Daily News Photo by DEAN GREENAWAY Neil Thomas, during a recent training session, will be the first British Virgin Islands cyclist to compete in the Commonwealth Games.

TORTOLA - BVI cyclist Neil Thomas will spend the next two weeks at the Olympic Training Center in Salinas, Puerto Rico, preparing for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.

Thomas will be the first cyclist to represent the territory at the games, which are scheduled for March 15 to 26. He will compete in the time trial March 21.

Chris Ghiorse, who will travel with Thomas, said the idea is to focus on specific distance training so that Thomas can step up his output in preparation for the time trial.

Ghiorse said he expects that they will be working out twice daily for as much as five hours, with a focus on time trial preparation and keeping the heart rate within a certain zone.

"The idea is to get him into a heart rate zone that will be beneficial when it comes time to go to the games," he said. "We chose this two-week period because there's a race in southwestern Puerto Rico. It involves a two-stage one-day race."

"There's a 40K individual time trial in the morning, which is very long and hard for a race like this. In the evening, there'll be an 80 kilometer criterion road race," Ghiorse said. "The idea is to see where we are in the individual time trial. It's a cumulative time event. It will favor the individual who can perform in the morning event."

With Thomas holding down a full-time job, Ghiorse said that Thomas has been trying to squeeze in as much riding as possible. This two week stretch, however, will enable him to concentrate solely on riding.

"We've done a few workouts together. In particular, last week we did a motor-paced session, which is something that's designed to get your legs' speed and strength up," Ghiorse said. "It gives you a feeling for race conditions in a very controlled environment. He needs to get a little more time on the road, but he's on his way. We still have time to do all this for the Commonwealth Games."

While there, Ghiorse said they will coordinate with Eddie Padilla, head of the Olympic Youth Development program, so that Thomas can get some training on the velodrome, which would be a new experience for him.

A velodrome - a sports arena - has a banked, oval track designed specifically for bicycle racing. "Given his leg speed and his ability to handle the bicycle, I really think it will be great for him to see what it is like on the track," Ghiorse said.