Notes
COMMENTS: Time Trial?s at Lowe?s Motor Speedway, August 22, 2007
Registered on Active.com and registered as a GCC member but when the start times were posted I was listed as ?NR?. I still don?t know what that means. My start time was 6:52pm so I planned to leave the house at 5:15 (33 miles) which should put me there at about 6 and give me 50 minutes to pick up my bib and chip and do some warming up. I had a Cliff protean bar and some watered down P-ade on the way since I wouldn?t be eating again till after 7:30. I didn?t really consider the rush hour traffic on I-85. I came to stop and go traffic at the Sugar Creek exit for about a mile and again nearer to Concord. I?ll need to plan 1 hr next time. Got off I-85 at Speedway Blvd and headed toward the track. At the intersection facing the track I couldn?t see over the intersection and was in the wrong lane. I had to turn left and do a u-turn and come back. Luckily someone turned into the track ahead of me and I followed them to parking. Found a place to park and got my things together. It was about 96 degrees so I made sure to finish the bottle I was drinking on the way. Rode around on the bike to get my bearings and located the registration area. Picked up my bib and chip. Bib goes on the center of your back and the chip goes on your left ankle. It?s more like a Velcro bracelet. They were allowing you on the track as long as you had your bib on so I did a couple of laps and determined that the back stretch had a pretty good head wind. You could get some good speed going down the front stretch and going into turn 3 seemed a little up hill so my strategy was to push hard going down the back stretch not to lose much time and try to rest going down the front. They called to clear the track so I had to figure out where to warm up. I had put my rollers in the car in case but there was a go-cart type track that a lot of people were using to ride on so I joined them for about 15 minutes. About 10 minutes before my start time I made my way to the start line. Once there they were a little ahead of schedule and were starting ?red numbers with green background? so I was second to go in that line. Kind of rushed but it didn?t bother me. An official held my bike so I could clip in the peddles and the clock counts down for 5 seconds. At 0 he gives you a small push and you?re off. The start/ finish are on pit row. You pass the track start/ finish line 6 times and turn into the pit to cross your finish line and stop the clock. I was doing 22 mph before I left pit row. Having been around the track a couple of times I had determined what gear I needed when and tried to maintain 23-24 down the back stretch into the wind. I had a good feeling about averaging 22 mph with the hopes of pulling off a 24. After going down the back stretch at 23 mph the 24 average went out the window. Down the front stretch I picked up quite a bit of speed and passing the crowd of about 25-30 cheering for who knows gives you a little boost so I managed about 25 mph down the front. On the back again I tried to maintain 23 but it was tough into the wind and I didn?t think I could keep it up for 5 more laps. So I stuck with my original plan, push hard on the back and try to rest on the front. I didn?t pay much attention to my speed after that but did notice I was passing a few people. So I concentrated on catching the next person. I gave me something to shoot for and occupied my time while keeping my speed up. I did get passed by a few riders that were very serious about this. They had the Flash Gordon helmets and aerodynamic bikes with the solid wheel in the back. I passed on guy on a mountain bike and shorts just having a good time. The strangest thing was seeing the hand bikes. It looks like a racing wheelchair with peddles in front of your chest that drive the front wheel. I was concerned with drafting which is considered less than 3 bike lengths so I made sure to move right to pass early. A couple of times someone passed me and moved in so quick I was right on their wheel. So I moved a little to the right in case an official was watching. I did see one on a motorcycle circling the track. Counting down the laps and very thirsty at 2 to go I didn?t feel too bad. When I crossed the track start/ finish for the last time someone knew it was my last one and shouted ?LAST ONE, GO, GO, GO, KEEP IT IN THE BIG GEAR.!? I think she was one of the volunteers. That was a big boost. I had been shifting down on the back because of the wind. I didn?t this time and pushed for all I had. I kept my eye out for the pit entrance and when I turned on pit row I stood up on the pedals and sprinted down pit row. As I approached the finish I could hear her again, ?PUSH, PUSH, PUSH!? Crossed the line and coasted down the finish chute. My computer registered 30 mph as my max so that must have been my speed over the finish line. Someone was waiting at the end to collect timing chips but I wanted to keep moving for a minute so I waved and coasted around a little. Stopped and took my chip off. Turned it in and made my way back to the car to get a drink and power bar I had put in a cooler. That was the best thing. Got back on the bike and just rode around a little watching the others on the track and at the start finish. I had seen Doc, one of the guys I ride with, on the track when I parked the car but never did find him till I was leaving. He spotted me getting into the car, yelled and waved. I stayed long enough to see my unofficial time of 26:34:44 which I knew was about 22 mph so I was happy with that. I don?t think there is anything different I could have done. I may try to pay more attention to my average. This time I just tried to keep my speed up and take what I could get which turned out to be about 20 mph on the back and 24 on the front. Easy, quiet ride home. All the traffic was gone and it had gotten dark.