The day started rather cold, windy and wet; a stark difference from last year when it was mega hot. Most people were dressed in longs and layers but the sun started to break through as we set off. The wind, however, did not let up all day and it made parts of the ride tough going. The group I started with headed out at rather a sedate pace. As I wanted to break 4 hours, I decided to try and latch onto a group up ahead. I managed to do this and we clipped along quite nicely until the first feed zone at around 37 miles. After the feed zone it seemed like everyman for himself. I tried to form a group but it just wasn’t working. So, in the end, I decided to just go for it and see who would jump on board. I ramped up the pace and caught numerous groups. At one point a Daventry CC rider jumped on my wheel and we rode quite nicely for a few miles. Then, disaster! My chain jumped off on a decent and somehow got knotted up round my deraillier. It took a good few minutes to sort this and my new buddy was long gone by the time I was back riding.
I continued to push hard as the miles ticked by but the hills in the last 20 miles were torture! Some people were walking on one incline! As the finish approached I knew that I was just outside 4 hours. My Garmin read 3:57 ride time but my mechanical had cost me precious time. My official time was 4:03:26 and that bagged me 12th fastest of the day out of 320 riders.......it’s not a race you know!!
It was a good event but a little lonely! Anyone else for next year?
As for my running, it’s still zilch. My Achilles is not good. I continue to ride but the triathlon season is looking like a wash out from where I am sitting. I have the club 10 mile TT this evening and then I have the supposedly fast E2 10 mile TT ride on Saturday. Jase Walkley is doing this TT also so it will be good to see how much faster he goes than me!!
Catch you later Bloggers
1 comment:
At least you got to the finish buddy, and now know what Tinman and I had to endure last year.
A bit of a head-to-head this week then? Who will come out on top?
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