We had a nice evening for this event, in contrast to my ride to work on the P5 through pretty damp conditions. I also picked up a flint that penetrated my front tyre. I booted the tyre while at work, and got it reasonably inflated before riding out to Stony Stratford for the evening's time trial. I arrived to find quite a few riders lined up to sign on - in total we had 15 riders.I found the outbound leg tough as usual - but I thought my speed was even slower than usual, especially on the climb to Nash. Anyway, once through Nash, things picked up a little, and certainly after the turn I felt pretty good. It was a bit irritating therefore to be stopped by a car backing out of a drive and then sitting stationary in the road. I passed this car (the driver said something to me as I passed, but I couldn't catch it) and quickly got up to speed.I roared down the hill to Beachampton at a pretty good lick, before coping with the turns, rough surfaces and generally draggy sections of the course and finishing. I ended up with 27:11, to take the win this evening. I was left wondering if I'd have sneaked a long 26 had I not been delayed by that car!Results (at the NBRC website) 

This open ’10’ was on the by now familiar F15/10 Brogborough course. I rode out to the HQ in the Marston Social Club in plenty of time. I was planning on wearing one of my skinsuits modified with a NoPinz number pocket, so I took the skinsuit in a backpack along with my aerohat. It was quite clear on the ride out that the time trial would be affected by a headwind on the return leg (and, of course, would benefit from a tailwind on the way out).

Having got my number sorted in my skinsuit, I changed into it and set out for the start. I arrived, as usual, ridiculously early and after a quick circuit of Brogborough I decided to hang around at the start. The pusher-off was pretty good - using a single hand he very effectively held me upright and set me off well.

This event was the club’s time trial championship, and as usual was held over two laps of the Astwood circuit. As for the other events on the course, we used the revised version that starts and finishes near the BikeBus cafe (and most recently modified to start further from houses).

The evening was pretty nice and warm, not so hot as it was for last week’s event. Unfortunately the wind seemed to get up rather a lot, which gave me some concerns. When I reached the signing on about half an hour before the start, I was surprised to find myself signing on as number 18 - clearly a good turnout! In fact we had 21 riders, at least one of whom was riding a time trial for the first time. As an aside, the North Bucks Road Club are planning a third “Come and try it” time trial in August, as this year we seem to have managed publicity more effectively!

The hottest day of the year saw 13 riders lining up for a club event on the Stoke Hammond course in very hot and humid conditions. It was actually around 37^oC for the race! I arrived quite early, as Tony was setting out some signage and I ended up hanging about, beating off the horse flies that plagued us. In fact, as I write this a few days after the event, I’m suffering several itchy bites!

Anyway, that didn’t really dent my performance. What dented that was the stiff old headwind out on the dual carriageway, and particularly on the rise up to the turn roundabout. By the time I reached the dual carriageway section, my mouth had dried up and got rather gummy. This made things a bit worse than I’d have liked! It was, of course a consequence of removing my bottle cage after the debacle on the Brogborough course the other week.

Our 2015 tour was organised after a winter and spring in which our cycling had been seriously curtailed by pressure of work. Accordingly (a) we desperately needed a break, and (b) I needed to be quite conservative about projected daily mileage.

In which I almost bottle out, then lose my bottle!

After last week's relatively balmy conditions, this evening was a bit of a shock. Unseasonably cold, and with a very strong head wind for the out bound leg, this event was always going to be 'interesting'.Over the past week, I'd been having a bit of trouble with the front brake on my P5 bike. I had stupidly screwed the pressure point adjustment screw too far in, to the point the brake was no longer functional. This required a tricky disassembly and then re-filling the system with oil. It took a fair bit of application to do this. It wasn't until the day of the race that I finally got this sorted out!  There had also been some kind of serious accident on the course on the previous week (I don't know the details, but sadly I think it involved several fatalities). This had needed some kind of repairs to the roadside barriers, and threatened a weekend open event, though it was cleared by Wednesday evening.Anyway, I rode over in time to sign on as #22. I got cold at the start! The initial descent was a little alarming, with the wind buffeting my front H3, and I decided discretion was the better part of valour and didn't attempt to use the tribars. At the bottom of the hill, I could see a large collection of flowers left at the roadside, but the newly repaired tarmac and barriers, which sort of stuck in the mind a bit.Once down the hill, it was quite odd, with my speed varying between low 20s and well over 27 mph, presumably depending on a mix of gradient and exposure to the headwind. I wasn't too troubled by this most of the way, and anyway was looking forward to the return leg! I had no traffic holdups at either the first or the turn RAB, and I set off on the return.I quickly found myself flying back. Sadly, I was zooming along at around 30mph over one of the rougher sections of tarmac when I heard a bang and a clatter, and I saw black object leap off my bike, bounce of my transmission and disappear back off down the road. My first reaction was that it was one of the front brake shrouds (remember I'd been fiddling with the front brake), so I jammed the anchors on. At least the front brake did work! It turned out to be the bottle, now minus its cap. I retrieved the bottle and set off again, cursing myself for not just carrying on (after all, a capless aero bottle isn't much use).The rest of the race was pretty uneventful, though the stop must have cost me quite a bit of time, especially since I found myself starting a in a mammoth gear! Still, you live and learn!Next up should be the Hemel Hempstead '10' on the F11/10 on Saturday. After missing some events due to pressure of work, I'm keen to ride, even if the forecast weather leaves something to be desired!

