Following last Sundays 10k at Woodhall, Tuesday evening saw me take part in my first Wheelers handicap TT - the premise being simple - all the riders turn up and sign on - then your name goes into a hat - and you are pulled out in pairs to compete.
With 21 riders that meant 8 teams of Wheelers, 2 teams of private trials, and then one Wheeler who was the unlucky odd one out and had to ride the event solo. The course was set to be 14.5 miles, however due to Road surface work in the area, the course had to be moved and therefore became the Thorney 10 course which is basically the last 10 miles of the LRRA 25 I did back in March.
I hoped for a slow rider when the draw was made but found myself with one of the faster riders in the club, still just two days earlier he had ridden 250 miles in one day, so I hoped this would slow him down a little. We were drawn together as the second pair on the road.
At 7.02 we were set on our way, and initially I was able to take my turns at the front, and rode Ok for the first 2 miles or so, but soon found riding difficult, and was really struggling to hold on for the last 8 miles as I drafted off the back of my partner. I couldn't tell what was wrong, but I was going nowhere fast. We crossed the line in 25.10, but I felt a fraud in truth as I'd just drafted essentially 8 miles on the back of someone elses efforts.
25.10 was good enough for scratch 4th , and 5th place in the handicap, but nothing to celebrate.
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