Cheltenham & County CC 23 mile time trial

Today started with the wrong side of 7am and with about 5 and a bit hours sleep.  It was another SPOCO hilly time trial around a 23 mile hilly course that looking at past results were with slower average speeds.  As me and the old man rode to the start we had to climb a 4th cat hill so I pushed it a bit up there then looked back to see him on the side of the road playing with his front mech.  I rode back down and his front mech had jammed or moved and he could not get it to work, there was nothing I could do and what was worst there was no phone signal so he rode back to the car carefully and I went to the start.  I arrived with only a few minutes to spare and was soon off and found it was fast going and the average speed was up to over 30 mph, there was some small lumps but I got to the end for the road average speed was still high and there was a very fast descent and I went down it to find there was a very hard hill, I big ringed it up the steep bit at the bottom but then had to go to the small ring because it dragged on for a long way but once over the top it was another very fast down hill.  The next road was a narrow one with lots of gravel and a right hand bend (I think Testers have trouble with right hand turns) But I got though ok and then turned left to go along the road to the finish to do my next lap.  Going up the last road was hard it felt like a bit of a head wind but it was a drag with a few kick up making it hard, and the hill at the end was very painful.  As I took a left hand turn I had passed the finish and about to go past the start and I was on the quick roads again and I had a plan to attack the the first hill of the lap.  Hitting the hill again I dropped it into the small ring just before the bottom and spun the pedals up the hill and I passed a rider was out of the saddle and I could see someone up the hill who was my next target.  As I got up to him I realized he was on his first lap and I passed him and got to the top and down the descent and along the little road and was ready to give every thing to get along the slow road to the finish line.  And as I got closer and closer to the finish I kept repeating Paramore Brick by boring brick in my head to help push out everything and on the last hill I caught the another rider (the sixth rider I passed) and I sat in the saddle, upright sprinting with lungs hurting and I crossed the line in 01:02:46 feeling happy that was a good time we waited for the old man to finish, who had to big ring it all the way round!  Good job he likes pushing a big gear.

Thanks for reading
Results are here