It was a nice day today. The sun made it warm compared to the past weeks. It was 14 degrees. I increased my speed a little bit to around 17.5mph average this week. This is quite slow compared to race speed, but the plan today was to ride a 10 mile Time Trial course three times called the B10/9 from Sudbourne through Tunstall and back.
It was quite fun, but not as flat as I was told by my dad. It was a bit windy, but not too bad. I am trying to learn the local courses, as I will be able to race on open roads from the end of March. I will miss the first race at this course, as I won’t be 12 in time. Still, it was good to get the feel of the course.
When I race, I do sighting laps and installation laps. The installation laps are where you work out where the best lines through corners might be, braking points, exit speeds and things like that. Sighting laps are just riding around the course and checking what it’s like, where there are pot holes and other things that I need to take different lines for.
Today I rode on my CycloCross bike with road tyres on, so it didn’t feel as fast as a road race bike. The only technical bit was in Tunstall, but as I was not in a TT position and not going over 20mph, it seemed easy enough. I think the tight corner on the way back in Tunstall might be harder at full race speed because I had to be careful at 20mph. If there was a tail wind into that corner or a strong side wind in a time trial position, it would be a lot harder. I think I will do a few test rides on my TT bike in a month or so, so I will find out then.
