Met up with Alex & John for a jolly day out in deepest Essex. Fantastic weather - for a while. Headed SE from Long Melford to Holbrook and then headed SW to Manningtree before zooming down to Harwich. The west from Holbrook was interesting asat that point we saw the black clouds that had been behind us, and that's what caused the zooming. The storms were heading north and could we escape them? No.
This course is on the single carriageway A4 just west of Maidenhead, and it wasn't much fun. The first couple of miles were OK although competing with all the other road users made it all the more complicated. Then the course descended, on an uneven surface. Not so bad but this meant that there was a long climb on the return - into a strong wind. Overall I was happy with my time of 25:25 but probably wouldn't do this one again! And the journey back was a pig. 26\44. PW.
2:08:57 was neither brilliant nor poor but I learned a lot from this and confirmed much more. After about 35 miles the pain in my shoulders and (left) shoulder to elbow was more than this kid found easy to bear. The number of seating positions on a TT bike is limited and being stuck in one posture does cause grief. If I'd trained for this it wouldn't have been a problem but I'm only doing this as a break from the slower endurance stuff.
It was my first venture into leading a cat 3 and I was feeling a bit nervous. The main advantage of leading is the chance to direct the pace, especially as I was still a bit under the weather from the previous day's race.
We started from Hertford and went out via Datchworth, Walkern, Gravely, Hitchin, Ickleford and then shot up the A600 to Henlow and Southill. Other cycle groups were at the cafe, but we had a table reserved and we soon made ourselves comfortable.
All ready at raring to go at midnight and the first 100kms was very quick. From Manningtree to Barton Mills (75km) via Sudbury & Long Melford in the dark, I started behind most but was soon able to pass many of the 100+ entrants as I was feeling strong and had the benefit of a cross-tailwind. At Barton Mills by 03:00 and then up the A1065 to Burnham Deepdale (154km) via Swaffham. By 04:00 I started to get much slower as I struggled into the headwind on less favourable roads. Soon the sky was getting light but there was no sunrise to see and then it began to rain. It was the sort of
After my "success" two days earlier I wanted to see if I could further improve myself. I'd not done this course before and had heard several conflicting reports about it. The weather was very changeable as all through the afternoon there was intermittent sun, rain & high winds. On my way to the start I met up with Merv who explained bits of the course to me. He stated that the downhill part was very fast but that there were no side winds to cause grief and that he only encountered difficulties within the last two miles. And so it came to pass. After reaching 44.6mph down the slope
Still chasing a sub 24min time and things were looking hopeful for me. The wind was east to west so I would be blown back up the hill, it was a relatively warm afternoon and the sun was shining. No chance of rain. I made the mistake of overhearing one of the earlier riders chatting to his mates and saying that the return was the more difficult bit. Moral of the story - ignore what others say.
