I decided to enter a TT outside Kent on the 14th September, as I was dog sitting in Barnet and there was an event in Tring, around 30 miles away. It was on a supposedly fast course (F11/10) on the A41 dual carriageway, so a PB on my road bike was a good possibility.

I rode the course the day before – rather foolishly as it turned out as Friday 13th at 16:00pm was unlucky for me due to horrendous traffic and I was honked on a couple of occasions by lorries. At the end, I was adament that the course was downright dangerous and I had reservations about riding it.

Travelling down from Barnet the next day was more relaxing due to less traffic and I felt in a better frame of mind. The event attracted 150 riders, plus reserves and there were some familiar Ashford Wheelers in the car park and we all had a nice chat. I warmed up on my turbo for a change, before cycling to the start, whidh involved cycling up Tring Hill to further warm the legs.

My start time was 15:32 and the course started on a slip road onto the A41 with appaling worn road surfaces that made my bike rattle like a kid’s toy and this continued when on the dual carriageway. Soon, I was hitting speeds in the high twenties and it wasn’t long before it was time to exit the A41 and navigate two confusing roundabouts, either side of the main road, before rejoining westbound, overtaking someone in the process after just three miles. After five miles the course drops down and 40 mph was reached quite easily and the next two miles saw my average speed climb to 26.7mph! Then some unwelcome headwinds caused my speed to cascade down to 25.5mph by the turn at a roundabout that reduced the dual carriageway to a single road. The final stretch, eastbound, saw my average climb to 25.7mph and I stopped my garmin at 23:14.

Back at the HQ, there were no times available, due to a rider crashing at the finishing point after hitting a pothole and he was rather cut up. I met with the Ashford Wheelers and they all thought they had good PBs in the bag. Times began to be filtered through on the Result Sheet, hours later via Spindata, and I was given a time of 22:21! I would not be comfortable with accepting that time and a screenshot of my Garmin was sent to the organiser and my time was readjusted to 23:11 – a road bike PB by 34 seconds and just 8 seconds short of my TT bike PB.

I left with a bittersweet feeling towards the event as I felt jaded during the ride and my power was down on my best this season at 281 watts. A 22’ was in my grasp and as I am weeks away from reaching sixty, the clock is winding down for achieving faster times! The event also made me question whether this ‘dragstrip’ racing is actually what TT’s should be about. I believe courses that challenge the rider, like our own Q10/33, are what it should be about, but who I am I to say, as there are a plethora of riders only interested in riding up and down dual carrigeways on their expensive bikes!

Mark Amon.