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).
Thirteen riders entered this club event on the F15/10 Brogborough course. I'd been feeling pretty optimistic after my 21:56 in the VTTA '10' the other weekend! For the record, I've been following a TrainerRoad high volume 40k masters training programme - at least as best I can given various things impacting on my training. I don't do specific FTP tests as I prefer to use the TrainerRoad AI FTP estimation. I also track my training using intervals.icu which offers its own FTP estimate, usually a few watts lower than the TrainerRoad AI FTP estimate. I guess the true value lies somewhere between them.
On the evening of the event, we had a 13mph tailwind for the outbound leg, and a corresponding headwind on the way back to the finish. I'd chosen to ride the P5, and felt pretty good in my usual high gear with the tailwind. I'd noted good speeds whenever I looked at the Garmin - usually around 30mph. Of course things were a little harder on the way back, and while the power and heart rate went up, my speed and gearing went down!
I’ve increasingly felt the need to carry a mobile phone while out on the bike, and particularly when out on the time trial bike. This is for two reasons - firstly the potential need in the event of a mechanical I cannot sort out and secondly because there are functions I use on my Garmin Edge 840 computer that require a mobile phone.
Problem is that mobile phones have got bigger and bigger and my current phone, a Samsung model, is really a bit unwieldy for carrying, even in a jersey pocket. And when wearing a skin suit, the only real solution I’ve found is to carry it in a sealed case and hang it round my neck on a lanyard. That’s pretty uncomfortable!
We had rather nice conditions for our 20 mile time trial over two laps of the Astwood course. Unfortunately some traffic lights were placed on the course - three-way traffic control - just in the run up to North Crawley. This forced a change from two laps to the more usual one lap, and also to the start/finish points, which we set either side of the traffic lights.
I was well-warmed up before the start, but getting going on the aero extensions seemed a bit difficult, but by the time I exited North Crawley I was settled into a good rhythm. Because we were starting in North Crawley, the biggest climb on the course was within the first half instead of at the finish. Maybe this changed things a bit, but I felt like I held down a respectable power to finish in 23:43 to take second place on actual and on veteran standard.
This was one of my all too rare open events. The F11/10 uses the A41 as it bypasses Tring, and it’s the fastest local 10 mile course owing to the gift hill in the middle of the course.
The VTTA event was listed as preference to VTTA members, so the field was predominantly older cyclists with only a few Senior category riders (though many of the reserve riders were of that category).
The 'summer' weather so far has been pretty poor and July has been quite coold and frequently showery. For this evening's club time trial, we had reasonably warm conditions, but rather windy. This was really obvious on the more exposed sections of the course.
But to backtrack slightly. After the equipment debacles of last week's Astwood event, I'd had a close look at the eTap on my P5 TT bike. It was workign flawlessly, and I really couldn't find any faults. So I'd planned to ride that bike at this evening's TT. By the time I was getting bikes prepped, the wind had got quite gusty and I worried that the 90mm front wheel rim might be a bit of a handful. Accordingly, I decided to ride the P3 with its H3s front and rear.
Well that didn't go according to plan.
I spent a chunk of the day continuing the rebuild of the Thorn tandem, then when the rain came on retired indoors to watch the finale of the 5th Tour de France stage. Then I got set up to ride up to Astwood (this includes printing out the timing sheets and signing on sheets). I got half a mile up the road, and found my chosen bike for the evening (my Cervelo P3) was making some loud unaccountable knocking noises. This sounded bad, and didn't appear to be due to the transmission, handlebars or seat, so I returned to the house and grabbed my other TT bike (my Cervelo P5). This entailed some hurried tyre inflation and a change of shoes (different pedal type - old Speedplay X-series). Then a mad dash up to Astwood. Of course, the level crossing was down, to my frustration!
Our latest club event was on the quick local course starting on Brogborough hill. We had pretty good conditions for the event, sunny and with a light 9mph headwind out to the turn. I did find the return leg rather tougher than I expected. Also unexpected was my win in this event, with 23:24.
Full result over at the NBRC website.
I returned to the NBRC club events after the cycle tour of the Hebrides. I've had a bit of a disrupted season so far, with the minor operation taking me out of two club events, plus the tour taking me away from two others. The training has been similarly affected, though the stats indicate that Im (just about) hanging in there.
Anyway, it was back to Astwood for this event, on a sunny evening with a light wind. It seemed to be cooling down quite quickly. I chose to ride the P5 with the deep rim front wheel, which worked out well. We had a field of 9 riders, and all started. Several were on road bikes, including the winner. I came in second, but first on vet standard. I didn't really notice any real problems except for the coach that came at me head on at one point on the lane after turning at Chicheley!
We had a rather nice evening for this event (except for the brief rain shower before the event started). I rode the P5 TT bike with the deep front wheel as there was only a very gentle wind throughout. I actually felt pretty good and was riding well above my current estimated FTP for much of the time. This is quite encouraging as I come back from a brief medical hiatus in training.
We were all a little concerned about traffic levels as stationary traffic on the A421 increased the number of vehicles on the course as drivers used the road as a rat run. But by the time we were riding everything seemed to be back to normal. I had a clear run through.
