Rohan Dennis in sufferance
/Short but sweet (and sour) extract from a conversation with the maestro of time trialing Rohan Dennis
ST; How can you self inflict and manage the pain of an ITT?
RD; I’m not sure. It’s one of those things, where a lot of people (and I find it a lot in road races); if there’s somebody in front of you then you can generally go harder and push deeper because you don’t want to be dropped or lose that wheel. You tend to think if they can do it so can I.
With time trials, the biggest thing is that you don’t notice that other people are hurting too - you just keep thinking that it hurts, this hurts. But, if you think “I’ll just look at my power meter”, and think I’m doing what I need to win, and know that everyone else is struggling to hold that power (output0 or can’t do it, then you know that they’re hurting too and losing time.
Then if you don’t do well or win, then you at least know that you’ve dome the best possible time you could on that day, and know that you have to lift it next time. Or if it’s a ride from someone that’s just out of this world, then you just have to recognise that they were just on another level that day. It’s a confidence thing, you just have to remind yourself that what you’re doing is going to win, and push through it.