"Mind you I do a lot of training on the time trial bike and quite a bit of it in Wellington over the last year around the waterfront. I can tell you the wind today was nothing," he joked.
"For me I am a lot faster than 12 months ago. I have been basically training exclusively for time trialling for the past 12 months including three months in the UK with some smart people over there. I want to get more bang for my buck.
"I am still quite a margin behind the top people in the world. I have to get faster, get more power, be more aerodynamic and keep thinking about my equipment. That is what I want and need to continue to do if I am to realise my dream of competing in this sport at the Commonwealth Games, the world championships and ultimately the Olympics."
Tasman's Jason Christie, the 2016 road race winner, did well to finish third yesterday in 52m26.40s after recovering from a crash on the first lap.
It was a day for riders with 12 months experience as another with that amount on his cycling CV, Canterbury's Ian Talbot, won the under-23 men's 40km event in 53m52.80s.
"I only took it up after I realised how much I enjoyed it after cycling to and from university," the Canterbury University mechanical engineering student told spectators.
Fans were surprised to learn he had no other significant sporting experience apart from playing cricket and an occasional mountain bike ride when growing up in Nelson.
"Today's title was on my list of goals when I started 12 months ago. To go out and do it has blown my mind ... it's amazing," Talbot said.
Later this year he will travel to France to race for a division one team but intends to try and retain his title at next year's nationals. Canterbury's Jake Marryatt was 15 seconds slower than Talbot and Aucklander James Fouche was a further 17 second back in third.
Like Bond, Aucklander Georgia Williams, won her first national title, when she won the elite women's 20km event in 29m02.7s. She had previously recorded a second and third in the time trial and three seconds in the road race.
Defending champion and four-time winner, Waikato's Rushlee Buchanan, was second by seven seconds and Aucklander Bronwyn MacGregor was third in 30m31.59s.
Williams displayed the benefits of her first year on the World Tour with a powerful performance.
"It was pretty tough and crazy windy out there. I was worried when I woke up today. I am just so relieved to win a national title," Mitchelton-Scott team rider Williams said.
"It is nice to be able to take the jersey back to our team and to wear it in some of the biggest races will be an honour and awesome.
"I've come here focused more on the road race although I wanted to do well in the time trial because the course suits me. I went out too hard but managed to hold on which was lucky," she added.
Hannah van Kampen did the best of the Hawke's Bay starters in all four of yesterday's grades with a fourth in the elite women's field in 30m34.74s.
"I wanted a top five finish so I'm pretty stoked with that. Hopefully it will be a good omen for tomorrow's road race. This had made me a bit more excited for it ... knowing that I can compete with those girls. Knowing the course really well helped today ... I paced it right at the beginning and didn't go too hard up the first climb."
"I didn't worry too much about the windy conditions and I took my speedo off so I didn't have to see those lower readings," van Kampen, 24, explained.
"I want to finish close to the bunch in the road race tomorrow. I've never made it that close before in my previous three attempts," she added.
Meanwhile Hawke's Bay cycling fans may see the road nationals return to the province again next year.
"We're happy to host them for one more year if that's what Cycling New Zealand wants," event manager for the BDO nationals, Kevin Murphy, said towards the business end of the time trials.
This is the third consecutive year Hawke's Bay has hosted the nationals and Murphy said the live streaming of the event has improved big time since the first year. Shortly after midday yesterday 1000 viewers had taken in action of the time trial which began at 10am.
"At one point 500 viewers were watching at the same time. At the end of the day we are able to sit down and see where around the world those viewers are from. All that footage promoting Hawke's Bay is a big part of the nationals ... it's a huge benefit to the Bay," Murphy said.
He expects Cycling New Zealand to make a decision on the venue for next year's nationals later this month.
The nationals which continue today with the elite and under-23 women's road races today and end with the elite and under-23 men's road race tomorrow are staged as part of a Summer Cycling Carnival which ends on Wednesday. Carnival events include a 26km fun ride from Clive on Tuesday and a Marine Parade, Napier-based criterium on Sunday.
A dress your bike competition for youngsters will also be staged on Marine Parade on Wednesday.
