Cumbria Velo 50TT - 02 Aug 2020
Words by Paul Davis
An actual race report.
I travelled down to beautiful Keswick last night to race in the local 50TT. I raced here last year and done pretty well - 3rd on the day. However, after the start sheet was released last week it read like the who’s who of time trialling. I counted 8 riders who had previously went sub 1:40. I was preparing to add zero at the end of last years 3rd placing.
Given the current situation the HQ/sign on was a very different place. Signing on with your own pen, race numbers pegged onto a washing line and most shocking of all - no post race cake/coffee. Unfortunately this will be the way forward for any race and well done to Cumbria Velo for still managing to host in these “testing” times.
Last nights beauty turned into a morning downpour just before I set off which made PBing for the mortals unlikely. Made even more apparent at the first roundabout with lots of standing water and a fallen rider being helped back on his bike by the marshal. The first 20odd miles were really wet and I was tempted to ditch my fogged up visor but the fear of a ££££ replacement put me off. I reached 25 miles just outside my target time of 55 mins and slightly up on power.
The second half of the race started to dry up and I even managed to take the last roundabout at near full speed. With 9 miles to go and a nice tail wind I put the hammer down and raced towards the finish line to finish in a 1:49:59 (not official). I was pipped on the line by Kyle Gordon (he started 14 mins after me) but it could mean a cheeky photo bomb opportunity for me. It looks like John Archibald took the win scraping under 1:33, with Kyle and Adam Wild both in the 1:37s.
Still waiting on the official results. Hoping to get a couple more races this year but it’s getting more and more difficult to get a start with limited opportunities.