I enjoy watching professional racers contest time trials. The bikes are the most technologically advanced and the most exotic  of any kind. The companies’ engineers showcase their time trial machines as the flagship of the brand noting how much faster it is over a conventional bike as well as their competition’s model. The frame has been carved away to create the most aerodynamic shape possible. These bikes are the two wheeled incarnation of F1 cars. But it takes more than an aerodynamically slippery bike to win races – it takes a fast rider.

Time trialing takes a unique mindset. Just because a rider is strong doesn’t correlate to being fast against the clock.  The time trialist’s face displays a focus that can be matched by a wide receiver in those two-seconds before he catches the long pass or the sprinters in the 100 meter dash when waiting on the blocks for the starting gun to fire. Time trialers hold that concentration for minutes at a time.

When I was at the Tour of Missouri I sat in the Astana follow car behind Levi Leipheimer during stage 5’s race against the clock and video taped portions of his ride. I enjoyed the experience but didn’t think anyone out there would sit and watch a view of Leipheimer’s ass as he tore through the town of Sedalia on his low-slung Trek. However I just checked and that video of stage 5 has almost 9,000 views!

So it was with some excitement that I saw this new video of Fabian Cancellara in the time trial at the Tour of California. Fabian Cancellara is not only the reining and four time world champion but also Olympic gold medal winner in this demanding discipline. I love hearing the mindset that the Swiss rider has to have in order to crank out a winning time. So for your enjoyment Spartacus tearing it up in an environment he knows so well – the time trial.

Full Gas: Riding a Time Trial with Fabian Cancellara (Intro) from Halo Films Ltd on Vimeo.