Chronos RT F2A/10 TT, 25 July 2020

My second TT since lockdown could not have been more different from the first. The forecast was for thundery showers, so it was always going to be a matter of luck what conditions would be. My TT luck held as usual, with heavy rain starting just as I was beginning my warmup, giving just enough time for me to get drenched and for the road to turn to a river. Against my better judgement I decided to go ahead and ride, and see how conditions were on the A428.

Well reader, they were dreadful, with a strong gusty cross/headwind, continuing heavy rain and lots of standing water on the road - quite scary actually. It was very tempting to leave the dual carriageway at the next exit and go back to the car! I decided to carry on to the turn and see how it went, but the conditions made it hard to keep full power, as it it felt more important to keep the bike upright! After the turn it was much easier, with the wind becoming mostly helpful and the road drier as it was better drained. I pushed as much as I could, and finished in about 20.58 - much slower than the course would have been an hour earlier! It was nice to get to the car and home to dry out. It turned out that the race was later abandoned due to the conditions, and probably should have been stopped sooner (just before my start would have been ideal!).

Tim Phillips

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Tim PhillipsTT