Oxonian Hilly Time Trial

This was my 7th entry for the Oxonian Hilly. It is an interesting, technical course around Brill, Oakley and Waddesdon. The road surface is a real mix, there are a few stretches of newly tarmaced roads, which are lovely and smooth, but mostly it is lumpy and rough. Definitely not a course for light time trial tubulars. Continental Competition are perfect for the job. Because of bumps, it’s tempting to not use a disc wheel, but I find a disc wheel much quicker than deep section rear wheel, so I usually put in a disc and hope for the best.

(at a previous race, I wore leg warmers today, on basis of not having shaved legs)

Often in races, I agonise over whether to take a spare tub or not. With chance of rain and memories of freezing at Banbury I took a spare tub and pump in a cut out water bottle. I also took a drink of High 5 2:1 formula. But, during the race had great difficulty actually drinking it. I splattered most of hit over my bike.

I usually get to races with about 1 hour to go. But, today, I got there two hours early because  a watch I was using was an hour out. I guess it was lucky, it wasn’t the other way around… It’s actually quite nice getting to a race with plenty of time. There’s no rush, you can have a chat to other competitors and make sure bike is working well. I was parked next to Chris Goodfellow, who is a very good triathlete and won last years edition of the race. That was pretty impressive given his weight is 23 Kilos more than me! He has a great build for triathlon, but not hill climbs like me.

Training this year has been good. I’ve had quite a few sessions which involve two hours at threshold level – pretty close to race pace, but just under. This meant I was quite confident about the distance. Often at this time of the year, racing for 31 miles is just above your comfort zone in terms of distance and you really suffer in the last few climbs.

This kind of hilly time trial requires careful pacing. There are several climbs, fast descents and at 31 miles, it’s quite a testing distance, this early into the season. My theory is to go as fast as I can up the climbs, without getting into that ‘hill climb red zone’ which leaves you blown out. Then on the flat and descents, you try to maintain your momentum and speed. About 3/4 of the way around the course, you come to the A41. This is quite flat and smooth road surface. With passing traffic, it feels really fast compared to the previous climbs and descents on potholly roads. When you get to 3/4 way round, I try to up the effort level a little bit, the end is in sight, so you don’t have to worry so much about overcooking it too early in the race. After 29 miles, there is one last final killer climb up Muswell hill. It is quite steep at 16%, and requires getting out of the saddle. Usually, the climb wouldn’t worry me too much, but after racing for 30 miles, it is really tough. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who felt like they were grovelling up that final ascent.

It’s a challenging course, though if you really want to make it tough, I should join have done it on a tricycle, like several other intrepid tricyclists who were battling for their own race. It looks cool coming down the descent on a tricycle, but I don’t really fancy lugging the weight of a tricycle up those hills.

There were 40 or so competitors in the race, but plenty of marshalls out on the course (thanks to all Oxonian CC who put up on race). There were also a few local riders from the Oxford clubs out to spectate, which was nice.

I did this course in training a few weeks ago, so with a few time checks, I knew I was on to a fast time. When I passed the time keeper by the windmill at Brill, I had edged under 1.12 with a time of 1.11.51. I think that is a course record for this version of the course.

Danny Axford was 2nd with 1.12.55, and Chris Goodfellow 3rd, 1.17.?? 4th B Thompson. 1.18.21 and 5th Jake Thomas (Jn) 1.20.47

Previous Entries in Oxonian CC hilly

• 2005  2nd Place – T.Pettinger 1.16.04 – Winner Danny Axford 1.13.52
• 2006 3rd Place – T.Pettinger 1.21.59 – Winner Danny Axford 1.17.34
• 2007 1st Place – T.Pettinger 1.15.06 -
• 2008 dnf puncture – Winner Richard Simmons 1.19.46
• 2009 3rd Place – T.Pettinger 1.16.14 – Winner Danny Axford 1.12.00
• 2010 2nd Place – T.Pettinger 1.13.38 – Winner James Stewart 1.12.25
• 2011 dns – Winner Chris Goodfellow 1.14.57
• 2012 1st Place – T.Pettinger, Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team – 1.11.51