Crawley Wheelers Sporting 41.59 - Back to sparrow's fart

With British Summer time now locked in, its goodbye to post 9am start times for us Testers, and a return to leaving home while loved ones are still tucked up in bed. I recall a TT in Horsham a few years back when during my warm up I found myself racing an owl. In truth I didn't mind the early get away today, it meant I would be safely on my way before my fellow City dwellers started storming towards the coast for bank holiday fun and games.

Anyway, this course, the GS/196 was a new one on me. When I mentioned it to James Stone of Brighton Excelsior (something of a Guru on all things cycling as far as  I am concerned) I got a laugh and a wry smile. The main benefit of doing a 41 mile time trial is that it makes 25 mile TT's feel shorter, and 'sporting' designation for this one told me I was not in for a moral boosting fast time. Despite the sun, it was a chilly start, with envious glances being cast towards those with the foresight to pack full finger gloves and knee warmers.

Starting from Handcross it opens with a long section with a fast downhill bias, building lots of baseless confidence. It levels out, but while there a few sections where on can push a big gear and get a nice rhythm this are the exception. Lots of short rises to stop you getting to comfortable. But the real sting is in the tail, and the tail is about 8 miles long and very stingy. As Dave Churchill of Bigfoot said, 'I was on hour pace after 40km.' Erm yes. Because all that lovely fast descent at the start has to be paid for with a long drag uphill into a headwind at the end. That chequered flag just never seemed to what to appear and time ticked by.

I came in with at 1.57.48, which I was pretty happy with as had been able to go the distance without dropping off in the final 10 . Dave C wasn't thrilled with his 1.50.09, noting dryly that if he had done a personal best he'd have an excuse to never come back. But as he as entered a lumpy little TT around Devil's Dyke on Monday, I suspect he is made of sterner stuff.

The winner was the ever marvellous Steve Dennis with a 1.37.12, an excellent performance on genuinely testing sporting course. Have to say a big that you to Stuart Nisbett and his team from Crawley Wheelers for putting on a fine event. It is a tricky course and the marshalling was universally excellent. 

A Revolution in a start sheet - SCCU spoco 23rd March

It is a small revolution, but in the world of cycle time trials as seismic one. Go to the CTT website and click on a start sheet, just about any start sheet. Count the number of women riders. Three, four, five, maybe seven if there is a big field? Rubbish isn't it, between 5 and 10% of the field on a good day. Now click on the start sheet for SCCU 21 mile TT on 23rd March being run in tribute to the late Don Glover. Now count them, yes 49 women riders, and still more on a reserve sheet who could not get in.

Fifty odd women have put their money down to race a tough little TT around Bletchingly. What's changed? Everything and nothing. This is not a new event, it has been run for years over a course designed by the aforementioned Don Glover. The rules haven't changed. But this race, organised by Tony Alston is the first in the new South East Women's Time Trial Series founded by Rebbecca Slack, and a huge well of women, interested in the race of truth has been tapped. Well over 100 riders have registered for the series.

Time trialling is a great way to get into competitive cycling. All you need basically is a bike (the pointy hats and scaffolding come later). Events are cheap to enter, and as you are basically racing against yourself. Even if your first ride is a stinker you have laid down a personal best to beat next time out. Many women have been testing for years, as part of triathlon, but never entered CTT events. Now finally with the arrival of a competition specifically for women across the season, TTing seems to a captured their imagination, at least in the South East.

What is particularly exciting is that of the 49 women starting the race next Sunday for a huge number this will be their first ever race. This new blood could if the idea spreads galvanise this branch of the sport in so many ways.

SEWTTS have done a great job of working with the clay that already exists but moulding it meet their needs. A traditional hurdle was that to TT you had to be a member of an affiliated club. Some clubs are great, but not all have a great track record in welcoming and developing women riders. By creating 'Newcomers CC' for all unattached riders SEWTTS have removed this obstacle at a stroke. Having a points based series based on placings, rather than fastest times and  complex vet standards creates a sense of direct competition. It also removes the advantage of targeting events on 'fast' courses. Rather than run new events they are breathing life into the existing calendar by getting organisers to commit a certain %age of places to women. The size of the field for the 23rd has pretty much doubled at a stroke.

The result is a massive win win, and the chance for the sport to reach out to the missing 51% of the population.

Not quite the storming of the Winter Palace but hopefully that start of something special in TTing

Time Trialing, Ladies and Lipstick

Having made the bold stride of allowing online entry to some events, if the organisers feel like it, I was looking forward to further progress now that a modernising wind of change is blowing through the CTT. Then a friend told me yesterday of her experience at a 25 last season. There was a small but strong group of women riders including one Jo Rowsell. The organisers had put them together on the start sheet to create a race within the race. All very encouraging.
One shouldn't get to carried away. The riders were talking amongst themselves before being called forward. When my friend clipped in for her start one of the organisers asked 'what were you ladies chatting about? Lipstick?'
It's hard to poke somebody in the eye when you are being held up on a TT bike. We speculated whether he would have said the same to Jo Rowsell. We agreed, probably.