Following a successful outing a week earlier, the South Wales division of VCC returned to Porth for a second TT pacing session.
We knew that conditions had been in our favour the previous week so, all else being equal, improving on our previous times would be a tall order. This time we’d have to overcome a moderate breeze on the tougher outward leg. Undeterred, we set off in the same order as the previous week — minus Rory who had other commitments.
So first went Dan, again riding the Boardman Air 9.0 road bike, but this time having the benefit of knowing what lay ahead — and therefore able to pace himself more effectively. Gradients aren’t a problem for this fella and he absolutely flew up the course to the turn, then descended into the drops for a blast down the return leg. The result was a stunning ride of 13m 58s, a massive 64-second improvement on the previous week despite the tougher conditions. Without doubt the ride of the night. He lacks confidence on TT bikes at the moment but with a bit of practice and some guidance from the old heads, it’ll be fascinating to see how quick he could go. There’s huge potential there.
Next came your writer, mentally braced for a 30-second deficit on the previous week. I started too quickly and was gasping within the first couple of minutes, so I just had to settle in and live with the pain. The slopes slowed me down to what felt like a crawl, as they usually do, but I avoided the urge to sit up from the TT position and pushed through to the turn. Then the pressure was off, after a breather of a few seconds at the top roundabout it was time to strap in and go full gas to the finish. The time was slower than in week 1, but only by ten seconds, and there was nice compensation in the form of an improved power reading — and better aerodynamics, apparently. I’ll take that as a moral victory.
Finally there was Jeff, the quickest rider from week 1. He was having another great looking ride and wasn’t far behind me at the turn. He’d made some adjustments on the front end of the bike and appeared to have a more aerodynamic riding position. This would have helped him enormously on the return leg. He rolled up to the finish in another cracking time of 13m 20s, a mere twelve seconds slower than his weather-assisted ride a week earlier. This means that of the seven completed rides in this training series, Jeff has the quickest two. The guy is so consistent.
We’re all awaiting firm news on a return of time trialling to the UK and recent news from the CTT does sound encouraging. The VCC 10-mile event on August 1st could mark the return of the sport as far as South Wales is concerned, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Weather permitting we’ll be back next week — same time, same place and will potentially make a trip to the R10/22a course in the future. But for now by returning to the same track, week in week out, we’re able to chart our progress and get a gauge on whether our tweaks are having the desired effect.
Readers are welcome to join us on June 11th, meeting at 5:30pm outside Farm Foods in Porth, CF39 9BL. All we ask is that you do the right thing, COVID-wise.