Andy Jackson & Mel Wasley made the long long long trek to Plymouth for the 2016 National 50m TT.

A hugely challenging course that was a TT classic, out and back up a DC (A38)… but this was no ordinary DC!   Andy recce’d the course on Saturday…. 8m up some ridiculous long and steep drags and +50mph down… this was no ‘Normal’ 50!

The race attracted the who’s who of the TT world, despite the distance.  Mel approaching her first 50 TT of the year after some fabulous events last year was hoping for a top placing.

In the Men’s the competition was super tough, headed by defending National 25 champion Ryan Perry and National 10 champion Richard Bussell, as well as last years 2nd and 3rd in the 50, Matt Clinton and Brett Harwood.

Sunday am,  early!  Brought rain for the start of the women’s event at 5.30am.  Mel was off near the top of the field and fired up to the turn,  the return leg was a real grind for all. Back at the HQ as results cane in it was clear Mel had done a fab ride,  2:00:48, but was beaten into 5th pace by winner Angela Hibbs (Fusion RT), defending champion Julia Shaw (Drag2zero) and Becky Lewis (Wrexham RC)

Build up for the Men’s had seen Andy record a PB 1:41:05 in the Finsbury pk 50 4 weeks before and a 18:19 ’10’ the Thursday before,  form was coming…!

The Men’s event began just after 6am with Andy off, as 3rd seed at 7:50am due to his 4th place finish last year.

The out leg was fast, trying in vein to hammer the hills and recover down,  he hit the turn in just over 50m to begin the grind back.  Meanwhile Perry & Bussell hit the turn in 48mins !! WOW.

The course didn’t really suit,  give him a long flat DC and its perfect territory, but those ‘drags’ V the flying lightweights were always going to be a challenge!

A solid return leg saw Andy come in on 1:44:27…

Bussell & Perry were a class above and fought out a narrow 12 secs difference with Perry triumphing in 1:39:50 – amazing ride!

Kieron Davies (Drag2Zero) wrapped up the podium.

Andy’s ride saw him 7th, with some notable scalps behind, including Charles Taylor (100m record holder) , Steve Irwin and Phil Graves.

Roll on the National 100 in 4 weeks where SSLL RT will have a full mens and womens team racing and on courses that suit their strengths!

RESULTS

https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-results/11927#anchor

https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-results/11926#anchor

 

In March of last year, whilst I was 6 months pregnant, I attended a talk by Graeme Obree at Athlete Service, my local bike shop. I came out utterly in awe of this man who was not only revolutionized our sport but has repeatedly pushed his body to its absolute limits multiple in his bid for the Hour Record. It was impossible to resist his enthusiasm and I left wondering if I could ever anything like that.

Fast forward to October 18th 2015. David, a 3-month-old Zoe and I are driving back from my very lacklustre debut at the National Closed Circuit Champs.

D: Maybe you should do some track stuff

Me: No, I’m not buying another bike

D: But there’d be no cars and you can’t get lost

Me: No, I’m not buying another bike

D: You could be good! You could win medals at the Masters. Oh my god, you could do the Masters Hour Record. Go on, look it up, what is it?

If nothing else David is persistent and I knew I wouldn’t have a moments peace for the rest of the journey home… Slow mobile internet be damned, I Googled whilst D tried to contain his excitement — Adelia Reyneke, 41.386km.

Given my 25mile PB of just under 56 minutes, this wasn’t totally outside the realms of possibility. I just needed to do it without a massive downhill start, traffic assistance and on a fixed wheel bike…. Nooooo problem!

And so it was that on New Years Eve, despite being so unfit that I couldn’t finish a club training session the day before at Newport, I’d bought a bike and was putting together a power/speed spreadsheet whilst everyone else was getting merry.

