THIS IS AN INVITATION TO POST A TIME AT THE BARNSBURG TIME TRIAL (BBITT) ON SATURDAY –
This is a race against yourself later in the year.
WEATHER FORCAST FOR SATURDAY: Sunny, 60 F.
COME RIDE EIGHT MILES FOR TIME! THEN BEAT THAT TIME LATER IN THE YEAR!
Our designated club-mates (Volo) will guide you to the right place at the right time… easy!.
Adam Bourne, Jack Evans, Jay Flynn, Mark Henry, Pat Jenkins, Jeff Parmelee, Rick Rice and DR Swanner got together one day in August, 2005 and timed each other on a four mile piece of asphalt…. Barnsburg Road. These fellows had been training together for many years for marathons, biathlons and triathlons. Several even did full-length Ironman Competitions. These eight bicyclesport athletes kept timing each other, and several others began to join in. In the fall of 2006, I broke from a 19-year long boycott of cycling, and joined in early 2007.
Since that first event, with eight riders, a total of 104 individual riders have posted times on the old Barnsburg Road. These riders include men and women – children. It also includes bicycles of all types, including fixed gear (Charles Senters), Mountain Bikes (Chris Smith and Forest Spillman) and tandem(Toby- not sure if they have posted a time yet). There has even been a Team Time Trial Event which was a great success.
Since “The Original Eight” first timed each other, the event has morphed into The Barnsburg Individual Time Trial. It has been sanctioned once, and will probably be sanctioned again. As of this writing, 492 times have been logged; the absolute fastest time being 18 minutes and 2 seconds (Brad Johnson).
Since those days, five and a half years ago, many things have changed in our cycling community. Our family of cycling brothers and sisters have swelled to numbers that I don’t believe anybody could have imagined. I am so thrilled, personally about each and every one… even though I couldn’t possibly know you all.
The growth in our cycling community I believe has to do with several things, three of which I will rank most important (in no order).
1) We brought a nationally sanctioned cycling event to our area (Mt. Victory Road Race)
2) We have an excellent bike shop and a knowledgeable bike shop owner (Marc Travis, Cumberland Cycles)
3) Aaron and Jenny Denney promotions of cycling events (Volo Sports) every week (during the summer months) for the past couple of years.
These three things have created a “perfect storm” in our cycling community – and there are now hundreds of us!
Combined with our hills to the east and our flat roads to the west, WE ARE A CYCLING MECCA!
…. Which brings me back to the Original Eight and their reasons for timing each other on the Old Barnsburg Road. They wanted to support each other in cycling sports…. Growth therein, and they wanted to develop a community – a place to exchange ideas, triumphs, disappointments – They created a hub (eight people) upon which many spokes (104 people) could test themselves. It is upon this core of cycling enthusiasts our club sprang. It is also upon the bike shop, Cumberland Cycles that supports us.
Not everybody likes racing or competing. In fact, fewer like it than not. NOBODY LIKES BEING UNDER A PUBLIC CLOCK. Given that, why have these 104 people subjected themselves, not only to a public score but 20 to 30 minutes of pure pain? The reasons are as varied as the people who show up to post times. As for me, I ride to race… If I could not race, I would not ride. But if I were to surmise a guess why everybody else posted times…. It would be for exactly the same reasons the “Original Eight” challenged the clock and Old Barnsburg Road. There is community and comradely in stressful events. There is bonding that occurs there that can not occur anywhere else. Yes, everybody posts an individual time, but everybody does the same thing! Over the course of a season, everybody is either disappointed or thrilled about how they did!
