Beep beep beep beep goes the alarm, its 6am and the
season has eventually started. First of all I need to thank Charlotte for not waking me when Freya needed her feed during the night, so that I could have the best sleep I could
possibly have with a 10 day old bambino.
This time I had no motivation to hit the snooze button to grab an extra 10 minutes. I was wide awake, as I said in my last post, damn right I was ready. Everything was organised, the car was packed and all I needed to do was
to have my breakfast, walk the dog and load the bike on top of the car, then hit the road.
All this for a local time trial.....
The Cleveland Wheelers CC, Hilly 21mile time trial, Seamer, near Stokesley. This was the first outing on the TT Bike on the road since the Euro Champ qualifiers at the Newbiggin Sprint Triathlon last September. Because the Europeans in Eilat, Israel are so early in the season, all my winter training has been done indoors to protect myself from the elements and not have prolonged exposure to cold weather, icy roads and the likes.... It has obviously done the trick. Thanks to Tony and Dave at www.a1multisport.co.uk I was given fantastic advice and service for the purchase of my Cycleops Fluid Pro trainer, it certainly was the right choice.
Signing on at 8am left me with a little over two hours to prepare to race, I was not off until 10:21, but once the car is unloaded and the turbo trainer is hooked up ready to warm up, time soon flies over. I didn’t have my new extended support team with me today, I felt it a little too early for Freya to join her mam, in mixing the drinks and taking photos and the like, but after a week off on paternity leave and the best week of my life, I had them behind me all the way. Her first official outing will be at, what was my first outing last year, the Stokesley Spring Duathlon on Charlottes birthday the 25th March, the race that started it all for me, the race that started me off with this bug.
Conditions couldn’t be any more perfect than this. There was a slight breeze in the air which was not strong enough to affect you as a head wind, but was a nice feeling when it was behind you. Sun was bright in the sky and temp around 9-10 degrees made it seem fresh but the sun kept it warm.
This was a new course to me however I was vaguely familiar with it from the Stokesley Duathlon last year which took in a portion of the route. It was more rolling as opposed to steep or long hills, and there were some sections which would have allowed time to get into a good rhythm on the tri bars. The first stretch out to Hutton Rudby was quick, catching my 2 minute man by around the 2nd mile marker without my minute man in sight. The first hill coming just as we entered the village of Hutton Rudby, was a little greasy with the morning dew covering the road, a great tubular that the Vitoria Triathlon Evo is, traction on the slick tyre surface and wet road is a little challenging.
Dropping down into Rudby I was slowed to stand still when, on the 90degree left hander through the village, a Stockton wheelers rider was lying in the road, I can only hope he was ok. This must be where the ice was that we were warned about on the start line as I didn’t come across it at any other point on the course. It’s an awful feeling seeing another cyclist on the floor especially if you have felt it yourself, when you understand that the guy was also pushing it to his/her limit. Thankfully there were a number of marshals and members of the public there in assistance.
After settling back into a rhythm it was a turn back towards Stokesley along the A172 with what seemed like a gentle tail wind, an opportunity to open up and see what I had in me. Unfortunately for me, I got my pacing all wrong along this stretch and pushed a little too hard, especially knowing I had the rolling, winding poorly surfaced lanes after the next turn out towards the climb out of Great Broughton.
Familiarity struck, at this point and knowing I only had about 4-5 mile remaining I could pick up the pace on the stretch home and really test myself. My training had prepared me for this, digging deep when you feel you have nothing left, I guess that that is why the label a time trial “The Race of Truth”. It’s just you against yourself and pushing your body to the limit.
My Minute man! Where was he? Well, I was never going to catch him, Keith Murray, Ferryhill Wheelers, won the event in 45min 08Seconds, but to clock 48min 32sec, averaging 25mph on a hilly circuit, I certainly can’t complain, and finishing 13th in a field of 89 was extremely encouraging and proving that my training, assisted by Elliot Gowland has seen massive improvements in both my performance, not only on the computrainer but now in competition.
Congratulations to both Elliot and Kerry Gowland who came in at 48:21 (11th) and 56:05(4th female) respectively.
It was also nice to meet David Wilson who I will also be travelling to Israel with for the Euro champs, look forward to catching up with you again then.
