Finally, after months of no events, the opportunity came to return to some dual carriageway dwelling and some actual CTT time trials. In the first couple of weeks I filled my boots and took on a couple of 50's and also booked what looked like a fast 10 for the trike ....19.06.20 Shaftesbury 50 1.53.32
What a way to start the season, throwing myself into the fastest 50 in the country, and to boot, straight into a 50 as well. My start time would be 6.05am so I booked myself a cheap Travelodge at Haverhill and set the alarm for 3.45am.
I was awake before that time though as I was excited to be racing again. Signing on at Westley Waterless was an easily navigated social distancing affair, and then it was down to Turbo Alley for a final fettle and the mile ride to the start. It was of course raining and I could tell that the wind would be unhelpful in either direction. I had a target power in mind and decided to ride with that. Given the conditions I rode with my selcof tri spoke along with the fat boy on the back. I have to say, I felt fast and I had little problem keeping on top of my watts, maybe pushing a little more up the drags to compensate for the shallows and the inevitable slight drop in power that I'd see there as I couldn't spin enough to achieve the required wattage.
By the end of the first half, I had caught the only people in front of me and then it was a lonely experience for most of the second half with only the fast tail end of the field joining the fray for the last 10 miles as I passed the start ramp. A dig in from four went ways to the finish gave me a time of 1.53.32 which although two minutes off my PB represented a good return for the early start and worst of the rain.
26.07.20 VTTA National 50 - 1.58.09
The day before, I had driven down to Cambourne for the Chronos 10, which I made the decision to DNS when I got a soaking during the warm up and battered by a side wind - no thanks and all that !
So, you think I would be fresher for the mornings 50 on the well travelled A46 t'other side of Newark, but the truth was that I'd felt fatiqued by the previous weekends 50 all week and felt a shade off my best. Still though, I was able to get a good nights sleep and my start time of 8.56am was more sensible. We had a rising SW wind so I knew it was going to be a tough day. As it turned out, I kept to the same power as last week for the first 25 miles, coping with the headwind section nicely, but that was still a 58 something minute first 25 , and then on the second lap, the wind was a complete twat and it zapped everything. By Stragglethorpe turn I was toast, but had the 12.5 mile backwind to recover. This leg was a minute slower than my first effort and I just couldn't spin enough to get the watts. 1.58.09 on the day, 240 watts average versus 249 watts at the previous weeks Shaftesbury. Mind you I was happy with the 808 that I used on the front and my orange no pinx skinsuit which stood out, so there were some positives.Next event undecided, I really should take stock and decide what I want from the rest of the season. Clearly I'm going OK, but not as well as I thought I was going to go. Maybe the club 10's will offer up some variety !
