Championship Road Race & Time Trial Next Weekend

It's finally starting to feel like cyclocross season: days are shorter, I'm nearly recovered from RAGBRAI, and we're counting down with just weeks to go. But before you mothball your road bikes, remember that this coming weekend are Iowa's state championships for both road racing and time trialing. Both of these races are worth the trip just south of Iowa City.

Justin Torner Photography, www.justintorner.com

Iowa State Road Race Championship
Saturday is the State Road Race Championship starting and finishing in Riverside. Racers compete over one, two, or three 32 mile laps -- up to 96 miles -- of an exposed and sometimes hilly course.

Each lap offers 600 feet of climbing, with much of that in three 100+foot hills lumped from miles 3 to 13. A few shorter pitches of 3 or 4% pop up in the last few miles before a mile-long descent toward Riverside sets up a flat, then a rise to the sprint finish.

Justin Torner Photography, www.justintorner.com

It's easy to imagine an attack breaking away on those early hills, but it'll take a very strong climber to hold off the pack and avoid a sprint finish in Riverside.

LuAnne Lefler Memorial
Iowa State Time Trial Championship
Sunday is the State Time Trial Championship in Nichols. A flat 40K course  -- 20K for Juniors, Hand Cyclists, and Masters Women 55+ and Men 65+ -- takes Highway 70 essentially straight south through Conesville and to the edge of Columbus Junction. This is a pretty ride any day, but Sunday it will be a particularly painful one.

Forty kilometers is a classic distance for time trialing, about 24.8 miles, and this course can make for very fast times. On the other hand, if the wind picks up all bets are off, as riders are exposed for pretty much the entire route.

Justin Torner Photography, www.justintorner.com

The route seems flat, with just two noticeable pitches of about 15 feet -- a rise at about 3 miles in and a drop down to the river just before the turnaround. This could fool you, though, as the entire course is gradually downhill, dropping about 45 feet by the turnaround as the route nears the confluence of the Iowa and Cedar rivers. Mess up that negative split and you'll feel that 45 feet of climbing getting home.

Justin Torner Photography, www.justintorner.com

Hope for light winds and pace yourself. Can you go under an hour?

As always, thanks to the Iowa City Cycling Club for these two great events!