Sunday 20 February and there we were at Kahutara School to have another crack at a 40km time trial. Last time it was appallingly windy with very little chance of anyone going under the hour. Sunday was positively benign by comparison, with just a light easterly wind that made the last leg hard for already tired legs.
The course runs out to a turn 9km from the school and then 20km back past the school to a turn. That left an 11km false flat return leg back up the road to the finish. From what I heard after the event it seems that many riders got to the last turn and saw average speeds exceeding 40kph, only to watch that slip away on that return head wind false flat section of road.
The best time for the day was 56:35min. The results for Manawatu riders were: Barry Gilliland second at 58:49min, Neville Weir fifth at 59:51min, Michael Bradley tenth at 62:09min, Geoff Russell thirteenth 62:44min, and Jocelyn Goodwin second fastest woman at 65:43min.
I am not completely sure but it is possible that this is the first time Neville Weir has gone sub-60. If that is the case congratulations, if not, congratulations on a great ride anyway.
The next and last 40km time trial for the summer is the NZ Veterans 40km TT champs on Sunday 13 March. There a two good things about this course. Firstly, the first rider starts at 11.00. Secondly, the course is at Masterton which is only about an hour away. These things add up to a leisurely start to the day J! Oh, and there is a tail wind on both legs of the course…yeah, right!