Race 2 – 2012 Charlotte Winter Short Track Series

ByMike Byrd

Sunday, February 5, 2012 was Race #4 of the Charlotte Winter Short Track Mountain Bike Series. It rained all day Saturday so all the racers were expecting a wet/muddy course. But once again, that wasn’t the case. The course was in great shape and lap times were consistent with the previous weeks.

I was feeling pretty good after riding Brushy Mtn. 3 times on Friday with Mike L. During my warm-up my legs felt pretty good and the temperature was perfect for racing. I even took my leg warmers off.

I started the race in the front row and got a good start and went into the woods in about 3 or 4th place. The first lap was uneventful and coming out of the woods on the first lap, TJ hit the gas hard and I jumped on Steve Fish’s wheel. I think we stayed in this position for a couple laps with TJ hitting it hard out of the woods. Five us up ended up off the the front, Steve, Me, TJ, Andy Good and Todd.

Steve went to the front after about 5 laps and put the hammer down. Andy and Todd couldn’t hold the pace so now it was down to Steve, TJ and me. I was in 2nd place behind Steve for the next 5 laps. On one hand I was glad to be hanging on because in the past couple races, Steve and TJ were dropping me on the gravel road. But on the other hand I was suffering bigtime.

I wanted to get into the woods first after about 10 laps but just couldn’t get by Steve. So I decided to try to save some energy for the finish. The only problem with my theory was that Steve kept driving the pace harder and harder. I was 2nd coming out of the woods on the last lap and thought I had a chance until Steve surged again. I blew up and told TJ he had to go.

I finished in 3rd place about 15 seconds behind Steve and TJ. Once again, they had a sprint finish. I hope to be closer next week!

The SS race went as usual. I had a nice easy start and moved up to 9th place and raced most of the race by myself. I was only lapped by one person so I’m definitely improving.

One more race to go! The Cool Breeze/Trek Bike Store team is leading the team competition and should be able to win that category.

The Bike Racer

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the Internet. My name is Mike Byrd and this is my website. I enjoy sports, being outside, new challenges, marketing and anything that comes my way. I am the author of the blog posts on thebikeracer.com. I enjoy writing about cycling, poiltics, coffee and anything else that fits in the "My World" category. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to say up to date on anything new that gets posted to thebikeracer.com.

Similar Posts

  • 2012 Brushy Mountain Training Ride 5

    ByMike Byrd

    4/4/12    Andy and I made it up to Brushy Mountain yesterday.  It was my 5th time to Brushy this season.  It’s always fun to start the season of with a bunch of trips to Brushy to get into shape.  I set a PR on the last trip and this weeks trip was just a steady state ride, especially with a VO2 test on Friday and the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek on Saturday.

  • Race 1 – 2012 Charlotte Winter Short Track Series

    ByMike Byrd

    Sunday was the first race of the Charlotte Winter Short Track Series hosted by Charlotte Sports Cycling.  Everyone was fearing cold weather but somehow Neal ordered a beautiful January day.

    My race was at 12 but I arrived early to set up the Cool Breeze/Trek Bike Store Team tent with Sarah.  My first race of the day was the Sport 40+ class.  I lined up on the 2nd row feeling confident that I could get a good start.  I was joking with my buddy Wayne when the race started.  I usually don’t have a problem getting clicked in but missed my pedal but managed to keep my momentum and eventually get clicked in before the first turn.

  • Race 5 – 2011 Charlotte Winter Short Track Series

    ByMike Byrd

    Yesterday was the last race of the Charlotte Winter Short Track Series.  5 straight weekends of mountain bike racing with basically one trainer ride a week (on Tuesdays).  Once again, I was hoping for a good day on the bike after a long day of officiating the day before. On Saturady, I officiated 3 Division II lacrosse games and woke up on Sunday pretty sore because I don’t run much anymore – well never run anymore. 

  • 2012 NODA Criterium

    ByMike Byrd

    April 15, 2012 was the inaugural NODA Criterium held in NODA (North Davidson) in Charlotte, NC.  Since I had raced the Dillworth Criterium the day before, I slept in and did somethings around the house before heading down to NODA.

    I arrived about 45 minutes before my race, got dressed and found Mike Levine of Mills-Levine.  We warmed up for about 20 minutes.  MIke had raced the 4/5 race and was going to race the 3/4 race.  This would be our first chance to race together.  The course in NODA is super fun.  it has 6 turns and is a fast course with a long uphill drag on the back of the course.

  • Race 2 – 2011 Charlotte Winter Short Track Series

    ByMike Byrd

    This past Sunday was the second race of the Charlotte Mountain Bike Winter Series. I was hoping for a better result than I had the  previous weekend. The weather was colder but it was dry (finally) all week. I got to the course around 10 to watch Lexi (Jasen Taylor’s  little girl) while he raced. Watching them race got me a little excited to get going and the good news is that the riders were staying  dry and mud free.

  • 2012 I’on Village Criterium Charleston SC

    ByMike Byrd

    I headed down to Charleston, SC for the 2012 I’on Village Criterium and the SC State Championship Criterium the following day.  I’ve made this trip the last 3 years with Neal Boyd and several of the Clif-Bar Giordana Brica team members.  We went down Thursday night, woke up early Friday and went Kayak Fishing with Neal, Leah and Shirlene.  Good times.

    It’s always a fun trip and the course at I’on Village is a lot of fun.  I wake up, help Neal set up the course and then hang out until my race.  I did the Cat 2/3 race and it didn’t start until 1:50.  So I went back to the house and did a 20 mile ride on the Isle of Palms and Sullivan island with Shirlene, Alison and Leah.  It was a perfect warm up for my race.