Time is such a familiar aspect of our lives that we take it for granted, personally I am very aware that I don’t fully understand time.
Einstein determined that time is relative–in other words, the rate at which time passes depends on your frame of reference.
When asked how long something will take ? I usually quip and say, “Twice as long as I say it is going to take.”
It took time to get the Time trial team together. Dino and Liam are V8 engines keen to put the power down, while Louis and Carl are like smooth running V6’s. The question was could these four engines work smoothly together.
The Wednesday ride is a great place to practice riding together at pace, whether that’s on the flat lands of Cheshire or the more undulating Bacup route. Dino, Paul, Vincci, Carl and various guest riders, have all enjoyed the magic of group riding at pace on a Wednesday.
Vincci is a self styled, wheel sucker that uses intelligence and skill to sit on a wheel and conserve energy, as a group we have much to learn from her. Louis brings a calmness, that comes from his natural persona and his professional experience of bike racing.
A week before the event, with the help of Liam, the team entered and paid their fees. Due to professional commitments it wasn’t possible for the team to ride as a team ahead of the event, however over two weeks the team met up individually and got to know each other, riding over Nont Sarah’s and doing a loop of Cheshire.
With 4 days to go plans were shared on who was sharing transport, where the start was and where the route went. Dusting off my 30 year old knowledge of project planning and with the help of Google, I calculated the time we needed to leave to ensure we arrived at the HQ with plenty of time. Leaving at between 16:30 & 17:00 would give use plenty of time 17:15 would be OK but not ideal.
I packed the car with traditional sports drinks,(Coca Cola, don’t tell Ronaldo) & Nutrition, (bananas), Two rear lights, it’s now compulsory to have rear light when riding a time trial and two club Jerseys, Medium for the V6 and Large for the V8.
At 16:30 Louis messaged to say he was stuck on a conference call, I now started to have a more active role. I contacted the organiser for advice, who suggested we could ride as three,”phew” for a moment I thought I was going to have to pack my bike. We were still on the critical path, I messaged Louis to explain. Louis messaged back to say he reckoned he would be done at 17:20 we were now 5 minutes off the critical path. Louis a modern day project manager reckoned all would be well. We would get Liam to sign on and meet the team at the start gaining 5 minutes.
On the drive down Google maps delivered a comfortable ETA and Louis chaired a team talk with Liam, ride steady, 90 second efforts, job done.
Liam called back, they couldn’t sign Louis on, we had to re route to the HQ, no problem, well that is if you don’t add in the fact the phone’s navigation crashed, so we had to reboot, no right turn at the junction so we had to do a U turn time. Einstein’s effect started to take hold, time started passing very quickly. Louis was now navigating. Cyclists riding to the HQ meant we slowed down, passing with caution, we arrived at the HQ. I did another U turn while Louis signed on. Off we drove to the start arriving 3 minutes ahead of the push off. I handed out the Jerseys attached the lights and pinned on the numbers and off the team rode.
I followed, passing the group I observed Louis diligently checking the group was together, the pace looked good, so all looked well.
I noticed a member of Weaver valley at a curve in the road 1 mile from the finish, so thought this might be a good place to take some pictures of the race, perhaps more importantly there was a Sam Smiths pub, a good source of cheap beer. While Weaver Valley indulged, I focused on photography.
Merseyside Triathlon represented the spirit of the event, fielding a group of women enjoying, the experience of riding together.
Our team lead by Louis swung into view looking pretty much together. With a mile to go Louis was leading, what looked like a tight formation, Carl was looking good and tight on Liam’s wheel. Despite having 24 Miles tough miles under their belt the team looked really good. The Lad from Weaver Valley thought our team could crack the hour, the question is, could they do it…
More Photographs here https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0NGKnH7mGDWJ0z
Nick Holmes
