As is now usual, Team Grumpy prepared intensively for the 48h prior to this event: a preparation which entails consumption of takeaway curry and Belgian beer.  We woke on the morning of the event feeling surprisingly chipper considering the quantity of preparation, and were somewhat disappointed to see thick fog blanketing southern Wales.  Fortunately the weather lifted, leaving clear sunny conditions with a light but rising wind.Team Grumpy performed pretty much as we expected: a good showing of 2-up technique with our overall speed hampered by inadequate training (illness and injury most recently).  That being said, we kept up a pretty good pace over the first half of the event, which is held on a section of dual carriageway, and really only found the second half, which is on an older road with a pretty damaged road surface and quite a bit of climbing a bit challenging - it was here that we found the defects in our preparation exposed.We crossed the line in 1:01:25, fairly respectable we thought - until we saw the winners did a long 53!  Our ride was enlivened by a puncture while warming up (Robert) and an unshipped chain at about 18 miles (Gerry), but was otherwise uneventful.

 I woke to a grey drizzly morning, and then the weather deteriorated into quite heavy showers.  So it was with a distinct lack of enthusiasm that I pedalled up to Astwood for this morning's club time trial.  In fact, by the time I reached the course meeting point, the rain had eased quite a bit (but I was pretty wet and dirty by then).  But the wet and blustery conditions seemed to have deterred most riders, as only four turned out: a pair from Team Corley, Ian  from Chronos RT, and me.  And I was the only rider on a time trial bike.Heading out from the start, I got stopped after only a few yards, due to a line of traffic on the course. I got rolling again, to find that I was fighting a blustery wind all the way down to the first turn at Chicheley.  Never mind, I thought, it'll be easier after the turn.  It wasn't.  In fact the blustery wind didn't seem to give much assistance anywhere, and I felt I made quite slow progress what with taking the corners rather gingerly due to the wet roads, and dodging considerable numbers of muddy patches left by tractors.I finished in 24:42, which I'm quite pleased with... After a short chat with Tony after the event, the rain was back, so I hurriedly cycled back home to get cleaned up. 

As I write this, I'm looking out at the weather, which seems to me to be a glorious morning for a time trial - brilliant sunshine with a gentle breeze, albeit a little chilly judging by the frost on the grass.  And about now (8am), I should be getting the last of my kit together before cycling over to the race HQ.  So, what's the problem?  Another blasted cold, that's what - I learnt my lesson about training and racing with a cold a few years ago.  This gave rise to Team Grumpy's fifth rule:

Never train or race with a bad cough - it will destroy your entire season.

On the back of a frankly lacklustre season, we (Team Grumpy, a.k.a Gerry and Robert) were uncertain how things would go for them at the 2011 edition of the Duo Normand, the 30th time the event has been run (and the 8th in which Team Grumpy has competed). As usual, signing on was a bunfight in a large marquee in the centre of Marigny. On the day, we successfully dodged some quite heavy showers by decamping to the Sport Bar for a coffee while we waited out the worst of the showers.

Another glorious day as the Indian Summer continued through the weekend.  Today saw the North Bucks Road Club hill climb championship, run as usual at Bow Brickhill.  I think the residents of Bow Brickhill are used to mountain bikers congregating on Sunday mornings, but this morning was enlivened by a high turn out and even some spectators!  Presumably this unprecedented enthusiasm was in large part down to the glorious weather.Recently resurfaced (which removed the friable and frankly skittery road surface), the Bow Brickhill climb is quite challenging to race up.  To be perfectly honest, hill climbs have always seemed to me to be a particularly vile kind of time trialling.  This morning I had a bit of a rush to get sorted, as I discovered my road bike had developed a 'garage puncture' since I parked it in the garage on Friday afternoon.  I really don't know how I manage it, though Carol reckons is the big spiders jumping on the valve.Once that was sorted, it was off to Bow Brickhill, where I was surprised by the turnout.  When my start came round my heart was racing even before the off , which gives some indication of my fitness following the post-Duo cold I've been suffering from.  Afte a brisk start, the road rears up, and I started shifting down a few cogs.  Here I suffered my first jumping gears.  Not to worry I thought, just keep plugging away...the trouble is that on climbs I tend to go into 'tourist mode' rather than 'race mode', and I just eased back that bit too much!  Round the bend and the gradient eases.  I shifted up a few gears. Crash! Bang! More gear crashes!  Still, I kept what little momentum I had and headed on up the road expecting the finish to be round the next bend.False expectation!  It was round the bend after that!  I came up the last bit rather too slowly and finished just under 3 minutes.  Not a spectacular result, but I suppose at least I tried.   After a spot of recuperation (and chat with riders) it was off home to get on the the business of coughing my lungs up in private.I still hate hill climbs.Results to follow.

