Carolina Cycling Time Trial 07152009

Last night, Carolina Cycling held one of their scheduled Time Trails at Lowes Motor Speedway. This particular edition was a 10 mile time trial and consisted of 7 laps on the actual race Track at Lowes Motor Speedway.

This was my first competition type of thing outside of running. To say the least, there was some nervousness and butterflies. These were the type of butterflies that I hadn’t had in a while. Cody, one of my teammates from TrySports, was also coming out so I wasn’t the only person out there learning.



My goals heading into the time trail was to finish, not wreck, not wreck anyone else, and not get DQ. In reading over the rules for the time trail, there was a ton of stuff to remember. Nothing like running, where there are much fewer rules.

To list a few, you can only pass on the right. Otherwise, you need to stay in the left most lane and one of the biggest in my mind was no drafting. Considering that all my rides are solo, I am not sure I knew how to draft off someone.



I left home about 5pm. It took about 15 minutes to reach the speedway. I then waited another 10 minutes due to the sign-in process used by the speedway. Activities for the time trail kick off at 6:30. I went through the registration process which was little strange. You paid in one line. You picked up your number in another line. You then picked up your chip in another line. It was not the speediest of processes but everyone was patient.

As I was walking back to my car, I saw Cody who was waiting to register. We talked for a few minutes before I had to jet back to my car. I drew a 6:30 start time which meant I had about 20 minutes to get ready.


After changing clothes and pulling out my bike, I headed out for some time on the track. I had about 12 minutes before my start time. Drawing an early time is rough due to the heat on the track. But beggars cannot be choosy.

At 6:30 they pulled everyone off the track and started lining people up.
I got into the left lane because the left lane was slotted for even numbers riders. The right line was used to start riders with wearing odd numbers.

Riders started from a standing start with someone holding your bike while you were clipped to the pedals. This was a first for me, but I made it off without falling.

There were already riders on the track so I was trying to come up through the gears and not run into anyone. The first couple of laps were all on adrenaline. The middle laps were tough. I reached 5 miles in 14:33 so I felt I had a chance to break 30 minutes.

The next 5 miles went by quickly. I was catching people and being caught by others. Each time someone passed me, I tried to match their pace for at least a few hundred yards. In one instance, I was passed by tandem bike. My only thought was “Wow”. I didn’t know whether to think they were cheating by having two riders pedaling faster than me or was I just that slow. But then, I forgot all about it and just kept pedaling.



I thought I had went out too fast, but over the last couple of laps I found that I had more in the tank than I expected. My last 2 laps were some of my fastest.
Coming around for lap 7 I headed down pit road to the finish. I was up out the seat the entire way. I believe this was the first time that I had ever been winded on the bike. Crossing the finish line, my legs felt thick and heavy just like when I finish running.

But “Wow” what great experience. I had just ridden the fastest 10 miles of my life in 28:08. I saw Cody and Janna afterwards and talked for a few minutes before heading over to the warm down track to get some of the lactic acid off my legs.

After warming down, I put my bike away and headed over to watch Cody in his ride. Boy was he flying. With disk wheel, aero helmet and handle bars he was digging on every lap and finished with a 22:58 averaging 26+ mph

Summary of my splits from the Time Trial
Miles Mile time MPH Avg. BPM Max Heart Rate
Mile 1 2:50.76 21.1 143 173
Mile 2 2:55.76 20.5 157 166
Mile 3 2:46.80 21.6 159 163
Mile 4 2:50:67 21.1 153 161
Mile 5 2:58:50 20.2 153 156
Mile 6 2:59.21 20.1 157 160
Mile 7 2:43:59 22.0 157 160
Mile 8 2:43:68 22.0 158 163
Mile 9 2:54:84 20.6 161 166
Mile 10 2:27:00 23.2 168 173
Total 28:08:00 21.2 156 173