Astwood '10' 21st August 2024

This was the penultimate event in our 2024 evening time trial series, and with some fast riders entered, some good times beckoned. 

For my part I hoped to improve on my previous ride where I recorded 23:57. The weather was pretty similar to that event, though a bit cooler and the wind was a little more gusty. nevertheless, having seen some improvement on my training metrics I had some optimism. Unfortunately, my ride was imacted by some discomfort on the bike. This was due to a last minute change back to a visor-less Kask Bambino helmet, used with my prescription sports glasses. I wasn't riding my venerable Giro Advantage aero helmet, as (due to its age) the various straps that hold it to my bonce were pretty much all perished. Probably it's time to ditch that aero hat!

So what was the problem? Well, actually two-fold. Firstly it's difficult to to race with the sports glasses because of the frame design which requires me to look over the glasses rather than through the lenses when in an aero tuck. So from that perspective I was fidgetting about. Added to that, the Bambino was really uncomfortable on the back of my head. I later found that I had the rear retention strap twisted, but there wasn't much I could do without stopping to sort it out. I found my self out of the aero position for quite a lot of this race, and ended up about 30s slower than the very comparable evening a fortnight before. Oh well, its good to still be making beginner mistakes after all these years.

I finished in 24:28 for 4th place (2nd on vet standard). The winner did a corking 20:53!

One more event (28th August) and the club league is completed bar the hill climb in early October. I've entered an open '10' on September 14th, so maybe that'll be the end of my season (if I get a ride).