Congratulations to Adam on his efforts in the GHS National Final. In only his second time trial he showed considerable aptitude for the event and is to be commended on his time of 27.08 for a windy 10 miles.
“Last weekend I took part in the GHS National final held in Hertfordshire. The event was a 10 mile time trial which I had already qualified for in the regional heats held in Steyning. When I arrived I signed on and received my numbers. After some time hanging around, news came through that a lorry had broken down on one of the roundabouts the course went over, meaning that nobody had even started yet. At first the delay was only expected to be 20 minutes, but that time soon passed. All starts were now delayed by an hour, so the organisers said they would cancel the event if the lorry wasn’t moved within the next hour. They then decided that, if the lorry wasn’t towed off in time, that they would hold a shorter, 6 mile event avoiding the lorry. Luckily, the lorry was towed off in time and the first rider was sent off at 11:15, 2 hours and 15 minutes late.
40 minutes before my new start time, 12:18, I began to warm up. I warmed up for 25 minutes on the rollers and then rode at an easy pace on the roads around the start. I arrived at the start with 5 minutes to go, and waited until it was my turn to set off.
The course was a simple ‘Out and back’ course which went over 2 roundabouts and made a full turn at one of them. It was held on the A10, a busy dual-carriageway that seemed to be covered in roadkill and debris, as well as lots of cars and lorries.
I started at a fast pace with a tailwind behind me. At the turn my average speed was 42kph, a pace that I knew I wouldn’t be able to continue into the headwind. The wind, combined with a slight incline, brought my pace right down to about 30kph. I managed to hold that pace until the finish, slightly speeding up in the last 2km. My time was 27:08, faster than my qualifying time of 27:53 despite the hillier course and windy conditions. I placed 6th out of 15 people in my age category. Despite the delay, I enjoyed the event and hope to come back next year joined by more PPYCC members.”