The Victor!

My first win in a time trial came last Thursday at the Inter-club 10 mile TT on the U7b.

I have been riding well anyway recently and went into the race feeling confident. The new DT Swiss wheelset has been outstanding and my power is beginning to return to my best after 8 weeks of base training. The last time I rode the U7b I knocked over a min off my PB from last year to get a sub 23 with an average power of 297W. I've been feeling a lot stronger since then so was confident I could hit 320W target power. The plan was to go off hard and try to hang on... no half measures!

The wind wasn't in my favour... steady headwind on the return leg. If you go off hard it builds up a larger amount of lactic acid in the legs making it more difficult to hold the power later on... couple that with a head wind and it is destined for failure... 

Outward leg was great... the wind was behind me... the power was good at 313W... a little lower than I had hoped but still up on last time. Average speed was 29.4mph! 

Turned at the roundabout to return and it was like hitting a brick wall. Attempting to get as aero as possible to get the best gains (and knowing that my head sticks up way too much!) I was determined to keep the power on.

I was hurting all the way back... passing Berkeley Heath I was down to 27mph. This was putting me into the sub 22 bracket. From Berkeley, the course is a little lumpy with a drag up to the finish... the average was floating from 26.9 to 27 and back... it was going to be close. That last mile and a half saw power rise to 338W with the final half mile at 365W... Despite all my best efforts I crossed the line in 22:14 smashing my PB and joining fellow Dursley Road Club rider Graeme Davis in first position.

Outward leg
Power - 313W
Speed - 29.4mph
Cadence - 92rpm

Return leg
Power - 321W
Speed - 25mph
Cadence - 90rpm

If I had a better average power, rather than surging at the end, that would have been a sub 22 no problem... fingers crossed the weather turns out better next time... It will be an interesting result.

Thanks to Rod Hunt of rnh fotografia  I even came away with a photo of me towing a lorry