Ben Houston writes…
Despite everything seeming to conspire against me replacing the ‘Nil’ on the CTT entry form with a time for 25 miles, finally on Sunday I managed to complete the course, with a 1.07.41 in the South Eastern RC event. Most of the early starters faced light rain and a bit of surface water, we were advised to take care on the many roundabouts of the G25/53 course.
Although not close to a personal best this time, there was a real sense of achievement in actually finishing, as during 2007 my three attempts at completing a ’25’ went as follows; 1) Puncture, 2) Event shortened due to roadworks, 3) Event cancelled due to surface water.
Again, things seemed to be looking dodgy for a ride on Sunday, as 9 days ago I twisted my ankle and have been on medication and zero training since then. With the ankle strapped up (and almost back to a normal size, allowing the shoes to fit again!), it seemed to cope well with the race, the only issue being a bit of cramp on the uphills. Getting off a transatlantic flight Saturday morning is probably not the best preparation for a race either, but it does pay the bills, so I’m not going to complain about that!
Not sure who won or how Paul Winkley got on, I left before most of the results were in.
Roll on the Reading CC ‘50’ in 2 weeks time… Pending my performance there I will decide if the SCCU ‘100’ is a bridge too far this season or not…
Results 1 Laurence Harding Agiskoviner 00:51:42 2 Richard Legge London Dynamo 00:53:17 3 Jez Ponting A3 CRG 00:53:30 4 Niall Digbey Sigmasport.co.uk 00:54:51 5 Paul Alderson South Western RC 00:55:12 6 Lee Turner Sigmasport.co.uk 00:55:14 EGCC results Paul Winkley 01:02:53 Ben Houston 01:07:41