It was a simple enough plan, I had to find 20 watts, get my CdA back down to pre pregnancy best on a UCI legal bike and spend as much time in the velodrome as possible.As for equipment, I took articles on Molly Van Houweling and Bradley Wiggins to be the start of a shopping list and happily found that David and I hadn’t done badly with our purchases over the past few years!

• Cervelo T4 – on order
• Dash saddle – check
• USE Tula bars – check
• Mavic Comete wheels – an old club mate agreed to lend us a set as spares but I would use a prototype Revolver disc front from Harry Walker (previous owner, one Dame Sarah Storey, if its good enough for her…)
• Speedplay zero pedals – check
• Giro Empire shoes – check
• S-works helmet – yup, though it was not designed for comfort
• Skinsuit – a Nopinz/Aerocoach tripsuit in team colours, of course
• Cranks – I had a set of Infocranks on loan from Verve Cycling which Athlete Service had arranged for me.

I had Bob Tobin on my side so the improvement in power was never going to be an issue, especially given my previously lax approach to training. The problem was whether or not I could do it in the time we had and without getting ill.

Finances meant that I was only able to get 3 private sessions at Newport, the last of which was for the attempt itself. Luckily I had a very understanding club in GS Henley who let me gatecrash their training session and made time for me to do individual efforts. Being on maternity leave also meant that I was able to ‘pop’ over to Wales for a few drop in sessions and I made the most of living near an outdoor velodrome to learn the art of a fixie. I finally got the hang of ‘sagging’ my head and watched as my CdA dropped and dropped with every tweak we made. Things were looking good and I was clocking 42.5km/h consistently

Once we had lined up the UCI officials in April, we were ready to announce the attempt to the world and by that I mean, the poor folk who ‘follow’ me on social media. Almost as soon as we went public, the plan began to unravel. I had cold after cold after cold, training was erratic but we were hopeful that with some final tweaks from Xav and Aerocoach, my CdA was low enough that we could break the record without being at full fitness.

But, like I said, things didn’t exactly go to plan! The helmet that Xav had recommended arrived 2 days before the attempt missing the aerodynamically vital front cover! There was a mad scramble to find another in stock and delivered. The rear Mavic disc we’d borrowed didn’t fit my T4, which was massively confusing given the number of people who claim to be using this combination. A track conversion kit was hastily fitted to our Zipp disc and the glue in the new super thin tub was barely dry.

And so the 14^th of May came by quicker than I could have imagined. I had a brand new custom made CFD Tripsuit from Nopinz, I knew this suit would be fast, I just didn’t know how fast. That, coupled with my lingering cold, meant that there was a bit of uncertainty around what power I would need to break the record and what speeds I was capable of. With Xav’s wise parting words of “Your first priority is to break the record, your second is to do a good record. Too many people get the priorities the wrong way round”, we settled on a target of 42km.

Even as I arrived at Newport with many thousands of pounds worth of carbon fibre in the car, things didn’t seem real. It wasn’t until I introduced myself to the UCI commissaire Julie Rodman that it began to dawn on me what was going on.

My crack team of Carl Whitwell and Justin Layne put my bikes together and through the bike check without any issue and then it was on the rollers (facing away from the spectator area for my sanity) to warm up. Not that I needed it as we’d cranked the heating to some 27 degrees. Actually, the hugely experienced Julie (she’d worked on the Boardman, Dowsett and Wiggins attempts but this was obviously going to be the highlight of her career!?) advised that we had the heating turned off midway so that I didn’t get too sweaty.

Bike in gate, Clarry on bike, no no gate in wrong place, Clarry gets off, gate moved and repeat 3 times. I keep looking at the clock, so much for my 7.15 kick off. Oh well, at least I’m getting lots of practice clipping in.

With a ‘Good Luck’, Julie leaves me and 25 seconds later I hear the ominous beep beep beep. It’s been over a month since I was last in a start gate and I’m not sure I remember what to do. I move my bum up and back but keep as much of my weight as I can on my front foot, ready to push down hard as soon as that last pip goes.