Last year, I wrote a couple of blog articles reviewing my year's cycling: 2010 Season Review and My Year in Cycling.  Last season, of course, saw something of a resurgence in my racing.  A combination of motivation (new time trial frameset, defying my entry to my second half century on this planet) with a revised approach to training saw me post my best short distance (10 mile, 25 mile and 50 mile) time trial results in about 6 years.  So, how did things pan out in 2011?RacingThe early months of the year saw me following the same sort of training strategy used in 2010.  Essentially (and as usual) the main place I train is on the turbo trainer in the garage.  Boring, maybe, but it's a place where I can get the effort out without dodging traffic or being restricted by short days.  As in 2010, the majority of these sessions were done quite early in the day, before heading off to work.  Everything was going swimmingly well (resting heart rate dropping, threshold power rising) when disaster struck in February.  About three weeks before my opening event in the season, the now traditional Port Talbot Wheelers 2-up '25', I seriously ricked my back parking the tandem in the bike shed at work.  This took me out of training for at least three weeks, and indeed was still giving me trouble at the 2-up.  Our combined lack of fitness meant we posted a pretty deplorable time, but at least we collected the prize for the fastest Composite team.  In all honesty, that was due to a lack of other teams in the category.  Still, at least that was a start to the season.Unfortunately the season continued to disappoint.  I had about three heavy colds during the season, all of which knocked me back in fitness terms, and the weather during much of the 'summer' remained atrocious.  All in all, I did not race much and when I did, I did not do well at all.Finally, the season's close heaved into view, and as usual this was marked by the Duo Normand, possibly my favourite event.  This year's edition was the 30th and the eighth time Gerry and I had ridden.  In 2010, we'd finally won a category (Corporate) and we were anxious not to do badly this year.  In the end, we had the most atrocious conditions we'd seen at the Duo (as you can see from this video), and we were rather relieved to make it to second place.My performance at the Duo seemed to me to be OK, given that a week before going to France I suffered a heavy cold, and a few days before the race I picked up another.  Frankly had this been a local event on the F1 I wouldn't have started in those conditions and with a cold but, hey, this was the Duo Normand...And with that, my season was over.  Oh and another cold...TouringThis year's Scottish tour started from Ullapool and we intended to proceed around the north coast of Scotland, and possibly make an excursion to Orkney.  As you can read elsewhere on this site, it all went pretty much awry, with a major mechanical on day 2.  We then revised out plans and decided to base ourselves in Pitlochry for a series of day rides.  The second mechanical took the form of a front tyre blowout descending Ben Lawers.  A front tyre blowout on a tandem at 25 miles an hour is a bit of a terrifying experience, though mostly in recollection as it all happens so quickly.  Fortunately I can report that my jaded 50-something year old reflexes are still functioning in top-notch style - I successfully brought the tandem to a safe stop without falling off.  Getting home on a shredded tyre was rather nerve-racking, however.As usual, a second tandem cycling excursion accompanied our trip to Normandy for the Duo, though to be honest, we have explored Normandy to our satisfaction now, and we're looking into the possibility of a week in Brittany prior to the Duo Normand in 2012.All in all 2011 was a bit disappointing.  But never fear, I'll be back in 2012, hopefully firing on all cylinders.  Certainly my winter training seems to be going well at the moment. 

