My fourth mid-week time trial with Bourne Wheelers and my first attempt on the Aslackby 10 course.
Reconnaissance
Aslackby is a 30-ish minute drive from where I live, so a day before the TT I decided to drive up to the village and then take a ride around the course early in the morning.
It was a chilly start, and there was a light southerly wind present. The first part of the course heads south on the A15 which is a large main road with some undulations present. I’d have to remind myself not to go crazy high on power up these inclines so close to the start. The first turn after a few Kms was very tight but once on the northbound route the road felt fast and flowing. To the east were large fields which were on the edge of the fens, and with a different wind direction could provide a battering…
Carrying on north, the road felt surprisingly long, but with the southerly wind was fast. Next turn was just past the fire station in Billingborough, so that would be easy to spot on the day and then a slight uphill on country roads until the next left at the first crossroads! Finally, a dash up to the finish on a minor road with quite a bit of loose gravel on the centre.
It was good to ride a different course and I felt much more comfortable having gained this course experience ahead of the TT the following day.
On the Day
To eat; a large bowl of noodle soup and bread for lunch, followed by some liquid food later in the afternoon.
I’d had a busy work day and I didn’t finish up till 5 o clock-ish, not leaving me much time to get prepped for the TT. However, other than getting clothing sorted I didn’t have much more to prep. I’d got the bike sorted the day before (removing saddle bag carrier, checking tyre pressures, and chain lubrication), so all I had to do was get the bike on the roof of the car and make sure to remember all my kit, something which is easily screwed up when you are not actually riding to the event.
I wasn’t feeling as nervous as I had done on previous evenings, so I considered that I was getting used to competing at this grass roots level.
The drive over was nice and relaxed and it was easy to locate the lay-by next to the A15 where the sign on (and start) was.
Signing On
Sign on was from 18:30 and I had arrived a little early, so I hung around for a while in the motor until more folk arrived. The regular faces were becoming more familiar to me now and more people were recognising me and my steel framed Kalavinka!
I got myself signed on and picked up my number. #8 for me this week. Walking back to the car to pin my number on I got chatting to a guy called Tom. We talked about the wind, which was very strong and was coming from the north east, so would be a battle on the course. He offered to warm up with me, so as he got ready and followed me up to my car I got my number pinned on and myself ready to roll.
Warm Up
Warm up this week was quite quick. The main road was quite busy and we had to ride north for a spell before we got off onto a small side road. Almost as soon as we got into the side road time was telling me I had to head back towards the start. Tom was number #22 so he had a little more time to carry on warming up.
I headed back south to the lay-by and the start and arrived as number 6 was setting off. Good timing!
TT
A familiar face was counting riders down, it was my work colleagues wife and as I pulled up it was nice to say a quick hello before getting serious. Being let out onto the main road was going to be tricky, and as the countdown came down from 30 seconds traffic got heavier. I was held at the start and given a +10seconds to allow for a safe release.
Once on the road I was clipped in easily and was very quickly up to speed. The wind was on my back and the road was feeling fast, however, it wasn’t long before I was slowing and heading uphill. I was cautious not to go really hard and was keeping my power above threshold by around 40-50 Watts. This was to ensure I didn’t blow up half way round the course – I Kew I had a stretch against the wind coming up.
Making the sharp left hand turn was fine, and I was back up to speed as quickly as possible. Now came the wind. I was heading north, largely against the strong north easterly. It made a huge difference to my speed, I was down at 32ish Km/h whereas for the position, power, cadence and gearing I was operating at I would normally be around 42Km/h. There was no option but to keep the cadence high, and the speed as high as possible. It was a brutal slog.
Up towards the top end of the northbound stretch I was overtaken by #10. He passed me like I was standing still! He was full aero, skin suited, and on a BMC Time Machine bike. Slick. #10 won the event with >4 minutes gained on me!
I carried on putting in as much effort as I could sustain. I took the left hander past the Fire Station expecting a big respite from the wind, which unfortunately wasn’t the case. A reduction in wind resistance was felt from the direction change but the slight uphill incline negated any advantage. Again, I carried on as hard as I could and got sight of the next left at the crossroads, I have as much as I could keeping cadence high as I made the turn for the finish. It was uphill and I wanted to keep on top of the gear.
As I crossed the line I shouted out my number and this week remembered to stop my Garmin as soon as I was past the chequerboard. Slowing down and stopping next to #10, we had a brief chat about the overtake, the wind and our respective performances on the course.
Results
Although my time was “slow” I was pleased with how I’d ridden. Power and cadence were decent, but speed was low due to the heft of the wind. In any case, it was the same for everyone and my efforts gave me 7th place out of 21 riders. I’ll take that!
