Astwood '10' 30th April 2025

36 hours before this event, it looked like we'd have to shift to a backup course owing to planned roadworks. But only 5h later, these had (remarkably conveniently) been pushed back by a week. So everything went pretty smoothly on a delightful sunny and warm evening with only the slightest wind.

I was feeling pretty good, and ahead of the race was hopeful I might get under 24 minutes. After the usual ride up to the meeting point and an extended warmup, I was on the line and ready to go. I had a pretty clear run, with the exception of a couple of timid drivers waiting behind a rider I caught quite early on. I know it always feels like time is ebbing away in these circumstances, but really I doubt it would have been enough to account for my place in this event.

My strategy was to try and keep the average power over 250W. This can be quite difficult on a course like this, which has a lot of small climbs and descents - the biggest climb being up to the finish in Astwood. But I managed an average of 252W - as the normalised power was 253W, I think I was pretty consistent throughout the race.

I ended up finishing with 23:54, so I achieved my goal for the evening - and I was only 12 seconds behind the winner. I think the result pretty clearly reflects where I'm at with my training, and it's broadly consistent with the preceding two club events.

Here are the race data (click to enlarge). Full results at the NBRC website.