This event was one that we'd been targetting for some time, as it offered an opportunity to ride a 2-up time trial a couple of weeks before the 'big one', the Duo Normand.  The preceding evening saw classic Team Grumpy preparation, a large Thai dinner in the local Thai restaurant washed down with lashings of energy drink.  We must be getting a bit used to this dietary assault as we had no ill-effects (for a change).The Norlond '10' was being run on the F12/10, which uses the A505 Leighton Buzzard bypass, turning at its junction with the A5.  On arriving at the HQ, we had a chat with some of the tandem riders. who were off in front of the 2-up teams, at 1 minute intervals (the 2-up teams were riding at 3 minute intervals) and then set up the bikes and went off for a warmup.  Because we were near the start of the field, we had the opportunity to warm up on the course.  This was good, as it gave us a good feel for how the wind (which was rather stiff) would affect the course.  It turned out the return leg was definitely the harder leg, so we decided to take shorter turns for that leg.  It was also useful to gauge my body's response to effort: I had been suffering from quite a bad cold for the best part of two weeks which had kept me off the bike.  In fact, the worst I felt were some twinges in my legs which cleared by the time I started the event.We lined up at the start, in our usual starting formation with Gerry poised to lead off.  I exhorted him in front of witnesses not to look over his shoulder after he started, and for once, he didn't!  Somewhat disturbingly, I was in a bit of  a high gear for starting, so a gap quickly opened, but it closed quickly as I horsed the gear round.  I was at the front as we approached the Billington roundabout and for once we sailed through with no interfering traffic - indeed I stayed on the tri-bars.We powered off towards the turn, taking turns of about 1-2 minutes.  This was a quick leg, with a stiff tailwind assisting us.  I was surprised at how good I felt, and our changeovers seemed very smooth and professional.  Up the ramp to the turn and a gap opened up, but only briefly, we were together coming out of the turn.  Heading back was indeed tougher with a stiff headwind, but we responded by keeping the turns short.  Gerry exhorted me to take shorter turns, but all I could make out was a seemingly inarticulate and strangled shout.Back to the Billington roundabout again, and once more we got through without traffic problems.  I shouted to Gerry to go all out to the finish, which was by now in sight (I dare say all he heard was a seemingly inarticulate and strangled shout!).  Getting to the lne, I was annoyed to see a motorcyclist blocking the timekeeper's line of sight, so I bellowed out our number.We finished with 22:15, not a bad time in the conditions.  We'd caught a team for 6 minutes and were the fastest 2-up team (but the only all-male team, so that's not too important).  What was hugely encouraging for the upcoming Duo Normand 2-up, is that we both rode really well as a team, which highly effective changeovers.  Indeed some spectators later commented that we were riding so tightly that when seen oncoming we looked like a single bike.  All in all, a very encouraging race.  And just what we needed in the run up to 'the big event'. 

Both time trials I'd intended to ride this week were cancelled, adding to the general sense that my 2011 has been (and will probably continue to be) rather lacklustre.The North Bucks club event on Wednesday was abandoned due to roadworks on the course, complicated by some rather inexplicably high traffic levels.The API-Metrow '25' was to be held on the E2/25 on Saturday afternoon.  The weather forecast was pretty dreadful, and I'm never keen on riding DC courses in heavy rain.  As it was, Tony came round and we jointly decided we wouldn't trail over to Newmarket only to drive back.  We had an enjoyable day watching the Tour de France, eating curry and drinking beer.  Possibly not the best fitness regime... We did monitor the situation regarding the API-Metrow event on the timetrialling forum, and the event was indeed cancelled due to the prevailing conditions.  They plan to run it again, I think on 17th September - the day before the Duo Normand!

The recent weather patterns were forecast to continue for this event - heavy showers were to be the main feature.  As it turned out, despite the glowering clouds, all we got was a little light drizzle for a few minutes.The Stagsden course (see map below) isn't a very frequently used course, so it made a bit of a change from the regular events.  Unfortunately, I rarely ride on the course, as in my annual cycle of work, I'm generally working away from home at this time of year.  I put this lack of 'course experience' down as the explanation of my lousy start in this event.  Shooting off from the start in decent style, my rheumy old eyes couldn't believe the 29.9mph my computer was showing.  Unfortunately, the road then went upwards - not as who should say a mountain, but a significant impediment to a rider in an inappropriate gear!  I found myself plugging up this gentle undulation at embarrassingly slow speed, before reaching Astwood and lifting the pace significantly.  I suspect this, and the ensuing oxygen debt cost me quite a few seconds, and indeed made me wonders what I was playing at.Fortunately, things improved from there, as I picked up speed between Astwood and the small climb to Chicheley, and made it to the turn roundabout in decent style.  Coming out of the turn, I could see Tony (who started a minute behind me) was gaining on me.  This spurred me on, and this together with a gentle tailwind no doubt lifted my pace for the return leg (you can see this in the Garmin trace below).  Despite getting stalled a bit by a motorist who was being excessively cautious in passing riders I was about to catch, I felt pretty good about the return leg, finishing in 22:48 (I think).  Results to follow.I was of course beaten by Tony (and also a visitor from Finchley RT), but that's kind of to be expected, I think, and at least he didn't catch me.  So, second NBRC rider in a League event.

