Ian Turners report - ECCA 100m TT Sunday 21-6-15

Sunday 21 June 2015 - ECCA 100m TT

Quite honestly one of the worst days I’ve ever endured on a bike.

I set off from Ugley, Essex at stupid O’clock, early starts being a prized feature of long distance time trialling. Within 5 miles realizing that I was struggling to maintain the pace that I had planned for the ride. It was clear to me on reaching the first turn at Red Lodge that this was either going to be a bail-out or a painful morning. The first leg into the building head-wind was pretty much as expected and I was totally demoralised watching the numbers on my power meter drop. The second head wind episode and 30 mile ‘run’ to the finish consisted of an acceptance that I had done a poor ride but a determination  that I would at least complete the job and record a time.

I passed the chequered board which denoted the 100 mile mark and I felt no need to shout my number as I crawled past. The timekeeper had more than ample time to read my number at my slow pace.

I recorded a time of 4:08:08

During the final leg of the ride I had already placed adverts for all of my bikes on Ebay and rationalised that time trialling was not for me. On the drive home I figured if I can record a 4:08 on a bad day perhaps, just perhaps my target of going sub-4 hours is achievable after all.

The highlight of the day was my first experience of the Eagle RC HQ bungalow - a gem. A perfect metaphor for the UK cycling scene and heritage.

Bikes are still in the shed, training continues and I have an opportunity to redeem myself on 26 July.

Ian Turner