Icknield 25

[richv]

Having raced twice on Saturday I wasn't particularly up for a 4.00am start on Sunday morning. With a lot of fast riders entered I was surprised to be off on a seeded number but I suspect that most were wise enough to ask for a late start and thus avoided the 6.55am starting time of the first seed.

A pleasant morning (insofar as that time can be pleasant). Made the mistake of not reading the course description properly. Aim for the day was not to be overtaken (always embarassing when you are a seeded rider).

Seemed to be going well on the way out. Surprisingly my heartrate was very low (about 159-162 as opposed to a 'normal' 25 heartrate of 170-175) and I had the feeling I wasn't working quite hard enough.

Expected a headwind on the way back but it didn't really materialise. As I get to the end I realise I'm not sure about where the finish is. No marshall on the exit to the HQ so after a slight hesitation I carried straight on on the A1 (the golden rule being to go straight on if no marshall/sign). The further I got the more certain I became that I had gone wrong. Just after I sat up having convince myself I'd gone wrong I saw the finish.

Finished with a 59.03, a bit disappointing as it should have been a 58. The event was won with a 51.30 with the top 10 riders all inside 55 minutes.

[tel]

Still well under the hour Richard, I shouldn`t be too disappointed. I suspect the suppressed heartrate was that you hadn`t quite recovered from Sat efforts. Well done.