Club Run 12/09/10 ????
06/09/2010 by Al and Sarah.
Due to having to work on the Sunday 12th i will be needing the services of a stand in Captain and there thoughts on a choice of routes. Get a flat one in while you can is my advice because the hills will back for the 19th. This weeks club run report will be coming from Ben once he gets over having his arse kicked by the new boy!!!!! Cheers Alex..
British Time Trial Championships
06/09/2010 by Alastair.
Well, I don’t really know where to start.
As some of you may be aware, I’m relatively new to TTing. I will have shortly completed my second year of TTing. Although I’ve been racing a short time, It’s quite easy to get a little bored of going up and down the DC courses all year long so I thought I would try something different with a bit more skill involved, so for some reason I decided to enter the BTTC. I was, on paper, one of the slowest entrants and my seeding reflected that.
My aim was not to come last which I successfully completed. In fact, I managed to beat quite a few fast men, most notably Simon Smart of Drag2Zero and Sam Hayes of Lutterworth Cycles, both consistent low 20 minute men. Given I have never achieved a sub 21 minute ride, I was elated to beat them and finish 34th out of the 40 starters.
The course suited me pretty well as I am a pretty good climber and can generally maintain a good speed on the flat sections. The hardest part was the climb into Llandeilo which is approx 1.5km long at around 9%. This section was lined with people shouting and cheering your name which, for a rank amateur like me, was simply amazing! We had to complete 2 2/3 laps. The course was 19km long. I started the first lap way too hard, with the adrenaline rushing and with all the spectators, I got caught up in the moment. I eventually settled down into a nice rhtym and caught my minute man, then 2 minute man, then 3 minute man and for a split second I was thinking ”jesus, I could win this”!! Then my minute man caught me at about 11km and the dream died. The first lap flew by, by the second lap I was starting to pay for the way I had set off in the first lap and had a few cramping issues. After a bit of freewheel stretching, the cramping eased and I was able to get back into a good rhtym. My lap splits were quite even, much to my surprise. On the third lap, we complete 2/3 of the course and miss out the hard climb into Llandeilo, which I was quite pleased about. My third lap was noticeably slower than the first two and I eventually completed the race in 1h 19:00. Only 14 minutes down on Brad Wiggins. I’ll have him next year.
Team Sky got 1, 2 3. (Wiggins, Froome, Thomas).
Full race report here - http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20100903-2010-British-Time-Trial-Championships-0
It was an absolutely superb event and despite all the Pro cyclists, I didn’t feel TOO out of place. Seeing Brad in full flight was unbelievable. The fast section on the A40 was where Lyndsey was parked so when I had finished I went to meet her and we watched all the top seeds absolutely fly past us, the speed was astonishing! Oh how I wish I was pro cyclist!
Anyhow, the season will shortly be at an end and I hope to join you on some club runs in the winter months.
Al
