely magnificent, I'm sure no one will catch him on this section. And here we are rounding the first turn, it looks as though the fun part is now over for poor Joe. Just flats or upwards from here out.
Paul: Well, he will have some recovery time and some other small descents where he can pick his speed back up. Flat for a bit at this point but then starts to rise up slowly.
Phil: And here we are at the first gradual torturing elevation. It's not much of a grade, but enough to kill the speed and signal a beginning of the first climb here. Looks as though he has been caught by the 30 second rider behind him Paul.
Paul: Yes, it is unfortunately, but Joe was expecting this to happen Phil. He knew as soon as he hit the ascents that he was going to be caught.
Phil: Well, he is making an effort of it here on this first climb. Oh look at that Paul, half way up and he is caught by a rider who started 5 spots after him, oh, it looks as if he had some words for him there and a smile on Joe's face, by the look of it Paul, it looks like some sportsmanship and support is out there today too, which is always nice to see.
Paul: It looks as though he was actually cheering him on, because Joe is not getting defeated here, he is just metering out his performance here today.
Phil: Yes, it's a massive effort for Joe but he's really giving it a go here. He's completed the climb now and is on his descent, he has only been past by 3 riders thus far Paul and doesn't look like many more may be able to either. He's blazing down this descent and they won't catch him here.
Paul: Only 5 kilometers left in this time trial Phil and Joe is looking good. He's been slow on the uphills here and has just been eclipsed by another rider, but the last climb is coming up...
Phil: Yes, not long now, it now becomes a game of how many people can he prevent from passing him. It looks as though he has a pretty good gap between him and the next riders, so he may be able to hold them off as he paces with the rider that just passed him a while back. They are on a downhill section now and moving pretty fast and look at this Paul! Joe is absolutely flying down this descent! He passes the rider that has just passed him. This looks like a war between the two now.
Paul: well, I don't think it's a war here Phil, just Joe being a better descender.
Phil: Oh look at that, Joe has slammed on the brakes at the sign for a turn! Did he overshoot the turn?!? He skidding here pretty hard and let's up on the brakes, ah there it is, no, looks like he didn't miss the turn after all Paul. Close one....
Paul: No, he didn't overshoot it at all, he must have gotten confused by the sign and thought he had to turn earlier.
Phil: Okay, here it is, the last climb of the day. Joe's looking good as he gets passed once more by the same rider he has been leapfrogging the last few kilometers. It does look as though a gap is forming here. Yes, a rather big gap here as Joe is falling back. Still not a bad performance today so far Paul?
Paul: No not at all, this grade is not so bad and he has metered out his ability just right, he is finding a good rhythm, even with having the wrong gearing for these climbs, I think he would be even stronger if he had a compact crank and a 27 instead of the 39 x 25 that he has now. He may be in trouble as we get to the steeper part.
Phil: Yes well, it looks as though that steeper part is here and a laugh at the side of the road by some spectators, as it looks as if Joe was sharing that laugh with them, as he starts the beyond category section of this climb.
Paul: 300 meters or so of pure hell. This is absolutely torturous here for him in this gearing. He must be wishing he had a smaller gear as he is lurching up the hill here. The strength required to get such a heavy rider up this hill like that, it's amazing to see him do this.
Phil: Well, if I remember right, he did do the climb at High Bridge at 22% and completed that with this very same bike.
Paul: yes, but Joe was a little fresher there Phil. He's been putting out a massive effort to...
Phil: Oh dear, it looks as if he's stopping Paul. This cannot be, he must keep going here. It looks as if his strength just gave out on him, and he was almost complete with this climb too, such a shame, oh he is laying down, is he going to die?
Paul: No, Phil, I don't think so, just looks as if he needs to catch his breath. We had his telemetry readings and his HR was up at 185 BPM and he went as long as he could. It didn't look to serious Phil, because he rode, what looks like, purposefully off to the side and he didn't fall over, he just laid down...
Phil: Ah there he is, he's back on his feet after chatting with a spectator for a second. Well, looks a bit better now, but he has lost some time here as a slug of riders have past now, have to say about at least 7 riders. Looks like this hill is killing each one of them. This hill is monstrous Paul. Joe seems to be walking his bike up the rest of this ascent, not much further to the top, then he will be okay for the descent down to the finish. There he gets eclipsed by one more rider...
Paul: Yes, he's gotten back on the bike now a bit of a small climb left, not much now, a much easier grade and actually looks like he has recovered a fair amount by doing that....
Phil: This is unbelievable, he's just passed the last rider that past him as he finishes the top of this climb. He is getting ready for the downhill again for sure here. Just absolutely blazing through the roads on the way to the finish.
Paul: Well, there is one small section of road left that could be trouble Phil and that section is almost as bad as the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix. The road is extremely rough and it will be hard to find a good pedaling rhythm there.
Phil: And here it is, this rough section has been tearing up the bodies of people all morning here at this event and Joe looks back as he reaches the 1 kilometer banner. One rider in sight...
Paul: yes, he looks to be about 10 seconds back of Joe.
Phil: but Joe looks really determined to keep him from catching up. He's really increasing his speed quite nicely here now. The roads have smoothed out here with the last 600 meters to go and he is back up to speed. He's hitting the finish line at 48 kilometers and hour. A good effort Paul even though it's not one for the record books..
Paul: I'd say an excellent effort with the wrong gearing for that last hill. He may have cut off about 3-5 minutes with an easier gearing for that hill, that stop cost him a bunch of time, but I'm sure he knows that for next time.
Phil: Well, let's have a look at the results then, shall we?
Time: 48:53
Distance: 12.8 Miles/20 Kilometers
Avg. Speed: 15.7 mph/25.3 Kmh
Max speed: 44.5 Mph/71.6 Kmh
HR Avg: 165
Max HR: 185
Race: Category 4/5
Position: NOT DEAD LAST!! WOOOOOO!!!! Second to last!
Phil: And now an interview with the man of the hour Joe Sieracki...
Craig: Joe you looked like you had some trouble on the steep section there. Want to take us through it?
Joe: well, that was a bit too much for my gearing. If I had a compact crank on there I would have made it up without stopping and actually would have finished about 4-5 places higher too. I just needed some recovery time there to get my HR back down. So I had to stop.
Craig: At the bottom of the climb, it seemed as though you shared a laugh with the spectators?
Joe: Yeah, I wasn't really focused on them, but when the steepness came into view, I said something I can't repeat on air and it made them laugh and eventually made me laugh too. So it was fun.
Craig: You have Doylestown coming up next week. How are you feeling for that event?
Joe: [Laughs] Much better than I do about this one. Doylestown is flat, so I can really be a factor in that race and see if I can pull out a victory.
Craig: Good ride today Joe.
Joe: Thanks.
Craig: now back to you Phil.
Phil: Well, we thank you for watching our coverage and hope you've enjoyed it. Until Doylestown, next week, We say goodbye for now, with Paul Sherwin, I'm Phil Liggett.
Well, That's how it happend in my head anyway! had fun and didn't finish last. ON TO DOYLESTOWN! :)
Labels: DELETE
