"It'll justify the expense, I've got the best excuse of my career, and I'll be home in time for tea"

Three good reasons to ride the National 10 again

- Michael Hutchinson

To celebrate 10 years since I last rode the National 10-Mile Time Trial Championships, I've entered the National 10-Mile Time Trial Championships. Quite a lot of people, some of them quite close to me, have asked me, "Why?" and asked in a tone that I don't find altogether flattering.

But I can understand the question. Unlike, say, the 24-hour championships I did in July, I have a track record in things like 10-mile time trialling. I used to be quite good at it. Clearly there is a certain amount of face that can be lost here.

There are a number of reasons for entering, each more persuasive than the one before. The first is that I bought a really nice time trial bike last year. Also a nice disc wheel, a £300 skinsuit with a weird knobbly undervest and a pair of shoes I suspect of being marginally more aerodynamic than any of the 11 pairs of perfectly good shoes I already own.

I didn't really buy this stuff with a view to going bike racing. However, it turns out that, "Because I vaguely fancied tricking myself out with some nice aerodynamic bits and bobs and to hell with the cost," completely fails to get past the domestic expenses committee.

Apparently, it's not enough to just want something for its beauty and elegance, it has to be for a purpose. Hence the need to do some short-distance racing. (By this logic it's high time Mrs. Doc used her cat to catch a few mice, but it seems that the cat doesn't get held to the same unrealistic standards as my bikes.)