by Andrew G » Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:25 pm
[quote="Jim B"]That was 2 hours+ of Premier League gonad bashing.
[quote="Snoop"]Oh yeah - and my ar5e hurts
This was my debut 50 and my first ride over a 25 on the TT bike, so to try and avoid the above I raised the armrests on my tri-bars (swapped the spacers for the bigger ones) and slathered my assos in a ton of Assos chamois cream. Yeah, it worked
.
I decided to ride the first lap slightly easier and pick up on the second, this way I'd avoid over-cooking it big style in my first 50. I had Dominic 2 minutes behind me so expected to see him again soon, I did after about 6 miles
. Having looked through the times on the startsheet I thought I'd be in for a fairly lonely ride as there were some faster people ahead so catching wasn't looking likely, only ever seeing people as they came passed me as I had some fast ones behind too.
Yep that was pretty much it for the first lap with people slipping passed at intervals and me never seeing a soul in front
. I'd stuck a couple of schedules on my stem (Ian!), one wildly optimistic in case it was a perfect day and I found I'd borrowed George's legs (2hr10), the other what I hoped to do with a strong whiff of realism (2hr15).
My legs didn't feel very good to start with and I was aware I wasn't pushing that hard for the first 15 miles, I drifted off with the fairies for about 5 minutes on lap one too. So "wildly ambitious" was out the window, trouble was as I approached the 25 mile mark I checked my watch and was nearly 2 minutes off "hoped for/realistic". Took that first lap a bit too easy then
.
On the plus side I knew I wouldn't have to do the Tolgate leg on lap 2 and my legs were coming good. With only 25 left I schnarffed a gel and got stuck in to it. Really pushed hard on the second lap to try and make amends for my slack first lap and was now not just getting passed but catching some of the slower riders
. Always good for the ego and helps push me on a bit.
Didn't have to do the Tolgate leg but discovered someone had dumped a headwind on the flat section there instead
. Hey-ho it's better than going up that drag. Up and back from the final turn and really buried myself at the end as I'd been checking my watch and was back on schedule and really wanted to nudge just under it rather than a few seconds over.
Hurrah, made it 2:14:40. Back to the car and off the bike and hurrah again, I could walk fine and all was well
. I bent down to undo my shoes and that hurt a bit, quads are a bit stiff but comparatively unscathed from 2+ hours in a TT tuck, spin to work tomorrow should loosen them up. Particularly pleased as a few others said they didn't think it was the easiest of days, the wind definitely picked up during the ride so would have been worse for the later starters .
ACC Massive (if I noted them down correctly)Douglas Shaw = 2:22:38
Robert Royal-Evatt = 2:06:04
Tamar Collis = 2:17:43
Andrew Green = 2:14:40
Dominic Lowe = 2:02:01
Michael Ingram = 2:34:19 (including 19mins late start)
Jonathan Hemming = 2:10:24
George Brent = 2:01:57
I'm pretty certain Laurence Harding won with a ridiculously fast 1:45 something, can anyone confirm this and the time as I want to send off my 100 entry before it starts looking like a silly idea
.
Oh, and a big thanks to Amy and Ivor for stepping up the plate, wearing a lovely yellow bib and pointing. It was fine racing but you looked a bit chilly on the first lap with some expert foot shuffling going on.
on a good debut ride in difficult conditions and to Snoop on yet another pb.
