With my early morning coffee in hand, I headed up to Greenville, SC Saturday morning to catch the action. The USA Pro Cycling Championships were starting and I had a press pass to get up close and personal with some of America’s fastest riders. Just like any other cycling obsessed junkie, I had to get my fix if I was going to have all access. I grabbed my Nikon D80 and went to work.

USA Pro Cycling Championships Time Trial

The entire time trial was a really cool event. With a short looped course, you are able to really get in on the action by just running around. With multiple great action spots, you can see the racers do laps and catch the action from several areas throughout the course. James Thomas of Bicycle Design and I met up and started shooting the race.

If you ever want to get an idea of how slow you really are in comparison to the pros, get out to a road race. They make hills that you and I would have difficulty with look like a walk in the park…at speed and over and over again. Watching these riders put it all out there on a TT event was a really cool experience as you get to see pros doing what they do best up close and personal.

David Zabriskie of Garmin-Sliptream took the win for his fourth consecutive TT win at the USA Pro Cycling Champsionships. Zirbel bested Zabriskie’s time from last year, but it just wasn’t enough as Zabriskie took the win by almost a minute. In a short TT course like this one, that is a huge gap.

One of the more humorous moments throughout the entire time trial event was being right on the action as Floyd Landis got passed. I don’t know what his deal was, but he was riding really slow at the TT event. Luckily, I was already shooting on the climb where it took place, so it was caught through the eyes of the Nikon lens.

You can check out my photos worth posting of the entire weekend on my Flickr account —> Click here.

James at Bicycle Design is also updating his pictures as he gets them ready that you can check out here.

USA Pro Cycling Championships Results and Press Release

GREENVILLE, S.C. (August 29, 2009) – David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream) won his fourth consecutive is Stars and Stripes jersey as the national champion in the professional time trial discipline. The Salt Lake City, Utah resident beat his 2008 winning time by over one minute, covering the 20.7-mile course in 39 minutes, 37 seconds. Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling) of Boulder, Colo., finished second in 40:21, copying his 2008 podium position. Third place was secured by Downington, Penn. resident Scott Zwinsanski (Kelly Benefit Strategies) in 41:18.

“I really get up for this race every year. It’s something I take a lot of pride in. It doesn’t get old for me. I like the course. Greenville is a nice city,” said the 30-year-old Zabriskie, who has never lost in Greenville. The U.S. Professional Individual Time Trial Championship, presented by Duke Energy, was held for the first time in 2006, when the U.S. Pro Road Race Championship moved from Philadelphia to Greenville and established the dual championship for pro cyclists.

A total of 23 professional cyclists started in two-minute intervals at 11:30 a.m. under clear blue skies and warm temperatures in Greenville. Using the same course as 2008, at Clemson University – International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR), race organizers estimated larger crowds this year, evident to riders all along the final kilometer.

“I didn’t expect to lose by 45 seconds. Wow, he (Zabriskie) had a good ride,” said Zirbel, who was aiming to improve on his second-place finish from 2008. He finished second earlier this year at the nature Valley Grand Prix and leads the individual points competition for USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar. “I’m a rhythm rider, and it’s tough to get in a rhythm here. I’d like longer straightaways. It’s not as technical as it looks on paper; it’s a fair course.”

Zwinzanski is having a good year, winning the overall title at Tour de Beauce and Vuelta Ciclista del Uruguay. “It was my strength as an amateur (time trials). It kind of disappeared:I didn’t really focus on it at all when I turned pro in 2004. Last year it just started kind of clicking again. The TT’s are all about suffering pretty much,” said the 32-year-old Bissell rider at the post-race press conference.

CU-ICAR also hosted a morning time trial for the U.S. Handcycling Series, presented by Paralyzed Veterans of America. Thirty-six competitors rode two laps for the final time trial of the series this year. Florida’s Chris Peterson had the best overall time of 37:19, also winning the men’s kneeling category. The men’s handcycling “C” category was won by Krige Schabort; men’s “B” category was won by Matt Updike; men’s “A” cateory was won by James Watson; the women’s “C” category was won by Carly Waugh.