A-D Racing Race Report: Florida State Time Trial Championship 2025

The Florida State Time Trial Championship is a 40 kilometer out and back course in St. Cloud, Florida. It features sight lines that extend almost two miles, totally flat terrain and smooth, fast roads. It is always warm and windy. This year, the wind was at least 15 miles an hour out of the southeast with gusts up to 20 miles per hour. I raced the Masters 55 to 59 age group with a start time at 10:48. I was racing my tt Carbon Limited.

The hardest thing about the outbound leg was the wind gusts. They sapped momentum and made it very hard to keep a steady pace. I concentrated on keeping my head as low as possible and maintaining a high cadence that would allow for the occasional shift into a higher gear. It was very hard to do. My speed settled around 23 miles per hour and I was able to catch two one-minute riders. The straight sections were a unique form torture. My outbound split time was about 32 minutes.

Inbound was very fast. I was able to get up to and maintain 30 miles per hour very quickly and even increase that speed to 34 miles per hour in some sections. I was on top of and almost spinning out the 58x11 the whole time with the exception of a gentle dip around a bridge that would count as the only elevation on the course. I managed to catch another two riders who did not have big gears on their bikes. My inbound split time was about 24 minutes.

I completed the course with a time of 56:10 (2023: 53:30) which was fast enough for seventh place overall (2024: 9th place) and second place in the Masters 55 to 59 age group. Defending champion Jose Armas prevailed again with a great ride that delivered a time of 56:02. Many thanks to Topview Sports for holding what is a luxurious and rare opportunity to race a 40 kilometer time trial, to the USA Cycling officials for making it happen efficiently and the residents of St. Cloud for letting us suffer our way up and down beautiful Deer Park Road.