Unusually for an Easter weekend, the racing calendar was fairly quiet, particularly on the road racing side of things. So, that gave two of the club’s road racers, myself and Will Thomas, the chance to enter the Otley 10 mile time trial on the Saturday 19 April, near Boroughbridge.

We weren’t the only ones from Hull Thursday in attendance either, as John Savage and seasoned time-triallist Jim Trevor where also on the start sheet.

The weather was overcast but dry with a hint of a breeze coming from the east making it fairly pleasant to ride in. The course was run on the old A1 which now runs parallel alongside the new road. However it was far from flat with a long drag towards the end of the route known as the ‘wall’. It was far from the Mur de Huy though, and is only known as the wall because there is a long brick wall which runs alongside. Nevertheless, an obstacle to overcome.

First HTRC man off was John Savage who set a time of 26 minutes and 48 seconds which gave him a finishing position of 69th place.

Up next was myself. The start line for the course was unusually positioned in a lay-by just off the road. Unlike most time trials, where cars can see you start, this one required extra care as you had to essentially pull out and hope and pray that a car wasn’t going to wipe you out. Fortunately I had a clean getaway, but I wasn’t feeling my usual self by the time I was up to speed. I couldn’t really get up to a good cruising speed and just reaching 25 mph felt like quite an effort. I wasn’t all that comfortable on the bike either, as I could tell I was rocking my upper body by trying to force my effort.

I eventually settled into my rhythm and the speed started to come, albeit probably because I was going ever so slightly downhill. I could also see my minute man up the road. However after gaining almost half my deficit on him in a short space of time I suddenly found the next 30 seconds a real struggle to close down. I wasn’t really helped when my minute man came passed me, posing the question as to whether I was going well or not. At this point it felt like the latter but I carried on hoping to turn things around on the back stretch.

I eventually caught my minute man at the roundabout marking the halfway point for the course. I could just about see the chap who caught me in the distance but I had to get the fact I’d been caught out of my head and just keep focusing on what I was doing. So much about time trialling is in the head. Lose your concentration for just a bit and the lost seconds just tally up. It was also at this point when I saw Will closely followed by Jim coming the opposite way still on the first leg of the course.

About 7 miles in to my ride and the ‘wall’ was approaching but strangely it was here where I felt strongest. I found a good gear and a great rhythm and I could feel the power oozing out of my legs. Once over the top, the finish was only just a kilometre or so up the road. I gave it all I had and could see from my computer that my time wasn’t too bad. I was heading for a sub-24 minute time but unfortunately there was just a little too much road and I ended up setting a 24 minute and 6 second time for 34th place. The chap who caught me ended up coming 4th with a 21.55, so it was far from a disgrace getting caught by someone of his calibre.

After a brief warm down, I placed myself near the finish awaiting Will and Jim to finish. First up was Jim, who had caught his minute-man Will, to set a time of 23:28 for a storming 20th place. Will wasn’t far behind coming in with a 24:47 for 47th place. The winner was, unsurprisingly, in Team Swift colours with Robby Krygsman setting a quite staggering time of 21:35 on a hilly course. Even more staggering was his age of 52. Perhaps the older you get the faster you go?

Overall a pleasing day out for myself personally. I was a little frustrated to miss out on a sub 24 minute ride but quite pleased to take a top half position considering I’m not an out and out time triallist. Hats off to Jim too for being the best Hull Thursday rider. They don’t call him the ‘Hellenic Hawk’ for nothing.

The following weekend we were back on the road racing scene, with some of the boys riding at York on the Saturday, and another squad taking part in the ‘Out of the Saddle’ race near Doncaster on the Sunday.

Mark Walker
Road Race Secretary