Race 3 – 2011 Charlotte Winter Short Track Series

ByMike Byrd

Sunday was a good day on the bike at the Charlotte Winter Short Track Series. The weather finally turned and I was able to race without arm or knee warmers. It felt good to feel the sun on our skins and actually work up a sweat.

The mountain bike race started off fast and I went into the woods in about 5th place. I tried to take it a little easier on the first lap and try to get warmed up without going into the ‘red zone’. The first couple of laps went smoothly, with no issues and I was rolling along in 3rd place. I could see the two guys in 1st and 2nd place going through the start/finish line.

As it always is with mountain bike racing, you think you are much further along than you really are. I started hurting and Neal said we still had 23 minutes to go – we were only half way through the race. I could still see the two riders in front of me and got into a decent rhythm and was slowly starting to gain on the riders. I’d get a little closer and then catch slower riders. At one point I was trying to pass a rider and let him know I was behind him and that I would pass at a good point. He found one and promptly slammed on his brakes, forcing me to a complete stop. Oh well, that’s racing.

Mike Racing Charlotte Winter Short Track Series
Mike Racing Charlotte Winter Short Track Series

Finally Neal said two laps to go and I went as hard as I could. I wasn’t that far behind the leaders and luckily had a clear run through the single track and kind of caught a second wind on the last lap. Coming out of the woods, I could see the rider in second place and could tell he was hurting. I went as hard as I could and caught him in the grass section. Climbing the hill by the ball fields, I started my sprint and went hard to the finish. 2nd place after a good day on the mountain bike. I’m hoping my fitness is starting to build.

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 Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic Road National Championships – Day 2

    ByMike Byrd

    Today (6/21/12) was Day 2 of our trip to the 2012 Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic Road National Championships.  Today’s event was the Time Trial National Championship.

    Chester and I didn’t start until 3:15 so we were able to sleep in – until about 7:15…which was late for me.  We got up and had breakfast, ran an errand and then came back to the hotel room.  Our plan was to stay cool, get hydrated and then to get to the venue around 1pm to get our race numbers, check out the start and warm up.

  • Racing in North Carolina

    ByMike Byrd

    I raced a 10 mile Time Trial on July 23rd at Lowes Speedway. I finished 2nd in the Cat 4 group with a time of 21 minutes and 24 seconds. This was also good enough for 17th overall. So I felt like my fitness was pretty good. This weekend was a big race weekend in Charlotte. There were Criteriums Thursday-Sunday around the area. There was also a Team TimeTrial on Thursday.

  • Race 2 – 2012 Charlotte Summer Mountain Bike Series

    ByMike Byrd

    The first official race of the Charlotte Summer Series Mountain Bike Series hosted by Charlotte Sports Cycling was at North Mecklenburg Park.  I took the Cool Breeze Van down N. Meck and set the tent up.  With this being the first race and at a relatively easy course, the numbers were impressive.  I’m betting Neal had over 150 racers.  The Cool Breeze/Trek Bike Store team had 12 racers!  A great turn out!

    I decided to race the Super Sport class for the summer series.  I considered the Expert class but don’t have a USAC expert license so I couldn’t sign up for the extra length required of the expert class.   We had 12 racers in the Super Sport class which is a great turnout for this class.

  • 2012 Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic Road National Championships – Day 1

    ByMike Byrd

    Chester and I left the Cool Breeze Cyclery at 3PM and headed to Augusta for the 2012 Paralympic Road Nationals.  We made it to Augusta in 3 hours and checked into the Sheraton.

    Chester asked me a couple months ago to pilot his tandem at Nationals but I don’t think I really understood how big a deal it is.  It started to sink in when we rolled through the hotel parking lot and there was a line of about 100 cyclists with their time trial bikes.  They were in line to get their bikes inspected by USA Cycling!

  • 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.

  • In Shape?…Maybe Not!…

    ByMike Byrd

    It’s been a long season so far. I don’t know if I’m in good shape or not. I participated in the Charlotte MotorSpeedway Time Trial on June 9, 2010 in the Category 3 group. I got to the track early enough to register, get a start time assigned, and then have a solid warm up. I don’t like riding a trainer so I warmed up on the small track inside the big track. I immediately noticed two things….people warming up on TT bikes not using their aero bars (which I can’t understand) and the wind. It was pretty obvious that we had a big headwind going all the way down the home stretch between turn number 4 and turn number 1. It was the most wind I had experienced in the 3 years that I’ve been doing the TT.