Stoke Hammond 10 13/8/14

As the season moves on, we reached the penultimate evening event in the NBRC time trial series with another event on the Stoke Hammond bypass course. A field of 16 riders turned out on a slightly blustery evening of sunny spells and pleasant temperatures. Not too bad for the ride, though I expected a head wind up to the DC section (and I was concerned that my Hed Stinger 90 might be slightly twitchy).

The start was less affected by the windy conditions, at least until after the second roundabout, when the road rises towards the DC section. I kept the effort up, only to be forced to a sudden tub-scraping skid of a stop by a car overtaking me just before the roundabout and stopping! Up to speed again, on the DC, and I could see riders in front of me, getting closer. I was feeling pretty good. Couldn’t read my Garmin other than speed, so I had no idea what HR I was on, as as for recent events was riding mostly on feel.

Once round the turn, I could see a pall of very dark cloud ahead of me and I was getting increasingly concerned that I’d get soaked. Again. Fortunately, the raing didn’t approach very quickly, and I had the opportunity to storm down to the finish, with a wind-assisted run along the false flat to the line.

I can in with 22:54 for second place, which I was quite pleased with. I was also first on vet standard.

Sadly, the rainstorm got us just as Tony arrived with the results, and I had a very wet ride home!