Northampton & District CA '10' 22nd April 2025

I'd entered the N&DCA '10' on the F15/10 Brogborough course quite early, and as the date of the event drew close, the weather forecast was pretty dismal, with persistent rain forecast for the whole afternoon. Consequently I felt a bit apprehensive. However, on the day the conditions turned out to be near ideal with warm sunshine and a gentle sidewind throughout.

I never really know how my first time trial in a while is likely to go, and to be frank I'd have been happy with a sub-24 minute ride. I'd done a few Zwift time trials, but I find them rather tedious and surprisingly hard compared to a real life time trial. Anyway, the HQ for this course is only about 4 minutes bike ride for me, and as per usual I went down to the HQ, signed on, chatted with a few people and ridden up to near the start far too early. I rode a few loops round Brogborough then went to hang around at the start for a bit.

Launching off down the start descent, I took things a little cautiously and stayed on the base bars. Once at the bottom I settled down onto the aero extensions and really got going. I'd got my Garmin on a slightly complicated display, and the only field I could reliably see was the 10s average power and the average power. Well, that would be enough... At the bottom of the start descent it was showing an average of about 235W, but that rapidly picked up as I approached an average of 257W, which I held pretty well through the race. In the trace, you can see the power drop as I approach the roundabouts on the course, with a spike as I come out back onto the road.

Shortly before the turn I was passed by #49, who'd started a minute behind me. It wasn't until after the turn that he really motored away from me. And then #50 came by (no surprise there). I did pass the two riders who started one and two minutes ahead of me. I was feeling pretty good and with an average of 257W I felt I was riding well within my capability.

I crossed the line in 22:51, which was quite a bit better than I'd expected. The average power reported on my Garmin was 257W, and I really felt that I could have lifted that a few more watts without having any difficulty.

I'll be back on the F15/10 on 16th April for the first North Bucks evening event of 2025. It'll be interesting to see how that goes.