Since writing my three part article on time trial racing, I competed in the U.S. Cycling Federation Florida state time trial championships. Although I won my division by a minute and 50 seconds and set a new personal record for 20K, I failed to practice what I preached and I want to discuss that.

In my article, I dealt with the pre-race meal indicating that it should be consumed at least three hours prior to the event. I further mentioned that my meal has evolved to being simply a Clif Bar, banana, and a glass of water.  Although I used to consume a glass of orange juice, I found that it stayed on my stomach too long.

My starting time for the event was a rather late 11:56 a.m., and in that I was meeting another racer for breakfast at 8:00 AM, I figured that with so many hours until the start I could modify my pre-race meal. I consumed a plate of bacon and eggs, toast, OJ, fruit and a muffin. Oh, it felt and tasted so good. About 15 minutes prior to my start having warmed up for an hour and 40 minutes, the bacon was still on my stomach, and I felt that I was going to throw up. Remember the phenomenon of the nervous pre-race stomach?

My advice to you, and one that I will follow a bit more carefully in the future is do not vary your pre-race meal routine simply because you have more time to digest it!

I would also like to give you an update on Dave Viney, the 59-year-old time trial champion whom I often quoted in the article. This year, Dave upgraded his equipment from a Cervelo P3 time trial bike to a P4. In his interval workouts he felt that he was going a bit faster than he had been going on his other bike. I also mentioned that Dave cycled an incredible time of 52:56 for 40 kilometers at the state meet last year. When he described his prodigious interval sessions to me and the incredible average power and speed that he was attaining, I told him that I expected him to run a sub-52 minute performance this year.

The course this year was an ideal, accurately measured, virtually flat course. Dave Viney turned in an absolutely incredible time of 50:46, a 29.4 mph average for almost 25 miles! Dave is 59 years old! It is amazing what a dedicated athlete, using proper training techniques and properly fitted equipment can do in later years!

Oh, by the way, I will be changing my eating habits the night before an important race. When I arrived at the event hotel in Jacksonville, Fla., I discovered Dave in the lobby munching on a plate of apple pie a la mode!

Finally, the event was a vindication of the training techniques that I have promulgated in past articles. I started training my fiancée, Rosie Ray a few months ago using the program that I outlined in the articles. Although she has been competing for some years, she never underwent any formal, structured training. She accompanied me on my interval sessions and performed them very strictly taking virtually no rest interval between work intervals. The upshot was that she not only won the women's 60+ division, but cycled 20 kilometers at an average speed faster than she was capable of cycling a 5-kilometer time trial just a few months ago!

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