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I woke rather early this morning, and was elated to see that conditions were well-nigh perfect for time trialling - quite warm, and virtually still.  Over at Tempsford (the event was on F1/25), I signed on and got ready to go and warm up.  Unfortunately I didn't even get out of Tempsford before suffering a rear wheel puncture.  Back to the car and a change of tube!  I availed myself of another competitor's track pump to whack the tyre up to pressure.  Sadly, the tyre didn't hold pressure, and with a substantial cut in the tyre casing, it was pretty clearly game over. This was pretty disappointing, given it was the only decent morning I've had this season for a time trial. Back home for a ride on the tandem.

Today was forecast as a hot and sunny prelude to three days of heavy rain.  Some disappointment, therefore, when the skies were darkly clouded at the start of this event.  It was at least warm, with a rather gentler breeze than we've had at recent time trials.  This event was nominated as the North Bucks Road Club's championship '25' time trial.  Disappointing that I was the only NBRC rider taking part.  I was off at #10, with only three riders ahead of me (and one of those was a DNS).

The event was on the F13/25, which runs along the A41 from Launton Road to the outskirts of Aylesbury and back, and isn't really a very quick course - it's quite lumpy, and the road surface (particularly around the new Aylesbury Vale Parkway roundabout) leaves quite a lot to be desired.  There's also the issue of the pedestrian crossing traffic lights in Waddesdon (directly outside the police station!) - racing through when the lights are at red is a disqualification offence.  And, yes, I've seen a rider DQ'd for running the red light there!  No such problems for me today.

To be honest, it was clear from about 10 minutes in that beating the hour was going to be a bit hit and miss.  I found the gentle breeze sufficiently nagging in combination with the various gentle ascents that I had trouble keeping up the effort.  I did catch both riders ahead of me before the turn, which left a rather lonely ride for the remainder of the time trial.

It was good to see Richard stoking the tandem (to a finishing time of 55:38) while I was out there.  I had a good peer at the machine afterwards.  Perhaps I should find someone to stoke the Longstaff tandem at some time trial soon!

Returning to my performance, I'm happy to say I did pop below the hour, recording 59:42.  Any ride quicker than an hour on this course is OK by my (albeit undemanding) standards.

Results are at the Hemel Hempstead CC website.

Another windy evening promised a tough outward leg to Chicheley before the first turn.  But at least it didn't rain on us - we had heavy showers earlier in the day, but they'd all pushed off into the distance by the time the riders congregated at Astwood for this evening's North Bucks evening 10 mile event.  A bit of a disappointing turnout of 13 riders, and not many of those were NBRC first claim riders, for this counting event in the NBRC league. Having dashed up to Astwood after a day of seemingly interminable meetings at work (and with not having consumed much food prior to the event), I did feel a bit tired and jaded as I lined up at the start.  At least it was reasonably warm, though not quite what I would expect for a late evening in June.  I had a pretty uneventful ride, though the climb up to Chicheley (gentle though it is) seemed very tough into the headwind.  Once round the Chicheley turn, I was really just fighting my general lassitude. I crossed the line in just under 24 minutes (I made it 23:53, but I await the results coming in).  Not too bad in the conditions, but I clearly need to work a bit harder at the training! On a more optimistic note, Gerry and I have entered this year's Duo Normand. Results to follow.

This was quite a windy evening, and heavily overcast.  It also gave the distinct impression that the clouds were going to deliver some rain.  However, precipitation was limited to fine drizzly rain at the far end of the course, so that wasn't too bad. After Sunday's '50', I was interested to see how I'd fare this evening - I generally lose form, at least where racing speed is concerned, while off on cycle touring.  Sunday's '50' had been a bit of a worry and I'd ten spent two days working away from home.  There was a pretty small field, maybe due to the weather. I was last rider off, and found the outward leg fairly heavy going, but gradually felt a bit better, as I approached the dual carriageway section.  Once up there, I started seeing riders coming the other way - Jason was clearly going fast, near the turn, it looked as though Tony was gaining on Lindz (though in the end Lindz held him off!).  For my part, I was quite pleased with by time of 23:12, and reckon that my legs are getting back into the swing of things. Next open event is the Century RC '10' on Saturday. Results

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -	Vets Std
1	5	Jason Gurney	Baines Racing	21.23	V41	25.42	4.19	5
2	8	Tony Parks	NBRC	22.02	V46	26.42	4.40	2
3	7	Lindz Barral	iTeam cc	23.00	S
4	9	Rob Saunders	NBRC	23.12	V51	27.46	4.34	3
5	1	Glen McMenamin	NBRC	23.53	S
6	4	Yvonne Gurney	Baines Racing	25.57	L
7	2	Clive Faine	TeamMK	26.13	V64	30.45	4.32	4
8	6	Gilbert Wheelwright	NBRC	26.39	V68	31.45	5.06	1
9	3	Tony Brunton	NBRC	28.44	V46	26.42	.- 2.02	6