Time Trial / Time Trialling / TT

Funny, I must have ridden that road hundreds of times - it forms one of the core parts of at least 50% of my training routes - but now I realise almost always from the Blackmore direction - I never realised how bad that stretch into the woods is coming the other way.
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I avoid riding it towards Blackmore even in training - I don't know why, but it always takes a lot of effort to go even slowly in that direction.

26.48 is a respectable time for your first TT on the E83. You should aim for just under 26mins, it's a realistic target for that course on a road bike if you've got a reasonable level of fitness. My best time on it last year was 22.47, but that was on a TT bike with pointy hat and skinsuit.