Missing Form - Bynea 30 mile TT

Well, on the bright side this was the longest ride I had completed since the Duo Normand in September. Prior to this my longest ride had been the PTW 2-up 25 - our first team outing of the year. Training has been consistent but short (never more than 75 mins) and fairly low intensity ever since returning from Normandy. Therefore, this rather mediocre result - 17th in 1h 17m 26s - was to be expected. In fact, I got it into my head that anything under 1h 20m would be acceptable on what seemed to me to be a windy day. However, the fact that the course record was broken and everyone else seemed to think it was a pretty good day for early season makes me think that I shouldn't be quite so unconcerned about my rather flat performance. And 'flat' is the word really. I only managed to get into my race level (HR) for 17 mins of that entire effort. What on earth was I doing for the other hour? I suspect that unconsciously I had held back simply because I was afraid of not lasting the distance. Certainly, my final lap (of two and a half laps) felt better and more committed than the rest of the race. But that still doesn't account for the whole 'missing' hour. Frankly, it's a mystery. Another mystery is where exactly has all my form gone to. The idea of my winter training was to keep ticking over. Therefore, no rest or break from training - just lower intensity throughout the winter. After that, well I was supposed to increase the intensity around February. But that simply didn't happen and now I find myself plodding along at my low intensity training pace even whilst racing. But the last two weeks have suggested that I am getting a little sharper and this 30 mile race will surely help to build that speed. I don't yet feel able to talk about top end speed, but as everything is relative then I am glad to take the perceived improvements in my training this week as a sign of better things to come. A club 10 tonight (Thursday) and another sporing course 25 on Sunday - where I will be up against many of the same riders as in the 30 - will not only help to bring on what form might linger underneath the veneer of mediocrity, but also give me a chance to gauge my progress (or otherwise) relative to others. Hopefully, this will not be the last word.