If you ride a bicycle, or if you consider yourself a cyclist, please join us in this specifically individual offering – The Barnsburg Time Trial, this Saturday, February 19. THIS IS NOT AN OFFICAL RACE. In fact it is not a race at all, unless you make it a race against your future self. It is an opportunity for you to post a time, and come back each month from now until October – It is an opportunity for you to race against yourself. Yes, if you elect, you may see your time posted against everybody else’s time if you choose. But more importantly, It is an opportunity for you to grow as a cyclist and as a member of our cycling club. NO FEE’S ARE COLLECTED; no credentials are required. In fact, you need not have ridden a single mile this year. If you come out to post a time, no matter or fast or how slow, you will get a really good feeling inside about cycling – your cycling community and about your own cycling.
As for me, you all know. I want to go as fast as I can. I want my time to be the fastest of all… I know this is a lopsided idea… TOTALLY COMPETITIVE. I am probably not the best person to be promoting a “personal growth” event. But my idea about the event doesn’t have to be yours. That is the beauty of an individual time trial…. It is still exactly what “The Original Eight” saw it as… a chance to gage and improve person fitness and cycling skills.
Just between me and you, no matter how hard I train; it seems I can’t ever post the fastest time! I have done the event 26 times, and I was fastest only once. I can’t seem to figure that out! (There is only one fastest time- everybody else comes in second)
THE BARNSBURG INDIVIDUAL TIME TRAIL - 2011
Eight Miles – along Barnsburg Road. Four miles out, turn and back.
Here is how it works:
The first rider to go will leave the starting line at about 11 AM this Saturday morning. Each rider will be brought to the starting line, and they will start on a given minute. Each rider will ride the eight mile course alone. When the rider comes back across the line, that time is recorded and a total time is computed.
One rider will leave the starting line every minute. You may overrun riders who have started one, two, three minutes before you, or you may be caught from the same from behind you. (Just focus on your effort).
Try to arrive at Barnsburg Church in time to get a bit of a warm-up… Remember, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been training this winter… If you post a time in this event, remember, it is a “bench mark”; a time to beat later in the year. It is a fact, if you post a time on Saturday, you will be about 1,000 times more inclined to ride more this year in order to reduce your time at one of the future events (held monthly).
This event… well, it’s February! Who is in very good shape now? It is a great time to lay down a base-time… FOR YOUR OWN INFORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT. But then, I won’t kid you… some riders, which totally does not matter, could post times down near 20 minutes. There will be all sorts of times posted.
The fastest time ever recorded is 18 minutes, 2 seconds. The slowest time is 52 minutes, 30 seconds. If you come out to post, I am sure you will be between these.
Yes, I want you to come out and post a time! Why do I want you to post a time? That’s so easy… If you post a time now, no matter how under trained you may be now, after this hard winter, we will do an event every month. You will get to see yourself progress over the cycling season…. When that happens to people, it is surely a beautiful sight.
I want you to come out to partake in the cycling community… There is nothing more bonding than combat – (Each person fighting the clock). In my years of bike racing, I have found, there is the easiest bonding among those who did not win… (The winner, collecting what-ever-spoils) leaves the place; almost ashamed, having putdown everybody else. (Community lies in the Average and less)
SATURDAY IS GOING TO BE SUNNY, AND 60F. My Gosh, come on out, get yourself a start time, and get your 2011 cycling season rolling! Remember, this is not a race! It is a chance for you to gage your progress! Can you imagine a better time to put down a ‘standard” than now, with the winter we’ve had?
NOT THAT IT MATTERS: I predict that Kevin McKinney will post the fastest time of 20:30 with a close if not an overpass by Glenn Olmstead or Doug Vito. Of course, if Jeff Parmelee shows up, he’s always in the low 20 minute range… The wildcard is Barry Garrison. Training this winter, BG is capable of doing a 19 minute time. I would personally be happy with 22 minutes or less. (I will be in the 17’s before year end)
WHY COME OUT? It is great fun! It is great fitness and it is great for you.
I ride to race – that makes me a very pour spokesperson for our club. Others are much better suited to speak to our Mass. Still, a good sense of shelf-competition is a good thing… without that, we do not grow at all…. Not just in cycling, but anything.
COME POST A FEBURARY TIME! Then beat it in June, or July!
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