Out of the Blue

A good weeks training or at least three back to back rides during the week allows me to break a personel best out of the blue in the Wolds RT '10' on the super fast A63  Hull course. As a prelude I did a 22:33 in the Hinckley CRC Tuesday evening event on 87.5" gear (that's 56 x 17) I'd under geared by accident thinking I had something in the low 90's so my 105 RPM felt fast (and uncomfortable) and I was less than 30 seconds down on road man Ian Bibby (Marshalls Pasta) fresh from being battered by the Sky boys in the Professional Road Race where he was 'best of the rest' (5th)
Three hours on Wednesday and an hour and a half around the lanes at 22mph on 81" fixed set me up for the weekend, I've not been able to string together anything like that consistency in training so my riding (both training & racing) has been all over the place, inconsistent with no solution to be found, maybe the '100' last weekend 'unblocked' something because although I still felt a bit fragile my legs were strong.

20:16 of all out effort in the Wolds RT event

A ten mile race is as fast and as flat out as you can go in a time trial, it was a little windy and the early riders who know about these things put it 30 seconds to a minute slow, no matter the conditions I've come a long way and It's my only ride of the weekend and tomorrow I'm off to Devon for a week on my bike to prepare for the annual fiesta that is the 12 hour. I did no formal warm up apart from ride to the start at nearly 5 O'clock (but that is 5 miles) there is still some heat in the day so by the time I get to the timekeeper I'm nicely warmed up and relaxed.
It's a downwind start and I put all I can into it and use the top only a couple of times as there is hardly any variation in the elevation so nothing to go flat out and I'm there at the turn, Matt Bottrill (i-ride) my 2 minute man is only 10 seconds faster (so 20 seconds overall) and by the time i get around the two mini roundabouts and down the slip to the five mile point its 9:29 (nearly 32mph Av.) the return further and into the wind but it does not blunt my speed too much, I see Ian Greenstreet (Newbury RC) my minute man some way ahead but I'm too absorbed to get a time check the effort is too distracting and I do not look at my numbers for fear that they will not say what I want to see, there is no point its a full on effort and nothing to be done but put it all in.
The finish flag is there all to soon but it takes ages too, the effort subsides and you hear your own breathing from out of the vacuum that is the envelope of time trial racing, adrenalin and concerntration keep out the pain of the effort at bay,  I could have tried harder, everybody thinks that, It's a PB but I don't know by how much? I catch Greenstreet on the way back to the HQ he is 20 seconds off his 20:25? and we must be close, at the result board 20:16 (29.6mph Av.) better than I anticipated, some good scalps too, still nearly two minutes behind Hutchinson (In-gear) the winner in 18:25 Under 23 James Gullen (Wallis) a good second 19:14 and Bottrill third this time a holiday taken the edge off his form 19:23 he took a little more out of me on the way back but I was out there for longer 10:47 (27.8mph Av.)
On the Sunday body feeling the day after the event, i pack my panniers and ride to Clanfield near Oxford on the first leg of my trip to Devon to get in the miles in a last desperate bid to get ready for the Breckland 12 hour on the 14th August, the Saturday ride has given me a lift and I have to weigh up taking it easy and building on that success or pushing the boat out with a bit of extreme touring and hoping my body stands up to the challenge, in the end I plump for the latter, I need some time off from work and as I cruise down the Fosse Road towards Swindon the sun is out and the prospects for a good week to follow.