This was a particularly tough morning on the F1/25 - perhaps the hardest I can recall, though at least the heavy rain we saw on Saturday did not make a reappearance.
The initial section, roughly southbound to the Sandy RAB, gave me a little taster for what was to come later on: after descending the sliproad to the A1, it was most definitely going to be tough on both southbound legs. Unfortunately the reverse didn't seem to the true, while it's true I was whizzing along with a tailwind after the Sandy RAB (I topped 34mph at times), the benefits of the wind seemed to be absent some of the time. Presumably this was due to the slightly serpentine nature of the course. Despite most peoples' opinion, I'm a bit of an optimist, and usually on days like this I reach the turn think that maybe, just maybe, the return leg won't be as hard as I expect. For today's event, I can safely say the return leg exceeded my direst prognostications. On some of the more exposed sections, I was battered down below 20mph, and I'm sure I saw 17mph at one point. (Jason Gurney claimed afterwards to have had to drop to the small ring at one point!). I was caught by #90 for 3 minutes shortly after the turn, and even he seemed to be struggling into the wind after that.
The helpful organisers has included a series of signs announcing 4 miles...3 miles...2 miles...1 mile as we approached the finish. On a day like this, it just made it clear that a sub-hour result was going to be out of the question for me at least.
Most of us were a few minutes back on expectations, and I finished with a disappointing 1:00:52. On the bright side, however, it did represent a pretty useful workout.
Click here for the results (as pdf).
| No | Rider | Club | Time | Notes | Imp | +/- |
| 1 | James Heaton | Rugby Racing CC | 00:55:12 | V | | +11:18 |
| 2 | David Pollard | In-Gear Quickvit RT | 00:55:42 | V | | +15:57 |
| 3 | Paul Mill | Team Edwards / Elitecycling | 00:55:54 | V | | +10:36 |
| 4 | Jason Gurney | Team Milton Keynes | 00:56:12 | | | |
| 5 | Garry Brown | Equipe Velo Ecosse | 00:56:23 | V | | +10:37 |
| 6 | Tom Morris | Cambridge Univercity CC | 00:56:29 | | | |
| 7 | Antony Stapleton | Chelmer CC | 00:56:30 | V | | +10:30 |
| 8 | Stuart Tarry | Team Sanjan Design | 00:57:00 | | | |
| 9 | James Hawkins | Cambridge Univercity CC | 00:57:08 | | | |
| 10 | Ken Platts | Cambridge CC | 00:57:10 | V | | +17:12 |
| 11 | Peter Weir | Maidenhead & District CC | 00:57:18 | | | |
| 12 | Dave Kendall | Finsbury Park CC | 00:57:40 | | | |
| 13 | Justyn Cannon | RAF CC | 00:57:42 | | | |
| 14 | Jerry Cross | Manchester Wheelers | 00:57:47 | V | | +10:44 |
| 15 | Thomas Platts | Cambridge CC | 00:58:00 | | | |
| 16 | Ian Waddilove | Fenland Clarion CC | 00:58:02 | V | | +13:09 |
| 17 | Russell Beedham | Lincoln Wheelers CC | 00:58:03 | | | |
| 17 | Nicolas English | Reading CC | 00:58:03 | | | |
