RLSCC/Rugby Velo Club TT, 18 Aug 2020

Continuing my guest run in the RLSCC/Rugby Velo club TTs, there was another change of course this week to an interesting variant which included some of the A45 dual carriageway, with a fast single carriageway lead in and some twists, turns, ups and downs along the way! It was a perfect temperature for a TT, 21°C with light winds, and I had arrived early enough to do a full warm up so my legs felt primed and ready to go.

Unlike some TTs when after a few miles you know it’s going to be a bad one, this one felt great! I was pushing harder and harder, way above my target power and feeling good. I got held up by a slow lorry on the fastest roundabout on the course but pushed on with a 20min power PB easily in sight. After the turn off the dual carriageway the course gets more lumpy and twisty, but I was still able to push hard up a small drag in the last few miles. I lost some time due to course confusion at the end (working out which left turn was the right one, and then where the actual finish was!) so finished feeling like I could have pushed even harder, and certainly that there were another 20-30 seconds that I had left out on the course. It was still a 20min power PB for the season (even including coasting behind the lorry!) and a reasonable 21.34 giving me 4th place and first vet.

Tim Phillips

Library picture