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CTT National 25 2017 Championship
in Time Trial
Myself & Janet raced the CTT national 25 mile championship race this weekend on the R25/3H course near Neath in South Wales. It was a strong starting list for both races (excluding Jackie from the womens race obviously!)
The women's race was on saturday afternoon where the weather was dry but a gusty from a westerly direction meaning a headwind out and tailwind back. Those of you who know the course know there is a two mile flat start then a 2/3 mile down hill section know as "the bank" which is a hairy decent as there is a clearing two thirds down over a "bridge".
Janet has been struggling to regain the form she had last year after her accident in mallorca last September where she damaged her knee. The starting order starts with the slowest to fastest & Janet was seeded mid point based on her time from last year so she was expecting to be overtaken by a few riders. With glimpses of form returning recently, she set off to target the first sub hour of the season and finished with a 59:41 which was good enough for 53rd out of 100 starters which she was very pleased with. On addition, she was not only not caught but she beat a number of local riders who she hadn't beaten before which was doubly pleasing.
The men's race was on sunday morning with showers and 24 mph gusts forecasted. My PB was only good enough for 5th reserve rider but with Janet riding i would go along just in case. In fact, i found out i was riding last monday so i knew i could prepare for the ride. I started in number 92 and all the riders around me had qualified with sub 50 pbs, So i knew i would be overtaken. As soon as i started and hit the bank, the weather came in and straight into a headwind and rain - like a wall.
After reaching the bottom of the bank, the RAB was jammed with cars resulting in having to stop. Unfortunately, a rider a few places ahead of me had a collision with a car pulling out on him on the RAB and was on the floor being treated by the marshalls but was talking and moving his limbs ( luckily only broken ribs after the air ambulance taken him to the local hospital). I was tempted to go around the RAB and cycle back to the HQ but thought i would treat the rest as a FTP test and see what i could do. My minute man then overtook me as i started back off so tried to chase after him. Got to the turn still averaging 29.5 mph and knew there was bound to be a tailwind after the headwind out, but the tailwind turned into a side wind as i watch my av speed (& power) disappear. Returned back to the same RAB and was held up by emergency services and angrily set off to finish the race.
Garmin had a long 50 but official time was 51:36 which was a 2:01 pb for 74th out of 139 finishers which I'm very pleased with considering i was seeded one of the slowest, plus the unfortunate incident with the collision, in a top field where the top 50 all went under 50 mins with all records broken.
Gareth
The women's race was on saturday afternoon where the weather was dry but a gusty from a westerly direction meaning a headwind out and tailwind back. Those of you who know the course know there is a two mile flat start then a 2/3 mile down hill section know as "the bank" which is a hairy decent as there is a clearing two thirds down over a "bridge".
Janet has been struggling to regain the form she had last year after her accident in mallorca last September where she damaged her knee. The starting order starts with the slowest to fastest & Janet was seeded mid point based on her time from last year so she was expecting to be overtaken by a few riders. With glimpses of form returning recently, she set off to target the first sub hour of the season and finished with a 59:41 which was good enough for 53rd out of 100 starters which she was very pleased with. On addition, she was not only not caught but she beat a number of local riders who she hadn't beaten before which was doubly pleasing.
The men's race was on sunday morning with showers and 24 mph gusts forecasted. My PB was only good enough for 5th reserve rider but with Janet riding i would go along just in case. In fact, i found out i was riding last monday so i knew i could prepare for the ride. I started in number 92 and all the riders around me had qualified with sub 50 pbs, So i knew i would be overtaken. As soon as i started and hit the bank, the weather came in and straight into a headwind and rain - like a wall.
After reaching the bottom of the bank, the RAB was jammed with cars resulting in having to stop. Unfortunately, a rider a few places ahead of me had a collision with a car pulling out on him on the RAB and was on the floor being treated by the marshalls but was talking and moving his limbs ( luckily only broken ribs after the air ambulance taken him to the local hospital). I was tempted to go around the RAB and cycle back to the HQ but thought i would treat the rest as a FTP test and see what i could do. My minute man then overtook me as i started back off so tried to chase after him. Got to the turn still averaging 29.5 mph and knew there was bound to be a tailwind after the headwind out, but the tailwind turned into a side wind as i watch my av speed (& power) disappear. Returned back to the same RAB and was held up by emergency services and angrily set off to finish the race.
Garmin had a long 50 but official time was 51:36 which was a 2:01 pb for 74th out of 139 finishers which I'm very pleased with considering i was seeded one of the slowest, plus the unfortunate incident with the collision, in a top field where the top 50 all went under 50 mins with all records broken.
Gareth
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