Result 26:23 is recorded here
My first ever official 10 mile (or any distance for that matter) cycling time trial.
Prompted by Andy Crawshaw from Evolution Tri Club, and because I've been wanting to try this for years, I put my trusty TT bike in my car, and after misreading the directions several times made it to the A4 near Maidenhead for the start.
I hadn't booked, and I wasn't expecting to get an early start time, but was fairly surprised to be setting off last as number 32. Quite pleased though - at least there wouldn't be hordes of riders speeding past me :)
The start is a wide side road that is almost traffic free. I rode up and down it a bit, not sure how much to do to keep warm but not get tired. It was a lovely evening, with loads of midges swarming above our heads but not settling.
I've been getting faster at our Tri club TTs which are 15.5 miles, so I expected I could manage an average speed of 35-36km/h. It's shorter so I was hoping I could increase that - but the course was unknown and that makes a difference.
The course along the A4 was very straight and had no significant inclines. This meant my speed rarely fluctuated from the average. It was very hard work and I found it very different to a triathlon where there are many people around to judge your effort by. Just me against the clock. Couldn't seem to get above 40km/h even on the downhill sections. Quite a tough last 2 or 3 minutes to the end.
I was very pleased with my 26:23time, but when I saw everyone else's results I realised I have a lot of work to do if I want to move up the leader board.
Had a great evening; the club are a very friendly and very focussed lot. I'll be back!
[improvements: need to find long flat stretch of road, and see if I can cycle at 38.6km/h along it. This is my goal average speed for a TT to give me a 25 minute time - but it's quite ambitious I know.]
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