Shaftesbury CC 10 Mile Time Trial - 11th May

I rode the Shaftesbury CC 10 on Saturday 10 May on the E2/10 course over at Six Mile Bottom near Newmarket. This event had a field of 130 riders with 10 reserves which is superb and probably bucks the trend of falling fields in TTs, especially as it was a dual-carriageway course.

This was a chance to open my racing account for the season and also to catch up with a couple of old club mates from my 34 Nomads CC days, Richard Payn and Ron Keeble who had entered.

I wasn't expecting a great deal of form as my training isn't the most intense it's ever been and I hadn't raced for a year so I felt a little rusty. I expected something like a 24 or perhaps a 23 minute ride.

Myself, Louise and Alex made the journey and it was obvious that it was going to be a hot one. I set off, already sweating, and within about 2 miles I could feel myself drying up but thanking my lucky stars it was just a '10'

I gave it some serious welly, though I was certainly grovelling over some of the drags of the A11. Experience counts for a lot in a TT so I just decided to keep it in the 54 x 14 and 15 and try to keep it smooth. Back at the HQ my time was 22.46 (Ave speed 26.71mph) which I was very pleased with.

Winner was multi-champion Michael Hutchinson who came in with 18.26 (Ave speed 32.86mph) 

Certainly a nice course to ride and very pleased to back racing.

Julian Stock