Brighton Excelsior's 10mile Time Trial 2008
After some overnight rain, New Years Day dawned dull and overcast so I
drove down to the A283 and parked up near Steyning with about half an hour
to spare. Minutes later, I was ready so I cycled up to the start and signed
on. There were the usual Brighton Excelsior faces around but not too many
from other clubs however the entry list was around it's usual dozen or so
riders.
Having spent some time last weekend setting up my 'Spesh' with aero bars,
I now pinned on my No.8 and did a few miles to Wiston and back to make sure
all was OK. I felt a few spots of rain and hoped that it didn't materialise
into anything worse but at least, there wasn't the strong wind we experienced
last year. I arrived back at the start just as No. 1 set off, then No.3 - there
was no No.2 - and next up was a tall skinny 14year-old who just happened to be
an under-18 off-road champion!
In the last couple of minutes, I checked things over and donned my recently
acquired Briko aero helmet. Then, I spotted Barry at the start on his tandem but
without a stoker - apparently he had been training and had pulled a muscle. A
75year-old on a new carbon-fibre road bike set off a minute ahead of me and then,
it was my turn.
I was soon in my 52x12 on the downhill section and just managed to top 30mph
before settling down to a steady 23+mph on the bypass. The wind rushing through
the narrow slits of my aero helmet made a strange sound but it was very effective
at preventing the turbulence around my shoulders and back. I passed the elderly
guy halfway along the bypass and felt a twinge of guilt as I had been there too a
few years back. The light rain had stopped but the roads were still quite wet -
luckily there wasn't much traffic about so I could straight-line the roundabouts.
After the old cement works, it was a flat run down to the Lancing flyover but as
I approached it, the noise of whirring disc wheels heralded No.9 who just went
straight by me.
On the return leg, I pushed as hard as I could but on the climb past the old
cement works, my average speed was dropping all the time - it was now around 21.5mph
and I was determined to not let it go any lower. On reaching the Bramber bypass,
I was back on fairly flat roads so I increased my cadence rate and managed to
squeeze out a bit more speed. I was pretty much spent as I crossed the finishing
line and according to my computers, I reckoned that I had managed to get under
28minutes for the 10miles knocking more than two minutes of my 2007 time.
Bob's wife had laid on another excellent post-ride lunch where I chatted
with some of the Brighton Excelsior members and Dave Hudson before heading home.
It was now too late to get to Amberley for our New Year lunch so I hope our club
had a good ride and didn't get too wet.
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Dave Galle