Scenic (and windy) Gorge TT

We woke up to steady 20mph winds today. I guess there's a reason this is the wind surfing capital of North America. Must be payback for the tailwind we had last year. I knew I'd lose a fair amount of time, but I was hoping to keep it under 2 minutes. I didn't quite get there. I finished in the top 10, but a ways back. The winner was about 2:50 up on me, although second place was over a minute behind him. The winner lost almost 2 minutes yesterday, so hopefully he isn't a threat tomorrow. I'm not feeling like I'll be much of a threat either, so I'm not sure it matters.

It was a fun TT, whatever the result. The guy starting in front of me didn't show, so I had a full minute to the next guy. I caught him about 4 miles in, before the first climb. He passed me and got about 10 seconds going up the climb, but I passed him again a few minutes later and never saw him again. Right after I passed him, the guy 30 seconds back came flying by me. I managed to stay about 10 seconds behind him until the last few miles when he opened it up a bit. I did catch 3 guys, so at least I made up a minute or so on a few of the guys that finished around me yesterday.

The wind was nuts. The course winds enough that we had quite a few sections with stiff cross winds. I tried to stay on the right side of the road to get some protection from the fence and trees, but any opening would send me halfway across the road. It's still about the coolest TT course I can imagine.

I did learn this year that you can get more aero when you don't care if you are having kids ever again. I got way up front and friendly with my saddle, and noticed a big difference.

GC isn't posted yet, but I'm hoping to still be in the top 10, within a couple of minutes of everyone. If I have a good day tomorrow, I can make up 2 minutes. Or I can lose 10.