Astwood '20' 8/7/15

This event was the club’s time trial championship, and as usual was held over two laps of the Astwood circuit. As for the other events on the course, we used the revised version that starts and finishes near the BikeBus cafe (and most recently modified to start further from houses).

The evening was pretty nice and warm, not so hot as it was for last week’s event. Unfortunately the wind seemed to get up rather a lot, which gave me some concerns. When I reached the signing on about half an hour before the start, I was surprised to find myself signing on as number 18 - clearly a good turnout! In fact we had 21 riders, at least one of whom was riding a time trial for the first time. As an aside, the North Bucks Road Club are planning a third “Come and try it” time trial in August, as this year we seem to have managed publicity more effectively!

Anyway, after indulging in a little banter with #15 (the first timer - talk of crashes etc didn’t seem to put him off!), I lined up and away I went. I’ve long felt that having the climb to Astwood fairly early in the course is better than having it at the end, and especially so in two lap events. I made a reasonably brisk start then settled onto the tri-bars. In fact on the evening I had very little of the expected twitchiness from the wind, event roaring down the descent prior to the climb to Astwood on the tri-bars. I took the climb quite conservatively, even dropping below 15mph. I got a little slowed by a 4x4 driver riding through Astwood, but that probably helped me recover from the climb.

There was something of a headwind out to Chicheley, but event that didn’t seem to bad, and I stayed in a good aero position all the way up the rise and through Chicheley to the turn. In fact I held the aero position throughout the event, only coming off the tri-bars for the sharpest turns. I came past the the finish line feeling pretty good, and also feeling confident. The second lap was pretty much the same as the first. Indeed, this was one of the more consistent two lap events I’ve ridden at Astwood.

I finished in 49:06 (my second fastest ride on this course I can find in my notes) to take 2nd place (1st place on veteran standard and the fastest NBRC first claim rider). The event was won by Richard Golding (Equipe Velo) with a fine 47:43. Then I retired to the BikeBus for a well-earned capuccino, which I drank sitting out on the decking. A very civilised way to organise a club time trial, I’d say!

Results (at the NBRC website)