First things first. Mrs I needed the car, and I had to shoot after I'd finished. So I don't know how the others got on, and apologies to them for disappearing without taking part in the usual post-ride natter.
I was off at number 51, but was assured by 50 that the numbering was unusual, he was not really a seeded rider and I could expect to catch him by the first turn - an assessment based, I assume, on my athletic demeanour
rather than actual knowledge of my ability. Off I went into a bit of a headwind and my speedo told me I was down to 15mph, oh, hang on, it's saying 27mph, no, it's 23mph. It was clearly time for (a) a new battery and (b) me to ride according to what my legs, heart and lungs were telling me and to ignore the numbers.For once, though, the headwind one way did seem to translate into a following breeze going back and I was able to maintain a steady 26mph (or it might have been 14mph or 22 mph) for much of the 7-mile return leg and began to pick off other riders - number 49, number 44, but no sign of my friend number 50. As I approached the final turn though, there he was, coming the other way. Keith, on his first lap, came powering past (who'd have thought, caught by Keith Coffey in a time trial
), but my minute man was getting closer. Finally, as we crossed the county border (I mention this only because the course description identifies the finish by reference to it) I caught him 
.I finished in 1:02:19 (the results weren't posted when I left, but I had a peek at the timekeeper's notebook), a PB by more than a minute and a much more satisfactory outcome than my last two forays into the Hampshire countryside. Very pleased with that, not to say relieved that my feeling that I was riding pretty well has finally turned into a half decent result.
(I believeTerry was also pretty close to his best).
