Why I like hanging around in lay-bys

Club Treasurer, Michelle Gregory is a time trial newbie, but now she's hooked, here's why:

I just wanted to say how much, to my surprise, I am enjoying the club TT series. In the past I have never been interested in riding a time trial, mainly because I prefer to be riding in the hills on nice quiet roads.

Last week I rode my first TT, with the view of riding one at least once in my life and to see what sort of time I could get. So I rode over and gave it a go. While my time won’t break any records, I found that I enjoyed the discipline of pushing myself constantly for 30 minutes. As a long distance rider I am used to “pacing” myself to ensure that I can sustain the distance. So it is quite a challenge mentally to not hold back.

The atmosphere is really friendly – it is fantastic when the faster riders shout out encouragement as they go past. It is also great to be able to chat to riders at the start and finish who I normally wouldn’t have the opportunity / speed to ride with on a club run.

Anyway, I found myself drawn back last night to improve on my time. So it looks like my Thursday nights will involve hanging around road lay-bys…and if I ride over then I still get to put in a ride in the hills too. I would encourage people to give it a go because you might find it is, strangely, enjoyable.

How the series works
Our club confined time trials take place on Thursdays, Sign on 7.00-7.15pm, first person off 7.30pm

Three races have taken place with seven left in the series, plus a 2-person team time trial.

Each week 20 points will be awarded to the winner, down to 1 point for 20th place. There are three trophies awarded, one for a women's competition, one for the men's competition and another for best under 18.

Schedule
TT4: 2nd June
TT5: 9th June
2-UP TT CHAMPS: 16th June

++4 week break to accommodate local and school holidays +++
Training rides are planned to replace the TT series during the break

TT6: 21st July
TT7: 28th July
TT8: 4th August
TT9: 11th August
TT10: 18th August

Full details here: http://www.westlothianclarion.co.uk/10tt.html