My first TT Race, it was really cold and windy! I wasn't prepared for the cold weather, but luckily I brought an extra top just in case. On my warmup ride I did the course to get a idea what was a head of me, at the time it was it was just a little windy maybe 10 mph and cold. So this is what I was expecting for the race because I had got lucky and timed it pretty good it was about 10 minutes from the end of my warmup to my start time. From the start it was much windier maybe 10-15 mph headwind to frontal side wind going out and strong side wind going back. I was hoping to average 22 mph on a semi-calm day. I had a bad start as I could clip in and lost a lot of time... once I did clipped in I tried to make up some of the time by sprinting and to get up to ride speed. For the first mile I was pushing 270-325 watts but I wasn't hitting the speeds I wanted, I also didn't want to blow up either, So I backed down my effort and tried to maintain a wattage I could keep 222-235. I was trying to chase down one of the racers in my age race category 70+ that started before me, I thought I was making headway then he seemed to make it back up and one point he seemed to open the gap. I was breathing a little too hard and had to control it if I was going to maintain the speed and power. We finally get to the turn around and the wind come thru the field almost blew me over, I had to really slow down to maintain my balance and to control the bike! Once I made the turn around the wind was still brutal until I got to the tree cover. Now that I was feeling safe, I picked up the speed and went for it working as hard as I could to close down the gap... the funny thing was the guy in front was doing all he could to open the gap and go after the other racers ahead. With a mile to go I upped my speed all I coud and nothing, now 1/2 mile to go I just wanted to finish and not let the gap open. I was now riding at 24-26 mph depending on the wind and road conditions. Finally get across the finish line thinking I didn't place because two racers blew by me one at about 1 mile and the other about 1.5 mile. Later I find out they were in younger age group, the second racer took first and the other 2nd. The winner in 70+ was Steve Petouvis, he averaged 23.8 mph, I was second at 21.9 mph and the racer I was chasing the whole time Jim Kaeli was 3rd by 7 seconds and his average 21.83 mph. First 8 miles was the warmup; 7.5 miles race; and 2 mile cool down. It was a very successful race for me, hitting all the marks that I wanted: the average speed I wanted on a calm day and placing! The great adventure continues... next TT race in 2 weeks up in Northern New Jersey.