Fortunately, the icy conditions we'd seen since Christmas had warmed a bit, so there wasn't any danger of slipping on ice. But on the other hand, the roads were distinctly damp and there was a very strong and blustery wind from the south. As Steve Abraham was calling in on the time trial (and riding it) as part of the first day of his attempt to beat Tommy Godwin's mileage record (follow his progress here), we had the presence of CNN and BBC Local News together with a large number of cyclists, many of whom decided to take part in the race.  The new course devised by Tony Farmborough and Bryan Scarborough was being used for the first time, and this turned out to be something of a blessing, as there was much more space for people to meet and park near the start than at the assembly point for the earlier version. We'd scheduled Steve to start as #1, with NBRC riders starting behind him, though the #2 spot was left vacant. Out on the road, the starting section was really quick, with a stiff tailwind. Of course once we turned left at the first RAB, things got a bit twitchy in the wind, particularly for those riding with aero wheels (such as my H3). It got a little bit more twitchy after the second roundabout where riders turn left to join the main Stoke Hammond bypass, indeed at that point I not only had to dodge a sizeable diesel spill, but found my front wheel being wrenched violently from side to side. This soon passed, but really one needed to pay close attention and try to predict when the gusts might be worst. The new course's turn is one RAB further along that the earlier version of the course, and while this additional section is quite short, it's uphill and (today at least) into the teeth of the wind. After the event, riders were complaining about how slowly they completed that section! Round the turn, and we had a nice tail wind along the bypass before turning right to retrace to the finish. The final RAB sees riders doing a right turn. This did concern some people on safety grounds, but in practice it seemed fine - riders just need to keep an eye out for traffic and move into the right hand lane in good time. The final stretch was tough, into the wind to the finish. All in all a tough morning for a time trial. I think most of the riders felt for Steve, who by the time he started the time trial had already covered 116 or so miles. I finished in 24:55, a measly 1 second behind the winner, Richard Wood. As one wag observed, that probably corresponds to one wobble too many out there in the head wind! Still, I was fastest NBRC rider on the day.

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -
1	26	Richard Wood	Arbis/Colbert	24.54	Sen
2	5	Robert Saunders	NBRC	24.55	V55	27.09	.+ 2.14
3	25	James Fox	CCLuton	25.42	Sen
4	7	Lindz Barral	Unattached	25.51	Sen
5	15	Geoff Bunyan	Bossard Wheelers	25.52	V54	27.04	.+ 1.12
6	18	Jason Lee	TeamMK	26.46	V45	26.23	.- 0.23
7	14	Ant Newland	Bossard Wheelers	26.55	V49	26.41	.- 0.14
8	4	Andy Wickham	NBRC	27.14	V44	26.18	.- 0.56
9	20	Andy Smith	TeamMK	27.34	V57	27.20	.- 0.14
10	8	Julian Thrasher	LBRCC	27.46	V40	25.59	.- 1.47
11	21	Matt Exley	Corley Cycles Drops RT	27.52	Sen
12	22	Chris Hopkinson	API - Metrow	28.04	V47	26.32	.- 1.32
13	28	Richard Golding	Unattached	28.21	V43	26.13	.- 2.08
14	11	James Barlow	LBRCC	28.37	Sen
15	9	Miles Walker	LBRCC	28.59	V52	26.54	.- 2.05
16	27	Rimas Grigenas	Unattached	29.10	Sen
17	16	Tom Krause	Unattached	29.32	Sen
18	12	Andy Martin	LBRCC	29.37	V43	26.13	.- 3.24
19	13	Trevor Watson	Bossard Wheelers	29.43	V55	27.09	.- 2.34
20	10	Tom Deprez	LBRCC	29.58	Sen
21	24	Katja Reitdorf	TeamMK	30.05	LV44	28.24	.- 1.41
22	23	David Goodhew	NBRC	30.07	V41	26.04	.- 4.03
23	3	David Price	NBRC	30.12	V47	26.32	.- 3.40
24	6	Neill Boddington	NBRC	31.30	V40	25.59	.- 5.31
25	19	Darren Winfield	LBRCC	32.40	V49	26.41	.- 5.59
26	17	Clive Faine	TeamMK	32.46	V68	28.42	.- 4.04
27	1	Steve Abraham	NBRC	33.27	V40	25.59	.- 7.28

Timekeepers: Bryan Scarborough & Tony 'Desperado' Farmborough (NBRC) Pusher off: Dick Selley (NBRC) Route Signs: David Price (NBRC)