Race 1 – 2012 Charlotte Speedway Time Trial Series – OUCH!!

Race 1 – 2012 Charlotte Speedway Time Trial Series – OUCH!!

ByMike Byrd

Holy Cow,  Wednesday, April 11 was the first race of the Charlotte Speedway Time Trial Series and one word describes the TT – OUCH. 

Sarah and I left the shop around 4 to get to the race and like always, one thing led to another, we had to pick up something we forgot (wheel and timing chip), put gas in the van (as always), school traffic and managed to get to the track around 5 and lost our customary spot near registration and ended up on the backside of the garage.

2012 Dillworth Criterium

2012 Dillworth Criterium

ByMike Byrd

The 2012 Dillworth Criterium was my first road race of the year.   Dillworth isn’t one of my favorite courses.  I find it to be a challenging course with a long, steady climb on the front stretch, plus it’s usually the my first road race of the year so my body isn’t used to the effort required in a criterium.

My race started at 2.  I arrived a little early to catch the end of the Cat 4/5 race to see my friend Mike Levine finish up.  After that, I rode my bike around for about 20 minutes to get the legs going.

2012 NODA Criterium

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.

2012 I’on Village Criterium Charleston SC

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.

Race 2 – 2012 Charlotte Summer Mountain Bike Series

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.

Race 3 – 2012 Charlotte Summer Mountain Bike Series

Race 3 – 2012 Charlotte Summer Mountain Bike Series

ByMike Byrd

My second race of the Charlotte Summer Mountain Bike Series was at Renaissance Park in Charlotte, NC.  The course at Renni is a lot different from N. Meck.  It’s longer and more technical, a lot more technical.  It also uses most of the Winter Short Track Series Short Track Course.

Andy and I took the Cool Breeze Cyclery van down to the race.  It was hot and we decided a warm up wasn’t necessary!

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

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!

2012 Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic Road National Championships – Day 2

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.

2012 Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic Road National Championships – Day 3 (6/22/12)

2012 Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic Road National Championships – Day 3 (6/22/12)

ByMike Byrd

Today was a rest day for Chester and I at the 2012 Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic Road National Championships. Today were the Criterium Championships and unfortunately (or fortunately) they don’t have a crit class for tandems.  

We slept late and headed down to the races to see the Paralympians that were able to do the Crit race.  It was inspirational to see them racing.  Watching them race definitely puts things in perspective.  They don’t see it that way and race as hard as any able bodied athlete, maybe even harder, but for me it definitely makes me realize that I shouldn’t be ‘sweating the small stuff’.  I hope that makes sense.

2012 Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic Road National Championships – Day 4

2012 Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic Road National Championships – Day 4

ByMike Byrd

Saturday (6/25/12) was Day 4 for Chester and I at the 2012 Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic Road National Championships. Today’s race was the 72K Road Race which was divided up into 3 laps.
Our race was at 8 and held on the Fort Gordon Military Base. Since our race started at 8, we had an early wake up call. Chester woke up at 4:30 excited to get going. I rolled out of bed around 5:15 and started getting ready. We managed to roll out to the truck around 6:30 and were at the race venue at 7.