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -	Vets Std
1	6	Ady Dench	Sheffrec CC	22.15	V46	26.27	.+ 4.12	1
2	13	Richard Golding	Equipe Velo	23.02	V46	26.27	.+ 3.25	2
3	21	Jason Lee	TeamMK	23.24	V46	26.27	.+ 3.03	5
4	23	Lindz Barral	Equipe Velo	23.28	Sen
5	22	Robert Saunders	NBRC	23.47	V55	27.09	.+ 3.22	3
6	19	Andy Wickham	NBRC	23.57	V44	26.18	.+ 2.21	9
7	24	Tim Bailey	TeamMK	24.01	V48	26.36	.+ 2.35	.= 6
8	15	Graham Line	NBRC	24.10	V50	26.45	.+ 2.35	.= 6
9	16	Alan Crane	Chronos RT	24.14	V46	26.27	.+ 2.13	10
10	18	Kevin Creese	Chronos RT	24.27	V61	27.44	.+ 3.17	4
11	9	Ant Newland	Bossard Wheelers	24.32	V49	26.41	.+ 2.09	12
12	12	Dave Price	NBRC	24.51	V47	26.32	.+ 1.41	14
.=13	5	Graham Mackie	Corley Cycles	24.52	V53	26.59	.+ 2.07	13
.=13	14	Jacob Tresham	Corley - Drops RT	24.52	Jnr.
15	11	Ian Markham	Chronos RT	25.02	V46	26.27	.+ 1.25	15
16	8	Paul Woodham	Bossard Wheelers	25.54	V64	28.06	.+ 2.12	11
17	4	Dave Brown	Leighton Buzzard Roads CC	25.58	V66	28.23	.+ 2.25	8
18	3	Ian Stokes	45 Road Club	26.19	V55	27.09	.+ 0.50	17
19	17	David Creese	Chronos RT	26.49	V63	27.59	.+ 1.10	16
20	7	Trevor Watson	Bossard Wheelers	27.20	V56	27.14	.- 0.06	19
21	20	Luke Daniells	NBRC	28.12	V42	26.09	.- 2.03	20
22	10	Helene Wight	Corley Cycles	28.31	LV52	29.03	.+ 0.32	18
23	2	Dave Crane	Chronos RT	31.26	V50	26.45	.- 4.41	22
24	1	John Pick	Chronos RT	32.39	V70	29.02	.- 3.37	21
Time keepers:- Steph Cousins & Tony Farmborough NBRC
Pusher off:- Bryan Scarborough. NBRC

This was my first time trial after returning from our tandem cycle tour in the Hebrides and was a return to the Stony Stratford course after three weeks (I failed to post a report on that event). It was actually the nicest evening for a club event this year, nice and warm and with only a light breeze to contend with.The nice weather brought out the usual crop of airborne arthropods (the course is flanked by crops, livestock and waterways): throughout the event, I could hear insects bouncing off my aero hat! Actually, my legs felt they were still in touring mode, and in particular I found getting up the hill to Nash a bit tough, even tought than usual. Other than that, I cannot point the finger at any cause of problems.I finished with 28:11, to take third place (second place on vets standard), behind Simon Cannings, who did a sterling ride, and Dave Glossy. Results

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -
1	11	Simon Cannings	Equipe Velo	25.57	V45	30.07	.+ 4.10
2	10	David Glossy	Team Corley	27.40	V42	29.51	.+ 2.11
3	12	Robert Saunders	NBRC	28.11	V55	31.00	.+ 2.49
4	14	Tim Bailey	TeamMK	28.18	V48	30.22	.+ 2.04
5	6	Andy Sharman	Baines Racing	28.26	V44	30.02	.+ 1.36
6	16	Jason Lee	TeamMK	28.30	V46	30.12	.+ 1.42
7	5	Ant Newland	Bossard Wheelers	28.35	V49	30.28	.+ 1.53
8	8	Graham Line	NBRC	29.10	V50	30.33	.+ 1.23
9	9	Darren Haydon	NBRC	29.20	V44	30.02	.+ 0.42
10	17	Gavin Old	Equipe Velo	29.44	V43	29.56	.+ 0.12
11	13	Mick Atkinson	TeamMK	29.50	V46	30.12	.+ 0.22
12	4	Paul Woodham	Bossard Wheelers	30.16	V64	32.06	.+ 1.50
13	7	Clive Faine	TeamMK / MKCA	31.27	V68	32.46	.+ 1.19
14	3	Trevor Watson	Bossard Wheelers	32.26	V56	31.06	.- 1.20
15	2	Wayne Thomas	NBRC	32.42	V64	32.06	.- 0.36
16	1	John Pick	Chronos RT	39.27	V70	33.10	.- 6.17
	15	Luke Daniells	NBRC	DNF	V42	29.51
Time Keepers:- Steph Cousins & Tony Farmborough NBRC
Pusher off:- Bryan Scarborough. NBRC

