>I was getting down about the weather over this Bank Holiday. I’ve started hitting a bit of form and then the forecasts turn blue. I should have ignored them.
On Saturday I rode the West London CA 10m TT at Aldermaston (H10/1). The rain was scheduled to begin coming down just before I started, but it held off. It was a warm breezy day (headwind out, cross back) on a course I’m not fond of. It has a decent reputation though, so I thought a 24 or even a 23 was on the cards.
I warmed up well and started steadily. I think I kept the power fairly even to the turn and was looking for a 30mph home run. It was a bit more difficult than I thought – I never seemed to get on top of the gear. I finished with a 24:25 which is a season’s best, so that’s okay. It might have been better if I’d been more positive in the days before the event.
Race stats: Time: 24:25 (24.57mph). First 5 miles: 13:00, second 5 miles: 11:25. Top speed: 29.1mph. Slowest miles (1 and 5): 2:39 (22.64mph), fastest mile (10): 2:10 (27.69mph). Average HR: 163bpm, maximum HR: 168bpm. 23 of 51 finishers. Ave. cadence: 79rpm. Winner: Tony Gibb (www.cyclepremier.com) 20:22
Sunday was a 4:40am alarm and a long drive with club mate Peter to Tempsford in Bedfordshire. The event was the Icknield RC 25m TT on the F1B/25 (I did a 1:02:04 on the course a couple of weeks ago). The rain got worse as we approached the HQ and we weren’t surprised when the event was cancelled. It’s a long drive for nothing, but safety is paramount in these situations.
The cancellation makes the long weekend seem a lot easier now. Let’s hope that tomorrow’s ’10’ and Tuesday’s circuit race go ahead safely.
Lance Woodman 