Valley of the Sun Time Trial

Today was the first stage of Valley of the Sun. I had no idea what to expect, because I don't consider myself a time trialist. It was a 22km out and back time trial. Pretty flat, with some false flatness. There wasn't much wind, but it seemed like there was a head wind both ways. The wind down here in Arizona is pretty weird. Anyway, off I went. I was the 3rd Women's Pro/1/2 (out of close to 70 total - wow!!) to start so I only had to people to chase. There were some earlier categories still out on the course so I had more "rabbits" to chase. I caught my 30second and 1minute girls before the turn around. I wasn't sure how I was pacing myself, I just tried to keep it steady. I was starting to worry that I went out too hard, but I never really felt like I dropped pace. Anyway, I picked off a few other riders, and never got caught. I didn't have any timing equipment on my bike and forgot my heart rate strap, so I was doing the TT on pure effort judgement. It was weird since I've been training with power and/or heart rate for over a year now. I finished the race and felt like I had worked hard. I might have been able to push it a little harder, but was satisfied with my effort. Results were posted and I found out I had ridden a 33:42, which was good enough to put me in 2nd place. What!?! I am currently sitting 14 seconds down from first place. There's several girls within a minute from the leaders time. It's going to be a tight race, but should be fun. I have no teammates down here so I am going to have to race smart. I really have lots of credit to give towards my equipment. I had a pretty sick set-up and am lucky to have such good friends that loan me their stuff. Thanks everyone! Check back later for more updates! Tomorrow is a 50-something mile road race. There's 470ish feet of climbing per lap and it ends on top of a hill. Sweet! Also, there's queen of the mountain on one of the laps where time bonuses are awarded. It's going to make for some fun racing! Good night!
-A