And we’re off. I’m in the saddle far far too early but I tell myself it’s OK. Better that than lose control and fall off. As I pass Justin for the first time, I hear a ‘four’. Shit, that must have been a really slow 34 second lap so I kick hard. Turns out that was a 24 second lap, over 3 seconds faster than I’d expected and completely threw off the timing spreadsheet I’d given Bob and Carl. Then with a 46km/h Lap 2, I was basically on target speed of 42km/h already.

From then on, we were aiming for a 21.4 second lap. Sometimes I’d hear a ‘One Four, perfect’ but more often than not I’d fluctuate wildly between ‘Oh Nine, calm down’ and ‘One Nine, pick it up’.

I completely lost track of time. Any attempt to look up at the big screen took almost 4 laps of mental preparation but it was a pointless exercise, as I didn’t know what time I’d started and I couldn’t read the whiteboard that was displaying my average speed and time. All I could do was keep reminding myself to breathe and stay on top of the pedals. Finally, I heard David’s voice on the back straight “Halfway, you’re smashing it”. From then on, I can hear the crowd get more and more animated. They’ve started to spread round the velodrome making the back straight a far less lonely place. I can actually identify some of the voices now and it’s a pretty welcome distraction.

10 minutes and I try to wind the pace up again. 30 laps to go and I count them down. Not long until I can use my favourite ever phrase ‘3 minutes! You can do anything for 3 minutes!’ It was a stalwart of my rowing career and I do like to use it at every opportunity. (You can see where that kicks in on my pacing chart!!)

I’m in the very fortunate position that the record is broken with a minute to spare so everything after that is pure bonus. The bell rings but I’m not actually sure if that means I have one more lap to go or I just finish the lap I’m on. Better safe than sorry so I put my head down and carry on until I’m absolutely sure. 42.116km, not quite what I thought I could do but a record’s a record.

Massive hug from David, I put my head in between my knees until the sicky feeling passes then I’m coerced into posing for the spectators. You want me to lift the bike above my head, are you kidding? Awkward photos done and I’m onto the much more awkward issue of drugs testing. Sadly, by the time that’s done the velodrome is shutting up for the night and most people have gone home before I’ve really had a chance to thank them for coming all the way to watch. I never expected that many people would come and I’m truly blessed that I have so many great family, friends, teammates who are willing to give up their weekend for me. Thank you all!!!

Thanks again to the fabulous people who’ve made this attempt possible and successful!

My team and sponsors, SSLL (I have a massive banner with my name on it!! Dreams do come true!)

Blake at Nopinz and Xav at Aerocoach for the custom tripsuit.

Verve Cycling for lending me the super accurate and hassle free Infocranks

Harry at Revolver Wheels for a truly beautiful front disc

OTE for the very yummy mint choc protein bar that I look forward to after every hard session

Bob Tobin at CyclePowerMeters for agreeing to coach me (I bet he regrets that now he knows how much of a drama queen I am)

Rob and Laurence at Athlete Service for all their hard work putting Beryl together for me

My lovely club mates at GS Henley especially Ryan and Bex for their brilliant photos

Carl and Justin who’s support, wise words and calming influence have been second to none

And of course my punch bag, oops I mean husband, David Woodhouse, who has always had more faith in my abilities than I do and is the reason I actually get off the sofa to do something with my life.

Teesdale Mountain Time Trial – 24^th April 2016

It has been 5 years since I last rode this epic race, and even then, I didn’t finish the course having suffered a puncture with about 10 miles to go so there was a bit of unfinished business. The year previous I had ridden and managed a half decent time of 2:02:13 albeit I was still relatively new to time trialling back then. Personally I would class anything under 2 hours on this course as very good, given the amount of climbing and unrelenting nature of the course.

I had been checking the weather forecast all week and each day the forecast got worse to the extent that on Saturday morning I had decided I wouldn’t ride because of the snow that had been forecast for the morning. I didn’t want a wasted journey. A check on the weather later that evening showed an improvement in the forecast so I made the final decision to ride, whatever the weather.

