East Surrey RC Hardriders 29.9-mile TT

Well, that was pretty ok. 7th place. I think there must have been around 60-70 starters. In fact Martin Piper and I didn't do bad for a couple of back country Islanders against mainland competition. The competition today was pretty tough for such an early season event. There were a few non starters, notably Richard Prebble who was apparently ill. Warming up on his turbo next to us in the pub car park was Wouter Sybrandy - eventual race winner - looking pretty lean and ready for action. Wouter has already won at least two events this season, so in my opinion was the favourite today. Other notable names to me happened to be all the riders that beat me and a few that I actually managed to beat so can't complain. A top ten is a pleasing result and slightly better than I aimed for. Not sure where I'm going to find the extra wattage to make up some of that time lost, there were some pretty impressive rides above me, but looking at the top ten I seem to have slotted into 'no-mans' land once again!! The only rider on 1h13mins with a fairly large gap ahead of me and behind. Darren Barclay in 6th is a name I know form CycloCross, but raced against rarely, and a classy rider, so to be a min and 20secs down was ok over 30miles; still a bit of a gap to close, but not too bad given it's only March and feel I have a lot more to give. Martin came in 11th in 1hr 15.55 so we did ok as a team. Just a shame there was only two of us. At the start, it felt like it could be a bad day. How slow did I feel? Well, the answer . .  like a old granny on a  shopping bike 'even with' an electric motor . .  that slow. It was of course the cold headwind. Anyone with the ability of a fast start will have gained today. Martin had 'Ice-Cream' head, even though he has just spent three weeks working in Virginia at -15degrees learning about how horses swam form one island to another a hundred years ago whilst dealing with the fright of a Virginian Redneck using breast bearing 'put off' tactics in a game of Pool (ask him sometime, oh and, it wasn't the horses dealing with a bare breasted Redneck, just Martin. Sorry, I will shut up now) Back to the race. Suddenly I get a freaky moment where, even though I had never ridden this course before, everything became very familiar. I've been here before!! Well, it turns out I had, Reigate Heath. I hadn't seen this part of the world for twenty years and I was suddenly on a  nostalgia trip (or was it neuralgia - well it was only two degrees) I'm supposed to be racing!!! Concentrate you fool, it's bad enough that I have bloody Muse (Unnnatural Selection . . again!!) running over and over in my head. See, that's my problem with Time Trialling. What with wondering what I'm having for dinner later and the same song  repeating my head, I forget that I'm supposed to be racing. Don't get me wrong. I like time trialling, but it aint Cyclo-Cross where one slip up will lose you ten places, its time trialling, and half the skill is keeping focussed, mainly on the constant nagging, but just slightly bearable  pain. Ok, so we are only three miles in and I've lost my concentration already, but I reckon I'm feeling ok. Now we have slight tail wind going mainly downhill from Reigate to Dorking on the A24. Bloody potholes!!! they aren't just a unique feature of the Isle of Wight after all. Within a few minutes I see Paul Jones walking back the other way (obviously punctured) looking well pissed off. It's at this point I start to move out a bit further in the hope of avoiding potholes at the curbside but oh no, they were just as bad 2-3 ft out, and the, nutter, mainland drivers still trying to squeeze past me at what feels like 80mph (don't forget you can't go in a straight line on the Isle of Wight for more than about twenty seconds -  and that's almost NOT an exaggeration). I have to say for that stretch I didn't really concentrate on the effort much, it felt more like survival. Then I reached the Dorking A24 turn off and . .  four cars all stopped. Yes, there was a gap down the side but there were also foot deep potholes and I swear there was a marshall shouting 'Allez, allez' to me. I wasn't even moving. Tsk!!! I'm back off again and onto the first climb, and I felt good. Happy. Caught Tony Parker and then set about the long stretch down the A24 complete with tailwind. I'd guessed that this whole section of probably about ten miles would be pretty straightforward and it was, fairly flat, fast and pothole free. I felt a bit sluggish and had to take it easy/hardish. Whether I lost time or gained is questionable but there is certainly a LOT of room for improvement in this area of time trialling ability. I know I can ride better than that. There was the knowledge though that the return leg on the back roads, into a headwind would be hard work so I guesss there was some holding back going on. I apologise for the lack of local place names here, I hadn't a clue where I was but I knew I was heading towards Horsham. Ok, just remembered whilst writing this bilge, I have the course map. So, I'm now at the Rusper roundabout and time for headwind, hill and maybe ten miles to the finish. Back to feeling like the old granny again. I hate the wind and now we have a sign saying 1 in 10 hill. In the car, on the drive round before, (and mid-conversation about swimming horses http://www.assateagueisland.com/ponyswim/ponyswim.htm if any 1 is interested) this hill looked like nothing, but when I actually reached it I was a bit caught out. I had to change down to the little ring mid climb which almost brought the sound of a snapping chain (Martin actually slipped his chain here and had to stop for 15 seconds) and my left foot popped out of the pedal twice, mid stroke (no comments please), before I reached the top, but it was ok, I felt good on the climb and then remembered there was a five miles to go sign somewhere. How long did that b'std take to appear! Too long. I hate countdowns. Five miles - when you know you have ten minutes to reach your 'hoped for target' - means you ain't going to make it on roads like that. But I bloody well tried. In the process I double whammeyed a pothole with front and rear wheel (that on £700 carbon planet X wheels, cringing to say the least), spent thirty seconds looking down to see if I'd flatted (mistake) and then had to CycloCross style, last second, bunny hop an even deeper pothole cos I wasn't concentrating. Three miles to go. Oh. come on, someone is taking the piss, how can two miles seems so far. I knew though that with three miles to go it was pretty much 6-8 minutes of burying it. I was hoping for a 1h 13 at this point and by the finish, that came quicker than expected in those last three miles, I bagged 1h 13mins 49 secs and 7th place, and £30 for my efforts. It's still early, plenty left yet. Now what do I do for training? I need some more speed. Do I start the intervals now? or leave them for a few weeks. I know, I will have a bottle of red and have a think. Oh dear, it seems I've finished the bottle of red. TTFN - Seanthecyclist Full Results: http://tiny.cc/JyUQU East Surrey RC Hardriders 32-mile TT (Reigate, Surrey):
1 Wouter Sybrandy (Sigma Sport RT)	1:07:44
2 Pete Tadros (In Gear-Quickvit RT)	1:09:13
3 Steve Dennis (East Grinstead CC)	1:09:42
4 Mike Coyle (VC Etoile)	1:11:21
5 Malcolm Davies (Kent Cycles)	1:12:07
6 Darren Barclay (Arctic Premier RT)	1:12:23
7 Sean Williams (Wightlink Offshore RT)	1:13:49
8 Chaz Hollosi (Gemini BC)	1:15:02
9 Roger Smith (South Downs Bikes)	1:15:09
10 Eamonn Deane (Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers)	1:15:22
Team: Kingston Wheelers (Phil Ember, Stephen Irwin, Ben Elliott)	3:59:30
Veterans: Steve Dennis