The men’s national 10 was held last Sunday, 21st May between Linton & Haverhill on the Suffolk Cambridge border.
The weather was not England’s finest being cold (about 12 degrees), overcast, windy and often wet with some very intense squally showers being driven across the course by the strong wind. Riders were on the road over a period of nearly three hours and as you can imagine each person had their own individual story to tell and possibly varied conditions.
However, if anyone got around completely dry they would have been lucky. Michael Hutchinson, the favourite, emerged as champion but only by 1 second –
which narrow margin was a surprise, not least to him. Michael’s time was 20:09.
East Grinstead rider, Brian Phillips a 46 year old veteran, who
lives locally in Suffolk, returned a reasonable, rain soaked, 22:35 on a 101 inch fixed gear. This resulted in an overall position of 53rd but
surprisingly (to him) he was fastest in his age group (46 – 50).
He also rode the Eastern Counties 50 mile TT earlier that morning, recording 01:54:16 for third place (at least that race was dry). The course itself was quiet rolling with a short stretch of dual carriageway but whose overall characteristics were certainly sporting.
