At last we had some properly seasonal weather after a pretty unpleasant spring.  Treated to some sunny and hot conditions, we reckoned on some good times (though actually, the humidity did seem to affect some riders). The event was the North Bucks Road Club 10 mile Championship event, so for the NBRC members, there was something to aim at. Well, if truth be told, this would be for Silver behind Tony...Lining up behind riders, I was acutely conscious that I'd marked the hottest evening of the club event season by neglecting to bring a bottle. Not that I ever plan to drink in a '10', but it's nice to drink before and after the event. And there's the generally belief that the aero bottle improves the aero characteristics of the frame.Anyhow, off I went at the allotted time. I found the opening sections not too bad - it was a pretty still night, so no assistance (or hindrance) due to wind. I had no trouble with traffic at any point during the event, which made a nice change. I always take the first roundabout carefully, as it's very heavily potholed and falling off in the first mile would be somewhat embarrassing.  I whisked up the hill pretty briskly, then embarked on the dual carriageway section, for which there isn't too much to report.  Coming off the dual carriageway, I hoped to to crank out some speed.  And I did for a while, but the final mile or so is pretty hard, even on a nice evening, as the road surface is pretty rough and while it looks level, I think it's actually a slight incline.  I finished in 22:47, one of my faster times on this course, and enough for silver behind Tony, I think.

Another weekend, another '10'! This time on the Leighton Buzzard course (F12/10). This is a course that I always feel ought to be quicker than I find it - unfortunately it suffers from a heavy surface, is exposed and has a roundabout to cross  twice, where one often gets held up by traffic. But, hey, it's another race...The weather was a moderate but blustery wind, and it was reasonably warm (but still cool for an afternoon in late May).  I arrived at the start line with a few minutes to spare. While being held by the pusher-off, I observed that there was an ominous road kill alongside - fortunately I don't think there were any accidents out there! The timekeeper seemed to take some pleasure in teasing me about my recent spate of punctures (of which, more later).I started in reasonably good style, but pretty much straightaway got stopped by a line of traffic at the Billington roundabout (you can see the drop in speed on the Garmin trace). Despite dropping down a gear, it still took a big effort to get back up to speed again. This was a bit tough, as the outward leg was pretty heavy going, with a nagging cross wind. Reaching the turn, I once again got stalled by traffic at the roundabout, before I set off on the return leg.The return was mostly considerably faster than the outward leg - but despite this wind assistance, there were some real hard sections. I reached the Billington roundabout dreading a further holdup, but passed through smoothly. So, all in all a pretty uneventful event, no problems with traffic (other than at the roundabouts). I would generally expect to do around 23:15 or so, so my 23:29 was about what I expected!Oh, and to return to the subject of punctures. This time it was Tony who was afflicted: just as he neared the start, his front tub punctured.  He dashed back for the spare wheel, but unfortunately he'd forgotten the track pump so he rode the event on a slightly soft tyre. Didn't seem to affect him too much - he beat me by just over a minute! 

I recently signed the Sense about Science petition in favour of their GM wheat trials. I have just received the following email which suggests that the Take the Flour Back pressure group are afraid to discuss the issues around this GM work in a public forum.  I can only conclude that they realise their opinions of this work are without merit compared with the efforts that the Rothamsted scientists have made in engaging with the public and explaining the nature of their work.The research is legal, and has passed all regulatory hurdles. The actions of Take the Flour Back are to be deplored. I urge all to read the information at the website and sign the petition.

