Whitewebbs CC 10, Southend Wheelers 50

[Jon H]

Two TTs in one weekend. Used to do this a lot, but my powers of recovery aren't what they used to be, so I wasn't sure this was a good idea.

Whitewebbs CC 10, 04/07/15
F20/10 course which is up and down the A10 dual carriageway near Hertford. Mostly flat with a fast downhill run-in to the turn roundabout then a drag up for the first mile after the turn. Quite a large chunk of it's been resurfaced recently with that horrible tar and chipping stuff. I reckon it's 30 seconds to a minute slower than it used to be, but should improve as it beds in.
It was still pretty hot for the 6pm Saturday evening start, 26C according to my Garmin. Made sure I drank plenty beforehand, and I'd had the cunning plan of using a cool bag to keep my drinks cold. I also made the discovery that the cool-bag blocks are just the right size to fit in our club skinsuit pockets, ahhh!
Anyway, an unremarkable ride finishing in 23:33, one of my slowest times on that course, but still a season's best as it's the first non-sporting course I've done this season.

Southend Wheelers 50, 05/07/15
Bit cooler this morning, a pleasant 20C. E21/50 course around the Dengies peninsula in Essex. I'd ridden this course already this year towards the end of May and did a 2:16. So, was aiming to go under 2:15.
Started OK and the Garmin was giving me 5 mile splits of around 13 minutes and went through 25 miles in 1:06. Almost at that exact point I felt a few drops of rain, which turned into heavy rain for the second 25, leaving the roads awash and me soaked to the skin, and the temperature dropped 5 degrees. Lost a little bit of time teetering round some of the S-bends like Bambi on ice and finished in 2:13:37. Pleased with that, my fastest time round there since 2008.

[Paul H]

Well done Jon. Good training for Tuesday

[Andrew G]

Well done on both races Jon. I haven't entered any of the F20 races this year, thought I'd let the chips bed in a bit as the only reason I went there was for the nice smooth tarmac giving the fast course.

It was grim this morning.