Click here to be redirected to my Garmin Stats for the race.
season has eventually started. First of all I need to thank Charlotte for not waking me when Freya needed her feed during the night, so that I could have the best sleep I could
possibly have with a 10 day old bambino.
This time I had no motivation to hit the snooze button to grab an extra 10 minutes. I was wide awake, as I said in my last post, damn right I was ready. Everything was organised, the car was packed and all I needed to do was
to have my breakfast, walk the dog and load the bike on top of the car, then hit the road.
All this for a local time trial.....
The Cleveland Wheelers CC, Hilly 21mile time trial, Seamer, near Stokesley. This was the first outing on the TT Bike on the road since the Euro Champ qualifiers at the Newbiggin Sprint Triathlon last September. Because the Europeans in Eilat, Israel are so early in the season, all my winter training has been done indoors to protect myself from the elements and not have prolonged exposure to cold weather, icy roads and the likes.... It has obviously done the trick. Thanks to Tony and Dave at www.a1multisport.co.uk I was given fantastic advice and service for the purchase of my Cycleops Fluid Pro trainer, it certainly was the right choice.
Signing on at 8am left me with a little over two hours to prepare to race, I was not off until 10:21, but once the car is unloaded and the turbo trainer is hooked up ready to warm up, time soon flies over. I didn’t have my new extended support team with me today, I felt it a little too early for Freya to join her mam, in mixing the drinks and taking photos and the like, but after a week off on paternity leave and the best week of my life, I had them behind me all the way. Her first official outing will be at, what was my first outing last year, the Stokesley Spring Duathlon on Charlottes birthday the 25th March, the race that started it all for me, the race that started me off with this bug.
Conditions couldn’t be any more perfect than this. There was a slight breeze in the air which was not strong enough to affect you as a head wind, but was a nice feeling when it was behind you. Sun was bright in the sky and temp around 9-10 degrees made it seem fresh but the sun kept it warm.
This was a new course to me however I was vaguely familiar with it from the Stokesley Duathlon last year which took in a portion of the route. It was more rolling as opposed to steep or long hills, and there were some sections which would have allowed time to get into a good rhythm on the tri bars. The first stretch out to Hutton Rudby was quick, catching my 2 minute man by around the 2nd mile marker without my minute man in sight. The first hill coming just as we entered the village of Hutton Rudby, was a little greasy with the morning dew covering the road, a great tubular that the Vitoria Triathlon Evo is, traction on the slick tyre surface and wet road is a little challenging.
Dropping down into Rudby I was slowed to stand still when, on the 90degree left hander through the village, a Stockton wheelers rider was lying in the road, I can only hope he was ok. This must be where the ice was that we were warned about on the start line as I didn’t come across it at any other point on the course. It’s an awful feeling seeing another cyclist on the floor especially if you have felt it yourself, when you understand that the guy was also pushing it to his/her limit. Thankfully there were a number of marshals and members of the public there in assistance.
After settling back into a rhythm it was a turn back towards Stokesley along the A172 with what seemed like a gentle tail wind, an opportunity to open up and see what I had in me. Unfortunately for me, I got my pacing all wrong along this stretch and pushed a little too hard, especially knowing I had the rolling, winding poorly surfaced lanes after the next turn out towards the climb out of Great Broughton.
Familiarity struck, at this point and knowing I only had about 4-5 mile remaining I could pick up the pace on the stretch home and really test myself. My training had prepared me for this, digging deep when you feel you have nothing left, I guess that that is why the label a time trial “The Race of Truth”. It’s just you against yourself and pushing your body to the limit.
My Minute man! Where was he? Well, I was never going to catch him, Keith Murray, Ferryhill Wheelers, won the event in 45min 08Seconds, but to clock 48min 32sec, averaging 25mph on a hilly circuit, I certainly can’t complain, and finishing 13th in a field of 89 was extremely encouraging and proving that my training, assisted by Elliot Gowland has seen massive improvements in both my performance, not only on the computrainer but now in competition.
Congratulations to both Elliot and Kerry Gowland who came in at 48:21 (11th) and 56:05(4th female) respectively.
It was also nice to meet David Wilson who I will also be travelling to Israel with for the Euro champs, look forward to catching up with you again then.
Click here to be redirected to my Garmin Stats for the race.