Steve Dennis writes…
This Sunday saw five EGCC riders entered in the Epsom CC 25 on the local G25/53 Southwater / Horsham / Crawley course. The first riders off were 2up pairs, which included a team with Chris Kitchenham partnering a chap called Martin Lynch from Clapham Chasers riding his first ever 25.
Cool conditions greeted the early starters with a blustery north-westerly wind to contend with as well. Chris & Co stopped the clock at 58:38 – not bad for a first-timer.
With Ted Boorman being a non-starter, next to the line was Richard Woodward who returned with a time of 1hr 2mins and 8 seconds – warding off the puncture gremlins this time out! Riding his first 25 for 2 years, and coming back after illness, Chris Yates was our next man off. He crossed the line in 58:55 no doubt miffed to have been beaten by little brother Conall by 4 mins.
I was off five minutes after Chris and proceeded to get buffeted about by the wind being a lightweight and the wrong choice of front wheel. I was on a mission though as off 10 mins behind me was Kevin Tye of the Datateam-Allstars team, the man who “robbed” me of third place in the National 50 miles championship by a handful of seconds.
There were a few other quality riders dotted about the field too so it was not going to be a picnic. With a glance at the Garmin with 6 miles to go, the average speed said 29.2mph so I knew I was in with a shout. As it turned out I was right as my time at the finish was 51:36, 55 seconds clear of Mr Tye and his team-mate Andy Meilak a further 34 seconds back in third place.