| 19 | Julian Smith | Hemel Hempstead CC | 00:58:20 | V | | +7:40 |
| 20 | Graham Waller | Sheffrec CC | 00:58:22 | | | |
| 21
| Neil Dowie | API Metro | 00:58:29 | V | | +8:01 |
| 22 | Hugh Vivian | Finsbury Park CC | 00:58:32 | V | | +9:28 |
| 23 | Steven Brown | Hemel Hempstead CC | 00:58:42 | | | |
| 24 | Sam Hayes | Bedfordshire RCC | 00:58:50 | | | |
| 25 | Mark Simmons | Team Milton Keynes | 00:59:40 | | | |
| 26 | Richard Webster | Team Welwyn | 00:59:55 | V | | +6:05 |
| 27 | Roger Queen | Icknield RC | 01:00:29 | V | | +18:26 |
| 28 | Andrew Murphy | Haverhill Wheelers | 01:00:33 | | | |
| 29 | Paul Verlander | M.I. Racing | 01:00:40 | V | | +5:50 |
| 30 | John Golder | Chelmer CC | 01:00:41 | V | | +13:08 |
| 31 | David Newman | Westerly CC | 01:00:43 | | | |
| 32 | Robert Saunders | North Bucks RC | 01:00:52 | V | | +9:12 |
| 33 | Jason Taylor |
VC Lincoln | 01:00:53 | | | |
| 34 | Ian Brazier | Verulam CC | 01:00:56 | V | | +8:06 |
| 35 | Avril Swan (Miss) | Team Thule | 01:01:34 | LV | | +9:01 |
| 36 | Kev Hardwick | Team Just Racing | 01:01:46 | | | |
| 37 | Tony May | North Road CC | 01:01:57 | V | | +9:10 |
| 38 | John Iszatt | API Metro | 01:01:59 | V | | +8:36 |
| 39 | Pete Hyland | Kent Cycles RC | 01:02:24 | V | | +10:52 |
| 40 | Danuta Tinn (Mrs) | Maidenhead & District CC | 01:02:29 | LV | | +9:10 |
| 41 | Ian Markham | Team Sanjan Design | 01:02:32 | | | |
| 42 | Andrew Robson | Warwickshire RC | 01:02:36 | | | |
| 43 | Paul Davis | St Ives CC | 01:02:44 | V | | +4:16 |
| 44 | Steve Freeman | Chelmer CC | 01:02:49 | V | | +6:13 |
| 45 | Michael Harborne | Warwickshire RC | 01:02:59 | V | | +16:21 |
| 46 | Malcolm Church | Fenland Clarion CC | 01:03:05 | V | | +14:06 |
| 47 | Claire Lee (Ms) | Science in Sport.com | 01:03:11 | L | | |
| 48 | Carole Gandy (Mrs) | Kent Cycles RC | 01:03:12 | LV | | +20:32 |
| 49 | Clifford Grant | High Wycombe CC | 01:03:20 | V | | +14:25 |
| 50 | Dean Fuller | Camel Valley CC | 01:03:31 | JR | | |
| 51 | Terry Beedham | Lincoln Wheelers CC | 01:03:31 | V | | +15:59 |
| 52 | Mark Steers | Hainault RC | 01:03:31 | V | | +4:29 |
| 53 | Alex Eason | Chelmer CC | 01:03:33 | | | |
| 54 | Clayton Knight | Shaftesbury CC | 01:03:38 | V | | +5:35 |
| 55 | Catherine Essex (Miss) | Kings Lynn CC | 01:03:44 | L | | |
| 56 | Vince Dey | Westerly CC | 01:03:56 | V | | +10:26 |
| 57 | David Earl | Hastings & St Leonards CC | 01:04:05 |
V | | +1:55 |
| 58 | Barry Page | Hertfordshire Wheelers | 01:04:06 | V | | +6:29 |
| 59 | Michael Gowan | Festival RC | 01:04:08 | V | | +15:22 |
| 60 | Michelle Ayres (Mrs) | South Bucks RC | 01:04:23 | LV | | +9:59 |
| 61 | Vic Butler | Eastbourne Rovers CC | 01:04:35 | V | | +14:55 |
| 62 | Lee Fuller | Camel Valley CC | 01:04:59 | | | |
| 63 | Alan Crane | Team Sanjan Design | 01:05:20 | | | |
| 64 | Justin Browne | Glendene CC | 01:05:31 | | 0:00:54 | |
