A 25 Mile PB and a 10

Saturday was my second 25 mile TT of the year, the Charlotteville CC 25 on the H25/8 in Bentley.

For a change weather conditions were very good, low wind, warm. Traffic was moderate. Not too busy but a few passing cars. Given recent times, I had a hope to set a new PB.

At the 10 mile point I checked my watch and had done 10 miles  in 19.57. This was unofficially a new pb for 10 miles. I think I started with half a mind to be racing a 10 rather than a 25. The last 15 miles were a little slower, but I still finished in 50.47 (29.5mph). This was 2 minutes quicker than last year when I did a 52.47 on the same course.

It was also nice to come first in this race, previous winner include Alex Dowsett (Team Sky) Michael Hutchinson and Richard Prebble.

The next morning was a 10 on the U47b. The U47 is supposed to be a really fast course and weather conditions were again quite good, so I really expected to go under 20 minutes. But, it was not to be. I ended up with 20.28, which is slower than some other recent 10s on supposedly slower courses. It was a similar average speed to the previous days 25 mile time trial. It just shows you can never predict your performance! I may have been slower than expected for the 10 mile TT because:

• Tired from previous days race (though my legs felt fine)
• I don’t like racing early in the morning. Getting up at 5am in morning is always a little shock to system.
• I didn’t drink any beetroot juice on Sunday morning (the first race where I missed the magic vegetable juice since my pb in a 10)
• Sometimes you just have off-days, where your power is lower than expected.

Overall, I’m still very happy from the weekend to take two minutes off my 25 mile time. The H25/8 is a fair course, but not the quickest.

I have no more fast 10s this year, so it will be another year without a ’19′. Though I have entered another a 25 on a fast course in Wales, so there is a chance my first 30mph ride will be in a 25 mile rather than 10. (I entered the Welsh course partly because I want to ride a fast course, but also it starts at a nice civilised time 14.00…)