Sunday arrived and my alarm clock didn’t even need to go off – I was awoken at 4.30am by my little 8 month old daughter. I got the car packed, tried to eat some cereal (I hate eating at that time of the day) and set off at 6am from a gloomy Huddersfield. I arrived at Barnard Castle at approx. 8am and it was absolutely freezing! I was beginning to have second thoughts and I began to rehearse excuses in my head as to why I couldn’t start the race… I soon snapped out of it and told myself that I hadn’t driven all that way for nothing.

I duly signed on and collected my number. I decided I’d wear as much clothing as possible (I really suffer in the cold) and opted for a fairly thick baselayer, some compression socks, some compression quad guards, overshoes and 2 pairs of gloves! I’d also opted to ride the full TT set up, so Scott Plasma, disc wheel and Zipp 404. In hindsight I would probably have ridden my Scott Foil with clip on bars because the Plasma without wheels weighs in at almost 10kg. My gearing of 56/39 – 11-25 was also a bit optimistic! But hey, all in for the win as they say. I had a quick spin on the turbo trainer and before I knew it, it was 9.25 and I had 5 minutes to get to the start.

Rather than do a reconnaissance of the course in my car beforehand, I had tried to memorise it from my last visit but I genuinely don’t remember it being as hilly as it is! The first few hundred meters are downhill and then your begin climbing for what feels like the next 30 miles! I kept looking down at my Garmin and the average speed was barely above 19mph. This was going to be a long morning of suffering. At 7.5 miles you take a sharp right hander to start the very steep climb of Carlolin which peaks at about 13% and goes on for ¾ of a mile. I dropped it into the small ring and twiddled away until I reached the top. The next 6 miles or so are a mix of fast sweeping descents followed by steady 6% climbs, although the head wind made this feel twice as steep at times. Having had a big crash in the winter my descending skills are fairly crap and I peppered the brakes far more than I should have done. That said, there were several hairy moment when the odd gust of wind caught my disc wheel and I genuinely had a few poo in the pants moments.

The first big test of the day was the descent, yes descent, of Unthank Bank. It’s about 20% gradient and you approach this at speed (or not much speed if you are a wuss like me). There are marshals waving their flags to warn you of the approach. My brakes were screeching so much that I thought they were going to set on fire! After successfully negotiating the descent you then do a short 5.5 mile loop before retracing your steps. It was at this point that my chain had decided it didn’t want to engage in the 11 sprocket (once home I had dissected the issue as a loose cassette lockring) but given my fairly big gear it wasn’t too much of an issue until the supersonic last 10 miles home. My average speed to this point was approaching 20mph having done about 3000 feet of climbing already.

The next big test is the ascent of Unthank Bank. It’s steep. Really f*****g steep! I grovelled my way up it, puffing and panting and just wanting the pain to end! It goes on, and on and on a bit more before levelling off and then climbing steadily before the next fast descent. My legs were really beginning to suffer at this point but I managed to keep the cramp at bay (thanks to the quad and calf guards). The penultimate suffering of the day is the long climb back up Bollihope Common, which peaks at 1700 feet. I did this in the big ring but in hindsight should have twiddled away in a smaller gear but alas I never learn. I was counting down the miles to the summit before the super-fast descent back to the finish. At this point my average speed had dropped to 18.7mph and I was fairly convinced I had a job on to even do a sub 2 hour ride. Little did I know just how fast those last 10 miles were going to be and I really could have done with the 11 sprocket!

The miles were ticking by at speed and the average had at last climbed above 20mph. The last test of the day is a short 10% climb over Folly Top which is really not welcome at that point in the race with the lactic acid literally coming out of my eyes. I wept in pain over the climb, cursing the gradient, before engaging top gear and it was now flat out to the finish! The finish is on a slight uphill but with the following tailwind the speed didn’t drop and I crossed the line in 1:54:40.

