Sun 3rd September was the British time trial championships. It was won by Alex Dowsett Team Sky in 58.26(30mph)
I finished 10th in 1.04.4? (27.2mph) – 6 minutes behind.
The women’s race was won by Wendy Houvenaghel (Bike Chain Ricci) 45-38.
It was raining quite hard during the masters event. My warm up consisted mainly of sitting in the car hoping the rain would stop. I noticed Team Sky had a nice marquee to warm up on their rollers. A local said the they had been in the village all week testing the course. It was interesting to see they took the event so seriously. After all Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins and Christopher Froome, are doing remarkably well in a slightly bigger event – the Vuelta Espagne. But, if you’re a professional team then, I guess you have to do everything with a professional attitude. I was pleased for Alex Dowsett to win, just ahead of his team mate Steve Cummings. It will be interesting to see if Alex makes the Great Britain team in the individual time trial.
I was a little dissappointed with my ride. New York was not the best preparation. I definitely missed not riding a time trial bike for three weeks. (you put pressure on different muscles) I remember a similar feeling to racing last year, one day after flying back from NY. It’s harder with jet lag, psychologically if not physically.
Usually I start fast in time trials and slightly slow down. But, yesterday I started a bit slower, I could finish strongly on the last climb, but felt I could have given more.
Because it is run under UCI rules, you have to have a bike check. This meant I had to put back on some old Bontrager bars. (My others Hed don’t meet the UCI 3:1 aspect ratio). You never know how strict the interpretation of the rules is going to be, but you don’t want to travel there and not be able to ride. My bike initially failed, because the front of my saddle was in front of the bottom bracket. I had to push the saddle back as far as it would go (and snipped the front off my saddle for good measure). This meant you are racing on the thin, uncomfortable part of the saddle for one hour. I’m sure there is logic behind the UCI’s decision on saddle position, but I can’t say I particularly enjoyed sitting on the thin edge of the wedge. (the best solution to this rule, is just to get a smaller saddle with shorter nose tip). After falling foul of UCI regulations, I remember Greame Obree once turning up to a UCI inspection with a bmx bike with stabilisers on. I think he once also rode with a child’s saddle on to get round some regulation like position of saddle. – But, that’s another story!
Anyway, with bike testing it makes you feel like you’re in a real bike race, and I’ve still got the blue (UCI approved sticker) to prove it!
The start of the race was a bit bizarre. A van came past just as I was starting, someone waved out of window but I got stuck behind them. I could have tried overtaking the van, but ended up just freewheeling behind it until the first corner. It kind of set the tone for the first lap. On the third lap I felt quite fast.
A little dissappointing, but it sounds good to finish in the top 10 behind Britain’s probable Olympic time triallist. Next year hopefully, the course will be hillier and I will be able to get into a better grove.
There were other 300 riders in different categories. from Juniors to Masters 75+. The women’s race was won by Wendy Houvenghal. The event lasted from 9am to 17.00 so kudos to all the marshalls and organisers from S.E.Midlands who stood in the rain for so long.
BTTC Time-Trial Championships, Sawtry, Cambridgeshire, 29 miles
Elite men
1. Alex Dowsett (Team Sky) 58-26
2. Steve Cummings (Team Sky) at 19secs
3. Matt Bottrill (I-ride.co.uk) at 1-48
4. Russell Hampton (Sigma Sport-Specialized) at 3-12
5. Joe Perrett (Twenty3C-Orbea) at 3-18
6. Matt Clinton (MikeVaughan.co.uk) at 4-07
7. Blake Pond (Southfork Racing) at 4-43
8. Colin Parry (Wilier-Goselfdrive.com) at 5-36
9. Seth Kay (DataTeamAllstars) at 5-57
10. Tejvan Pettinger (Sri Chinmoy RT) at 6-22
Related
(photo of Bradley Wiggins from 2009 championships)
Didn’t Alex come second at the commonwealth games time trial this year?
Only 6:22 behind a top professional, that’s an amazing result you should be proud!
Whatever the conditions, you are a great inspiration.