INDIE KIDS DOMINATE TTS

At time trials up and down the UK, one small team enjoyed repeated trips to the podium to collect national titles

- Chris Marshall-Bell

Most would assume that to win a national 100-mile title, you’d need to fine-tune your training. Perhaps not though. “I didn’t know what to expect in the ‘100’ because I’d never ridden that far on either my road or time trial bike before,” says Joanna Patterson, winner of the women’s National Championships this July. “I didn’t train specifically for it and only decided to enter it at the last minute. My longest rides were always a maximum of three and a half hours.”

Patterson, unbelievably, is not alone. The men’s winner, and her Independent Pedaler-Nopinz team-mate Chris Fennell, has a similar story. “The ‘100’ surprised me because I hadn’t raced the National 100 before and I didn’t know what to expect – I wasn’t thinking I’d do a 30mph-plus ride with a bit of elevation. I set myself an ambitious power target, not expecting to hold it, but I did and I won.”