Tri-Town Time Trial takes to the streets on two wheels

May 18, 2014

Everything is literally all right with the bike riders of the Tri-Town Time Trial.

With three right-hand turns, no stop signs and minimal potholes, the speeding cyclists clad in Spandex zoom through their eight-mile route with each person averaging better than 20 miles per hour.

“It’s really individual. It’s you against the clock,” said Roger Spring of Wareham.

The loosely formed riding group has met for the time trials for at least five years, usually riding 14 miles. Due to poor road conditions through a portion of their route in Middleborough, the cyclists changed it up this year and shaved off six miles.

The group meets at 5:45 p.m. every Tuesday evening in warm months at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School. Their first ride of the season was May 6.

One rider sits out every week to time the others, who are organized by slowest to fastest and take off at 30-second intervals. That way, everyone arrives at the finish line around the same time. The results of each trial are posted on the group’s Facebook page.

The riders, who come from Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester and Wareham, say the time trials are less a competition amongst each other as they are against one's own previous times.

For the riders, many of whom ride 50 to 60 miles every weekend, the eight-mile trial is relatively short, but it comes with its own challenges.

“You have to warm up a lot to do an eight-mile ride,” said Spring. “You have to hit it up right from the start and get your motor running.”

There is a particular strategy to besting one’s previous times.

“It’s learning how to maintain. You want to be maxed out for that distance. You want to be able to finish, but you want to make sure you use everything you have,” said Patrick Owen, a rider from Marion.

The group has triathletes, duathletes and folks who just enjoy biking.

Though the cyclists are fast, Spring says beginners are welcome. And there is no age limit. The eldest in the group is about 67-years-old.

On a recent cool spring evening, eight cyclists came out to ride, but by the time the weather really warms up, there may be as many as 25 people on a Tuesday evening.

Spring said the only requirements for the Tri-Town Time Trial are a bike and helmet.

For more information, visit the group’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/tritowntimetrial.