Race within a Race

Prize at the end of the...........???????? 

Race within a Race within a Race...........

Clock:

For most of the TDR participants the event is perceived as a “race”.  A few don’t see it that way but they are either ignorant of the TDR’s background or deliberately contrarian.  But for the majority who do see it as a race exactly who are you racing?  By definition the TDR is an Individual Time Trial (ITT) that begins with a Grand Depart (GD) (GD vs the more common ITT format/staggered start).

So by definition we will all be racing the clock.  IE: How soon can our front wheels cross the US/Mexican border in Antelope Wells (AW)?  Two or three of this year’s top tier participant’s may be legitimately shooting for the course record. (Male Jay Petervary (2012) 15:16:04, Female Eszter Horanyi (2012) 19:03:35)

Personally I will be attempting to better my Personal Record (PR).  My 2010 TDR PR is 21:18:24 (21 days, 18 hours and 24 minutes).  Just like last year’s failed attempt, my main race goal this year is to reach AW in less than 20 days. Basically this means I need to achieve approximately a 10% improvement over my 2010 result.

 

Overall Position or Rank:

But the TDR race is more than just the clock.  Most participants, myself included, are also very interested in how we finish or rank in comparison to others who start that same year with the Grand Depart horde.  My goal here is to finish in the top 20.  There will be about 140 racers leaving from Banff Canada in this year’s GD so a top 20 finish is a semi long shot but feasible.

Age Ranking:

Finally there is ranking by age.  Age is an unrecognized TDR ‘category’ but in my mind I will be mostly competing with any male over 50 years of age.  Below is the unofficial list for 50 and over, looks like there will be about 40 racers in this category.  I have sorted the list by stated ‘goal days’.
While not my main TDR goal my objective here is to win or podium (top 3) within this grouping of racers. 

 

Gulp, how realistic is a podium finish in the over 50 category?  Ha, ask me in July….

 

(if you are in this over 50 group, feel free to talk quality trash in the comments section)