Sportzmad 25

My second visit to the the hallowed mountain at Hirwaunjust outside of Methyr Tydfil to ride the fast R25/3H course – a course where the 2017 CTT 25 Champs are to be held, and a race I am working hard to reduce my PB to a level of being able to claim a place.

This weeks event was the Sportzmad 25 and I had been placed at no.97 which meant that I wouldn’t be starting until 12.37 so there was no need to camp over the night before like I did in April. Instead, I left Lincoln at five to seven and arrived fabulously early at the HQ at Rhigos Rugby Club leaving me plenty of time to relax before eventually going through my race day routine.  The weather was overcast, drizzly and most disappointingly – cold at 11c – although this would rise a little before the off.

A nice little warm up and then I was set on my way, aiming to beat my lifetime PB of 55.21 and better my last attempt of 55.30 on this course. All seemed well, with a backwind to the first roundabout and I worked hard, above my FTP, knowing that I’d get a breather going down the mountain – wrong !! A good block headwind of around 11mph meant that unlike last times freewheeling fun – this week see me pedalling almost all the way to the bottom – I think I reached a top speed of around 40mph and not the headstart that I would have wanted.

My power looked good and my cadence and heart rate were where I needed them to be but it didn’t seem fast at all and with the cold and the drizzle I guestimate I wasn’t even holding 25mph as I made my way to the far end of the course. Number 100 came past me like a train and this cemented my feeling. At the turn, once I had negotiated the slow climb and picked the right exit from the roundabout, I afforded myself a look at my average speed and was stunned to see it read 26.9mph.

Now I had the bit between my teeth, with a backwind and a PB to chase on the last 10-11 miles of the course and set about holding my target power. I huffed my way through two roundabouts without delays and still had a little left in the tank at McDonalds roundabout for a final throw of the dice. Empty I passed the finish and could only whimper ‘no.97’.

Job done with a new PB of 53.25 – I just hope that’s low enough to get me a ride on either Etwall or the E2 cos 7-8 hours of driving in a day is not so much fun as testing.

Time 53.25

Wind SW 11mph

Temp 13c

HR 172W

AP 285W

NP 285W