Carolina Cycling Time Trial Recap 5/11/2011
Wow, Charlotte Motor Speedway has one of the biggest TV sets that I have ever seen. During the April Time Trial, they have the jumbotron in place but last night they had it turned on for everyone to see. There was no sound, but the just the sheer size of it is absolutely awesome to watch.
But enough about the jumbotron, let's move over to my time trial.
Yesterday was a long day at work and I guess my energy level were running at less than max by the time I pulled into the speedway. My legs felt sluggish and heavy during the warm-up and as soon as they would let me; I headed for the starting gate. I just wanted to get it over.
The first mile was in 2:35 which is pretty good considering that I am going from 0 to 25 mph. Rather than follow my usual pattern of pushing the big gears down the back stretch and lower gears up the front stretch, I settled for something in the middle where I could generate a higher cadence. For the first 5 miles, this seemed to be working so I got a little greedy. The next mile, I drop down a couple of gears. My legs went from sluggish and heavy to just plain heavy and slow. Maybe I should have shifted back to an easier gear but instead shifted into a smaller gear. Miles 6 and 9 were my slowest two miles by five seconds each. The other miles were pretty much on par with my April ride. Thus, the extra time from miles 6 and 9 pushed my time to 24:57.
In hindsight, maybe using a lower gear and spinning my legs faster was the best option. I should have stuck with it.
After the TT, I rode a few more miles in the infields, loaded up my bike, and headed home.
Rather than be disappointed in my time, I looked at the positives. My ride was a solid effort and a decent workout. Better yet, I am healthy and will be back to try again another day.
Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner
But enough about the jumbotron, let's move over to my time trial.
Yesterday was a long day at work and I guess my energy level were running at less than max by the time I pulled into the speedway. My legs felt sluggish and heavy during the warm-up and as soon as they would let me; I headed for the starting gate. I just wanted to get it over.
The first mile was in 2:35 which is pretty good considering that I am going from 0 to 25 mph. Rather than follow my usual pattern of pushing the big gears down the back stretch and lower gears up the front stretch, I settled for something in the middle where I could generate a higher cadence. For the first 5 miles, this seemed to be working so I got a little greedy. The next mile, I drop down a couple of gears. My legs went from sluggish and heavy to just plain heavy and slow. Maybe I should have shifted back to an easier gear but instead shifted into a smaller gear. Miles 6 and 9 were my slowest two miles by five seconds each. The other miles were pretty much on par with my April ride. Thus, the extra time from miles 6 and 9 pushed my time to 24:57.
In hindsight, maybe using a lower gear and spinning my legs faster was the best option. I should have stuck with it.
After the TT, I rode a few more miles in the infields, loaded up my bike, and headed home.
Rather than be disappointed in my time, I looked at the positives. My ride was a solid effort and a decent workout. Better yet, I am healthy and will be back to try again another day.
Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner
Comments