>Last night was what is turning into my regular Thursday night 10m TT from Pevensey organised by Eastbourne Rovers. I rode over in plenty of time and got a decent warm up before my 7:34pm start. The evening was the best part of the day – warm and still.
I tried to start fast and was enjoying myself for the first 3 miles. At that point the course switches briefly to vertical mode. I’ve yet to master this climb. However I ride it I shred my lungs for the next seven miles. The pain is compounded by the potholes on the approach to, and escape from, the turn roundabout at Little Common. This week both tri-bars moved under the repeated impacts – it’s like wrestling a giant beetle.
The hardest part of the course was the last two miles. This is strange as the road is pan flat and there was no wind. The road surface is ‘dead’ though and it’s a fight to maintain the speed. My revs dropped away, which is something I can work on.
Compared to last week’s ride I was faster on 9 out the 10 miles, even without the beetroot. I recorded a time of 27:01.
Race stats: Time: 27:01 (22.21mph). First 5 miles: 13:46, last 5 miles: 13:15. Top speed: 36.4mph. Slowest mile (4): 3:07 (19.25mph), fastest mile (2): 2:32 (23.68mph). Average HR: 167bpm, maximum HR: 176bpm. Average cadence: 72rpm. 22nd of 31 finishers. Winner: Iain Brogden (Eastbourne Rovers) 21:40
The ride left me feeling drained – the effort was good, so that’s as it should be. Today’s training ride was supposed to be a hilly 50 miles but, given the shredded lungs, I decided to choose a flatter route and take it easy. Despite this, with about 15 miles still to go to get home I ‘enjoyed’ the mum and dad of all collapses. I was averaging 11 miles an hour on the flat for the last couple of miles. I guess that means that I did try hard last night!
A day off tomorrow to recover and then the Wigmore CC ’25’ on Sunday. A 4:20am alarm call for that one.
Lance Woodman 