RLSCC/Rugby Velo Club TT, 4 Aug 2020

Well the first visit to the A45 for the RLSCC/Rugby Velo club TT went really well so I decided to go back. Everything was going fine as I started my warmup - I even remembered to put my overshoes on unlike last time - until my Garmin completely froze. A few attempts to revive it were unsuccessful so I decided to make my way to the start, taking my watch so at least I could record the ride and planned to go back to basics and ride on feel.

When I got to the start I managed to remember how to hard reset the Garmin and still had a few minutes so decided to try and set it up as best I could before my start time. This did mean very little warmup!

I started on time and after the first few miles knew that it was not going to go as well as last time. Instead of doing the first (easier) half a little within myself allowing me to push on back up the hill towards the finish (my perfect pace plan for last time) I was slightly down on the power but blowing like mad and with my legs screaming far earlier than they should have. A bad day at the office was indeed in store and my power actually fell off badly in the second half, leaving me 15W down on average (it felt like more!). There was also a very tricky wind, especially on the way out, with gusts making the bike move 1-2m sideways - not ideal but I don’t think that really slowed you down if you were ready for it. The final time was 21.17, 17 seconds down on last time (also not as bad as it felt!), only managing 5th and 2nd vet this time.

Tim Phillips

Suzanne Collinson