Flies and Bikes Blog

A bright but very cold morning greeted the five intrepid (or possibly foolhardy) riders who turned out for the 2010 edition of the North Bucks Road Club's annual New Year 10 mile time trial.  As last year, the event was run on the F5d/10.  I suspect it was actually colder this year than it was last year, but bathed in sunshine instead of the clammy atmosphere of last year, it almost seemed balmy. 

This was the first competitive outing for my new time trial bike, so I was bound to be a bit cautious as I made my way over to the club room.  I'll probably write some more detailed notes on the bike later, but two points for now - the steering seemed alarmingly twitchy as slow speed, but once down on the tribars and at racing speed, everything seemed very good; this was my first proper ride on Speedplay pedals, and I'm most impressed.  I had decided to try out the GPS receiver for the Polar bike computer, but I couldn't get it to work, so rode the event solely on heart rate.

I found the outward leg reasonably OK, once I'd recovered from those initial gulps of freezing cold air, and once my eyes had stopped watering with the cold!  After the turn, the gentle breeze (which Gilbert had confidently predicted was from a direction that suits the course) was quite apparent, lowering the effective temperature and noticeably slowing at least my pace.

Overall the race was surprisingly close, with a tie for first place

Results of the North Bucks Road Club New Year's Day '10', 2010

The riders seemed to be outnumbered by the combined body of helpers (many thanks to Tony, Bryan and Gilbert) and spectators.