Steve Dennis writes…
Last Saturday afternoon saw round #27 of the 2011 Spoco competition on a 25 mile course just a few miles east of Colchester. The Colchester Rovers CC promotion attracted 53 riders and was blessed with hot sunshine to either help or hinder riders around the two-lap rolling course.
I was last man off, nine minutes after my “chauffeur” Robin Johnson of Brighton Mitre. The plan was to try and win the race thus bagging the top honours in the Spoco by attaining maximum points in the season-long competition. All was going to plan until a badly positioned marshal (and possibly me not knowing the course!) unknowingly sent me the wrong direction at a roundabout. After a moments hesitation, I turned round and re-joined the course losing about 45 seconds, I suppose. A few run-ins with dithering vehicles later and I was on the second lap which went off without a hitch. Only the heat to contend with.
I passed Robin at about the 15 miles point and gave him some encouragement, which I don’t know whether he heard or not. The last 2 miles were smack into a head wind which saw averages tumble, and when I crossed the finish line the garmin was stopped at 55:16, which was later confirmed on the result board as the winning time – job done!
Course record by the way, was safe and was set in 2001 by then-pro rider Gary Baker in 54:30.
