Ben Crick writes…
With G25/53 off limits for the whole season so far due to road works it was good to know that the Southern Counties CC 25 will be held on this course September 8th which I have duly entered. Having a dig round on the http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk i found that the Epsom CC had a club 25 on the course today so contacted the organiser and he was happy for me to ride.
Armed with my new Zipp disc and some steady improvement since last year I was hoping for a course PB and maybe an overall 25 PB. It was a chilly start at 9 degrees C but little wind so once I got going things warmed up nicely. It seemed like no time at all that I reached the new roundabout which did not seem to slow me down much but I was only doing about 23 MPH when I approached so the top riders may find the offset layout a problem but not too much.
Tillgate Hill does not get any easier but I caught my minute man at the top and he then took me back over on the way down so I must have offended him 🙂 Back on the Crawley road towards Rusper i took him over gain and powered on. My average speed was 0.4 MPH up on last year at the same point so the PB was on. The new roundabout west bound is easier so momentum was not impacted much at all.
Last year my best time on this course was 1:04:31 so to cross the line at 1:02:00 (on my stopwatch) was very pleasing and bettered my season best by 52 secs.
Hopefully next Sunday will have good conditions again and maybe that long 61 will happen
Update: Ben clocked 1:01:59 – official time
