Paul Blackmore writes…
The annual cancellation of at least one ten due to adverse conditions nearly came to fruition. As I drove home from Heathrow in the pouring rain I thought my marshalling duties would not be required.
However it did stop raining and eight riders braved the slippery but not too cold conditions. First out the blocks was Lorraine S, being the only lady to ride gaining her max points to take the lead in the competition.
Mr Dennis took a comfortable victory in 24-07 and heads the overall once again. However he faces a battle in the vets comp as Andy S with 3 good rides leads that competition.
Second fastest on the night though was Mike Anton, who despite a few ‘moments’ on the slippery surface and a 4-up with Ted B, Ben H and a tractor, recorded 25-21. He leads the senior comp from Rob Dickson.
Full results :
S Dennis 0:24:07 M Anton 0:25:21 M Siwicki 0:25:29 A Seltzer 0:26:11 E Boorman 0:26:21 B Hardisty 0:28:02 P Winkley 0:28:36 L Seltzer 0:37:38
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Marek Siwicki writes…
Here is my take on my first completed TT with EG:
After rushing home after work from the City to get back in time for the
start I was not feeling too good, I think the road race I took part in at
the weekend had knocked my imune system down and I could feel a cold coming
on.
Not one to be deterred by a mere illness I made my way over to Horne for
the start of the evening 10. I arrived for my second 10 mile time trial
with the number one intention of not getting lost after last weeks rather
short affair due to me turning off the course too early.
I was given number three as my start time, number 2 did not turn up so I
waited two minutes after number 1 had got on her way. Being rather tall
the small chap who was holding my bike on the start line was reminded by
the time keeper to make sure that he let go of my bike else he may get
caught up in the frame and dragged along for 10miles.
My time came and I was off, after a bit of a wobbly start I got myself
going and around the first bend. Then it was power on to get the speed up.
My heart rate monitor was telling me that my heart rate was not up enough,
I was giving it everything but I could not get above 90% which is strange
for me. I have heard that this is a sign you are coming down with
something or you are getting fit. I think it is probably the former.
As I came around to the small hill on the back of the circuit I went past
number 1, this meant that there was now clear road in front of me and if I
was to see any other rider it would be because I was going too slow and
would have been overtaken.
I got around the first lap ok but was not feeling particularly good, being
from a road racing background I started to look around for a wheel to
follow, anything to get me out of the wind. Unfortunately nothing, so I
kept on going on my own, apparently it is cheating to hide behind other
vehicles in time trialling, what a silly rule. After going up the drag at
the back and onto the open road at the top of the course I was really
breathing heavily and felt rotten. I slowed down a lot on this part to try
and recover a little. As I came around the final corner I picked up my
speed for the final straight and then I was finished, almost literally.
25:30 mins seemed like a hell of a long time when compared with Mr Dennis
and his 24min time. The time keeper and bike holder started to try and
make me feel better by saying that some people are more cut out for
endurance events than ten mile time trials. What they really wanted to say
to me was that I was a rubbish time trialler. Ah well I will try and get
under 25 next week but this time trialling seems a bit too much like hard
work to a road racer like me.
cheers
Marek
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Mike Anton writes….
BAH!
Having been on a flyer, I passed a few peeps before I got stuck behind a tractor driven by someone who thought TT stands for Tuesday Tootle.
Ted caught me up again and by the time Mr Popular turned off, Paul was back on board. I eased up thinking we could have an impromtu 3 Up but Dennis arrived and passed us.
Ted then decided to stick with me to the end, where Chris was talking darkly about a stewards enquiry! 😉
Meanwhile up the back straight Lorraine, Ted and Ben almost ran over the same dog (a Jack Russell) while Ben was chased by the owner’s other much larger dog.
Wet weather persuaded many riders to postpone until the following week, but a hard core of 8 turned up for duty.
Marshall: Paul Blackmore
