West London CA '25' - H25/2

The West London CA 25 had been built up in my mind as 'the race' where I was going to smash my PB for 25 miles. I had mapped the course out on the web and discovered that the first 2 miles were downhill and that the rest was pretty flat - what more could a time trial rider wish for - it was a, in effect a 'ski-slope' course.

When I eventually got to the race, it was quickly very evident that the weather wasn't getting better, in fact, it seemed to be getting colder and windier as I hung around the start area setting the bike up etc. I was not overly bothered by the cold, but the wind was certainly something I did not want today. The weather report had said that it would be picking up and it certainly was doing that.

My start time eventually rolled round and I was off...quickly up to about 45mph as I flew down the 'ski-slope' start. It was only when I got to the bottom that I realised that today was not in fact going to be a great day. My legs had this weird fatigue which I didn't really understand. I can only now put it down to the fact that perhaps I did not recover properly after Lisbon. I had also done two hard rides during the week and then a long run and I think that the combined effect was that my legs were not going to be as helpful as I had hoped in terms of breaking through the 53 minute barrier.

In the end, I never really felt great for most of the course. I was going okay, don't get me wrong, it was just not one of those days where I was going to be able to really hammer out a good time. The wind was just never really anywhere, just felt like a crosswind the whole way.

Still, all excuses really....at the end of the day, it was not that bad a ride. I finished second behind a very respectable rider and even beat a local legend...albeit, I am not sure how much training he is doing etc.

Results are HERE

Garmin Output is HERE