Brogborough '10' 29/4/15

This was the first time the Brogborough '10' course had been used for an NBRC club event. The course was first used a few years ago when the new link road to the Bedford bypass was opened, thereby rendering the old A421 quite quiet. It features a gift start hill that doesn't need to to raced back up. On the other hand, the road can be quite exposed, and the surface leaves a bit to be desired in places. The Marston Moretaine roundabout needs a bit of care on the outbound leg, because the exit lane doesn't seem in line with the entry lane! On the evening, the weather was fairly breezy - what wind there was provided a bit of side and a bit of tail wind going out - though there was enough crosswind to make things a bit twitchy at times. I was number 17 in a field of 21, and as I lined up at the crest of the hill in the lea of a big articulated lorry, dark clouds were gathering as the temperature dropped. A few big raindrops fell, and I think we all felt a bit apprehensive! I set off down the hill, feeling reasonably good. There were a few minor twitches due to the wind, but nothing alarming. The outbound leg had been widely expected to be roaring fast, but I guess the real direction of the wind was not going to allow that. At times my speed fell and rose for seemingly inexplicable reasons! I had no trouble with traffic at the first pass through the Marston roundabout and only got slowed slightly at the turn roundabout. I had Andy Wickham in my sights by this time, and on the return leg used him as a target (I eventually passed him shortly before the finish). In the return leg, my speed seemed to fluctuate quite a bit, but by dint of keeping in a quite big gear, I kept things rolling well enough. The last half mile seemed absolute torture to me! I finished in 22:30 to take second place behind Jez, who did a splendid 21:11. Results

Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	Cat	Vets Std	.+ / -	Vets Std
1	4	Jez Honor	Equipe Velo	21.11	V44	26.18	.+ 5.07	1
2	17	Robert Saunders	NBRC	22.30	V55	27.09	.+ 4.39	2
3	12	Simon Moss	Equipe Velo	22.51	V41	26.04	.+ 3.13	4
4	21	Lindz Barral	Equipe Velo	23.02	Sen.
5	13	David Carrington	TeamMK	23.21	V49	26.41	.+ 3 20	3
6	6	James Barlow	Albarosa CC	23.28	Sen.
7	19	Alan Crane	Chronos RT	23.29	V46	26.27	.+ 2.58	6
8	16	Andy Wickham	NBRC	23.35	V44	26.18	.+ 2.43	9
9	8	Ant Newland	Bossard Wheelers CC	23.45	V49	26.41	.+ 2.56	7
10	3	Mick Atkinson	TeamMK	23.50	V46	26.27	.+ 2.37	10
11	11	Trevor Hook	TeamMK	24.34	V57	27.20	.+ 2.46	8
12	15	David Price	NBRC	24.52	V47	26.32	.+ 1.40	12
13	9	Paul Woodham	Bossard Wheelers CC	24.58	V63	27.59	.+ 3.01	5
14	18	Ian Markham	Chronos RT	25.26	V46	26.27	.+ 1.01	14
15	7	Trevor Watson	Bossard Wheelers CC	26.07	V56	27.14	.+ 1.07	13
16	14	Ross Andrew Callacher	Leighton Buzzard Roads CC	26.23	Sen.
17	2	Clive Faine	TeamMK / NBRC	26.26	V68	28.42	.+ 2.16	11
18	20	Luke Daniells	NBRC	27.06	V42	26.09	.- 0.57	15
19	10	Dave Crane	Chronos RT	33.41	V50	26.45	.- 6.56	16

Katja Rietdorf (#5) didn't finish. Timekeepers were Steph and Tony, with Dick doing the pushing off. Bryan, who's hand was recovering from an operation was sort of general factotum and jacket curator.