The club had agonised about whether to run this event - 24h beforehand, it was clear that we were heading for some pretty windy conditions, with gusts up to 50mph (and of course the Astwood circuit is pretty much on a hill!). We finally took the decision not to cancel, as the BBC forecast suggested the gales would subside to a mere 24mph by 7pm.So I rode to work on my P5 as usual on race day. Unfortunately when I can to leave work for the race, I found it so windy that riding a P5 with a front trispoke was alarming at best and downright dangerous at worst! I got a lift home and switched to the P3 with a rear trispoke and a regular road wheel in the front. Unfortunately, this left me only 25 minutes to dash to the start. What the hell, I thought, I'll go for it! Sadly, the railway crossing barriers were down and I got stuck for several minutes there. It was clearly very gusty as I pressed on. I had a tail wind up the hill to Cranfield and onward to the start point of the race, so I made pretty good time. I arrived a few minutes after 7pm (well warmed up), to find several riders plus timekeepers milling about deciding whether to abandon. By this time, the wind had really whistled in, bearing a nasty shower. A few riders ventured off down the course to evaluate the situation, and an in the end the wise decision was taken to abandon and we retired to the Bikebus cafe for a coffee before returning home.It did seem as though conditions were better while we were in the cafe, but frankly I think that was an illusion - it was still pretty awful as I rode home, and I had a couple of very alarming gusts.

This was only my second ride on this fast 10 mile course (F11/10), based on the A41 Tring bypass. It's a fast course because of the significant hill riders descend, but don't have to race back up. The last time I rode the course, I got held up by a line of cars at the first turn, which sort of reduced the race to a training ride!I went out to this event with Katja, who's been seeing some good performances lately, and who was off about 15 minutes after me. As per usual, I felt a distinct lack of enthusiasm as we drove out to the event and as warmed up. Also as per usual for me, the enthusiasm suddenly surfaced as I was just about to start!The start is on a slip road down to the A41, and I quickly got up to speed. Unfortunately that didn't last, as soon I was on the section of road that was resurfaced last year (much to the disgust of regular riders on the course) with a really rough tarmac. I found myself clattering along and feeling that everything was horribly inefficient. Still, that section got much better and by the time I reached the turn, everything seemed fine. I got round the turn without problems and set out on the main leg of the event.I felt great, and especially so on the descent, where I hit 47mph or thereabouts. We'd been warned of a couple of potholes, but frankly the road seemed in pretty good nick. I also got round the second turn without problems, and set off towards the finish. The last half mile or so seemed quite tough, not sure why! We'd been warned that we'd be disqualified if we didn't ride properly up the sliproad to pass the finish timekeeper, so I made sure I kept left! I finished in 21:27, which I think is my third best '10' ever, and my best in the the last 5 years. Just as I finished, the rain began. I think Katja got a bit wet out there, but finished with a PB (22:42?). I haven't seen a results sheet yet.

This was the first time the Brogborough '10' course had been used for an NBRC club event. The course was first used a few years ago when the new link road to the Bedford bypass was opened, thereby rendering the old A421 quite quiet. It features a gift start hill that doesn't need to to raced back up. On the other hand, the road can be quite exposed, and the surface leaves a bit to be desired in places. The Marston Moretaine roundabout needs a bit of care on the outbound leg, because the exit lane doesn't seem in line with the entry lane!On the evening, the weather was fairly breezy - what wind there was provided a bit of side and a bit of tail wind going out - though there was enough crosswind to make things a bit twitchy at times.I was number 17 in a field of 21, and as I lined up at the crest of the hill in the lea of a big articulated lorry, dark clouds were gathering as the temperature dropped. A few big raindrops fell, and I think we all felt a bit apprehensive!I set off down the hill, feeling reasonably good. There were a few minor twitches due to the wind, but nothing alarming. The outbound leg had been widely expected to be roaring fast, but I guess the real direction of the wind was not going to allow that. At times my speed fell and rose for seemingly inexplicable reasons! I had no trouble with traffic at the first pass through the Marston roundabout and only got slowed slightly at the turn roundabout. I had Andy Wickham in my sights by this time, and on the return leg used him as a target (I eventually passed him shortly before the finish).In the return leg, my speed seemed to fluctuate quite a bit, but by dint of keeping in a quite big gear, I kept things rolling well enough. The last half mile seemed absolute torture to me! I finished in 22:30 to take second place behind Jez, who did a splendid 21:11.Results

