Fantastic ride and report from club member Matt Plews following last weekends BDCA 100M TT

Having ridden the length of the country in aid of Thomas’s Fund, I thought I would put the extra endurance miles to good use and enter my first 100 mile time trial! 

Before riding the 100, I’d also decided to ride my first 50 mile time trial, posting a sub 2 hour ride at the first time of asking with 1:57:09, which was completed a couple of weeks after LEJOG.

The 100 was run on a 33.3 mile course on the A46 at Newark, consisting of three laps. I’ve ridden the majority of this course before, with a 25 mile time trial being held on the same roads throughout the year. It was an early start, wolfing a large bowl of porridge at 5am and on the road to the HQ at 5:45, with my start time at 7:49. The weather at the start provided a cool temperature, with a slight head/cross wind on the outer leg, which increased in speed as the event went on. I paced the first two laps well, but on lap two I was struggling to consume my gels and energy drink, to the point that I was sick twice towards the end of lap 2 and the start of lap 3! My legs suffered like never before on that last lap, the head wind made the outer leg seem like a hundred miles on it’s own, I struggled to maintain my TT position, was literally willing for the finish line to appear and questioning my sanity.

I finally got across the line in a time of 4:19:41, slightly slower than my target but with several tough lessons learned. 

Simon Ward also rode the event and this was also his first 100 mile time trial. He produced an excellent ride and was very pleased with his time of 4:28:59.

Would I ride another one? If I was asked that question during the last lap, I would have said no, but reflecting on the race, it would say yes. You never know, I may even ride a 12 hour or 24 hour TT in the future!

A big shout out to my parents and 95 year old grandad for supporting me on the day and to Debbie and Sophie for supporting Simon