Race 2 – Charlotte Speedway Time Trial Series – Getting Better (May 9, 2012)

ByMike Byrd

Originally posted May 9, 2022

Last night was TT #2 of the Charlotte Motor Speedway Time Trial Series at the Carolina Speedway.  Sarah, Chester and I left the shop and arrived at the track about 4:30PM to get two bays to warm up in and save one for the Strong and Focused Tri Team. 

It was good to see about 15 Cool Breeze/Trek Bike Store Team members warming up and having a good time.  The weather was bad all day.  It was raining and windy.  So I wasn’t counting on a good night time wise. 

My start time was 7:45 so I started warming up around 7:15.  I usually ride the ‘inside’ track but unfortunately there was a small stage set up on the track so we had to chicane around the stage.  Not the idea set up for a good warm up.  I did about 5 sprints up the small hill and was able to get my heart rate up some.

I didn’t feel like I got a great warm up but figured what the heck.  I went to the start line and was pleased to see Sarah, George, LuAnn, and Jasen all in line to start.  That made it fun.

I started a little easier than the first TT and quickly got up to speed.  There was a steady head wind down the backstretch so it was hard to get to 30mph.  It wasn’t as bad as the first TT but it was significant.  And having my teammates in front of me helped keep me motivated.

For some reason the 2nd and 3rd laps really hurt.  The good news is that no one was passing me so I figured I was moving along at a good pace.  I finally managed to catch Sarah on my 4th lap. 

Right after I caught Sarah, I had 3 riders catch me. One passed me and I spent the 5th lap boxed in by one of the riders.  Starting my 6th lap, the guy next to me backed off and I was able to move to the right of the rider in front of me so I wasn’t in his draft.  It was good for me because I was really pushing it to keep up with him. 

A Preferred Parking rider passed me leaving turn 4 and entered the finishing stretch.  I started my 7th lap behind the rider that had passed me and really struggled to stay with him.  The good news is that I was able to stay with him and finish my last lap.  The final stretch hurt real bad.  My Garmin showed a time of 21:28 which was a minute improvement over the first time trial.  So I’m real happy with my effort.

After the TT, we all hung out for about 30 minutes, shared a beer and packed up.  And I treated myself to a Cookout Milkshake!

The Bike Racer

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