| 65 | Phil Smithhurst | North Notts Olympic | 01:05:41 | V | | +10:56 |
| 66 | Viv Slack (Miss) | Manchester Wheelers | 01:06:22 | L | | |
| 67 | Andrew Ilsley | A5 Rangers CC | 01:06:26 | | | |
| 68 | Eric Angell | Redbridge CC | 01:06:37 | V | | +9:26 |
| 69 | Louise Schuller (Ms) | Finsbury Park CC | 01:06:43 | LV |
| +7:06 |
| 70 | Murray Kirton | A5 Rangers CC | 01:07:08 | V | | +13:33 |
| 71 | Lance Woodman | Archer RC | 01:07:25 | V | | +3:42 |
| 72 | Trevor Parrish | A5 Rangers CC | 01:07:45 | V | | +11:10 |
| 73 | Melanie Conibear (Miss) | Hemel Hempstead CC | 01:07:53 | L | | |
| 74 | Arja Scarsbrook (Mrs) | Team Echelon | 01:08:38 | LV | | +12:39 |
| 75 | Tony Clarke | Team Cambridge | 01:08:50 | V | | +6:39 |
| 76 | Sue Clarke (Mrs) | Team Cambridge | 01:13:02 | LV | | +2:27 |
| 77 | Debbie Knott (Ms) | Hemel Hempstead CC | 01:17:00 | L | | |
| 78 | Tim Somers | FVS TRI | 01:19:19 | V | | -10:48 |
| 79 | Gail Summerlin (Mrs) | Leicester RC | 01:32:40 | LV | | -8:18 |
| | Birgit Scott (Mrs) | Fenland Clarion CC | | DNF | | |
| | Andrew Bright | Team Sanjan Design | |
DNF | | |
| | Nicolas Pitt | Team Sanjan Design | | DNF | | |
| | Alan Kidd | Team Cambridge | | DNF | | |
| | John Royle | Fenland Clarion CC | | DNF | | |
| | Stephen Butterworth | St Ives CC | | DNF | | |
| | Ben Friend | Clarence Wheelers | | DNS APP | | |
| | Clifford Tremaine (Tric) | Kettering CC | | DNS APP | | |
| | Tim Day | Bournmouth Jubilee Wheelers | | DNS APP | | |
| | Rik Middleton | Coventry CC | | DNS APP | | |
| | Helen Boatman (Miss) | Team Milton Keynes | | DNS APP | | |
| | Claire Day (Mrs) | Bournmouth Jubilee Wheelers | | DNS APP | | |
| | Corinna Francis (Miss) | Chelmer CC | | DNS APP | | |
| | Neill Coventry | www.agiskoviner.com | | DNS APP | | |
| | Stuart Clarke | Chelmer CC | | DNS APP | | |
| | Ed Rieu | Sydenham Wheelers | | DNS APP | | |
| | Richard Simmonds | London Dynamo | | DNS APP | | |
| | Mark Cook | Planet X RT | | DNS APP | | |
| | Gavin Shaw | Manx Viking Wheelers | | DNS APP | | |
| | Dave Devine | Bath RC | | DNS | | |
| | Samantha Jenkins (Mrs) | Bedfordshire RCC | | DNS | | |
| | Robert Frowen | Banbury Star CC | | DNS | | |
| | Tony Parks | North Bucks RC | | DNS | | |
| | Preston Anderson | Wigmore CC | | DNS | | |
| | Andre Dyason | PCA Ciclos Uno | | DNS | |
| | Christopher Greig | High Wycombe CC | | DNS | | |
| | Kevin Gill | PCA Ciclos Uno | | DNS | | |
| | Colin Whitechurch | Ely & District CC | | DNS | | |
| | Mark Burnham | Coventry RC | | DNS | | |
| | Garth Evans | Eagle RC | | DNS | | |
| | Richard Kelsey | Maldon & District CC | | DNS | | |
| | Ian Short | Hainault RC | | DNS | | |
| | Antony Bee | Kent Cycles RC | | DNS | | |
| | Paul Godfrey | Hainault RC | | DNS | | |
| | B Botfield | Beacon RCC | | DNS | | |
| | Paul Callinan | London Dynamo | | DNS | | |
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