This Saturday was a rather new experience as far as racing goes! I was entered into the local 25, to be run on the usual J2/9 course, a course I know very well and can ride pretty good, but due to road works there was a last minute change to an alternative course, a 24.xx mile SPOCO (SPOCO = sporting course, i.e. twisty, lumpy, country lanes, potholes etc). The kind of thing that absolutely does not suit me as someone who likes to get into a good rhythm and just power along staying as aero as possible, I also feel more able to get the power out at the higher speeds associated with long straights. This course was going to be constant on/off the aero bars, on the brakes quite a bit and a fair few corners, including a couple of right turns and some gravel, so I was fairly apprehensive! Having been ill all week I was in 2 minds about even starting and planned to bail after the 1st lap if I was going shoot. I didn't bother preparing properly, as I usually do, which says a lot about my state of mind, given I am usually a stickler for detail when it comes to prepping myself, my nutrition and my kit. I did however tape my arm number to my arm using some wide cellotape, I hate arm numbers, they are an aero boon and this one was especially so, with pins in the top and an elastic band at the bottom that kept riding up, creating an arm mounted parachute, worth a few seconds at least!
With 2 new helmets, a Bell Javelin (very similar to my old Giro helmet, but fits better and allows me to keep my head lower) and a Kask Bambino (Team Sky fame) I couldn't decide which to go for. The Javelin will always win in an out and back with a head/tail wind and at high speeds, the Kask will be better in cross winds, windy circuits and courses where I will look down a lot, i.e. hilly courses. As I know the Javelin is fast having done PB's several times in it and the KASK being a bit of an unknown only being worn once I made a last minute decision to ride use the Bell Javelin helmet, even though I knew it might not be the fastest in theory on that courses, but I was in a shoot mood and not fully healthy, so didn't want to "test" the Bambino incase I had a bad ride and then found some way to blame the helmet for loosing me time... time triallists are notoriously weird for this sort of thing.
Anyway I warmed up and took to the start, I set off as per usual, sat down, just rolling away from the line (really can't emphasise too much how good an idea this is to anyone starting out) and set about my 1st lap, which was not enjoyable, it was fairly technical with a tricky corner early on and I was struggling to find any sort of rhythm, but I was catching lots of riders and I think I had caught my 3 minute man well before the end of the 1st lap, so I knew I wasn't going bad, a quick glance at my average power said that even though the speed wasn't great, my power was good and so it was likely the other riders would have much slower average speeds than on our usual course too, so in the final fastish section at the end of the lap when I was finally settling in, I decided to go for the 2nd lap and not bail. The second lap was a lot more enjoyable, even though I didn't like the corners, I managed to get a nice rhythm in a few sections I couldn't in the 1st lap as I now knew some of the bends could be taken on the tri bars. I made it into the faster final section of the race just as my clubmate (and eventual 2nd place finisher, all round super fast man) passed me on his 1st lap, he had clearly made time up on me with his superior cornering skills (he is a road racer too, so that is to be expected) as when he passed and we entered a straight, I was holding the same speed with ease, in fact I wanted to go a little faster but was wary of passing him back then holding him up on a corner, so I waited until we had cleared all technical bits then hit the afterburners, passing him and going off down the road at a good pace, I thought there was about 2 miles left (wasn't looking at my Garmin as I was more concerned with not crashing or going the wrong way) so was building into a big finish then the chequered board appeared... I hadn't got it all out and had hit the finish before I had expected in 56:50 (25.5 mph), well down on my usual time for a 25 mile TT, even though this was 24.xx miles. I immediatelly slammed on and got out of the way so my clubmate could re-pass me and not be obstructed then headed back to the HQ wondering if my time was any good, having nothing to judge it against.
Back at HQ I was in 2nd place... as times came in, I knew my club mate and Wilko (24HR record holder) would beat me, plus probably Rubberlegs as he usually beats me. That would leave me in 5th, I wasn't far off, because I ended up in 6th (and prize money), being beaten by a lad I usually beat, he either did a good ride, or I lost time in the corners (very likely). Was fairly happy with that.
Team prize win with Ant and Si. So a bit more prize money! At least my entry was covered
Pics:
A bit of encouragement from the only spectators on the course, pro!
Race data:
http://www.strava.com/activities/147983887
Hopefully the road works are gone for next weekend as I am riding a 50TT that uses the same roads as our normal 25, I can not imagine doing 4 laps of this SPOCO courses...