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -	Vets Std
1	4	Jez Honor	Equipe Velo	21.11	V44	26.18	.+ 5.07	1
2	17	Robert Saunders	NBRC	22.30	V55	27.09	.+ 4.39	2
3	12	Simon Moss	Equipe Velo	22.51	V41	26.04	.+ 3.13	4
4	21	Lindz Barral	Equipe Velo	23.02	Sen.
5	13	David Carrington	TeamMK	23.21	V49	26.41	.+ 3 20	3
6	6	James Barlow	Albarosa CC	23.28	Sen.
7	19	Alan Crane	Chronos RT	23.29	V46	26.27	.+ 2.58	6
8	16	Andy Wickham	NBRC	23.35	V44	26.18	.+ 2.43	9
9	8	Ant Newland	Bossard Wheelers CC	23.45	V49	26.41	.+ 2.56	7
10	3	Mick Atkinson	TeamMK	23.50	V46	26.27	.+ 2.37	10
11	11	Trevor Hook	TeamMK	24.34	V57	27.20	.+ 2.46	8
12	15	David Price	NBRC	24.52	V47	26.32	.+ 1.40	12
13	9	Paul Woodham	Bossard Wheelers CC	24.58	V63	27.59	.+ 3.01	5
14	18	Ian Markham	Chronos RT	25.26	V46	26.27	.+ 1.01	14
15	7	Trevor Watson	Bossard Wheelers CC	26.07	V56	27.14	.+ 1.07	13
16	14	Ross Andrew Callacher	Leighton Buzzard Roads CC	26.23	Sen.
17	2	Clive Faine	TeamMK / NBRC	26.26	V68	28.42	.+ 2.16	11
18	20	Luke Daniells	NBRC	27.06	V42	26.09	.- 0.57	15
19	10	Dave Crane	Chronos RT	33.41	V50	26.45	.- 6.56	16

Katja Rietdorf (#5) didn't finish. Timekeepers were Steph and Tony, with Dick doing the pushing off. Bryan, who's hand was recovering from an operation was sort of general factotum and jacket curator.

I usually find the events on the club's Stony Stratford course not to my liking - the course runs out via Beachampton and Nash to turn at a roundabout on the A421. The outward leg therefore has a fair bit of climbing and usually acquires a new set of potholes over each winter. In the event of roadworks or other interference in the course, we revert to a back-up course. In the backup course, riders bear left soon after the start and proceed via Calverton and Whaddon, to turn at the A421 (at a roundabout just along the road from the normal turn). The course retraces and finishes short of a give way junction. This is closer to 10 miles than the usual Stony course.The replacement course is a bit more of a challenge in some ways, overall the road surface is atrocious, very rough and bumpy (though fortunately the road up towards Whaddon has been substantially repaired), and it has several sharp corners, spiced with numerous cars parked on the road.On the evening, I just couldn't get a sense of rhythm and found myself rattling and clattering around the course. I didn't have any trouble, as one often does on this course, with people manoeuvring cars in and out of driveways. But I found myself riding very cautiously round the bends and past the parked cars.On the return leg, I completely misjudged the short but very steep climb between Whaddon and Calverton, which really knocked the stuffing out of me! Altogether a rather unsatisfactory ride. Jez Honor showed the rest of us how to do it!Results

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -	Vets Std
1	11	Jez Honor	Equipe Velo	25.06	V44	27.54	.+ 2.48	1
2	7	Trevor Hook	TeamMK	27.30	V57	29.00	.+ 1.30	2
3	12	Robert Saunders	NBRC	27.35	V55	28.48	.+ 1.13	3
4	4	Ant Smith	TeamMK	28.11	Sen.
5	5	Mark Simmons	Open University CC	28.52	V42	27.44	.- 1.08	8
6	3	Mick Atkinson	TeamMK	28.53	V46	28.04	.- 0.49	4
7	13	David Price	NBRC	29.00	V47	28.08	.- 0.52	6
8	10	Ant Newland	Bossard Wheelers	29.09	V49	28.18	.- 0.51	5
9	2	Karlo Porter-Price	Open University CC	29.48	V51	28.27	.- 1.21	9
10	8	Paul Woodham	Bossard Wheelers	30.47	V63	29.41	.- 1.06	7
11	6	Finn Hanson	TeamMK	30.50	V51	28.27	.- 2.23	10
12	9	Trevor Watson	Bossard Wheelers	32.18	V56	28.54	.- 3.24	12
13	14	Wayne Thomas	NBRC	32.58	V64	29.49	.- 3.09	11
14	15	Luke Daniells	NBRC	33.23	V42	27.44	.- 5.39	13
15	1	John Pick	Chronos RT	41.34	V70	30.49	.- 10.45	14

Timekeepers - Tony Farmborough and Bryan Scarborough. 

