Astwood '10' 31st July 2024

After the debacle of a fortnight earlier, when our two lap event at Astwood had to be run as a single lap event with changed start and finish points owing to three-way traffic lights on the course, I decided it would be wise to check out the course first thing in the morning. Lo and behold, the lights were still in place (though one of the riders said they had been removed by the end of the previous week, so maybe they's been placed back).

Fortunately, they had gone and the road was clear for our event, with nine entries of whom all nine started. It was a warm evening with a moderate breeze that promised to assist in the first leg down to Chicheley. I was off number 3 and felt like I rode a pretty well-paced event. I could tell there was a bit of a headwind after the Chicheley turn. As I approached the climb to the finish, I had a forlorn hope that I'd dip below 24 minutes, but sadly that was wildly optimistic and I finished with 24:19 that was good enough for second place. On veteran standard I was again in second place but with a small enough margin (2 seconds) that I was left wondering "what if...".

After a pretty disrupted season (trips to Edinburgh to sort out my late father's house; a minor operation; cycle tour), things seem to be coming together well for the late season events. My FTP is rising, albeit slowly, and I'm generally feeling pretty good. I'm already thinking about 2025 and hoping to ride more open events.