This event saw my return to club events after a brief hiatus on medical grounds (minor operation), so I was a little apprehensive as to how I'd get on - while I had done a few turbo sessions, this would be the first time out on the road.
As it turned out, I got on OK, though a bit of the pace I'd have expected on such a nice warm spring evening. I had no real issues other than my usual mucking up the clipping in at the start!
I think this event replaced the regular Icknield RC 30k event that for the last few years has been run on two laps of a circuit that takes riders over Mentmore Hill. That’s always a bit of a shocker, because the descent has appalling road surfaces. This year’s event was held on the Astwood circuit course (two laps), with the Bike Bus as race HQ.
On the day, we had brilliant sunshine but there was a rather strong wind (it was 15-17mph during my ride, with gusts exceeding that. I had some technical issues though these didn’t affect my admittedly lacklustre performance. More on that later.
This event was the first evening event of 2024 and unsurprisingly the weather offered a few challenges! We had ten riders on the start list, all bar two rode on a pretty grim and fairly cold evening. The rain that was falling earlier had thankfully stopped, but the strong wind continued, made a bit worse by being rather gusty. We were pleased to welcome two new riders tonight (Kristian and Brett) - shame it wasn't a nicer evening!
Several riders chose to ride on road bikes, which may have been wise owing to the wind. I didn't feel it unsafe on my TT bike, but I did have trouble keeping my power consistent. I swapped out the usual front wheel with its very deep rim on account of the strong and blustery conditions, and instead used my backup H3 trispoke - the one repaired by local company Carbon Cycle Solutions. This wheel's alloy rim detached from the carbon fibre apparently because the adhesive has a 15 year lifespan. Carbon Cycle Solutions did an excellent job, the braking surface was left sompletely smooth where they had to cut and rejoin the alloy rim.
The Duo Normand was the best time trial I regularly rode, and as a 2-up tream trial, I always rode with my long-term 2-up partner Gerry (together we styled ourselves Team Grumpy). There are many reasons why I believe this was the best time trial - a large field raning from non-specialist riders through to professional teams; a challenging course of around 54km; and in a great location in the heart of rural Normandy. Gerry and I ended up taking annual holidays in Normandy because of this race.
Sadly the Duo Normand seems to have fallen off the calendar of events, partly due to the Covid pandemic, partly due to local sports politics, but also (I believe) due in part to the political stupidity that is Brexit.
After all the recent dreary and wet weather, I was pleased to have a lovely spring day to ride over to Beachampton (a bit over 20 miles each way) for this club time trial, though there were many puddles and other mucky sections on the course.
Four riders turned out, including the very youthful Oscar who rode one lap of the course on his mountain bike and accompanied by his dad following close behind (and offering encouragement). The rest of us did two laps on road bikes (the event wasn't open to TT bikes).
In which Team Grumpy make a good impression by turning out in matching kit and bikes - but then disaster strikes! Most years, Team Grumpy rides an early season 2-up team time trial to keep our hand in by brushing up our 2-up skills ahead of the autumn's Duo Normand. Since the apparent demise of the Duo Normand since the 2020 pandemic struck, these early season 2-up events have become an event in themselves, and this year was no exception. After a couple of evenings of food and beer we felt adequately provisioned for a 25 mile time trial. Maybe.
The Port Talbot Wheelers 2-up 25 was held on a course that was about half on dual carriageway, and half on quite seriously undulating back roads. So it's never going to be astoundingly quick, but it's a fun course to ride.
I've posted a few times on my modifications to my set up of the Cervelo P3 (most recently on my home brew eTap wiring). The recent mods over the last few months include:
I've been meaning to take the P3 out for a test ride to make sure all is in order, and with my first event of the 2024 season fast approaching (the Port Talbot Wheelers 2-up 25) I decided to do so this morning.
Since the beginning of 2024 I've been increasingly using the Rouvy app in my indoor bike training (see Indoor Training - Part 3 Rouvy vs Zwift and Fulgaz). Until the other day I'd only been using this to enliven my indoor cycling on otherwise very dull interval sessions, but I thought I ought to give Rouvy's workouts a bit of a try. And I'm rather impressed.
The Rouvy website has a very clear description of how this all works. So I needn't offer more than a few comments, based largely on using Rouvy on the AppleTV.
The start of my time trial season is looming ominously on the horizon. In 2024 I plan to ride more open events. Over the last couple of years I've ridden fewer open events (which are usually at weekends) because of various family issues. Mostly those issues have kept me from being able to race at weekends. Our club events are usually mid-week, and therefore have fit better with my lifestyle over the last couple of years.
The first event is an open event, the Port Talbot Wheelers 2-up '25' on 10th March. In the past this has always offered an opportunity to brush up my 2-up skills with my regular 2-up partner Gerry - the event is in his neck of the woods. In the following three weekends, I hope to ride the road bike TT series aimed at recruiting beginners to the NBRC club events. This series is on successive Saturday mornings on a 5 mile circuit course.
This was the fifth event in the VTTA's Zwift virtual 10 mile time trial series. Over the first four events, I'd seen a gradual improvement from 24:18 to 23:53. As far as I can tell, the improvement is mostly down to improved consistency in maintaining appropriate power levels, and this event saw my most consistent power so far.
My strategy for this was as follows.