timetrials

Until yesterday, I hadn’t done a 10 mile time trial for ages – but, like the proverbial buses, two have came along together this weekend. Today was supposed to be a 25 mile time trial on the H25/2 course, but roadworks on the A4 put paid to that. Still, it was good to get a race at all, and the way my legs felt, I wasn’t too dissappointed it was cut short.

Without any particular fast 25 mile times in the past three years, I was seeded number 40, off at 8.10am. This meant a relatively early start – especially after racing last afternoon.

I always struggle to race early in the morning, and today was no different. Yesterday I averaged 338 watts and felt I was flying. Today I was 20 watts lower – 318 watts, and it felt pretty grim. The spark just wasn’t there. I felt like an old motor car, which was struggling to get into fifth gear. I can’t complain too much though, I still managed to scrape in another 30mph ride. 19.59 for the 10 miles on the A404 (H22/10) course.

I’ve never done a 10 mile TT on this course before. But, it is a fairly fast dual carriageway so times are relatively quick. There isn’t much climbing, though there is a little drag towards the end of the first half. There was a light northerly wind and pleasant sunshine. It might have been a super-quick day, but for the big block of high pressure sitting over Europe.

There was a time when I spent several seasons trying to do a 30mph ride, I had a succession of times sub 20.10, but never made the magic 19, but now the 30mph+ rides seem to be coming in droves (well perhaps ones and twos). But, I’m not alone in getting  30mph + rides. It’s amazing how much times have improved in the past few years in timetrialling – it seems people are really learning the art of aerodynamics – pushing down times through cutting down on drag. By the way, the BBC have stated Bradley Wiggins has a reported CdA of 0.176 – I don’t really know what this means, except that Wiggins is super-aerodynamic and will cut through the air very fast)

18 is the new 19

The problem is that with all these technological improvements is that a 19 is now no longer the holy grail it once was. Of course, there was a time when riding a 25 mile under the hour, was quite an achievement – that seems a bit quaint now. They say in the 2010s an 18 is the new 19 or on the V718 a ’17  is the new 19. (I appreciate that last sentence sounds like gobbledygook, and if you’re not immersed in the sub-culture of UK timetrialling, it probably is!)

Back to more meaningful comparisons of performance. What position did you finish?

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After riding in the Pyrenees, everything else seems a bit of an anti-climax. Today was a 100 mile time trial on the H100/8 over the A31. It meant five circuits of a dual carriageway circuit, which is quite rough and ready in places. As you might imagine -a bit different to climbing the high mountains.

There was a full field of 120 riders plus 10 reserves – a good field for another excellent Hounslow promotion.

My preparation was nice and relaxed. No need for an hour on the rollers before a 100. The main thing is checking food and hydration and get yourself sorted. I was able to lend a spare training wheel to number 92 Harry Walton from Cheltenham, who got a last minute rear wheel puncture.

My bike was loaded with 2.1 litres of water and quite a few energy gels in that pouch on the top tube. (Though the gels were popping out of it on the A31 ridges – I lost one and caught another…)

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I came up to Yorkshire this weekend for two hilly time trials  for Mother’s Day, and fortuitously was able to do two cycle races as well. After 27 hilly miles on Saturday, the legs were not quite as good today. But, I still got round the Ilkley course in a good time. Just squeezing in a 25 mph ride, and taking a couple of seconds off the course record.

The course starts in Addingham and heads north on the B road towards Bolton Abbey. At Bolton Abbey, you turn left on the A59 up the long drag towards Skipton. The long drag averages only 2%, but it is a hard road, if the wind is in the wrong place. Then before Skipton, you turn left back towards Addingham on the A65.

If anything it felt colder than yesterday, I left the leg warmers on and concentrated on staying warm. You can often tell in the first miles, how you feel. Saturday I knew it would be a good ride, today, I knew it would be a bit harder. The wind was probably in the right direction – giving a little help up the long drag. But, on turning left back to Addingham, it was very hard work. Some side-wind gusts had me reaching for the handlebars. I managed to keep it going up the hill to the reservoir, because once you’ve made it there you only have a little bit of downhill to go. By the reservoir, I lost a bit of time getting stuck behind a slow moving bus. Still, it didn’t matter in the end because I held on for first place. Henry King (and previous course record holder) of the promoting club Ilkley CC was just five seconds behind. – King also rode the Circuit of Ingleborough and today it was a lot closer. 1st lady was Leanne Farrow of Ilkley CC, 3rd was Ben Jacobs of Alba Rosa and 2st junior Nathan Allatt (Holmforth CC) in a good time of 26.

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Today was the Circuit of Ingleborough (L271) organised by Pendle Forest CC. It is a 27 mile hilly time trial from Ingleton to Settle – Ribblehead and back to Ingleton. I did it in 2014 and finished 4th.

The weather was cold, with an Easterly wind. But, this Eastery wind, seems to make the course quicker. I’m not sure why, but it made a big difference not having a head wind around Ribblehead.

The start is just to the east of Ingleton, and you climb a hill into the wind. I went quite hard here as I thought it would be the hardest part of the course. After going up and down Buck Haw Brow – you reach Settle; here the headwind changed to a side wind, making the rolling roads to Ribblehead a bit quicker than usual.

It is quite a technical course, with frequent changes of gradient. I was using a big range of gears from 39*23 to 56*11. On this kind of hilly course, electronic gears (Di2) make quite a difference; it is easier to keep the momentum going. There were a lot of marshalls out on the course, helping to navigate through tricky sections of the course, like narrow bridges and pinch points. It’s an interesting course and one of the more scenic. Every now and then you look ahead and see a wonderful scene of a snow capped hill in the distance; it doesn’t last for long though, as you have to put your head down and concentrate on riding.

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Today was the Banbury Star Hardriders 23 mile time trial from Wroxton to Ettington going down and then back up Sun Rising hill. For the first race of the season two weeks ago, I was relaxed to the point of seeing it as another training ride. But, now I’m getting more accustomed to the idea of racing. I’ve done 2,400 miles since the start of the year. It’s an unprecedented amount of training for me, and I’m interested to see if it makes any difference to speed in short distance time trials.

Although I remember many Banbury Hard-rider events which are a lot colder (snow, ice and sub zero), I was still very cold warming up. I went for 3 pairs of gloves, 3 pairs of socks  Once I got racing, it didn’t feel that cold. There was a strong Westerly wind which made the first leg into the wind quite hard. My pacing strategy was to go as hard as I could into the wind and then try and benefit from tailwind on way back.

Descending Sunrising hill was a bit tricky. It’s a sharp left hander, but the main difficulty was strong head/cross wind. Coming off the climb was hard-work because gaps in the hedge caused strong gusts of winds into the side. I was holding on very tight to the side of the tribars, looking ahead for the gaps in the hedge. It took a long time before it was safe to get back on to the tribars. Going through the village of Ettingham is also a bit tricky because of parked cars and road furniture. There were a few minor hold-ups here, but not as bad as the last race I di. On the way back it was a big relief, to turn away from the difficult headwind. You can start to pick up a good speed without as much effort. I took an opportunity to hold back a little, trying to save something for the big climb of the race.

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(Note to self: Wooly socks cost 4 seconds. Tape coming off visor 3 seconds.)

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