250m TT

The 250 meter TT isn't an internationally recognized event, but they run it at Nationals to help select the first-lap rider for the Olympic Team Sprint, which is a rather important Olympic event.  It's very simple--one lap on the track from a standing start, as fast as you can.

The one thing that's different from Blaine is the starting gate.  Imagine a sort of aparatus that holds your bike rigidly until the clock ticks down to 0, then it let's go.  If you go too early, you'll get held back and start choppy--and slow.  If you start too late, well, you give up whatever fraction of a second you give up by starting too late.  Fractions of a second are the margins of victory. 

The only reason I'm riding the 250 is to get used to the start gate.  I've never used it before, and I wanted to use it once before the Kilo later today.

So, I rode in the second heat.  I covered 250m in 20.213 seconds, an average speed of 44.526 kph.  By the end of it, I was 16th.  (You wait for everyone to go before you know who has won--imagine downhill ski racing, or luge--it's like that.). My max speed was 59.9. 

Ted rode a 20.374, with a max of 62.1kph.  That was good for 19th.  Taylor rode a 20.263, and his max was 62.7 kph.  He got 18th.  They were disappointed, as both of them are capable of low-19s.  But it wasn't to be for them today, and they've got tomorrow's racing to prepare for now.  As you cana see from their max speeds--higher than mine--they lost it on the acceleration out of the gate.  Track racing is a power sport.

For my part, I'm pretty happy with 16th in an event that I wasn't planning to do well in, middle of the field almost exactly.  31 riders started the event.  It was won by Michael Blatchford in 18.470, an averge speed of 48.729 kph.  I suspect his max speed was around 65kph--roughly 40mph.  He's a pro, and now he's the presumptive starter for Team USA in Beijing.