I've signed up to ride my first time trials. I live close to Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC and once a month they allow the general public to come out and ride a timed 10 miles around the track. They have computer scoring and everything.

I have been riding my road bike on and off for about 2 years now, but this is the first time I'm competing against anything, even if it is just the clock. The web site for the trial is at www.carolinatt.org (http://www.carolinatt.org) if anyone is interested. I was pretty surprised to see the average speeds for the last trial in April. Some were over 30 MPH. I hope to at least hit twenty, but I'm not going to be dissapointed if I don't. My regular road average if about 14 with some big hills on my normal route.

I'm pretty excited about it. Today I'm going to get fitted for a pair of matched riding shoes and pedals to help. I've only had straps before and I've been frustrated with them, especially at stop lights.

Has anyone else rode in time trials? Any words of wisdom before I go out? They are on thursday evening under the lights from 5 to 9 pm.