Sunday morning saw me taking a nice early morning drive up to Harby near Lincoln for round 7 of the CTT TT Series. On the way up I could see it was windy, smoke coming out horizontal from chimneys is normally a good sign LOL, and unfortunately it was due to get windier as the day went on. On getting to the HQ it was still nice and dry, and the wind didn't seem too bad. The rain was forecasted to arrive late morning/early afternoon, I was just hoping that it would hold off until around 12, when hopefully I would be finished.
I got the bike all setup and went out for a warm up lap and a quick course recce, the rain started whilst I was out there, but it was just a drizzle so nothing too bad. It wasn't long after I got back that the heavens decided they wouldn't hold on until midday, looked like we were all due for a through soaking. As I sat in the HQ shivering (it just felt very cold for some reason) I wasn't looking forward to riding to the start, and as I had given up hope of doing a proper warm up, it would be this 3 mile ride that would have to do. I just hoped it would be enough racing against the likes of Julian Ramsbottom, then again I don't think many of us did much in the way of a warm up.
As my time got nearer the rain started easing off, and actually by the time I started it had actually stopped, though the wind had certainly picked up compared with the course recce. I might not get wet, but by heck I was going to be blown around a fair bit. Once started it was obvious the wind was stronger and in a slightly different direction, but it still meant the majority of the race was going to be into a headwind/cross headwind. Once up to speed the first section along the A57 was fairly good and the speed was pretty good considering the cross headwind. I did have a few moments with breaks in the hedges causing a bit of buffeting with the wind and gusts, so glad I choose the 50mm wheel rather than the deeper section.
The next section was 6 miles into a nice strong blustery headwind, this also coincided with the hillest part of the course, though to be fair it was virtually pan flat. I was feeling pretty good here and just tried to keep at a decent power and get aero as possible, whilst watching out for potholes etc. It was down this stretch that my visor started to mist up, now normally I would be OK with it, but with the roads being wet and not being 100% sure of where any potholes were it meant taking it off and trying to shove it down my skinsuit, not the easiest thing to do whilst trying to race and stay aero. Once it was removed and stashed away I got back to sorting the effort out, and it wasn't long before I saw the turning to finally get a tailwind to the finish.
Once I turned not having a headwind was nice, but it was still hard work keeping the power up for the final 4-5 miles, at least with it being fast it would be over quicker LOL. This road was probably the worst road however and it was vital to keep a look out for the rough areas and potholes, again not always easy with a wet road, just glad I had removed the visor. Even with the tailwind the effort was starting to tell, but with the speed over 30mph I knew the miles were passing fast. As I passed an old farm building I knew I only had a mile to go, so tried to lift the effort for that final few mins, and it wasn't long before I saw the finish, though with the straight roads it looked miles away. Eventually I passed the finish and recorded a 31:29, not as fast as I had hoped after the recce, but with the wind I suppose it wasn't too bad.
On checking the results I saw that I had managed to win with Julian coming in second 41 secs behind, with Geoff Platts in 3rd place another 54 secs behind. Still finding these shorter events hardwork, but pleased that power was good and I put in a real strong finish. Just one more TT Series event left at the end of the month which being a double pointer is essential to finish at least, but with 5 wins out of 6 events (I have only ridden 5 however) hopefully it will mean I end up as series winner for the veterans.
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