Dear Petition SignatoryYou supported the appeal by Rothamsted scientists against plans by a group to take direct action against their research into whether GM wheat can warn off aphids.The Take the Flour Back group is pursuing this action but had agreed with the researchers’ proposal to debate their concerns before 27th May.  The researchers organised a neutral venue and chair for a debate. Unfortunately Take the Flour Back has announced they will not take part. There is a timeline of the exchange between Professor John Pickett and Take the Flour Back at http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/Content.php?Section=AphidWheat&Page=ProtestThere’s lots of other discussion going on. Professor Pickett will be on Newsnight on BBC2 at 10.30 tonight. Many of you left comments on the petition asking about aspects of the research and we have received many questions and points by email and twitter. The scientists at Rothamsted, and colleagues at institutions doing related work, have been responding to many of them; some of this is now up on http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/rothamsted-appeal.htmlPlease send the message far and wide: forward the scientists' appeal to your friends and colleagues, share the petition on Facebook and use Twitter hashtag #dontdestroyresearch.http://www.senseaboutscience.org/petition.phpBest regardsSíle Lane

This was my first ride on the Stony Stratford course in 2012: of the two prior outings in the NBRC calendar, I didn't ride the first because of an open event, and the second was cancelled due to rain.  So I hadn't got a clear picture of how the roads had survived the winter (the course normally has some pretty dreadful stretches of tarmac). In the event, I did reasonably well - slightly faster than this time last year.My ride out the the event was rendered slightly alarming by traffic volumes - indeed I retreated to the redways for part of this ride. The experience was  alleviated a bit by being merrily peeped by a passing Mavic car. And, no, they weren't offering puncture repair assistance! I arrived in time to sign on as #18. To my chagrin, Tony turned up and singed on a minute behind me. Still, I thought, that can only persuade me to put some back into it...I started off down the road behind some bloke on what appeared to be a single speed mountain bike - I passed him right on the first bend. I found it heavy going on the ride out to Beachampton (successfully avoiding some serious road imperfections), but that was nothing compared to the climb up to and through Nash - here my excess body weight told, and I felt like I was dragging the bike through deep treacle. Once through Nash, I found myself rolling along pretty well. Or so I thought until Tony came rumbling past just before the turn. I was horrified by this and decided I just had to put some back into it!Coming out of the turn roundabout, I was about 30m behind, a gap which grew slightly on the run back to Nash. But on the descent, my excess body weight became more of a benefit than a hindrance, and this coupled with my monster top gear started closing the gap on Tony.  Of course I never quite made it, and he began to draw away from through Beachampton and on to the finish.All in all, a reasonably encouraging effort. I finished with 27:49.Results (at the NBRC website) 

 Finally, some good weather!  The wind dropped to more modest levels than of late, the rain went away, and this strange shiny thing in the sky illuminated us all and raised the temperature to more satisfactory levels. Oh, and I am finally beginning to feel like a bike rider again, as I recorded my best '10' time so far this year.Breaking with tradition, the Bossard Wheelers '10' moved this year from the F12/10 on the Leighton Buzzard bypass, to my local course near Brogborough (the F15/10). The Bossard Wheelers are on a bit of an upward trajectory at the moment, and seem to have an influx of riders, a new strip, and a website. The F15/10 has been much-touted as a quick course, featuring a descent from the start that riders don't need to ride back up. A number of test events used the course in 2011, but it's not been until this season that I've had the opportunity to have a bash at it. My experiences prior to this event had been less than satisfactory. I was still ill for the Team Salesengine '10', where I recorded a career-worst 24:48, while my supposed 2-up ride at the TeamMK event left me distinctly deflated.Seeing as how this is a local course, I did of course ride out, taking a longer route through Ridgmont. I noticed many groups of kids with unfeasibly large rucksacks congregated at various points along the route. One such gang passed comment on my bike - in return I asked what they were up to. Apparently it was some Duke of Edinburgh thing, though I'm uncertain why Phil the Greek would be so keen to have groups of teenagers looking baffled in the countryside. Still, at least they had decent weather for it.The HQ for the event was in the Marston Social Club, about 3.5 miles and two level crossings from the start. Signing on was in the bar, and a succession of lycra-clad old blokes (as usual for a time trial, the majority of riders were veterans) must have entertained the drinkers there!Once up at the start, there's little scope for riding about, and I ended up chatting to some of the other riders, and not actually focussing on the task in hand. I was a bit remiss in not getting the computer started exactly as my minute man started. Anyway, after a bit of jibber jabber with Richard and the timekeeper (which seemed to focus on the recent deflationary debacle at the TeamMK 2-up), off I went as fast as I could down the starting slope. Once on the course proper, things always get a bit more interesting - it undulates a bit, and there seemed to be exposed sections. This made my speed seem to vary quite a bit. I did spot David Jones taking snaps out on the course, and I had my very own tifosi out to support me![caption id="attachment_1893" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Having spotted the photographer, it's always good to hold one's stomach in! Photo: David Jones"][/caption]Crossing the first roundabout seems to need a bit of attention as the entry and exit roads are offset. I maybe could have taken that a bit faster, but I'm naturally a bit cautious. I took the turn roundabout reasonably well (though I did thank the marshals, so maybe I wasn't going hell for leather). The return leg was a bit tougher I thought. The wind seemed to be a bit blustery and sporadic, and didn't really give consistent assistance. But I suppose the counter to that is that it didn't give consistent hindrance either. The last half mile seemed pretty hard. I finished with 22:39, my fastest '10' so far this year. Despite Geoff's efforts at the results board to offer me a 21:22, honesty prevailed! Still, I made it to 10th place - at least some form may be returning.Overall, the course doesn't seem as fast as claimed. But it's an improvement over the F12/10 as its traffic levels are quite low.Results (top ten places)

