>It felt like the season started in earnest this weekend. Two low-key events, but the weather was better and, of course, the hour went back on Saturday night.
Saturday morning I picked up club-mate Simon and drove to Bentley for a Farnham RC club ’10’ on the H10/8 course. The weather was good and the roads felt right. There was a slight headwind to the turn and a flyer back. I’ve done a long 23 on this course, so I hoped for a decent ride. In line with recent results I recorded a course worst, but I’ve never ridden it this early before.
The fastest man was Xavier Disley with a 22:06. I recorded a 26:31 and Simon barnstormed to a personal best 24:27. It was well worth the 6am alarm just to experience the last couple of miles at close to 30mph.
Looking at the numbers my average heart rate still seems infeasibly low – this time last year my average heart rate for a ’10’ was 160-162bpm. This weekend’s rides both came in at 148-149 despite the perceived effort being the same.
Race stats: Time: 26:31 (22.63mph). First 5 miles: 14:25, last 5 miles: 12:06. Top speed: 33.9mph. Slowest mile (2): 3:09 (19.05mph), fastest miles (9 and 10): 2:10 (27.69mph). Average HR: 149bpm, maximum HR: 160bpm. 14 of 27 finishers. Winner: Xavier Disley (…a3crg) 22:06.
Sunday was another early alarm – 5:15am before you allow for BST. This time it was Great Missenden for the VTTA (London and Home Counties) 10m TT on the HCC180 course. I’ve ridden this event twice before, so it was nice to ride an event PB even if the time was slower than yesterdays.
There was a light tailwind to the turn which turned the normally fast finish into a bit of a struggle (not helped by being caught by a speedy Andy H of the Westerley towards the end).
Willesden CC team mates Peter and Chris won the two-man team prize for fastest team of VTTA members on standard. There was no champagne, but the bara brith and bread pudding (neither on the sinister list yet) were excellent.
Race stats: Time: 27:14 (22.03mph). First 5 miles: 13:20, last 5 miles: 13:54. Top speed: 29.2mph. Slowest mile (7): 3:10 (18.95mph), fastest mile (4): 2:20 (25.71mph). Average HR: 148bpm, maximum HR: 158bpm. 14 of 22 finishers. Winner: Malcolm Woolsey (Westerley CC) 23:10.
Easter weekend promises some fun events but the rest of April is looking a bit bare for time trials. Hopefully I’ll get some track work in to keep the cycling interesting.
Lance Woodman 