A brief visit to HQ and I was the early leader, having even beaten Jon Sturman (very classy roadie) and Mark Donovan (reigning National Junior Cyclocross Champion). I had to dash off home but later found out I had been comprehensively beaten by Carl Donaldson who equalled the course record in a stunning time of 1:48:48. I finished 4^th overall and whilst I certainly didn’t expect to win I equally didn’t expect to have been well and truly stuffed. However, on reflection, given the training limitations I now have I am actually pretty pleased with how things went. It was only my 4^th race of the season and I think I am still finding my legs. Next year, with a lighter bike and hopefully some more training time, I hope to go a bit quicker.

Many thanks to Teasdale CRC and Bob Murdoch for hosting the event. It is genuinely the hardest event on the calendar but also the best organised. I tried to thank every marshal I went past although with the state I was in I could barely muster a word to some of them. But thank you. Standing out in such cold conditions can’t have been fun.

Stats for the race:

40.3 miles.

4303 feet climbing.

21mph average.

296 watts average.

170 TSS.

Today I am a broken man. Legs well and truly buggered.

… How to beat Phil Graves

Superstar Triathlete Phil Graves has been making a bit of an impact on the UK TT scene in the 2016 season… 11 wins from 10 races, course records and PB’s galore he has beaten all comers… Only racing TT’s because he is run injured, Phil is single headedly handing there ‘asses on a plate’ (*quote Brett Harwood)  to the great and the good of the UK Time Trial scene…. But one man, SSLL Racing Team’s Andy Jackson inflicted the only defeat of this fantastic early season on Phil in the BDCA 25 on 9/4.

Jackson beat Graves by 32 secs with a time if 47:46

How did he do it?

A once in a lifetime offer, jointly promoted by SSLL Racing Team and Tounge in Cheek Productions aims to reveal all..

Aimed at Multiple National Champions, Medallist and Best all rounder winners this unique event will help you get the better of this amazing (tri)athlete.

We, at SSLL Racing & Tounge in Cheek Productions realise the mental impact of a defeat to a TT newcomer.  The mental questions, How?  Why?  what do I HAVE to do?…. all will be answered..

You have optimised your position using Aero-coach/ Wind Tunnels or Bike fits, you have the best bikes, wheels and hard wear money can buy.  You have wisely invested in the best Kit supplied by NoPinz, you are using the best nutrition and preparation products money can buy – But you still lost!!

Well… all is not lost!

Join us at a secret venue to reveal all… the tips, the tricks and the strategies that will help you get back to your best… and BEAT Phil!!!

After spending £K’s on the best preparation what is it worth?!

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(*All of the above is firmly in the ‘Tounge stuck in the cheek category’ of fun!)

 

Yorks Coast Clarion Spoco 24. 17th April

Aghhh, not another dreaded time trial?

Huh , isn’t that what this is all about? Well of late, no!!

What it was all about was myself riding an horrendously ‘exit down the bog’ race before analysing the anal analysis followed by an optional selection of 2300 lines of excuses framed on my garage wall.

The week previous to this event I had DNS’d the popular BDCA 25 due to dental issues so had a catch up week of training but at least the Mrs was happy as the Tesco delivery bill only amounted to about £80 instead of £150 due to my second hobby of consuming Band Aid containers of food. I never thought I could really get any lower than my current 62 kg but just 4 days of hardly eating and drinking showed I could with a new record of 59.8kg!!

Morning starts have always been a ball ache for me so knew I was going to need a long warm up for this one.

So , race day and a 10.30am start time so everything was a build up to that.My plan started at 6.15am.

After a small breakfast it was onto the turbo training in a warm fitted out garage and a L2 ride for 40 minutes with a 10 minute warm down then 10 minutes of extreme stretches on the usual suspect areas that seem to hurt in races.

