This wasn't the first Berkhamsted CC promotion on this course, but it was the first one I'd ridden. That said, I've ridden similar courses over Mentmore over the years, so I knew what to expect climbing-wise!

The course, F12/10B, is a circuit that takes in the the climb over Mentmore hill and loops through Wingrave and Long Marston before passing the start to finish near the bottom of Mentmore hill. That's quite an unusual feature, particularly with several 3-up teams that were first to start. At least one of those teams came roaring past me just after I started. They looked pretty good, too! One consequence of this start/finish arrangement was that riders had to shout "first lap" as they passed the time keepers soon after starting. It all seemed to work well on the day.

A recurring theme this year has been one of adapting my bike so that I can ride more comfortably in the time trial position. I'd ridden the Verulam CC '25' on the relatively new F8/25A course near Hemingford and had a bit of a tough time as a consequence of discomfort. I had a set of Aerocoach Accalon extensions on order, and I was hopeful that they would really sort out this discomfort. As it turned out, they arrived just the day before the VTTA event and I decided to fit them straight away. This, of course, is in direct contravention of Team Grumpy Rule #2 (Don't tinker with your bike the evening before the event. It will break, either then or, worse still, during the event), but I figured I had a backup bike if anything went awry. 

I'd been offered a lift over to this event by a friend, which I gratefully accepted. We did have a bit of SatNav induced hassle actually finding the race HQ. This was despite this being the same HQ as was used at the Verulam event! However that was nothing compared to the horrible drive home, of which more later.