Another day of very heavy showers and blustery wind didn't bode well for tonight's club event on the Astwood sporting '10' course. I had pretty much decided to ride the event no matter what the weather was like, but I found myself running a little late by the time we got home on the tandem.  I reached Astwood in time to see the early riders start, signed on, had a bit of a chinwag, and then rolled off for a short warmup.  I soon found I needed a nature break. This delayed my return to the start line, where I found no-one except Tony and Bryan (timekeeper and pusher off). In fact as I reached the line I heard Tony say "5, 4, 3, 2, 1...go". And off I went...I found the outward leg to Chicheley quite tough, and mostly because the wind was twitching my front wheel quite badly, particularly where there were gaps in the hedgerows. In fact I wasn't much above 25 mph for a lot of that section, which is normally quite fast.  Reaching the sharp left after Chicheley I need feel a bit of wind assistance, but as the course meanders through the countryside, the wind never really seemed to add too much help! Fortunately the temperature was a bit warmer of late (last time at Astwood, my fingers got so cold it was difficult to hold the bars!).I had no real problems until the last mile or so - the fast descent before the final climb had quite few twitchy moments then just as I was approaching the finish line, my gears decided to jump up a gear, making a huge noise and denting what little remained of my momentum. I finished for a tied third place (out of 12 riders) in 24:16. I'd been unable to start the timer on my computer until about 15-20 seconds had elapsed due to my almost late start, so I didn't have a terribly good idea on how I was going.This was the second event on the replacement tyres (Bontrager Aero), which not only haven't punctured so far, but aesthetically speaking look pretty spiffy on the H3 trispokes. Maybe that's Puncture Bob banished for the time being!Results (at the NBRC website) 

For a change, it didn't rain today. But it was heavily overcast and remarkably cold for May. Another change was on the tyre front: as recommended by Gerry, I had ordered a pair of Bontrager Aero R4 folding tyres, in the hope of avoiding further puncture misery. An added bonus lay in the aesthetic arena: black tyres with white logos happen to look damned fine on my bike.I was feeling a bit tired and jaded en route to the course.  I'd never ridden the F2D/10 before (and neither, I think, had Tony) - fortunately we arrived in time to drive round the course and recce out the turn. The course was a pretty straightforward dual carriageway course, with a only gentle undulations and a lengthy turn (if that makes any sense!). While the rain held off, there was a stiff wind from the Northeast, which was cutting across the course. While it gave some assistance on the return leg, it did make the outward leg quite tough at times.  I had no trouble with hold-ups at any roundabouts, though occasional motorists came closer than I thought strictly necessary! For about the first time this season, I felt comfortable on the time trial bike, with the exception of some masculine discomfort later in the event (of which the less said the better!).I crossed the finish line with a result of 22:52. That's still a bit slower than I'd have liked, but I think it may be sign of returning form. At last. 

