Kettering CC Hilly 20mile TT, 6 Mar 2022

I rode this race 2 years ago as the first of the 2020 season, and it also was the only TT before covid lockdown. This year’s race was also my first TT since July 2021, when my TT season ended very early and very disappointingly. So it’s fair to say I was super nervous, and had a sleepless night the night before which didn’t help.

It was a cold morning and I went equipped with knee warmers and a baselayer under my skinsuit. It also started raining during the ‘warmup’ (which hardly counted as a warmup!) so I made the last minute decision to go back to the car for my full finger gloves (not even cycling gloves) in the hope that I would be able to feel my fingers when I needed to use the gears and brakes.

After setting off I was ready to try and do a better ride than two years before. The course is rolling all the way, mostly uphill for the first half and then mostly downhill for the second half, although with the unusual wind direction (NE) the second half was also mostly headwind. I managed to hold a decent power for most of the ride, and apart from being shouted at by a car driver it was mostly uneventful. I managed to ride nearly 20W higher average power, and 2 mins quicker, than last time and also came 4th (2nd vet) versus 7th last time, so all in all a satisfying ride. The sun even came out briefly on the final stretch!

Tim Phillips

Kimroy Photography