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Before the season began in earnest I set myself some SMART targets. They were…
By the end of the year I will…
- Ride a PB for a 25m TT – 59:06 or better Not achieved
- sub-goal – break the hour Not achieved
- sub-goal – PB (last 3 seasons) 1:1:20 Achieved with a 1:00:00 at the end of May
- Ride a PB for a 10m TT – 23:36 or better Not achieved
- sub-goal – break 24 minutes Achieved with a 23:48 towards the end of June
- sub-goal – PB (LTS) 24:49 Achieved
- Ride a PB for a 50m TT – 2:4:35 or better Not achieved
- sub-goal – PB (LTS) 2:8:23 Achieved with a 2:06:03 mid-June
- Score a point in a road or circuit race Never got close
- Finish a 100m TT No – didn’t even enter one
- Ride the Welsh CA 12 hour TT Not feasible so soon after returning from NZ
- Finish the majority of open events in the top third of finishers (currently I’m stuck in the last third). Not achieved
- A sub-goal will be to make the top half of finishers. Not achieved: last year’s figure was 69.3%, this year’s improved to 54.6%*
So no prime target achieved but several sub-goals were, giving me something to be positive about. I think the targets were achievable, but the August break cut my season short. I have no regrets about that: the trip to New Zealand was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we had a great time.
I’m more interested in how I achieved that May/June run of results and why it was not possible to recreate that later in the season when the Indian Summer rolled in during September and October. I’ll write more about that later.
I’m enjoying a few easier weeks at the moment before refocussing on next season and coming up with some new targets. I’m still not sure if I’ll ride some or all of the Imperial RT Winter Series.
* calculated by dividing my finishing position by the number of finishers in solo TTs finished.
Lance Woodman 