Richard Woodward writes…
Once again I got up to listen to the birds dawn chorus on Sunday to ride Worthing Excelsior’s 25 on the Horsham course. This time 3 EGCC riders were on the start sheet, Ted, Paul Winkley and myself.
I had drawn the short straw and was of at No.3 but at least it was windless and buoyed up with yesterdays success I was hoping for a good time. It wasn’t long before I realised that I wasn’t going to have it all my own way. Yesterdays efforts had taken their toll although my minute man was caught within minutes.
About 3/4 round the course I became the first rider on the road and was hoping to not be caught so I could cross the line first. This nearly didn’t happen as within the last mile whilst suffering like a dog I glanced up the road too late to see a dead fox in the road. Without time to avoid it I braced for impact, fortunately other road users heavier than I had tenderised it and I road it as though it wasn’t there.
At the end I was a little disappointed with my time of 1:1:59, but it was still my 3rd best time. Paul did a 1:4:00 for his best time for a few years and Ted obviously needs to buy himself a new alarm clock as again he missed the start.