This event was looking promising.  A warm and overcast evening, there was a breeze that looked likely to help the riders up the hill to Nash.  The timekeepers, riders and associated personnel were congregated at the start, when a bloke in a big 4x4 pulled up an announced that there was a significant car crash between Beachampton and Nash. This was just before the first rider was about to start - we duly held off starting and dispatched Chris on his motorbike to investigate whether the road was indeed closed.  It turned out to be the case, and the location of the crash prevented us from switching to the Whaddon circuit.So that was that.  A 33 mile round trip and no race!  This is the second time in three events that we've bee forced to cancel an event just as we were to start.Not riding events is becoming a bit of a feature of my 2011 season!  Hopefully the Hitchin Nomad '10' using the F1/10 on Sunday will go ahead without disruption.

A lovely morning greeted us as we loaded my bike into the car.  As we drove over to Tempsford, the conditions became rather misty though this had cleared by the time we lined up at the start.  Also rather disappointing was the head wind to the turn, which rendered the outbound leg rather stodgy - I was certainly struggling to keep the speed over 25mph.The current incarnation of the F1/10 runs southbound from near Tempsford, across the Sandy roundabout to turn at the Biggleswade North (Warden Lane) roundabout, with a finish line really close to Tempsford Hall.  Joining the A1 after the start is rather nice - it's a sliproad coming down from a flyover.  Unfortunately, the 29+mph I'd got up to coming down the sliproad soon evaporated and I was plugging along trying to keep the speed above 25mph.  Once at the turn, things looked up a bit and I found myself doing 28-30 mph most of the way back from the turn.I finished with 22:33 (somewhat better than I'd expected in the first half of the race), around 18 seconds slower than Tony.  In fact there weren't many really quick times today - the event was won with a 21, I think.Back home, where Tony and I had cappuccinos, then nipped out for a 33 mile easy ride  out through Soulbury, Stewkley and Hoggeston, during which we saw some charity bike ride under way.  All in all a rather good Sunday morning.

The recent spell of hot and muggy weather continued through to this event, although the lunchtime thunderstorm caused a bit of concern - were this to happen at the event, I could have seen the third cancellation in four events!  By 7pm it was rather better than that, but with a breeze that made conditions rather harder on the outward leg.Annoyingly, I got stalled by traffic at the first and second roundabouts, which always interrupts my concentration a bit.  On the dual carriageway, I initially found my concentration wavering, but then set to the task of catching my minute man (which took until some distance beyond the turn).  Rounding the turn, I was counting the time off until I saw Tony - when I did see him, it seemed to me that he was on a good ride.Back of the dual carriageway, and I was horsing down the hill to the last two roundabouts.  Unfortunately I was again held up by traffic at both - once by a huge white lorry with a train of following cars that (in discussions after the event) had encountered riders at elsewhere on the course.I finished in 4th place with 22:19.  Tony was in first place with an excellent 21:30, so a nice return to form for him!Results:

An odd morning, weatherwise - quite bright as we drove out to Tempsford but rather heavily overcast for most of the event.  In fact I was quite surprised it didn't rain, and the general darkness of the cloud certainly suggested we might be in for a bit of a downpour.  An additional worry for me was that I'd only just returned from a week off the bike at residential school in Nottingham.  Not only does that keep me off the bike, but the diet is rather dodgy, with too much greasy and stodgy food topped off with more alcohol than I'm used to.So it was with trepidation that I set off for this event.  I wasn't feeling too great, having slept badly and got up early, and to add insult to injury my inward parts were still suffering from the last week.  I made a vague effort at warming up, during which my heart rate resolutely refused to rise above 150bpm.  Anyway, I returned to the start line, had a chat with other riders and the start crew, then off I went.The event was on the F1B/25, reputedly the slower of the two courses based on the A1 near Tempsford.  You can see the course on the Garmin map below.  After joining the A1, the course heads south across the Sandy, Biggleswade North and Biggleswade South roundabouts, to turn at a roundabout under the point where the A1 becomes the A1(M), near Baldock.  In general terms, the turn is higher than the start, with considerable uphill and downhill sections in the southern section.  I had no real problems, other than lassitude in the legs, and no traffic related issues other than nearly seeing a car crash happen at Biggleswade North (which had my heart in my mouth), and getting delayed by a lorry (but that won't have delayed me much) at the Sandy roundabout.I got to the turn in a bit less than 30 minutes, which is usually OK, as the return leg is often a bit quicker.  There was a stiff sidewind which meant that the return leg wasn't as consistently fast as I'd hoped.  Still, I finished with 58:15.  That's the fastest '25' I've ridden this year, I believe, but only because it's only the second solo '25' of the season.  Let's face it, my 2011 season has not been good so far!  Tony finished with 55:43 I think, a sterling ride on a not-so-quick day on a not-so-quick course.

