Ben Hardisty writes…
Over the years I have entered many TTs and never owned an aero lid, the main reason being I do not consider myself a fast enough rider to warrant wearing one, although I have borrowed one of Mr Anton’s a couple of times. However my birthday arrived and with it lots of wiggle vouchers, finally I decided to look at TT helmets and selected a Bell Javelin which comes with a relatively shorter pointy end and a visor.
First event wearing the helmet yesterday, on a nice sunny, cool but increasingly windy day. The H50/8 course (near Farnham in Hampshire) is an extension of the 25, with an extra slightly slower leg beyond the south roundabout.
Having paced myself conservatively for the first 35 miles, not having raced this distance for a season, I dug in for the final slog. Riding into the wind I felt like I was riding into a wall, and it didn’t help that the ‘old chassis’ was now issuing a general complaint from all over. Standing out of the saddle now had the double benefit of putting more effort in and relieving the pain !
I was very conscious of keeping my head in the right position (tucked but looking up the road ahead) to maximise the aero benefits, so crossing the line after 50 miles I had more of a neck ache than usual. I did sweat a fair bit, but the helmet has reasonable ventilation with 2 vents at the front and some air coming in around the sides of the visor.
Missed my PB by only 15 seconds, but having no form whatsoever surely means that the pointy hat is doing its job ! Aiming for a sub 2:10:00 later in the season.
Overall:
1. James Gilfillan (Contre La Montre) 1:48:08
2. Steve Berry (Team Swift-Allsports) 1:48:15
3. Dominic Hill (Bec CC) 1:49:51
4. Steve Irwin (Kingston Wheelers CC) 1:51:02
Women:
1. Paula Moseley (Climb on Bikes CC) 2:04:36
2. Jennifer Hewitt (700) 2:06:25
3. Nichola Pike (Sydenham Wheelers) 2:08:29
East Grinstead
Ben Hardisty 2:14:56
Photo courtesy of David Carlsson of Blinkman Photos