Having ignored Team Grumpy Rule #2 (Don't tinker with your bike the evening before the event. It will break, either then or, worse still, during the event) before Sunday's '25', and having paid the price in mechanical up-cocks in the opening few metres of that event it seemed entirely reasonable, I suppose, to similarly disregard Team Grumpy Rule #5 (Never train or race with a bad cough - it will destroy your entire season) and to turn out for this club event on the Astwood sporting course.The club has pretty much decided to shift the start/finish to the area of the Bikebus cafe for the Astwood events. And on an evening as lovely as this, it was indeed very nice to be able to sit out on the decking for a cup of coffee after the race! The race itself attracted 22 riders (though one poor soul punctured before starting). A cracking evening saw some fine times, notably Jason Gurney's winning ride of 22:34.For my part, I was quite pleased with 24:36, though I slipped back in the placings! I didn't really suffer from the coughing while out on the course, though I could feel a horrid rattling sensation in my chest throughout the race.It was good to see that we had several riders from Team Corley - some of who had been at the "Come and Try It" event a few weeks earlier, but some were riding for the first time.Result

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -	Vets Std
1	4	Jason Gurney	Arbis/Colbert Cycles RT	22.34	V45	26.23	.+ 3.49	1
2	10	Richard Golding	Equipe Velo	23.37	V46	26.27	.+ 2.50	2
3	21	Steve Torley	TeamMK	23.49	Sen.
4	9	Simon Moss	Equipe Velo	23.53	V41	26.04	.+ 2.11	4
5	17	Robert Saunders	NBRC	24.36	V55	27.09	.+ 2.33	3
6	7	Ant Smith	TeamMK	25.12	Sen.
7	2	Mick Atkinson	TeamMK	25.19	V46	26.27	.+ 1.08	5
8	15	Alan Crane	ChronosRT	25.25	V46	26.27	.+ 1.03	7
9	18	Andy Wickham	NBRC	25.28	V44	26.18	.+ 0.50	8
10	13	Andy Sharpe	Unattached	26.07	Sen.
11	3	Andy M.Smith	TeamMK	26.13	V57	27.20	.+ 1.07	6
12	16	Ian Markham	ChronosRT	27.23	V45	26.23	.- 1.00	10
13	22	Grame Freestone-King	45 Road Club	28.02	V50	26.45	.- 1.17	12
14	11	Paul Woodham	Bossard Wheelers CC	28.09	V63	27.59	.- 0.10	9
15	8	Glenn McMenamin	Equipe Velo	29.58	V43	26.13	.- 3.45	13
16	6	Matt Holland	Club Corley	29.59	Sen.
17	19	Helene Wighs	Club Corley	30.07	LV52	29.03	.- 1.04	11
18	12	Yvonne Raw	Club Corley	32.38	LV44	28.29	.- 4.09	14
19	20	Stephen Mayes	Club Corley	33.11	V51	26.50	.- 6.21	16
20	1	John Pick	ChronosRT	35.22	V70	29.02	.- 6.20	15
21	14	Dave Crane	ChronosRT	37.38	V50	26.45	.- 10.53	17
	5	Jason Lee	TeamMK	DNS	V46	26.27

This event was on the F1B/25, the southbound course starting and finishing near Tempsford (the only F1 course remaining now the Black Cat roundabout has been “improved”. The forecast was really not encouraging: cold and breezy - at least it was a (sort of) tail wind from the south. I had chosen to ride the P5 with the Hed wheels (with a Powertap rear hub) that I used for Wednesday’s club event. In fact, I disobeyed Team Grumpy Rule #2, by tinkering with the bike on the day before, fitting normal brake blocks instead of the carbon-specific cork blocks.

Warming up before the event, I did several accelerations to check the rear wheel was solidly in place. The start crew were very good, particularly the pusher-off, who held riders very steadily from behind. He must have got a bit of shock when I stopped almost immediately after starting, as I pulled my rear wheel and jammed it firm against the brake block. It took two attempts to sort this out, but which time the guy starting behind had passed me. First time I’ve been caught for a minute within 10 metres. After the event, I spoke to the pusher-off who said he’d worried it was something to do with him. Not to worry, it was all my fault!

This was the first of our evening events in the calendar, and was on the revised Stoke Hammond ’10’ course, which moves the start away from the Kelly’s Kitchen roundabout. It’s potentially quite a quick course, I think, though the short stretch on the outward leg between the penultimate roundabout and the turn roundabout can be a bit challenging, as it’s uphill.

Anyway, it was rather nice evening that followed a very nice spring-like day. We saw more than the maximum field size turn out - 22 riders. I was pre-entered as #7 owing to the fact that I went home from the previous event (the Hardriders) with #7 still pinned to my skinsuit.

