It is a season goal for this year, to go under the hour on a trike in a 25 mile time trial. I had all season to do it, but as fate would have it, I was entered in two fast dual carriageway races during this month - the first being the Melton Olympic 25 held locally on the A46 between Newark and Bingham....I was off at no.64 as as you can see from the photo, it was a first time outing for my no pinz hi viz dual carriageway skin suit with matching very bright overshoes. It would be my second outing with the new position on the trike as well. The weather gods looked to be smiling with a low predicted SSW which meant that it was as good a day as ant to make that first attempt and break that glass ceiling.
For this race I removed all the various clutter that I had in the last race from the Garmin screen and went back to to last years basics - 10 second power and cadence. I would not have a clue how fast I was going and it would be a complete shot in the dark. When I was warming up, it quickly became apparent that my cleats were so worn that the right side kept popping out - less than ideal and I would for sure need to be so careful especially while cornering.
I set off at just after three, and whilst it was only a mild headwind, the trike felt so slow, and to be fair my minute man caught me so, so quickly so I thought I was on for a very slow ride. Soon after my two minute man caught me - FFS I thought, this could be a long day. I did seem to settle down, and my target power was achieved in a consistent manner, also my cadence was strong. The biggest test was getting the barrow up Bingham mountain in 55 x 21 and I just about managed it. To the turn and again I thought this was bad (in hindsight I was there in 22.6mph average). The return to Farndon was super fast as the wind was in the right direction for the course. A glorious 13 miles of fun occasionally ruined by my right foot popping out and loosing time while I freewheeled to get clipped back in. I think I averaged 28.6mph going back to Newark and as a result my ride average must have been well above my target 25 as I made the final turn up the old A46 road. I gave it full beans and full bore right up and over the line.
Of course at this point I didn't have a clue and peered through fingers at the next garmin screen. 59.37, I had done it, and now I can relax a bit and enjoy my next trike ride knowing that I have already beaten this years goal !
Course A25/34
Temp 59f
HR 166
AP 292
Wind 9mph S
