LAST month saw the first of the Brontë Wheelers evening time trial events and marks the start of the racing season for me.

This is good because it seems the weather has started to improve as well.

The first event was on a new course this year, more hilly and starting from the roundabout at Skipton on Grassington Road and following the A59 to Bolton Abbey roundabout, all the way round and retracing the route back.

It is also different as the evening events at Kildwick are ten miles, whereas this one is 12.5 miles. That said, we had some pretty fast times, mine not included.

The winner on the night was Steve Ayres, riding for VC Bradford in a time of 28 minutes and 35 seconds. Second place went to Seth Smith in 28.41 and third was Andrew Wooler in 29.13.

The winner’s average speed was 26mph. Anyone who has ridden up those hills or, indeed, driven will appreciate the effort needed.

Time trialists not only need to be able to press on the pedals hard to go forwards quickly, they also need to be able to overcome air resistance, which is why you see all sorts of exotic equipment, even at club events like ours.

There is everything from bikes with deep rims and teardrop shaped frame tubes made of carbon fibre to helmets with the same aerodynamic teardrop shape. Just make sure the pointy bit’s at the back!

Possibly the best bit of kit is the humble tribar. These either come as an expensive full handlebar arrangement on pure TT bikes or versions for those who only have one bike, and are much less expensive.

They do, however, make quite a lot of difference to the speed you can maintain.

Typically, on a ten-mile TT course such as the Kildwick route, it can be up to a minute, which may not seem a lot but can mean the difference between first and tenth.

Probably the most famous demonstration of this was the 1989 Tour de France when the final stage was a TT. Greg Lemond was in second place to Laurent Fignon at the start by 50 seconds. Lemond was using tribars – the first rider to use them in the tour – and Fignon was not.

The result was Lemond won the stage by 58 seconds and the Tour by eight seconds. This was all done in 24.5km (15 miles).

With the legacy of the Grand Depart last year comes another chance to see the current pros both local and continental, in the Tour de Yorkshire coming up this Bank Holiday weekend, and racing through our area on Sunday. Haworth, Oakworth and Sutton are all being treated to the peloton, and there is the soon-to-be-famous Cote de Goose Eye climb.

The Brontë Wheelers’ next events are at Kildwick on Wednesday evenings from 7.30pm. Check our Facebook Group page for details by typing Brontë Wheelers into the search box.