There is something intriguing about the 25 distance that I cannot put my finger on. In my opinion it is the most challenging distance to get right, yet for some reason it is probably my favourite distance in time trialling. Nothing is more satisfying to me than perfectly pacing a 25, this being one of my objectives coming into this event. This prestigious event attracts intense competition, and I was eager to go head to head with the countries best.

Preparation is key and recceing the course was high on my agenda. I rode the course a day previous in order to practice the turn arounds and to make sure that I was in the right lane at the roundabout. Small stuff, however, in time trialling nothing can be left to chance. I was with my Dad and we were lucky in that we had some family friends that we could stay the night with, only about 10 minutes from the HQ. After making sure we knew the game plan and drinking as much beetroot juice as I could handle, I knew the next day would be crucial.

We arrived on the day at 6.20, collected my numbers and hurried off in order to set up my bike and to start the turbo. The conditions were still which allowed me to run my dirty fast knight 95 front wheel with no issues, and although the temperature was not fast, it was perfect for someone like me who prefers a little cold. Once set up of the turbo, I carried out my specific warm up from Nick at Core cycling, which always gets me primed for any event. After taking a gel I rolled to the start line.

Only 1 minute to spare, I normally don’t leave it this late. Before I knew it the race of truth was underfoot and I had to fly. When you set off you know within the first 5 minutes if this is going to be a quick time trial or not, and with no wind and minimal gradient change, I knew this was going to be fast. Having no issues crossing the roundabout I was fully in my zone until I came to the first turn around. The slip road was fine however, I send it around the roundabout narrowly missing the island, forcing myself to break through the corner to avoid crashing. No troubles of the sort on the way back and I was back in my own world. On the last stretch I was powering it in my biggest gear achieve a 30 mph average.

I crossed the line in a time of 50.01 with my Garmin reading 25.2 mi. This put me 38th out of a felid of 110 and 7th fastest U23. Although this is not ground-breaking, after coming back from surgery only 2 months prior, I was more than happy with my performance and I felt that I put in a respectable time. I must thank all those who gave up their time in order to make this possible and my sponsors, without them I would not be able to compete at this level. A final thank you to CTT for hosting a great event and for supporting young riders like myself.