Yesterday at the Encino Velodrome was a low key time trial event. Various distances were presented. I signed up for the 500 meter and 1000 meter events. My warm up was great and I felt good for the 500. At the starting line I took forever to get my shoes into my pedals. The cleat kept hanging up on one of the straps. Once I got it going I was ready. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO! I went as hard as possible to get the bike moving. Once I settled into the pace I just kept the hammer down. I finished in 40.17 seconds. Since I have never tried a 500 I didn’t know what my time could possibly be. 40.17 isn’t too bad for this early in the season. I used a 50×15 gear which was a tad short for the event but good for this part of the season. My friend Jack ran a low 39 with wheels so I think I can go sub-40 soon.
In the 1000 meter (kilometer) race I knew I had to hold off a bit. My fitness is coming around but hammering 4 laps isn’t in the plan yet. I got off to a good start and then felt my right shoe moving a little bit in the pedal. GRRRR! I thought for sure it was in right. I just kept on going and it didn’t seem to bug me. I am not sure exactly what was wrong but it didn’t feel right. I crushed the first lap pretty hard and then eased off just a hair to save a little juice. On the 3rd lap I gave it a little more and on the 4th lap I crushed it pretty hard for the last 2 turns. 1:27.31 was my finishing time. I had hoped for a 1:25 so that isn’t far away. My aero position needs some tuning plus some aero wheels would help. And my helmet didn’t arrive yet so hopefully later in the season I can get down into the teens with more training and aero equipment.
