Team Probikekit.com rider Tom Collier gives us his race report of the Merthyr CC 10 Mile TT on Saturday 6th March.
With the Severn Bridge road race full I was keen to get my first race of the season underway. Note to self: get entries in earlier! The Merthyr CC were promoting a ‘Ten’ on the Saturday before and this local TT was ideal to get me into racing following our awesome team camp in Mallorca.
The start sheet came through and I was scratch man, but with former Multi National Champion and ex Commonwealth Games rider Ceri Pritchard amongst the field it was always going to be a tough race, even more so having fought a snotty cold all week! With a chilly day on the A465 with an east wind blowing down the Neath Valley it was never going to be a quick day and with the TT bike looking ready for action with some lovely deep rims (thanks to Simon Richardson, a Paralympic Champion’s hoops) it was time for decent warm up. Well it was hard to get warm, but I tried and stuck another top inside my PBK Skinsuit to help!
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and I’m off, the heart starts pounding, wind rushes past the aero lid and onto the main road settling into a rhythm. Not sure about you, but that first outing on the TT bike is always a bit uncomfortable and the tail wind leg into the turn was tough. Through the turn I could see my minute man and I really tried to stick it into the head wind and make up for what felt like a sluggish first 5 miles. I started catching riders and turned my ride around in the last 3 miles.
Back in the Clubhouse I’d recorded a 21:43, which in the end it was good enough for 3rd. Ceri Pritchard took 1st place in 21:19 and Dave Webster 2nd in 21:22. I felt bogged down in the gears today, that zip not there in the legs yet, but I gave it everything. Overall a decent result for my first race of the year, it felt great to pull on the PBK Skinsuit and get on the track in anger; a building block for the season, my speed and top end will come!
A great effort in difficult conditions. More from Team Probikekit.com soon.
