Personal Best

I managed another personal best time at Champion Lakes last weekend. In a 20 km TT, I took off almost 3 minutes from my previous best time. I knew I was on a good ride when my first lap was a shade over 9 1/2 minutes. A bit of quick mental maths and I knew that I could do 4 laps in 10 minutes or less. I managed to do all four laps in less than 10 minutes, my last lap being the slowest, but not for lack of trying. It has been my experience (even though I'm a noob) that Champion Lakes can get you with it's gusty winds. This is what happened on my last lap, on the next to last corner. I was getting into a good rhythm when I was hit by a gust and I went off pace.
When the wind hit me, it was like riding into a wall, and I said "Oh dear, this isn't nice" or words to that effect. I re-organised my thoughts and remembered what my daughter said to me a few days before - "Pick a gear that works for you". Okay, so I clicked down two and picked up the pace. I only needed to get my average above 30 km/h to be on track for a PB.
At the finish straight, I had enough to really bring it home and it was a fantastic feeling crossing the line.
Two cyclist that I respect the most have told me not to take so much off so I wouldn't have to try so hard to set a PB the next time. Yeah, I could have coasted home and done a cruizy last lap, but then I wouldn't have done my Personal Best, I would have only done my Personal Good Enough, and that wouldn't have been good enough, would it?