Godric Club TT

The Godric 25m (B25/51) was run last weekend and it gave me a great opportunity to test out the new rig. As I had done a few more miles on the bike since the Diss Duathlon I felt that I could push the bike a little more this weekend. I was still (and am still) mindfull of the niggle (as the work that the Jefford Centre are doing is making headway) so could not really grunt the pedals round and use the whole stroke on my right side....nonetheless I was going to give it a pretty good go!. Saturdays generally briong with them a pretty early start, so at 5:30 a rolled out of bed, had my usual porridge and a cup of tea (wakes me up!) and drove to the UEA for a 90minute swim session with the City of Norwich Team. As usual, if I know im going to need my legs later in the day the set was predominantly hard on the old pins with a lot of sprints, and enought kick for a Bruce Lee movie. Approximately 3.8-4k later I arranged with Rob Lines that i would meet him in Trowse for the 15m cycle to Bungay. Went home, readied my bike and had some grub (plenty of fluid). We had expected a large turn-out and as such set off in plenty of time, it turned out there where only 14 riders but as I punctured about 5 miles out it was a bloody good job. I changed the tube and got enough air in to get me to the startline, hoping that a track pump would be available. Unfiortunately I managed to 'adjust' my gearing while changing the wheel and come the start would only have 53/12 as a solid gear then 3 gears that jumped with 53/17 (as a guess - dont ask me) being the next useable gear ratio. Neil Turner (and mechanic team) was good enough to help me with a track pump and I lined up in 12th place with Rob at 11 (who would be racing the Bungay 1/2 the next day). I had no real expectations, I just wanted to stay aero for the whole run, go under 60 (as I had been informed the course was quite tough and the wind was picking up - it got worse as the event went on!). I dont ride with a powermeter so cant give any figures of that sort but can say that I was aiming to maintain 45kmph for the loop. It started off well and although I was keeping a bit in reserve I was well above the 45k mark on the out section until the turn around back into the wind. I hadnt caught many at this stage and could see that Neil had probably moved further away if anything. I had stayed in 53/12 up until this point (I need a 56 upfront I think!) However, things changed into the wind and I started to pick people off. I was struggling here as I couldnt maintain the 53/12 and really needed to drop one gear. As this wasnt possible I had to keep swapping between 53/12 and 53/17 (or so) which didnt help my rhythm and I was losing a lot of power. At half way my average was at just under 45kmph (44.9) and I knew that I would have to push the out section if I was going to have anychance of getting this back above 45k. The second lap brought with it more scalps but I couldnt really get the average to where I wanted it to and it stayed around the 45kmph mark, with the wind picking up for the return leg I adjusted my targets to 44kmph average and worked at maintaining as high as possible....... I eventually finished with a 43.9 average, a lot of klonking from the rear Dereilleur and had managed to ride through the field. I dont know how the time looks although the organisors seemed to think it was pretty good. I now have a target for the next attempt and reckon that on a good day without the morning swim and gear issues that a 54 or 53 is possible especially if I swap my front chainring out and stop running out of gears!!!! So 1st 25M TT and a 55:35...pretty happy with that. I would recommend giving TT's a go for anyone, they are an interesting exercise in knowing what you can and can't do with regard to pace/ HR/Power over sustained periods. They are a great way to get used to your position and test things out pre race. Club events are relatively inexpensive and are often populated with a mix of experience and ability as well as levels of kit (so you wont be out of place no matter what you are riding)