This event was my first open solo event of 2015, and was an afternoon '10' held on the F2D/10, a course based on the A428, turning at the junction with the Madingley Road into Cambridge. The weather was pretty cold, with a bit of a stiff crosswind that may have provided a bit of assistance (but not much) on the outward leg. The event also revealed a bit of an issue with the Kask aero hat!I went out to "warm up" near the start, but really only succeeded in getting quite cold! The start is down a road running alongside the A428 dual carriageway, so that provides a useful stretch of road to ride up an down.  The start itself is by a large water tower, and it's only a short distance to the roundabout where we join the sliproad to the A428 - not much time to get up to speed before slowing to take a sharp left. I went off down the sliproad pretty briskly, and just before joining the A428 proper, I looked over my right shoulder to check out the traffic situation. At this point my visor (attached with small magnets) caught the wind and flipped straight off the helmet. This was a bit annoying - I reckoned replacement visors come particularly cheap (an eyewatering £43.99 at Wiggle!!!) and for the rest of the race, my thoughts kept returning to the fate of the visor!Anyway, there was no way I was going to stop to retrieve it and I pressed on. My hands were feeling a little chilly, but apart from that I didn't feel particularly cold once I was riding. The road is a pretty nice dual carriageway course that undulates a bit, so my speed (the only numbers I could read on my Garmin) did fluctuate a bit.The turn is a bit fiddly, but at least my memory of it from previous rides was accurate - a sliproad takes you off the dual carriageway, then eventually to a roundabout that you have to ride all the way round to get to the correct exit to return to the A428. Riding back down to the dual carriageway builds up a fair bit of speed, but fairly soon after, I found myself going inexplicably slowly - presumably a combination of a slight gradient and the headwind.Not much to report on the return leg, other than I got slightly stalled by traffic at the Cambourne junction. But still that won't have represented much of a dent to my time! The it was back to the HQ to see some times, eat cake etc. I finished in 31st place with 22:44, which was a bit quicker than last year's 22:54 (and in similar conditons). Tony was 36th with 23:00. The winner was Jason Boutell with a cracking ride of 19:57.Oh, and after the event, we went off in search of my errant visor. We found it apparently undamaged sitting on its edge in the hard shoulder of the sliproad. So a happy ending, though I'll have to figure out a better way of attaching it in future.[caption id="attachment_3418" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Near the turn, minus visor (Photo: Davey Jones)[/caption][caption id="attachment_3419" align="alignnone" width="640"] Rear view showing the number pocket (Photo: Davey Jones)[/caption]Garmin Trace (no power meter used)Top 36 places (full result here):

Position	Rider	Club/Team	Min	Sec
1	Jason Bouttell	Team Velovelocity.co.uk	19	57
2	David McGaw	Cambridge CC	20	04
2	Justin Layne	CC Ashwell	20	04
4	Mark Arnold	CC Desiragear	20	25
5	Simon Norman	Arbis-Colbert Cycles RT	20	27
6	Luke Hattersley	St Ives CC	20	33
7	Daniel Northover	Finsbury Park CC	20	36
8	Mick Hodson	St Ives CC	20	43
9	Tom Trimble	CC Ashwell	20	44
10	George Fox	Kingscliffe Flyers	20	45
11	Daniel Bloy	Team Velovelocity.co.uk	20	50
12	Carl Whitwell	St Ives CC	21	01
13	Phil Melling	45 RC	21	03
14	Stu Wright	Carnac Planet X	21	20
15	Richard Hancock	St Neots CC	21	22
16	Jason Green	Bedfordshire Road CC	21	26
17	Mathew Eley	Ely & District CC	21	27
18	Gavin Moore	Team Velovelocity.co.uk	21	29
19	John Mulvey	Cambridge University CC	21	41
20	Robert Watson	Newmarket Cycling & Triathlon Club	21	50
21	Martin Reynolds	Cambridge CC	21	55
22	Ryan Morley	Fibrax-Wrexham RC	22	10
23	Michael Martin	CC Ashwell	22	14
23	Neil Wood	Dig Deep Coaching - SCU	22	14
25	Gavin Ashfield	Hitchin Nomads CC	22	15
26	Mark Ellis	Team Milton Keynes	22	26
27	Adrian Taverna	St Neots CC	22	32
28	Paul Southern	45 RC	22	33
29	Franz Fuerst	Cambridge CC	22	34
30	Robert Golding	Ely & District CC	22	40
31	Robert Saunders	North Bucks RC	22	44
32	Stuart Jones	Kettering CC	22	46
33	Chris Pearce	CC Ashwell	22	47
34	Tom Sykes	Ely & District CC	22	51
35	Tim Childs	Westerley CC	22	52
36	Tony Parks	North Bucks RC	23	00

 

I have posted before now about the excellent Squeezebox streaming audio system from Logitech that is sadly now discontinued. Since Logitech knocked their line of Squeezebox players on the head, the system seems to continue flourishing, thanks to the open source nature of the server software.

Most recently, the BBC decided to implement a very poorly publicised change to the internet streams of live and listen again radio programmes (see, for example, this blog post).  Within days users of the Logitech Server had access to these streams restored, thanks to the efforts of developers who post on the forums. In contrast, users of just about every internet radio on the market and other streaming systems such as Sonos have to make do with pretty low resolution mp3 streams (and these are not a long term solution).

