EDCA 100m TT - SUNDAY 26TH JULY

Sunday 26 July 2015 - EDCA 100m TT

Feelings of fear, trepidation and self-doubt started earlier than expected for this event. My previous 100m TT result in June had knocked my confidence. The weather forecast was supporting my building desire to DNS.

I completed my prescribed pre-event turbo session on the Saturday morning and after a typically hectic, family fun filled day and early dinner, I committed to the following day’s race. First step being the realisation that a 2:45am alarm call would be required to allow for the 100 mile journey to event HQ located near Attleborough, Norfolk. Step two, a quick test of the prototype long distance hydration strategy of sticking a 1.5 litre camelback down the back of an already tight skin-suit.

The morning of the event went as planned, no dramas and I arrived at HQ in plenty of time (in fact early as per usual) to prepare. Co-incidentally, radio Norfolk were broadcasting Victoria Pendleton’s interview with Bradley Wiggins which helped to pass the time in the car park.

After a very brief warmup I queued for my start time and was pushed off on my way into the cool dawn air. My ride went as planned this time. I don’t display elapsed time on my Garmin during a race but I knew that my power was stronger than planned and I felt sure that I could maintain this pace. At mid-distance the south westerly wind picked up and provided an irritating head-wind/ tail-wind dimension which seems to be the 2015 trend. My new hydration system worked well and enabled me to take on fluid without compromising my position on the bike. The final 15 miles provided an opportunity to explore the margins of pain and I pushed hard right to the end.

I crossed the finishing line, relieved to be able to free-wheel and rest my back. Several minutes passed before I dared to scroll through my Garmin screen to check my time. I was genuinely shocked to see that I had clocked 3:52:01, considerably quicker than my sub 4 hour target and I didn’t really believe this until my time was confirmed to me at HQ. 

So in summary an 11 minute PB, beating my sub 4 hour target and a provisional club record for the 100 mile distance (to be confirmed by the committee). 

Ian Turner