BDCA 50 = 2 x PB +1 x CR

Like buses you wait ages and then two come along together (unless you're in Tottenham of course) so breaking my personnel best '50' (and the club record) was a surprise to me as even with my recent mixed fortune I've had better rides on better days. Although I knew I'd turned a corner with the '10' a couple of weeks back I have been on a last round of training and primping to round off my conditioning in time for the 12 hour next week and the end of the season. It was in this event two years ago that I last rode to a club record and although I was at the top of my fitness for a while last season, conditions (and luck) prevailed to stop me making good with that form and I endured a frustrating end to the season.

Dr Jeff Jones winner of the BDCA '50' and recent NM & H '100 (Pic gbr295)

The BDCA '50' lines up like a mini championship with only sixty riders in the main event (closed on a 1:58) the rest taken up by the ladies and the Association event as this course has a 120 rider limit.  The  A50 has become a favourite for its fast times in all conditions but this the one lap version as opposed to the arguably faster two lap (2 x the '25' course) and goes all the way up to near Stoke on Trent, the glorious weather of late has become changeable in the week so as we look to the skies on Saturday morning we are left with mixed feelings as the wind seems too strong and the heat of the past few weeks evaporated as quickly as it arrived. I went out for twenty miles in the morning and did my second portion of yoga this week to ease out the aches and pains of the past couple of weeks which I can still feel on my body.
While there is a frantic Whirrrr of turbo in the car park I prefer to take a more relaxed approach to my warm up, take some food (banana & fig roll) and drink prepared coffee in the sunshine, I do a five mile ride on the road and arrive just as my minute man Scott Povey (i-ride) goes off, a bit fine but its going to be straight into it today as we have a head wind for 22 miles to the Blyth Bridge turn. My first few splits 11:16/11:47/11:58 seem unremarkable and the killer 'concrete mountain' section 12:17 puts me below 25mph for the first time, I see the winner of N Middx & Herts '100' Jeff Jones (Chippenham & Dist) going the other way and put him 5 min up on me and Povey not far behind so my 57:48 (26.0mph) at 25 miles does not look impressive or PB material, that however does not allow for the return which is super fast 10:28 is followed by 8:29 (this is not an error Av. speed 35.4mph for one 5m section!) The dog leg to Doveridge (JCB) slows the pace 11:13 some what but I catch three riders along this section and this helps me to focus, so are the hunters hunted and I am indeed caught by BBAR Julian Jenkinson (UTAG) for 4 minutes at 34 miles just as I take a second gel, 10:58 back into the A50 with 12 Miles to go and I am hunting down my 4 minute man Gavin Hinxman (Welland Valley) its all high speed stuff around the two roundabouts at Uttoxeter 9:17 and then as the pace and the distance take a grip of my muscles and I realise I must be close to my best ever, I catch Gavin on the slip road off the main road onto the A516 we are either side of a startled driver like pilot fish myself in Red & Blue and Gavin in vivid orange (nice socks!)
It's 1:47:52 at the line but I'm unsure of the seconds, I've never been inside 1:48 I have made it back in 50:03 (30mph), back at the HQ there are some super fast times and (Dr) Jeff Jones is fastest of the year so far  the outstanding winner 1:39:08 his splits 53:14/45:54 (32.7mph all the way home) so although he was 2.1mph faster into the wind he was even more impressive going faster on the way back. Povey was an excellent 2nd 1:40:08 (on a fixed) and in form Derek Parkinson (Cleverlys RC) 1:40:49 pushing back the more established riders Jenkinson 1:41:42 and Joel Wainman (Swift) 1:42:32 these are all terrific times for what was a pretty ordinary day but riders are coming into their top form with the National 12 containing most of the same protagonists next week, I will have to contend with Jeff Jones starting 10 minutes behind me in the Breckland 12 with Nick English (AW Cycles) and Steve Berry (San Fairy Ann) also it should be a good race.

Result here