Quick shower, more breakfast and a browse on the tt forum to see who the key board warriors were about to opt for a firing squad this weekend.

Once at the HQ there was the usual attempt of getting in the ‘zone’ and avoiding everyone but again like every other race this failed!

It was known beforehand that pre race favourite, pro triathlete Phil Graves was a DNS so teammate Ali Wareham stepped up to new favourite although I don’t think there would have been a lot in it had Phil started.

A concern for me was that Ali was only 3 minutes behind me on the starting order and knowing how good he is going compared to how bad I’m going lead me to be concerned of being caught in the closing stages. If he did catch me he was at the very least going to get his arse pinched!!

With 35 minutes to go I did another warm up on the road using top gear to somehow shock the muscles into the sense they had already endured 2 hours of L4!

The countdown was gone and I was on my way. I’d purposely screen switched on my Garmin unit to just view current and average speed (something Billy Beldon suggested) instead of looking at power and getting demoralised by the low numbers.

It was a cross headwind out blowing on the left shoulder but after a few miles I was comfy in the 58x14x13 mainly all the way out along the smooth flat initial 10 miles to Driffield.There were a few moments where I had to just back off slightly as I felt my legs were being overloaded with fire. Average speed at this point was about 26.4mph I believe but now it was onto the shoddy surfaced undulating second half.

Feeling better and pushing harder now on the short climbs riding most at L5 (checked afterwards) it was nice to actually catch riders especially after an early season of miserable thoughts.

I must admit to riding this race like I used to which was to push hard on the climbs and ease off over the top and recover before lifting the pace again. Although over geared comfy and strong , it felt more natural than trying to spin and something Bob Tobin and I thought would be worth testing.

The further the race went the better I felt and longed for another lap as I neared the finish. Average speed now nearly 27mph as even coming back it seemed a tad sticky.

Into Dog Kennel Lane TI and a 528w effort towards the finish, the finish that was never coming. Power dropping to high 300s and gasping for air when the chequered flag finally arrived in a time of 51.17 for the 23.1 mile course shortened due to road works.

As expected Ali won but no bum pinching as I was safe from being caught but he still cruised in with a 50.42 despite a delay near the finish.

So still some way to go but a step in the right direction or was it just a fluke?

Checking the power file afterwards it was higher than my last 10 at least.

Still deciding which number excuse to mark down for this one, maybe I’ll leave it blank……

Joel Wainman

This weekend brought two races, one either day. Saturday was the Otley 10 mile open time trial on the V212, not a course renowned for fast times. But it’s pretty local so it would’ve been rude not to ride.
I woke up Saturday morning to some rather grey skies and low temperatures, and a forecast that looked like worse was yet to come.
On the half hour drive there I encountered rain, hail and sunshine. We parked up signed on and I went to get changed. Pinning numbers on now is a thing of the past with my Nopinz skinsuit, so I’ve now got more time to “get in the zone”
My dad, (team hero) had got my bikes out and turbo. Ready for me to start my warmup. I’d slapped on some deep heat on my legs to try and give myself a chance of keeping warm.
I got on the turbo turned on my Garmin plugged my headphones on and got pedalling. 200 watts… 300 watts… 400 watts… 500!! Today was gonna be a good day!
I took a gel and rode to the start line, getting there 5 mins before to relax for a few seconds.
30 seconds to go I clipped in, 20 seconds to go I tightened my shoes, 10 seconds to go I started my Garmin. 3…2…1… Off I went straight into a 20 mph tailwind, I was off!
I started off with a measured effort with that headwind 5.5 mile return leg clear in my mind. I got to the turn at the roundabout in about 8 mins having averaged over 55 kmh.
I got myself into an uncomfortable but sustainable rhythm. Looks like I was in for a right hard time to the finish. There are quite a few drags on the way back and these weren’t half exaggerated with the force of the wind battering away. I could see more dark clouds closing in and all of a sudden pitter patter on my helmet. It was rain…
Thankfully I was in the final run in with about 2 miles to go. I saw my teammate and 3rd place overall pass me on the other side of the road, I didn’t envy him one bit!
I got to the end shaking, not just because of the cold but because of the effort! I’d gone pretty hard and I’d forgotten how hard these Time trials can be!
My dad was there at the finish to congratulate me, make sure I was ok, and what was most important to me right then was get warm! I got back to the car quickly put on my trackies and jumped in the car.
I was happy with my performance. I felt good, but I wasn’t expecting too much in the overall results in what I considered a strong field. I looked through the times and I was 4th! One place behind my teammate Jon wears. 1st and 2nd were Phillip Graves and Stephen Burke.
Grinning like a Cheshire Cat, we drove home and I went into recovery mode for tomorrow’s road race.

