Argyle Time Trial Race Report

My second race of 2015 was the Argyle Time Trial, held in Charles Town, WV, on Saturday, May 2, on a new 30 kilometer (18.57 mile) rolling hill loop course. This course included portions of last year’s course that was described by the promoter as “…brutal! Plenty of rolling terrain and rough roads to loosen your fillings. Typical West Virginia roads.” The roads were not in any better condition this year.

The weather was perfect: temperature was 60 degrees, humidity was 65 percent, and the wind was from the north-northwest at five mph. I completed my 30-minute warmup successfully, including four 20-second all-out sprints topping out at 25.9 mph. My goal for this race was to see if I could continue my consecutive streak of podium finishes, despite the addition of two new fast competitors in my age group.

I started third, out of seven competitors. I smoothly accelerated away from the start line and quickly passed one of my chief rivals, who started 30 seconds ahead of me, in the first mile. The eventual winner in 0:46:30 (24.05 mph), who started a minute and 30 seconds behind me, didn’t pass me until better than halfway around the course. The second place finisher in 0:48:18 (23.15 mph), who started one minute behind me, didn’t pass me until we had less than 1 KM to go; the third place finisher in 0:48:43 (22.95 mph), who started 30 seconds behind me, didn’t pass me until we were less than 5 KM to the finish. I took fourth place in 0:49:22 (22.65 mph), breaking my consecutive streak of podium finishers at 16. The time gap between second place and fourth place was only 64 seconds.

Race replay: Argyle Time Trial