Mother's Day IRTT at Benalla - edited

This is an edited version as on checking the graph, I realise that me thinking I stopped for 2 minutes is a load of bollocks...more like 20 seconds!!!!..felt like 2 minutes but. So, since " I cannot tell a lie", the graph is added at the end of the section on the TT.


Yes, I know...MOST families gather together on Mother's Day...but then we're not MOST families . We are the Randalls and we are different and what's more I've always said that every day should be Mother's Day!....so Mother's Day is like any other day and we all go our separate ways . This year Alex and Ben somewhere to the west, me to the north east and Phil somewhere in between. (Thanks to the boys for the great Mother's Day pressies.)

The TT course at Benalla is flat apart from 2 lumps where the road goes over the highway. Wind can be a problem and so it was today, with the outward leg being the toughest. The course has 2 corners and with the likelihood of traffic being next to zero, taking those corners at speed and with absolutely no need to touch the brakes is guaranteed.

I have a good TT warm up routine sorted, but very rarely actually get to implement it 'cos despite all my planning I never seem to arrive with plenty of time and this Sunday was no exception. Of course having to wait at the side of the road for an age on the way up for 2 extremely wide house boats to pass didn't help...house boats for god's sake...don't they know there's no water in Lake Eildon???

But never mind I did get a good warm up..it just wasn't the ergo based one I'd planned.

There were 25 riders ( 2 females.. me and 1 other) and I placed 9th. The course is 21.6km and I took 37.19’21 (34.74kph). ..fastest was 31'39". Actually that time's not right....it's the official time alright , but I had a mechanical and had to stop on the way and my SRM tells me I was stationary for ~2 minutes.

So why did I have to stop...not something I normally do in a TT..well it went like this.

I set off at a good pace, although for a nanosecond I did flick into overdrive. Into the second km and I approached the first of the two lumps and as I went over the join from the old road to the overpass new section there was a ridge and as I bumped over it...a very loud noise.... "CLACK" sounded from the front wheel...(Zipp 808). @#$%^!!!!! what was that?

I stopped pedalling and coasted but then kept going as everything seemed ok ..no puncture and front wheel steady.

Then it happened again. WTF?

I started to wonder if I'd tightened the front skewer properly...that's all I could think of. Third time it happened and I was off the bike..checking the front skewer..no probs, the head set..ok too, the wheel was fine...sheeee-it. So that all took a definite 2 minutes down time plus braking and cranking up, so yes the result is 37'19" but I'm thinking 35'19" and that would have been 7th place..

So, I was happy with my physical effort, given that it was the first race of the TT season.






You can see the 2 dips in wattage(green line in the lower SRM graph, yellow in the WKO+ top one) prior to the complete stop.

Back to the car and change from TT gear and bike to RR gear and bike. and we're away for a 40km road race.

It didn't take me too long to realise that there was NO way I was going to finish this race in with the bunch. It was a case of how long could I hold on until the elastic snapped. Not very long was the answer! In fact at the first longish up slope there was this very loud b-o-i--n-g and I was off the back and waving them good bye.

I finished the race but it was the longest 40km I've ever ridden! I was very very tired and needed a nanna/power nap or two on the 2 hour drive home.