ECCA 100 TT

[George]

A triple whammy of Agreeables in the mix early this morning for the Eastern Counties 100 mile TT including Jon Hemming, Paul Tunnel and myself.
[size=150]2am[/size] wake up call for me this morning
I arrived at the Eagle Road Club HQ(lovely little cosy HQ owned by the club themselves for over 70 years even fitted with bunk beds and shower) at 4 am and it was still dark so I decide to drive the first part of the course to check out the road condition, I noticed a car was tailgating me, then the blue flashing lights started and I realised I'd been tugged by the boys in blue, they thought I was driving very suspiciously at 4 am in the morning in my pikey van, I explained I was here to ride the 100 mile TT at 5am, I was sure they were gonna cuff me and take me away there and then

I was 5th man off and with all the DNs's there were just 2 men on the road ahead of me, Off I went into the rain and straight away reeled in my two compatriots before we even got to the dual carridgeway so you guessed it I had a very LONELY ride ahead of me, it would not pass another rider for over 60 miles on the 2nd loop of the A11.

I felt good and strong today and had a schedule to keep to, the wind was pretty strong and I'd say it was gusting at time at 20+mph, I was getting blown all over the road and my aero lid was automatically turning to the right with wind assistance. None of the marshals at the turns etc were expecting me so soon, in fact half of the turns I arrived too early so it was lucky I knew the course alright

Got a nice big wave off Paul on the opposite side of the road but didn't manage to see Jon, matbe cos I was just keeping my head down out the wind. At the 52 mile turn Ruth Tunnel was there to hand me up a bottle but I was fine and set off on the second lap, at last I was starting to overtake some riders but the field was whittled right down today as most people had bottled it.

I was just about keeping on schedule for a sub 4 hour ride until the 72 mile turn, then I knew I would really have my work cut out, indeed the wind was right up and I was digging deep to turn that big gear and keep the speedo above 25mph, this part of the course is pretty exposed and at least I was on the home straight.

88 miles Ruth again at Four Went Ways, and also Paul I guess he had enough of the conditions, after he told me it was just too tempting when he saw Ruth at the turn, I was still ok for drink so cracked on.

From here on in it just seemed as though there was a relentless wind staright in my face scrubbing off all my speed which was not very kind
Sawston roundabout and just 10 miles of undulating country lanes left, left turn and wham bam into more wind man!! I couldn't beleive it and I was straying a little off schedule by this point.

From here to the finish it was just a case of surviving and after what seemed like ages crossed the checkered flag, then straight into the granny ring for the grueling 5 mile spin back to the HQ.

Got back changed cleaned up had some tea and cake, but no one finished for another 25 minutes I had the HQ with comfy arm chairs all to myself, THE HUTCH was around at the HQ after the event chatti ng to all his mates from Cambridge.
Really wanted to get a sub 4 hour ride in today but alas for me the conditions did not prevail, still I'm well chuffed with scraping under a 4.10 for a pb that should hopefully get me into some faster events in the future, bonus was a 2nd place in the handicap competition so some metalware to come there.

Paul had packed and Jon looked absolutely cream crackered back at the ranch but still he managed a finish on a not such a nice day.

Jon H 4.25.05 PB
Myself 4.09.53 PB
Paul T DNF

[Dominic]

Good ride George. At least you managed to get to yours I was a DNS in ESCA 100 because my car has not been fixed yet. So much for the mechanic's promises

[Andrew G]

Bloody well done George, and Jon. Horrible day today and the gusts were nasty.

[Antloony]

Yeah great ride there guys considering the wind. The sub 4 hour is easily there for the taking George, just need a calmer day.

[Jon H]

Oh, that was a hard ride this morning.

Compared to George I had a nice lie-in, my alarm going off at the leisurely time of 3.15. Quick breakfast, and straight out onto the road, slotting in right behind PVT at the traffic lights by Beckenham Junction station. He lost me on the way to Catford, but I caught up and went past him after Blackwall tunnel. Anyway, onto the proper race...

I knew from the weather forecast that it would be a tailwind on the way out, so made the most of it and went through 25 miles under an hour. After the first turn I was surprised that the headwind wasn't as bad as I had expected and there were some fairly fast bits on the way back. Grabbed a bottle from Mrs T at the next turn, and checked the time and speed - 2 hrs 13min for 52 miles, just under 24mph. This got me thinking that a massive PB was on the cards, so I gave it some effort on the next section with the tailwind again and was back over 24mph at the last turn at 70 miles.

This is when it all went a bit pear-shaped. The wind had really got up by this time, and my legs fell off at about 85 miles. On the last section on the B-road to the finish I had to resort to the little chainring for a lot of the time, and although I know the road quite well I realised I hadn't got a clue quite where the finish was located. So it was grimace and grind away into the wind until I eventually got to the chequered flag.

4:25:05 isn't the massive PB I was hoping for, but is still a PB by over 4 minutes so it was worth the pain.

[Sylv]

Well done guys!

George, maintaining 25mph on your TT bike what would you say your speed at the same effort on your road bike be?

[George]

[quote]George, maintaining 25mph on your TT bike what would you say your speed at the same effort on your road bike be?

[Snoop Doug]

Fantastic stuff from Jon and George - tough day. I was camping out this weekend and just kept thinking - thank Gawd I ain't TTing. Well done, and tough luck Guru Paul, ye yin and yang a bit out of kilter...

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Great ride by Jon and George, that wind was just too much to face all over again. I went through 50 miles (on my bike clock) in 2:08, and packed in at 4 wentways (52 miles) in 2:14 - bang on 24 mph average, which would have been great if I could have maintained that to the finish, but as Jon says, that was a really tough grind along slow draggy roads (knowing the course does have its disadvantages!!).

I'll try again this weekend - North Midds and Herts 100.

[Toks]

Another very impressive TT effort by the Smilin Assassin. Well done George. Whats happened to that Rich V fella by the way?