RTTC NATIONAL 10 TT - Newmarket - 31st August 2019

40th Overall / 6th Vet )O40) / 1st Age Cat (National Gold)

Pleased to have collected another National award, this time at the RTTC National 10m TT Champs....managed to sneak under 20mins @ 19-57 in challenging windy conditions (27mph avg out, 34+ back),good enough not only for my age cat but faster than the two categories younger, also 6th Vet (O40) and a commendable 40th overall.

Such were the conditions for the senior men that only four riders broke 19mins with the surprise winner being Charlie Quarterman, a pro rider for Trek-Segafredo (and dare I say 40 years my junior ) followed by pre race favourites Chris Fennell and Adam Duggleby.

Great banter in the HQ post race - particularly good to catch up with occasional Mallorca cycle training partner Roland....and hey!, Tony Cork, get that bloody A14 sorted, if it wasn’t for my ‘smart’ Google Maps I probably would have missed the start. 😱

Next week, leaving the youngsters to their own, with another National Championships up at Teeside...this time the VTTA flavour, veterans and the rarely raced 15miler 👍

[Actually a top performance, the wind was awful going out - and worse for later starters...but had some real quality behind me on actual times, but to win National age medal but also be faster than 2 age groups below and 6th overall was for an old git, top bombing 🚴‍♂️💨💨]

RTTC NATIONAL 25 TT CHAMPS - Etwall - 25th August 2019

28th Overall / 1st Age (National Gold) / 6th Vet (O40)
“Full Fat National RTTC 25miles Champs “ - very early start on the controversial A50, def do less well early on...felt hard going out to the turn....Another sub 50mins, bizarrely harder outward with tailwind, rescued the sub 50 mins on return....and for someone who “doesn’t do ‘age’ gubbins” - I’ll take a National medal and 28th overall #bonus 😜


[strange race, very early, and a very quiet road...felt rubbish early on...but really rescued the race in the return second half...and on a crap day, still exceeded 30mph and broke 50 mins, again...shows where I set the bar...even at 60 😜]

REALTEAM 25 TT - Hirwaun S Wales - 18th Aug 2019

4th Overall & 2nd Vet - National Age Record
An unforgiving autumnal weather forecast was not conducive to the super fast times that is the major selling point of the “R25” 25 mile TT course in S Wales.....but of course it’s still a friggin race, and as 2 of my last 3 races had been cancelled due to adverse weather.....I decided “come on weather, let’s be ‘avin you (in my best Delia voice ).....and race the best I could, come what may....and unfortunately (really only) for the very last starters (I was scratch man) the forecast was bang on....

However managed to “knock out” another sub 50mins 25 miler - rescued by a 33+mph average 10mile return with the tailwind - recording 49mins 34secs, annoyingly just three seconds off the podium but some bonus points for breaking my own National Age and Regional Group records - so a fairly happy return home.......👍

Anyhow much more interesting that this time trialling gubbins....really do enjoy visiting this neck of the woods....and on this occasion decided to take a steady cross country route back over the Brecon Beacons into Herefordshire and the Black Mountains, and across to Worcester....very nice indeed, an area I surprisingly have no experience of, so into my bucket list they go, for the day I hang my cleats up, pack work in and get that converted VW Transporter, MTB on the rack and walking boots for the ready...not too sure how long that will be though, I suppose when I start to slow down on the TT machine

[Wrote the above quite dismissively, but yet again, break 50 mins, and it was not a great climate day..that 48mins last year was no fluke, and on the right day, is in danger 💪]

RUTLAND 10 - JEJ N MIDS SERIES - Hatfield - 3rd August 2019

5th Overall

Another race at Hatfield in the JEJ N Mids series, always want to do well in the Rutland races....real quality top end, and it was looking good for quite a while, being top of the leaderboard, but slowly slipped down as some of the latter riders recorded their times (the weather conditions clearly changed ) - although young startled Hayden Allen was on a different planet, very few have broken 20 mins on the potholed challenged course....5th overall (Spindata had predicted 3rd) was fine and first on standard but only 2nd vet (over 40)....solid stuff 

[always want to do well on the Rutland races, of course it is a Sheffrec vs Rutland thang, I guess....can't do anymore than full blast irrespective, and looked promising for a while...but still, not bad ]