Stony Stratford '11.4' 18/5/11 - Cows!

This evening time trial was on the Stony Stratford course, and was on another blustery evening.  At least the rain (which had been promised by the occasional spot during the afternoon) held off, and it was quite warm for those of us who'd ridden to the event.  On the downside, the problems I've been having with my back resurfaced on the ride over.  Accordingly I resolved to try and moderate my gear on the tougher sections of the course.  This isn't my favourite course, as one needs to haul oneself up a substantial climb between Beachampton and Nash.  I was off #11, with Chris D. off a minute behind, which I figured would give me a bit of encouragement. At the allotted moment, I belted off from the line and soon found myself round the first bend and into the headwind.  Still, I was making progress as I caught a couple of riders before Nash.  I rounded the double bend at Nash and redoubled my efforts, only to be held up by a small group of cows being moved between fields (and a couple of cars held up by said cows).  I was forced to halt, or at least slow to a crawl.  Eventually, Chris came up behind, and (being made of sterner stuff than I) pushed past the cars and through the cows.  I decided that if he could do it, so could I, and followed.  From there on, Chris and I were riding at pretty similar paces to the turn, and all the way back to the finish.  I did pass Chris on the descent from Nash (big gear!) and eventually finished a couple of lengths behind him. As I write this, I haven't had the results sent through, but my computer indicates a short 28.  Looking at the computer trace (see below), the "cow incident" seems to have reduced me to a crawl for about a minute, which would leave me with a time similar to that I recorded in this event last year, 27:19. Oh, and my nice clean time trial bike ended up spattered in cow poop.  Oh well. Read on for results and the Garmin trace!