July 2018

More cycling news I'm afraid!

4th: First up was a flat 10-mile time-trial near Hull, which was originally scheduled to be on the fastest course in the country (V718), but a traffic restriction order has controversially stopped all races on that course for the foreseeable future, so we had to make do on the slower V714. No PB this time (even with my fancy new skin suit!) but 5th overall out of 38 in a time of 21:50 won me a tenner and a bottle of beer. (Link to photo)

11th: Instead of watching England get knocked out of the World Cup, I competed in the final round of the North Midlands series of "Sporting Course" (i.e. hilly) time trials, coming away with a prize for fastest veteran, and also won the raffle prize of a pair of tyres! Finished up 4th in the series overall.

18th: Racing around laps of Sheffield city centre, in the Sheffield Grand Prix cat 3/4 support race (i.e. the warm-up race before the professionals show how it's done). Managed only 7 of 25 laps before I had to pull out with a puncture, but it was fun while it lasted.  Without the puncture, I most likely would have stayed with my friend Nick (behind me here) and been lapped and out of the race after 15 laps.

19th: Road Racing League. Had my most successful road race of the season so far, finally earning some points in the 'A' group for a top 15 finish. This picture is with one lap to go, a 2-man break is well away and I'm making a failed attempt get away from the bunch.

21st: A course PB on the local 25 mile course (55:26, 6th overall out of 54), no prize this time because the organisers of this event decided you have to be over 45 to count as a 'veteran'!

24th: Weekend at Carol & Bill's, with a visit to Knightshayes Court

Followed by a few days in a thatched cottage in Ashwater, near the Devon/Cornwall border.

28th: Rainy day genealogy hunting.

June 2018

2nd June: Old friends reunion

3rd June: Next an attempt at going longer, on a 50-mile course near Nottingham. Comfortably under the 2 hour target at 1:56:40 (although the last few miles were far from comfortable!). 14th/54, 8th vet. Room for improvement here.

Emily has been busy preparing her nails for the Taylor Swift concert at the weekend.

5th June: Local club 10.2 mile time trial at Foolow. First place with a course record time of 24:27.

8th June: After months of listening to Taylor Swift on shuffle in the house, the day finally arrived when we would see her in the flesh.

9th: Another PB, 10 miles in 21:13 at Cuckney. 8th/56, 5th vet.

11th-13th: Katie becomes a teenager!

My club also runs one of the time trials, and this year there were enough volunteers for me to ride instead of marshalling. Came 4th/33, 1st vet, with a 3-minute course PB, with the help of a fancy disk wheel borrowed from a club mate.

14th: I've also been doing the Thursday night road racing league again this year, but after my success in the B group last year, I've been promoted to the A group, where the racing is much harder, and I spend a lot of time at the back of the bunch, as seen here:

20th: Another hilly time trial, on the same Longstone Edge circuit as last month. Improved my time by 40 seconds, and came equal 4th/33, with a prize for 2nd vet.

21st: Megan is 8.

Pottery party

24th: Had to get up early for this one, with a 7:30am start near Bakewell for a 25 mile flat time trial. Had a problem with my rear brake rubbing, which I didn't have time (or the right tools) to fix before the start, but I decided I might as well ride anyway, aiming for a PB in terms of power sustained rather than the time. Came 8th/23 in 1:00:30. Worked out later that the added friction probably cost me 4 minutes (and the vet's prize).