It was clear several days beforehand that the Hardriders 20 mile time trial was going to be ridden in seriously tough conditions. And so it proved. On a hastily relocated course (due to roadworks on the original course) involving two laps of the Astwood circuit, seven hardy souls faced rain (heavy at times) and wind (blustery and increasing in force).I rolled up already damp (but not too cold) to what seems to be the new HQ for our Astwood circuit events, the Bikebus cafe, to find several windblown and damp riders huddling for shelter. After the usual chat about how wet it was, the seven riders got themselves sorted out. I ended up as #7, and with no others deciding to brave the elements was the last starter.All too soon, my minute man was off. I took off my jacket, gritted my teeth and listened to the countdown. Then I was off.It always surprises me how quickly one can shrug off adverse conditions. One minute you’re at the start line just getting wetter and wetter, the next you’re off...and pretty soon you’re not actually too cold. Anyway, this was two laps of the Astwood circuit, and soon I was hurtling down the descent before the Astwood climb. I could see my minute man up ahead of me on the climb. But I couldn’t really give it full effort due to the blustery wind, which tended to buffet me rather too much. I got up to Astwood having taken the climb reasonably conservatively. Out onto the main road with no holdups (unlike last week), and I tried to get into a better rhythm.The wind was building a bit, but wasn’t too much trouble with the trispoke. I passed my minute man just before Chicheley. The blustery conditions didn’t seem to offer much wind assistance at all, sadly, but did cause some hairy twitches to the steering as I rode past gaps in the hedgerows. As it turned out, I reached the finish line to complete the first lap in about 24:43, a bit quicker than the single lap event the previous weekend - I was oblivious to this, since I couldn’t read the bike computer! As I rode past the Bikebus, I heard a nice cheer from Bryan and some others, which gee’d me up a bit.The second lap was pretty much the same story as the first - though the wind seemed to have got a bit stronger an the rain stopped halfway through the lap. I finished in 50:14. Despite having passed several riders, I was surprised to find I’d won the event - by 2 seconds from Richard Golding. I repaired to the cafe for a hot cross bun and a double espresso. And some fun banter about “secret training” and comments that I ride a big gear. Usual stuff.The ride home was pretty grim. I wasn’t feeling cold, despite being quite wet from all the rain in the ride up to the event, and the event itself. But the wind had seriously strengthened, and I was having trouble keeping the bike on the road. All in all, though, this was a pretty good start to the club event series - I think maybe my form is falling back into place after February’s nasty cold - my placings have steadily improved through the three club events I’ve ridden so far.

Pos	No	Name	Club	Lap 1 Time	Lap 2 Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+/-	Vets Std
1	7	Robert Saunders	NBRC	24.43	50.14	V55	54.57	.+ 4 43	1
2	3	Richard Golding	Equipe Velo/NBRC	25.03	50.16	V46	53.30	.+ 3.14	2
3	1	Lindz Barral	Equipe Velo	25.32	51.35	S
4	5	Alex Hornshaw	TeamMK	26.21	53.21	V47	53.39	.+ 0.18	3
5	6	Mike Smith	Corley Cycles	26.38	53.58	Sen
6	4	Graham Line	NBRC	28.29	58.38	V50	54.07	.- 4.31	4
7	2	Darren Haydon	NBRC	29.38	60.12	V44	53.11	.- 7.01	5

Time keepers:- Stepanie Cousins & Tony Farmborough (NBRC)

Pusher-off:- Bryan Scarborough (NBRC)

Preparing my bike the evening before the event was quite alarming. Several issues: a locked pedal that required considerable grease injection before it would turn; A rather iffy job of cabling the front mech (presumably dating from the pre-race tinkering before the Duo last year); and a severely rusted chain (presumably I didn’t lubricate it well enough after cleaning up the bike on January 1st). However, all quite easily remedied on a beautiful sunny and warm spring evening.Oh how things changed overnight. The day of our “Come and try it” 10 mile time trial on the Astwood circuit was cold and blighted by a strong northerly wind.  And I nearly didn't make it to the start owing to a black cat with suicidal tendencies that dived under my front wheel on the way up to the race! We'd decided to revise the Astwood course for this event: the revision meant the start was close to the BikeBus cafe - convenient for refuelling after the event, plus it offered some shelter from the elements. The downside was that the start point was fully exposed to the chilly north wind - I suspect I wasn't alone in shivering as I set off.This wasn't the first time I'd raced on the Astwood circuit with a start point that differs from that normally used by NBRC, as TeamMK have used a further variant. But our new variant has the climb to Astwood rather soon after the start. personally, I prefer to get that over and done with as soon as possible. Unfortunately it was made a little less pleasant by the cold head wind up the hill. I could see my minute man in the yellow and blue Equipe Velo strip - he didn't seem that far ahead!As I turned left into Astwood High Street, I was annoyed to see a car backing out into the road. I eased back slightly and followed it to the junction with the A422, where it stopped. And waited. And waited some more. I unclipped and put my foot on the tarmac. And still it waited. After what seemed an eternity, the driver finally drove out onto the A422, leaving me somewhat cross - not helped by my club mates Graham and Dave who informed me it had cost me at least 30secs (actually probably a fair bit less!)...Out on the main road I clipped back in and set off. The wind, though cold and slowing me down, wasn't so bad as to make steering difficult. It didn't seem to offer much assistance as I rode off to turn at Chicheley - once round onto the backroads to North Crawley, there were some really quite quick spells. I motored on back to the finish, which is now interestingly placed just after a small dip in the road. I finished in 3rd place and 1st on vets standard, with a long 24 (see results below).Later in the day, I recabled the front mech, so all is now fine with the P3.

