Flies and Bikes Blog

Once again, the forecast was not good for a time trial: this time the forecast was accurate! It turned out to be a hard evening on the course, with a headwind up the hill to the turn, and light rain.

Because the event was over at Stony Stratford (F5u/10 - though despite what the code suggests, the course version we use is 11.4 miles), I rode down to work on the Cougar TT bike, then on to the event after work.  By then, there was light rain which eased a little by the time I got to Stony.  On the way, however, I had yet another puncture (while I was evading a traffic jam on Brickhill St by popping briefly onto the redway).  I had no tyre levers, but discovered I could use 50p coins instead! This was the fifth puncture of the 2008 season.

Anyway, 12 riders showed up for the event.  It wasn't quite as cold as it looked, but the headwind out to the turn made life a bit difficult, and for me the return leg was hampered by nerves at the twists and turns in the road in the fast descents - since the crash I had a few years back in the Icknield early season hilly when cornering in the wet, I've been a bit more (too?) cautious. For much of my ride, it was raining lightly, and this had the beneficial effect of getting ride of the clouds of annoying insects that seem to come off the fields just to get up your nose and into your eyes!

In the end I took second place after Stuart Tarry.  I was first NBRC rider, but got pipped by Glibert on vets standard.  I rode home uneventfully, except for the twerp who tried to pass me on the left while I was negotiating a double roundabout