I was surprised to see my name down as the only St Neots Cycling Club rider for the Chronos solo event, given the encouraging rides by some of our other members recently. However it was good to see the club represented in the 2-up competition in the form of Ade and Richard H. (Perhaps we'll have an update from them later -Ed).

 david at Cronos

Photo coutesy of Davey Jones

By the time I had worked through my list of jobs on Saturday morning (you know the deal, mow the lawn, fix the shed, tidy the house, tip run etc) I was already pretty tired.

I had noticed the subtle increase of wind blowing on the trees in my garden, so I knew perhaps this wasn't the greatest day to be doing a TT.

There were over 100 riders in this event from all corners of the country including Michael Hutchinson himself. Competition in every corner.

Got the bike ready, warmed up, and ummmed and arrhhhhed about front wheel selection and off I went.   Did the usual and powered off too hard then settled in. Boom I hit the headwind on the 428. Really struggled all the way up to Caxton roundabout with a poor average speed of no more than 23mph - what was running through my mind at this point isn't publishable...

Around the roundabout and there it was, one of the most enjoyable aspects of cycling especially a TT. This sensation of powering hard on a buttery smooth surface that is mostly flat with a tailwind is sensational. I think I smiled the whole way back and averaged over 30mph - one mile was averaging over 34mph, I didn't have enough gears in the end without launching into cadence of over 130rpm.

There is a little flick up at the end which scrubs speed and makes you give everything so by the finish you are simply gasping.

I'd have liked to have hit a sub 23 but ended up with a 23.04 (26.4 mph av) happy enough given conditions.

Lots of friends faces and superb tea and cake. What is there not to like?

It's accessible to everyone, get out there! - even a category for road bikes.