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -	Vets Std
1	20	Richard Wood	Arbis/Colbert Cycles RT	24.10	S
2	11	Simon Moss	Equipe Velo	24.27	V41	26.04	.+ 1.37	2
3	12	Robert Saunders	NBRC	24.57	V55	27.09	.+ 2.12	1
4	15	Glenn Tearle	TeamMK	25.04	V49	26.41	.+ 1.37	2
5	13	Jason Lee	TeamMK	25.33	V46	26.27	.+ 0.54	4
6	10	John Buchanan	Team Corley Cycles	25.38	V45	26.23	.+ 0.45	5
7	1	Mick Atkinson	TeamMK	25.54	V41	26.04	.+ 0.10	8
8	9	Leigh Smith	Alpha Road Club	25.58	S
9	4	Andy Wickham	NBRC	26.03	V44	26.18	.+ 0.15	7
10	17	Geoff Hicks	Beds Roads CC	26.09	S
11	14	Andy Smith	TeamMK	26.50	V57	27.20	.+ 0.30	6
12	21	Dave Goodhew	NBRC	27.41	V41	26.04	.- 1.37	9
13	8	Phill Elvidge	TeamMK	28.24	V41	26.04	.- 2.20	12
14	2	Ian Stokes	45 Road Club	29.19	V55	27.09	.- 2.10	11
"	16	Andy Sharpe	Unattached	29.19	S
16	19	Adriana Borowska	NBRC	29.31	SL
17	5	Wayne Thomas	NBRC	29.37	V63	27.59	.- 1.38	10
18	18	Darren Carter-Maulden	Ampthill Velo	30.37	V42	26.09	.- 4.28	14
19	7	Luke Daniells	NBRC	30.38	V42	26.09	.- 4.29	15
20	6	Matt Holland	Team Corley Cycles	31.24	S
21	23	Alexandra Knowles	TeamMK	31.33	LV50	28.53	.- 2.40	13
22	3	Nicole Tur	Ampthill Velo	32.45	LV40	28.02	.- 4.43	16
DNF	22	Finn Hanson	TeamMK	44.44	V50	26.45
Time Keepers:- Stephanie Cousins & Tony Farmborough NBRC
Pusher Off & Course Marshal :- Bryan Scarborough NBRC

I’ve had a these retrofitted to two skinsuits, less for the supposed 10W aero benefit and more for the avoidance of pin holes in expensive skinsuits, which inevitably shorten the garment’s lifespan.I rode my club skinsuit in a club event, and had my partner put the number in while I was wearing the skinsuit. This was very difficult, and you certainly wouldn’t want to ask someone you’re not intimate with to do this! On the second occasion I was using a Castelli Bodypaint skinsuit, and pushed the number in before putting the skinsuit on. Even that was a bit of fiddle, but mostly because my hands were cold.In use, the number pockets are great - none of that pricking fingers when putting a number on, or pins coming loose while warming up or racing. While the number is held really snug and with no flapping, I’ve no idea if there’s really a discernible aero benefit, but at least the days of pinholes in cycle clothing are receding!

Not new to the market, these stubby aerohats were popularised by Team Sky over the last few seasons. Very expensive, particularly when they were first released, Team Grumpy refer to these as “smurf hats” because of the slightly downturned aero tail!I can’t really comment on the helmet’s aero characteristics, other than to say that I would imagine the Bambino might be superior if you do a lot of looking down or around - this pushes the tail of a ‘normal’ aero helmet into the wind. In terms of fit, the helmet is reassuring in how stable the fit is on the head. The visor didn’t steam up, as per complaints of the early versions of the helmet. In use, I was aware of sweat in the helmet, but it didn’t dribble down onto the visor, which remained clear throughout the ’25’. I don’t know if there will be problems when racing in warmer conditions.Team Grumpy bought matte black Bambini - with the mirrored visor as shown above, they really remind me of the Power Rangers (I will leave you to Google that...). So maybe that’s the new team descriptor for them...