The one drawback of the E2 courses is the start times for the morning events (theoretically to get you off the roads before the traffic gets too heavy) and if you are at the wrong end of the field you seem to get up before you go to bed and spend most of the morning riding on almost deserted roads (who in their right minds would be out on a Sunday morning before 8am when I finished?).
The course itself is an exposed course which is reasonably flat, and a good surface but fairly exposed. It can be very fast on a still day but can be toug when the wind is blowing.
The weather wasn't on its best form. There was a reasonable breeze and it had been spotting with rain before the start.
Having had a disastrous ride last Sunday in the SCCU 100 (blowing up in a big way) and having had a good ride in the Club 10 on Tuesday I wasn't sure what sort of form I was in. Various targets were available - sub 2.00 would be my fastest time this year and would hopefully post a fastest 50 by a club rider (RRE has also done a 1.59), my pb was 1.57.22, and my target for the season was 1.55.00. I took the view that the weather pretty much ruled out the last two so I set off with the object of getting inside 2.00. In May/June I'd managed a 2.01 on the same course in slightly windier conditions.
Just to give me a little motivation some clown had put Dave Keene a minute behind me on his tricycle. Whilst hardly a household name Dave Keene is presently the star of the tricycling world seeming to set national records at will and (I believe) having recently won the tricycle world championships (if there is such a thing
). Now getting overtaken by a trike would be embarrassing 
Set off at a steady pace with the wind behind me. Was making good time when a squall started to come over the race. This caused a bit of concern as not only did I get soaked but the standing water on the road wasn't particularly comforting when being sprayed all around by the traffic there was. Just as I was about to decide to pull off however the rain stopped and I became a bit happier about being out on the road.
Reached the turn in a pretty reasonable time. The turn is quite a big one involving a t-junction a section of road and a couple of roundabouts so you can't see how close anyone less than a couple of minutes behind you is. I took the turn pretty tentatively with a lot of water still around and was overtaken by a rider I had overtaken just before the turn. As I got back on the road no sign of the trike which meant it was too close for comfort.
25 miles came up just before the turn and I hit this in about 54 minutes. I was quite pleased with this but as I'd enjoyed a tailwind all the way out there was now a lot of work to be done. If I hit 13 minute 5 miles all the way back I would get under 2 hours and 12 minute 30s would get me close to my pb. That and the thought of a trike behind me gave me a good boost.
The 25/30 and 30/35 sections were tough with the wind right in my face. I was still managing to ride 12.30ish 5 miles here and everything was going well. With 15 miles left I was on familiar territory. 5 miles of it was part of one of the fastest 10 courses around and I was sure I could knock out a 12 minute 5 on that and the last part was single carriageway, decent road but a bit rolling.
Things were going nicely as I hit the single carriageway and I'd revised my target to 1.55. At this point it was a matter of getting as much power out as possible. Still no sign of a trike and a few riders to chase provided a boost. Things went really well and I was clocking 11.30ish for each 5 miles to finish in a pleasing 1.53.23 and not a trike in sight.
Back at the HQ the times showed I was 25 seconds up on the trike at the turn and had pulled out a further 1.35 on the way back which I was pretty pleased with. Finished in 5th place in a fairly full field with Ken Platts winning in a longish (I think) 1.50 and I was pretty pleased with the day's work. Something to remember for the next time I wake up at 3.00am and wonder why I'm doing it.
Had a good chat with Dave Keene who seems a thoroughly nice bloke, found out that he will be riding some of the same events as me over the next few weeks trying for some more trike/tandem trike records and told him I'd have to start asking the organisers not to put a trike behind me
