My first 50 mile (80k) TT done and what an utterly horrible experience it was!

Westerley CC did a great job of marshalling this course which was basically 2 x HCC114 25mi with a slightly different start. There were only 42 riders entered and I was off at 7.47 (so yeah, another 5am wake-up to cycle to the HQ on time). I’d fixed my HR strap the night before after fasteddy telling me he paced TTs off heart rate I thought I’d go back and check what my HR does on the TT bike. I remember riding at around 175-180bpm so was surprised to find my HR at 160 for a lot of this ride. I really wasn’t sure how to pace this and in the end it didn’t really matter too much since I was in so much pain elsewhere my legs were fine. The first time I looked at the distance done showed 45k so I was over half way which was nice but everything was going wrong. My saddle and/or skinsuit combo were cutting into bits they definitely shouldn’t be (if anyone finds some male genitalia on the A413, please contact me). So I was continually fighting for a comfortable saddle position or standing up on the bullhorns to relieve the pressure. The other thing that I had to keep messing about with was my hand position – my wrists were killing me. Since I never train on the TT bike (yeah, duh!) I’m just not used to holding my hands on the aerobars for that long. Training would help eh? It all resulted in a very angry me. I’d gone by my minute man earlier and now, on the last north-bound leg while I freewheeled to sort myself out, he passed me. Not good. Right that’s it.. I’m far better at chasing people down than riding TT’s so that’s what I did. I was struggling on the hills compared to Russell but on the flats and downhills I had the edge and got him back at Wendover Bypass (where a car had crashed during the race, by the way!) before the final turn-around. At the turn (marshalled by the ever-present Purdys) I knew Lance (another Willesden rider, not that Armstrong fraud) was perhaps a kilometre up the road. My pace was already high since I didn’t want to be re-taken by Russell so, sorry Lance, you’re the new bunny in my sights. It was at this stage I found out I actually did have legs and yes, I could make them hurt more than anything else my body cared to report. Fighting off possible cramp and knowing I’m pulling muscles I managed to pass him just before the finish line setting a finish time of 2:07:33 a 50mi PB no matter what 🙂