After my recent spate of punctures, I can be forgiven for feeling that I was never going to make it to the end of a time trial. Or even to the start.  So at this point, I'll cut to the chase and say that on this evening, I contrived to make it to the finish line.Of course, what would this report be without a puncture.  As it happens, I generally ride my time trial bike to work and go straight from work to the race.  Today was no exception, and I rolled away from the house with all hope that my ride to work would be uneventful.  For a change, it wasn't actually raining.  Unfortunately, about one and a half miles from home, b-l-a-a-p! My front tyre exploded.  I could see a 5mm gash with fragments of green latex exposed. After a minor verbal explosion which included a large proportion of the four letter words offered by the full breadth of the English language, I stopped at the road side to effect temporary repairs to puncture #7.  After using a patch to hold the cut together and putting a new tube in, I gingerly rode home to sort out a better repair (with a replacement tyre*).Somewhat miraculously, I made it both to work, and down to the event in the evening, without further mishap.  The event itself was ridden in dry but heavily overcast conditions. There was a pretty strong wind, and it wasn't warm.  However it was a tail wind up the hill to the dual carriageway section, and enough of a tail wind to the turn to make the outward leg rather brisk.  Unfortunately the converse was that the return leg was pretty brutal at times.  I was caught by Tony about halfway back from the turn, which came as no surprise to me.  On the final stretch to the finish, I was having quite a bit of trouble holding a straight line, such was the buffeting from the wind.  I finished in 23:46, which was OK, I suppose, a little slower than my last outing on this course, but relative to other riders I think I'm improving.*as I write, I'm still awaiting the real replacement tyres, ordered online following Saturday's debacle.Results (at the NBRC website)

Not only was this a classic Team Grumpy domestic 2-up disaster, but it was an event marred by course problems (changed from 25 to 15 miles due to roadworks) and by bad weather (blustery rain showers), but ultimately an excellently organised event with a very plush HQ at the Marston Forest Centre.Team Grumpy had regrouped the evening before, and had spent quite a bit of time looking glumly out the window at the gathering elements. On the day, it was cold and windy, but the rain had backed off to quite light precipitation. We were down as scratch riders in the 6 team 2-up section of the event. This had given us some cause for concern that we might be cruelly humiliated following our recent illnesses. Still, we went over to the HQ to do our best.The HQ was comfortable and warm, but 4.2 miles from the start of the F15/15. Fortunately we had allowed plenty of time to get to the start, as about halfway there, I heard the characteristic 'pssh' and my front tyre went down. This, as regular readers of this miserable blog of cycling cockups may recognise, was my fifth puncture of the 2012 season. Gerry dashed back to the HQ to get the spare front wheel (a Xentis) pumped up, while I limped back on a rapidly softening tyre. Quickly getting the wheel installed, we debated driving back to the start, but felt we had enough time to ride. Of we went, for what was a very brisk warm-up.We made it to the start with about 4 minutes to go, in time to see a team start (the team in front of us did not start). Unfortunately, as we arrived at the start, we heard...another deflating sort of sound, this time from my back tyre. With the comedy of errors now complete (and how we wished we'd driven to the start - the car had a spare back wheel in it), I tried to persuade the start time keeper that since we'd reported in time for our start, we shouldn't get a late start penalty if we were delayed from starting due to repairing a puncture. But that cut absolutely no ice, and I was left forlornly looking down the road as my team mate rode off for a solo ride.I rolled cautiously back to the car and got changed, and waited for Gerry to reappear. When he did finally return, he was terribly cold and wet and not particularly happy with his time. As we'd expected, there was a strong and gusty head wind on the out bound legs of the course (pretty similar to conditions a few weeks ago at the Team Salesengine '10' on this course), which made it heavy going.Having had six punctures on my time trial bike this season, enough is enough. I have now ordered new tyres.