The Kilo

I was on the fence about even doing this race. The Kilo is a sprinter's race and I'm more of an enduro rider, but it was on the schedule and I figured I'd just do it as a warm up for the pursuit the next day. My warm up went well, some spin ups and some time at threshold. I had my bike checked (weight, saddle behind BB) and went to wait for my turn. I was to be racing with Sam Kavanagh on the other side of the track and I have to be honest in saying that I just wanted to ride fast enough so he wouldn't catch me.
I was nervous on the line, I've never started out of a gate and this was my first real timed track race. The countdown hit 20 sec and I set my grip. 10 sec, keep breathing. 5 sec, set myself. 1 sec, stand up. Start beep, explode. I timed the start well and got rolling pretty quickly. I sat down at the middle of turns 1-2 and got into the aero bars about center track. I started my second acceleration phase and came flying into lap 2. I hit the turn pretty quickly and had to float a little to keep from rolling up the track. I really started to feel the burn at the end of lap 3 and just tried to hang on to the line. I heard my time announced as a low 1:15, I was happy with that, but I was in some serious pain.
I was starting my cool down when a man came over and asked if I was Aaron Trent. It took me a second to realize that this man was my USADA chaperon and that I was going to be drug tested. That's cool, it meant I did something good! So 20 minutes later I get off the bike and have to sign a sheet saying I was notified of my test. The sheet said "1st men's Kilo"! WHAT! I had won and didn't know it for 20 minutes.

Quick side note: Domestic Paralympic racing awards are based on a factor so all disability classes compete together. To win, you need to have the best percentage of your standard, and for the Kilo I had the best time/standard on the day.

The awards ceremony was surreal. I was standing on the top step of the podium with a gold medal. I thought I would have a good ride, but I wasn't expecting to win at my first National Championship event.

When I got finished with USADA I came pack and the infield was empty except for Craig. He handed me the stars and stripes jersey the podium crew forgot to give me. It's pretty cool.