Danum Trophy, a big Elite race in the calendar. 60 miles (10 laps of a 6 mile circuit) and hilly ones at that. A strong field on the start list with riders from Raleigh, Madison Genesis, Neon Velo, VCUK just naming a few.
I got on the start line and was first wheel behind the car, I thought I’d give myself every advantage as I could. The flag dropped and it was carnage! As expected! I hadn’t seen the climb prior to the race so I was expecting the worst. We flew up it the first few times. Big ringing up a 10+% climb covered with potholes wasn’t easy.
I’ve heard from a few mates that a 10 before a road race is a good warmup. I felt strong and was really enjoying myself. I was loving the circuit, even if it was rather too hilly for me to really figure.
I was popping gels and eating as much as I could, to keep me going up that climb over and over each lap.
A break went and I tried to go with it up the climb but unfortunately couldn’t get on the back of the group and ended up rolling round in the group for the remainder of the laps. I put in a dig going over the long drag up to the finish with 1 lap to go in an attempt to close the gap or even bridge solo to the break. It was to no prevail. I accepted the fact that I would be sprinting for minor placings. I downed the rest of my bottle, slot into the main group and went with a couple of last minute digs all of which were brought back within seconds. I gave it everything in the sprint and finished towards head of what was the second group on the road. I was very pleased with that for a hilly (4000+ft of climbing) road race.
I’m happy with my form and loving racing!
Bring on next weekend at Rutland.

So after the joys of my 49.10 last week it was the pain of what could have been this. On Saturday I took to the start line of the YCF 10 on Hatfield Woodhouse, a course I like. Last off, a decent field appeared to have had mixed results through the afternoon with a Northerly wind with sunshine one minute and rain the next. Having scanned the board, it looked like the leading time as I left was a 21.59 by the ever improving Richard Sharp from York. All to do today.

As usual my luck kicked in after I started when it started to hail, but I started steadier knowing how hard back it would be. The wind launched me to the turn in less than 9 mins at an average speed of 32.9mph, but I knew the pain was to come. Once I started back the hail was bouncing off of my lid and the block headwind was like riding up a wall in places, but I felt good and kept it rolling. The last mile is really exposed and despite banging the power right up, I felt like I was riding through glue to cross the line on the garmin in 20.59. Quite pleased with that today! I returned to HQ to see my time was rounded up to 21.00 but Richard’s time had been put up wrong and was actually 20.59. Gutted! Don’t tell me marginal gains don’t count….

Having had time to examine my ride, I have to be positive. Firstly the temperature dropped from 43 to 39F during my ride, I had a good negative split in power, my power was decent (better than my 18.30 on the 718), and best of all I took Jacko’s KOM for the outleg! Comparing my ride to Richards I lost it all in that last mile. I was 20 secs up on him all the way around until that point so chapeau to him for such a great ride, he beat some very good riders today, not least the great Julian Ramsbottom. I think he is someone we will se much more of this season!

Battle of SSLL next week with 5 of us in the YCF 25. I’m pretty sure many others will be out to take the spoils.

Simon