RLSCC/Rugby Velo Club TT, 11 Aug 2020

I went back for the club TT series, which is just over an hour’s drive so not exactly local but now I’m in the series I decided I might as well continue. This week was a different course but on the same A45 road as before. The previous two I have done have a downhill start, turn at a roundabout and then back towards the hill but finishes before the steepest part so you have some bonus downhill. This time, no bonus! The route went straight up the hill, turned at the top and back down to finish at the same point, so a completely different pacing exercise (and obviously much slower). It was also baking hot again, but with little to no wind.

I managed to pace it quite well, moderate power on the drag to the start of the hill, then the best power I could manage to the top, followed by a bit of a rest on the downhill leaving a little for a final surge to the finish. I finished pleased with the ride, especially on such a hot day, and a time of 22.30 being exactly 1.5 minutes slower than my best on the faster version of the course. This also gave me 4th (2nd vet) on the night as well as in the top 5 on the all time Strava segment, so it was obviously a fast night!

Tim Phillips

Photo: Suzanne Collinson