St Ives CC TT, 1 May 2019

I rode down in summer TT kit then it started to rain. By the time I’d got my number my bike was soaked. I refrained from warming up for too long as to not completely freeze. I started hard but not too hard and did the sort of power I felt I could hold. I had to stop for the first 2 roundabouts which was annoying as I had to sprint back up to pace after which cost me energy. The rain really didn't help either as I had to be careful on corners - I didn’t want to risk a whole TT season for a few seconds. I tried to keep my pace and got sub 25 which for early season in the rain is good enough for me.

Ollie Maynard

The first club TT of the season, and when I left work it was sunny with light winds, so seemed like a good night to lay down a fast time to start the season off. Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse, and by the time I arrived at HQ it had been raining for 30 minutes or so, meaning a very wet and cold night, with a stronger wind than expected as well. After a chilly ‘warm up’ I headed out to the start. The N1/10 course hasn’t been used by the club for several years, and the last time I rode it was two years ago, so my memory of it wasn’t perfect. I was held up on first two roundabouts due to being cautious in the wet weather, but was able to ride most of the course at a power close to target - not bad considering the cold conditions. My time was somewhat slower than I had been hoping for (but was still 1:40 quicker than two years ago!) - hopefully I can improve on this over future weeks.

Tim Phillips