Kent 50 Mile Time Trial -- Result

I woke up at 4:50am on a Sunday to drive for an hour in order to race my bike for 50 miles around the plains of South East Kent and the Far East of Sussex. The weekend life of a tester is a funny old thing. Congregating in a village hall, speaking in hushed tones in the adjacent car park and queuing out the door for the only toilet are all an integral part of the TT experience. I wouldn't change it.

The way I am going to structure this blog post is to take what I had planned, in my blog post on Wednesday, and compare it to what I actually did.

Power

I am confident I will be able to maintain 270 watts for the duration.

So. Much. Data.

As the image shows, I surpassed the 270-watt target. The power meter dropped out (see below) for a total of about 50 seconds, so I think the power numbers might be more like 277 AP, 280 NP. I felt confident of maintaining 270, but I didn't think I would be able to maintain a NP of 277-280.

Notice the flat purple lines

The Goal

The target for this 50 is 1:55

As the week went on, the forecast wind speeds increased which had me reconsidering the goal. I chatted with a few guys beforehand -- one of which thought the conditions were between a minute and two slower than normal conditions.

I decided to stick to the original plan, hope I could sneak under 1:55, but I did set a secondary goal of a top 10 finish. I have finished 9th, at a 10 in April, and 10th, at the 100 in June, and I consider them my two best performances this season, so a top 10 finish would mean I had done well, regardless of the time.

I got round in 1:54:39 which I am thrilled with. I also finished 8th, though the favourite did not turn up, but still a comfortable top 10 finish!

Weather conditions

13mph west south westerly.

The wind speed was 20mph down in Camber -- 50% faster than Wednesday's forecast!

(If somebody could arrange a tractor travelling at a steady 30mph leaving Brenzett at around 7.22am, heading towards Rye, that'd be great.)

I had a chuckle to myself when I saw a tractor between Brenzett and Brookland around this time. The only problem was it was going the wrong way.

Pacing

My provisional aim is 285 watts when fighting a headwind, and 255 watts with the tailwind.

276 watts into the headwind. 11.3 miles in 29:21 -- 23.2mph average! It was like cycling through treacle.

Whilst not as much power as I had planned, I wanted to make sure I didn't start too hard, so I'm content with this start.

257 watts during the crosswind, then tailwind section. 9.3 miles in 19:06 -- 29.4mph average. Some hairy crosswinds, but the tailwind section was glorious. ~4 miles at above 30mph.

The first part, with the crosswinds whipping across from the sea, made handling the bike difficult. With the tailwind, I was in my biggest gear -- 55-11 -- and turning it comfortably. Crucially, this period felt like a break.

283 watts during the hardest section. 10.2 miles in 26:12 -- 23.4mph average. All I could do was hold my tightest position and keep laying the power down.

The road from Old Romney to Brenzett was not only seriously tough with the cross/headwind, but there was plenty of storm debris in the form of foliage to contend with. I was also nearly hit by a Jag; it was one of those close passes that are so close you're amazed there was no contact. Dragged me up the road a bit though 😅

267 watts (10w more than first time through this section). 10.5 miles in 21:40 -- 29.4mph average, including 10 miles in 20:14!

Having got through the wind tunnel with something still in the legs, I pushed on a bit here. I had made a mental note on the first lap of where the most exposed parts were, and took one hand off the skis, and held onto the base bar, in anticipation. 

300 watts through the toughest part of the course, then up the finishing straight. 6.5 miles in 14:25 -- 27.1mph average.

I caught my minute man, who Spindata had predicted would go faster than me!, just before the beginning of this section. Fortunately there was another guy up the road that I could reel in, which helped with putting the power out as my legs were starting to run on fumes.

Position

It's hard to compare this new position to the one I rode in for the 100, but I did feel comfortable. Some upper back tightness after the ride but otherwise all good. 

Taper

the taper will consist of the following:
Mon -- day off
Tue -- easy commute there and back with some intensity on the way home
Wed -- day off
Thu -- Club 10 (I would prefer to do 2x20 at, or above, race pace. Alas.)
Fri -- same as Tue
Sat -- off or openers, one hour ride consisting of a few sprints, spin ups, couple of short race pace efforts
Sun -- race

I stuck to the schedule, opting not to ride yesterday (Saturday) as I woke up with a sore throat.

Warmup

15' easy, 2' z3, 2' sweetspot/race pace, 1' z4, 1' z5, 2' easy, couple of sprints, ride to the start line.

Yeah, this didn't happen. 15 minutes of just turning the legs over.

This is an area that I could definitely improve by being more consistent.

Ding, ding, ding.

Nutrition/Hydration

Gel every thirty minutes.

Exactly what I did. Two caffeine, one electrolyte.

One litre of fluid

Drank the majority of a 750ml bottle of SIS electrolyte.

...if my laziness prevents me from acquiring a new bottle.

It did. I regret nothing.

Summary

My immediate reaction to crossing the line and seeing 1:54:3x was elation. With the harsh winds, the sore throat that I had had since Saturday morning and generally not knowing what I would be capable of at this distance, I was ecstatic to comfortably achieve the sub-1:55 goal.

I don't think I could have gone much faster, if at all. It's so easy to look back at a race and think, 'I should've gone harder there' but overcooking a race so often ends up with a below-par performance, so I have no reservations about my pacing.

What I enjoyed the most about this result was the feeling that it caused. I have raced a lot this season, often on tired legs, and I've been disappointed with a lot of performances. That is probably, in part, due to placing too high an expectation on myself given the circumstances.

Although tired I am now excited to see what I can do at the 10 and 25 distance in the coming weeks. I start working with a coach as of tomorrow (Monday), so this has been a great way to mark the end of my self-coached 'era', and usher in a new one, one that will involve more time spent on the turbo than ever before. Wish me luck...

Thanks for reading.