This event was the last evening event in the North Bucks time trial series (the remaining events will be run at weekends).  The turnout was quite small (about 9 riders, I think) probably because of the weather.  The drizzly weather had set in during the afternoon, and by the time I left work to ride over to the race, it had turned into rather more persistent (though light) rain.Still, this was a counting league event, so some of us were up to it, including Lindz, Tony and Geoff - all of whom are on good form at the moment.  For my part, I wasn't looking forward to dragging my body up the hill on the outward leg, particularly as my attempts at weight loss have been a bit derailed of late.  This 'anticipation' pretty much reflected reality.While I satisfactorily reeled in some of the riders ahead of me, as usual I found tackling the first half to be the usual hard ride.  Indeed, I reckon it took me 15 minutes or so to reach the turn.  In my own defence, I have to say I was taking some of the turns a bit conservatively, as I wasn't keen to take a tumble so near to the Duo Normand.  Anyway, the return leg was as usual much quicker, peaking at 69kph.I finished in 27:10, not too bad for the conditions.  I'm pretty sure that Tony (26:08) and Lindz (a long 26) both finished with course PBs.  I've no idea what my best on this course is, and have no easy way of finding out, I think.

So, today I was riding the Chronos RT '10' over on the F2A/10 (A428), courtesey of Clive who kindly gave me a lift over.  The day had dawned rather calm and sunny, but the wind had built up during the morning and by the time we got over to the race HQ, it was really quite strong.  Added to this was the threat in the weather forecasts of light rain at about the time the race was to be on.I got to the HQ and got the bike all set up, and rolled off to do a warmup.  This went OK, until I suffered what appeared to be a front tyre blowout* at about the furthest point from the race start.  I am very grateful to #52 (Jan Ertner of Cambridge CC), who insisted on riding back to the HQ to fetch a wheel, which he lent me for the race.  I also have to say the number of riders who stopped to see if they could help was really heartening.  In the end Jan found me again, we swapped out the wheel (the replacement was a standard road wheel) and I sprinted for the start while he took my trispoke to leave with the time keeper.I made it to the start line in time to see #36 depart (I was #35).  Fortunately I didn't have long to wait for a start, as #37 was a DNS.  Somewhat disturbed by all the excitement, I failed to reset my computer (hence the somewhat extended Garmin trace below) as I set off to rescue my day.  I zoomed off from the start, made the sharp left at the roundabout and hacked off down the sliproad onto the A428 at about 29mph.  The speed ddn't hold for long, as it dropped to around 23-24mph for a bit as the full force of the head wind took its toll.Once into the swing of things, however, the pace picked up.  The course is actually pretty flat and if one could ride on a calm day might be pretty quick.  I reached the turn, which I negotiated easily, despite the motorist who tried to drive through me.  The return leg was a fair bit quicker, as the cross wind had enough of a tailwind in it.  I spent much of the return leg ruminating on what time I was likely to to finish in (as I'd not rest the computer), and felt pretty comfortable cruising along.After finishing, I paused at the start to see if they had my wheel, then back to the HQ.  As I write this, I don't know my exact time, but I recall a short 24 on the results board.  Taking into account the extra two minutes, I think that's a decent result on the day**.*Back home, I examined the tyre and tube closely.  There are no punctures in the tyre, but a series of small holes in the inner tube.**Paul T. who was manning the results board tells me 23:05 including 50s late start penalty...I'll add the results when they are available.  In the meantime here's my Garmin trace:And a photo taken by Dave Jones at the Cambourne underpass.  This was on the outward leg.  Note Jan's wheel![caption id="attachment_1609" align="alignnone" width="576" caption="On the outward leg of the Chronos RT '10', with borrowed front wheel"][/caption]

The previous posting describes my recent ride in the Norlond Combine 50 mile time trial on the F1/50. To summarise: I felt ill throughout, and had a really rotten race!  Here's a brief clip showing me shortly before the finish.  The comment about '400 Watts' is a running joke in Team Grumpy (see for example this blog article).Norlond '50' 15-May-11

