Carolina Cycling Time Trial Recap 4.20.11
Maybe this was not one of my wisest decisions ever, but a decision to do this event was made no less.
Last night I headed out to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the first event of the Carolina Cycling Time Trials. I had no idea what I was going to feel like and I wasn't even sure if my legs were even going to be up for doing it. After all it was barely 48 hours from my run to the finish at the Boston Marathon.
There were a few guys there that know me and congratulated me on my Boston effort, but otherwise, I was just flying under the radar and doing something away from running.
I was scheduled to go off around 7:30.
My preparation started around 6:30 by airing up my tires and checking out my equipment. Then, I was off some up miles. After about 6 miles, I headed over to the start where I saw Scott. We chatted for few minutes. He always gives me a hard time because I have never done a triathlon. But hey, I am not a great swimmer and let's be honest; to improve my swimming I would have to actually swim more and I just not sure where I would find the time. Anyway, it was good to see Scott again. He is a nice guy.
Scott rolled out in front of me so he had about a 1 minute head start.
Then, my turn came. I was setting in the blocks and I guess out of habit; I looked down to see what gear I had selected. Ugh, it was easiest gear possible. I wasn't sure if this was a sign or not.
The timer beeped and I was off.
The first mile wasn't bad. I worked through shifting into smaller gears. The 2nd mile was little slower. The 2nd mile covers most of the front stretch which is notorious for providing a nice little headwind for the riders. The first time that I hit this stretch, I started searching for the gear that allowed me to feel the best without dropping too much speed.
Miles 3-8 helped finish out my warm up and got my system rolling. Honestly, my legs started out feeling stiff but once I got rolling on the bike, neither my hamstrings nor my quads hurt like they did when I was running. Somewhere around the 3 or 4 miles, I caught Scott and shouted out some encouragement as I passed him.
Closing out the final 2 miles "well" became my goal and I felt good all the way to the finish line. My last mile was my fastest which is what I would expect. I was pushing hard on the pedals.
Overall, I did much better than I expected. I was really just looking to clock some miles in the TT position in preparation for some upcoming Duathlons that I want to do. The fact that I was only a minute off my PR for 10 miles was an added bonus.
I finished off the evening with a few more miles in the infield before putting my bike away. It was getting late so I just wrapped things up and headed home.
It was a nice feeling driving because I was happy with the time and the effort.
Breakdown from my TT last night
H:M:S Time | Miles Distance | MPH Avg. Speed | MPH Avg. Moving Speed | MPH Max Speed | |
Summary | 0:24:47 | 10 | 24.1 | 24.3 | 28.9 |
10 | 0:02:18 | 1 | 25.3 | 25.7 | 28.4 |
9 | 0:02:31 | 1 | 23.8 | 23.8 | 28.1 |
8 | 0:02:27 | 1 | 24.4 | 24.5 | 28.9 |
7 | 0:02:24 | 1 | 24.9 | 25 | 27.8 |
6 | 0:02:30 | 1 | 23.9 | 24.3 | 28.1 |
5 | 0:02:31 | 1 | 23.7 | 23.7 | 27.3 |
4 | 0:02:25 | 1 | 24.8 | 24.8 | 26.9 |
3 | 0:02:31 | 1 | 23.8 | 23.7 | 26.7 |
2 | 0:02:35 | 1 | 23.1 | 23.2 | 26.5 |
1 | 0:02:30 | 1 | 23.9 | 24.3 | 28.5 |
Thoughts of the Cool Down Runner
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