Back to where I was....
As I was booked to do the Rugby Open 10 mile TT on Saturday, I couldn't decide whether to do the regular Wrekinsport Club 10 TT on Wednesday. The weather was good and the wind was low so I decided to go for it.
I'd seen on the club website the day before, that a collapsed sewer had closed a road on our usual course (D3/9) and that we were moving to an alternative course a couple of miles north up the A442 (D10/23r). I drove the route to ensure I couldn't get lost and passed a gaggle of cyclists and cars in Water Upton. I parked up in our usual spot at the Buck's Head and found that I needed to sign on back where all the cyclismo were. A few new people came up to me and asked what to do and I realised that I almost felt like an old stager - having done all of 6 of these before during 2011.
I cycled up and signed on. I was number 41, and over all, more than 50 riders rode - that has to be a really good advert for the club.
I had nearly an hour to go, so I chatted a bit and then did a couple of miles warmup. The week previous, I'd been a bit miffed that whilst I'd done my best ever time on the usual course, I'd missed my PB by 2 seconds and I'd not beaten 26 minutes which I felt I was capable of.
7.41pm came around quickly and I moved to the start line. Dave Poulter held my bike as I clipped in and Vince gave me the countdown. 3-2-1 then I was off.
I set off hard and found it hard to get my breathing for a while. I was doing around 25mph and realised this was too quick. The mapmyride profile had shown that it was a tad uphill to the roundabout and then a tad downhill back. My plan was to be as close to 23mph at the turn (the roundabout where the A442 meets the A53) and then to try and beat it on the way back.
As I neared the roundabout, Dan Lamsdell was coming the other way and shouted out "go on Martin". This definitely helped me and I pushed hard. I was close to overtaking the rider who started 2 minutes ahead of me and hit the roundabout at an average of 22.8mph, dropping to 22.7 as I got back onto the A442.
Either the wind or the gradient then turned in my favour. I passed the first rider and took a couple more as I pushed hard on the Southerly leg. I could see that I was now ahead of 23mph schedule. I saw number 40 coming back to me. I didn't know who it was but checked afterwards and it was Bob Elliott who I'd had on my close contenders list for a while. I went past him and carried on pushing.
Then there was a little hump just before the end. I was showing 23.4mph so I pushed hard and started shouting loud at myslef. I knew my mouth was open as I gulped air in and pushed to the line. I pushed the lap button on my Garmin but was so nackered that I didn't look at it for a while. I knew I'd bust my time and thought I'd done better than 25.40 but had to wait for the official result.
I rode easily back to the start and up the lane there. When I got back, a pair of CSO plastic police ladies were on the scene. Clearly, this was the crime centre of the Midlands and they were on the case. To be fair, people were on the road a bit, and some kids weren't being shepherded ideally by their parents - so if the CSOs were just advising on this then fair enough but if they were being more aggressive then that is another matter.
I rode back to the Buck's Head and changed out of my skinsuit etc and sat outside with a nice cold Stella. Dan and his Dad plus Jim Percival joined me and we chatted for a while, sharing rustic crisps.
The results arrived back with Vince and Liz. I had done a 25.32, smashing my previous PB by 49 seconds which was amazing. This probably means that I will have to reconsider my goals - which were to bust 26 minutes this year and 25 next year.
So now I have the Rugby Open 10 tomorrow, which is where I was going to really push to beat 26 minutes. Can I go any faster than 25.32? Having ridden the course on Sunday, I doubt it as it didn't seem that quick, but we will have to wait and see now. I'll pop a Blog up anyway and see how I get on.