So at 6am it was 45F and raining- not the greatest conditions to motivate getting out of bed and racing a bike (alone and for 40km). However I’d been psyching myself up for the Monrovia 40k for the last week so I got up and drove up to the meeting place a convienient 45mins from Bloomington. Six other brave souls were present including 4 other debutants- pretty remarkable on such a nasty day. By the time of the start we did have some good fortune as the rain had stopped and the new very fast road surface was mostly dry. All in all it was a pretty good TTing day with a light headwind on the outward leg and the damp road reducing rolling resistance theorectically making things faster. It was a trip into the unknown for me as it was my first ‘25’ since the 1995 BUSA championships (British Universities Sports Association). Therefore I took it pretty easy on the way out (for which the uphill and headwind helped) and then tried to pick it up on the way back. I has a modest goal of a 1h05m so was pleased by posting a 1h04m30s for 4th place on the day. I was certainly glad to get out and ride after too many days of rain and maybe (maybe) I’ll go again later in the year.