This evening time trial was on the Stony Stratford course, and was on another blustery evening.  At least the rain (which had been promised by the occasional spot during the afternoon) held off, and it was quite warm for those of us who'd ridden to the event.  On the downside, the problems I've been having with my back resurfaced on the ride over.  Accordingly I resolved to try and moderate my gear on the tougher sections of the course.  This isn't my favourite course, as one needs to haul oneself up a substantial climb between Beachampton and Nash.  I was off #11, with Chris D. off a minute behind, which I figured would give me a bit of encouragement.At the allotted moment, I belted off from the line and soon found myself round the first bend and into the headwind.  Still, I was making progress as I caught a couple of riders before Nash.  I rounded the double bend at Nash and redoubled my efforts, only to be held up by a small group of cows being moved between fields (and a couple of cars held up by said cows).  I was forced to halt, or at least slow to a crawl.  Eventually, Chris came up behind, and (being made of sterner stuff than I) pushed past the cars and through the cows.  I decided that if he could do it, so could I, and followed.  From there on, Chris and I were riding at pretty similar paces to the turn, and all the way back to the finish.  I did pass Chris on the descent from Nash (big gear!) and eventually finished a couple of lengths behind him.As I write this, I haven't had the results sent through, but my computer indicates a short 28.  Looking at the computer trace (see below), the "cow incident" seems to have reduced me to a crawl for about a minute, which would leave me with a time similar to that I recorded in this event last year, 27:19.Oh, and my nice clean time trial bike ended up spattered in cow poop.  Oh well.Read on for results and the Garmin trace!

Dave Jones kindly sent over a photo of me he'd taken during last weekend's Norlond Combine '50' on the F1/50 course - at the risk of appearing excessively vain, I thought I'd post it here.  I noticed him getting set up on the exit from the Sandy roundabout as I approached the turn, so I had time to compose myself so as not to look like I was on the point of throwing up (not, you understand, through effort - rather it was due to the weekend's over-indulgence, never a good training strategy).  I think I managed the composure thing rather well.[caption id="attachment_1497" align="alignleft" width="432" caption="Gritting my teeth at the Norlond '50', 15th May 2011"][/caption]

There was a lovely start to the day - I set out under cloudless skies, but clouds gradually appeared, and by the end of the event we were riding in blustery wind and rain.  So the weather icon on the left is a bit of a compromise.  It wasn't particularly warm, given that this is mid-June, and when the rain arrived, it got still colder.This being my first time trial since going on what purported to be a cycle touring holiday (you can read more about it here), I didn't have huge hopes for a stellar performance.  Usually it takes me a week or two to get back into the swing of racing.  I'd received a link to the startsheet by email.  At first I couldn't find where I was - this turned out to be because I was the penultimate rider to start, one minute before the great Ian Cammish.  Well, two thoughts crossed my mind.  Firstly, just when would Cammish come roaring past me (reckoned by the time I passed Tempsford heading north for the first time), and secondly what a contrast to my last open event, where I was the first rider off!  Carol had ridden roughshod over my dopey plan to ride over to Tempsford for this event (and given how the weather turned out, how glad I was) so it was quite a leisurely trip over from home.  I wasn't feeling in peak of condition, for reasons that I won't bother with here, and hadn't slept well.  On the other hand, the morning was glorious, with quite a gentle wind from the south.As I lined up for my start, I noticed Geoff P. scooting up asking for a late start - given that he was number 46, this would have been about 45 minutes late start penalty!  Geoff and I are usually at a similar pace, and having him two minutes behind me could spur me on, but only if I had any oomph in my legs...Off I went, and up the lane to the roundabout that takes riders down the sliproad and onto the A1 southbound.  Hallelujah!  The Council has deigned to repair the dreadful potholes that have blighted this RAB so far this season.  Joy was not long-lived, as I felt just dreadful on that short southbound leg.  Indeed, I toyed with the idea of chucking it in.  However, I'm made of sterner stuff than that - my view is that packing in doesn't get you anywhere and that riding as best I could would at least represent a good training ride.  After rounding the turn, things got a little better, though not good enough to hold Cammish off until Tempsford...Rounding the Buckden turn for the first time, I found the headwind light enough, though by the time I reached the Black Cat, I was definitely feeling it.  Before then, I'd passed Steve T. on the roadside with a puncture.  The pattern was repeated for the second half of the time trial, though is was apparent when I can round the Buckden RAB the second time that the headwind had got significantly stronger.  It continued to do so until I found myself grovelling along for the final mile to the finish, trying to stay above a measly 20mph.So, not a good day.  I finished with 2:03:06, about a minute back on my last '50' on the same course a few weeks back.  I felt pretty crap then.  David Jones was on the course taking photographs.Results to follow.  If I can bear to reveal them.

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