LRRA 50mile TT

As I have said before, my recent time trialling has left a lot to be desired !  For this 50 mile event, I took my bike in for a fitting the night before because the position had been set up aggressively in the past for short time trials. As this would be my all round time trial bike from now on, clearly something would need to change !

I arrived at HQ 45 minutes before my start time and chatted with other Wheelers. I didn't feel any pressure, as I knew I had been 'off' the pace over the past few weeks and didn't expect much from the day. This was also the course that I managed to put in a terrible 2.23 performance last year - so the day was just about doing better than that.

From the off, I felt faster and crucially more comfortable in my new position. My undercarriage was definitely relieved and I was able to hold the correct position for longer. By the first roundabout at c.3miles I could see that I was catching a club
mate which gave me a little boost.

Round the roundabout then and back along the A15 to Osbournby roundabout and then third exit right to begin the drag upto the Grantham roundabout. This went better than expected to although I suspect there was some back wind action going on here to make things easier ! At the roundabout, I was up on all 3 club mates that I could track and now it was a straight 17 mile headwind drag to the next turnaround.  I did have a carrott which made things more interesting, however, after a caught that one, I didn't have another for some time.

I had a gel, and most importantly kept munching the odd jelly baby on the way round which seemed to work very well. At the 2nd to last turn, I was still up on the others but 35 miles in the new position had taken its toll !  I found myself having to stretch regularly by climbing out of the saddle and by 40 miles I was beginning to feel like I'd had enough.  

I turned onto the Sleaford 10 course for the last 10 miles and found some more concentration when I really needed it, That last 10 was ridden competently and I could see by the very last turn that I still had my club lead. The last 3 miles were mostly downhill and I hammered through it anxious to get the whole thing over with !

2.08.14 on the day improved last years time by 15 minutes and emphasised the importance of a good bike fit. The clubs 50 handicap trophy will also be making its way to me at the end of the year !