Varsity TT and Hill Climb, 26 & 30 Mar 2022

UoSCC

20km TT

It was a beautiful day for the TT. The ride out was 30km which we took very easy. I'd really not prepped for this one well with a long week of working and doing things in the sun so never felt my legs were fresh. The course started with a rise and then was rolling for the rest, a real Peak District TT. I'd had a proper think about pacing so stuck to that which I feel went quite well. Given how my legs felt I'm happy with the numbers. As the sun has been out the last few weeks I've been optimising my position and equipment. As a result of that, I was doing similar times to guys averaging nearly 50watts more, which I'm especially pleased to do. Timetrials have never been my strong point but I enjoyed this one nonetheless.

Hill climb

In stark contrast to the recent glorious weather, we had snow for the hillclimb out in the Peaks. So cold in fact that warming up didn't involve warm at all! I started riding with 15mins before the start to spin the legs, and found the new chain I'd put on skipped on the cassette. A quick 5min reinstall of the old chain later and I pootled down to the start. I really didn't use my brain on this one and went off full gas. The cold hit my lungs 30 seconds in and it was one rubbish feeling. Looking down to see timetrial numbers in a 3min effort is less than ideal. However, I got my head down and suffered as one should, coming 5th in the end. Thinking to next year, I shall be going off at maybe 70% of the initial power so that overall I can have more consistency. And crucially more power when the road was less steep, to get more speed for my hard earned watts. Back to the warm car!

Ollie Maynard