VTTA '25' E2/25 19th June 2010 - This is June?

Checking the BBC weather forecast before setting off with my North Bucks Road Club team mate Tony, I was a little worried.  While the forecast was for white clouds and light showers, the wind was straight from the north and about 21-22mph.  It should also be evident from the weather icon to the left that the BBC turned out to be rather economical with the truth!As we drove over to Newmarket, Tony and I got increasingly worried about the weather.  The wind was certainly as forecast, the trees and foliage were bending alarmingly.  More bothersome were the heavy showers that were cruising along.  Some of the showers were really very heavy.  Reaching Newmarket, we found the race HQ rather more easily that in the past (cf the API-Metrow event last summer) - it was in a modern and rather swanky leisure centre.  We grabbed our numbers and waited for a particularly heavy shower to pass before going back to the car and driving over to a wide-verged lane near the start. We sat in the car while more heavy showers came over.  I got ready, but sat in the car.  At some point Tony realised that he'd forgotten a crucial bit of kit - his skin suit!  This gave him a pretty good excuse not to ride in vile conditions...  I waited in the car until the rain eased, then rode over to the start.  So - no warmup! I realised pretty quickly that my GPS unit was on the blink, so I ended up riding with only the timer and heart rate to inform me of my effort. Down the sliproad and onto the course.  I wished at this point that I knew what speed I was cruising at - it seemed fairly easy (despite pushing a very big gear) and I quickly raised my HR to respectable levels.  The outward leg clearly benefitted from the stiff wind, which was something of a diagonal tailwind.  A map of the E2/25 can be seen in my report on my previous outing on this course, the Lea Valley CC '25' on 10th April.  I reached the turn in around 25 minutes, had a bit of interference from traffic at the turn, and set out on the return leg somewhat worried about how tough it would be. In the event, the return leg was a fair bit easier, with some shelter from the wind provided by the hedgerow, particularly on the later section on the A14.  At places the broken nature of the hedgerow made for very gusty and buffeting conditions.  Overall, though, I didn't suffer particularly from rain - indeed the far end of the turn seemed bone dry. As I got closer to the finish, I became increasingly optimistic that I might pull off a decent time.  I was momentarily flummoxed by the cones up the finish sliproad as at first I couldn't see the timekeeper.  I checked my computer as I crossed the line and figured I'd done 55:29 (confirmed later in the race HQ).  This is 9 seconds faster than I did in the Lea Valley event, and this now becomes my fastest '25' since 2004, so my form continues to pick up. More to the point, what a horrible day it was - not what one would expect from mid-June! Results

Pos	No	Rider	Club	Group	Standard	TIME	+/-	std	Pos Std
1	120	Peter Balls	West Suffolk Wheelers	EA	01:07:60	50:12	+	17:47	15
2	15	Mick Hodson	St Ives CC	EA	01:06:00	51:15	+	14:45	28
3	110	Ian Cammish	Planet X	EA	01:12:43	51:26	+	21:17	9
4	105	Stuart Walker	Walsall RCC			51:36
5	60	Neil Dowie	Shorter Rochford RT	EA	01:07:30	53:15	+	14:15	29
6	75	André Dyson	St Ives CC	EA	01:11:07	53:33	+	17:33	18
7	100	Ken Platts	Cambridge CC	EA	01:15:29	53:47	+	21:41	8
8	45	Tony May	North Road CC	EA	01:12:11	54:14	+	17:57	14
9	70	Stephen Wilkins	Walsall RCC	Mids	01:12:43	54:40	+	18:03	13
10	90	Michael Wills	Hinkley CRC			54:44
11	61	Ron Keeble	34th Nomads CC	Kent	01:18:55	55:10	+	23:44	2
12	111	John Golder	Chelmer CC	EA	01:14:55	55:12	+	19:42	10
13	30	Robert Saunders	North Bucks RC			55:29
14	40	John Iszatt	API Metro - Silverhook	EA	01:11:39	55:53	+	15:45	24
15	46	Colin Bunnett	Kings Lynn CC	EA	01:20:41	55:59	+	24:41	1
16	106	Neil Colvin	7 Oaks Tri	Kent	01:12:43	56:04	+	16:38	19
17	35	Malcolm Jeffries	VC Elan	Kent	01:06:30	56:27	+	10:03	38
18	107	Carmelo Luggeri	CC Ashwell	EA	01:12:43	56:46	+	15:57	22
19	16	Clive Nye	San Fairy Ann CC	Kent	01:12:43	56:58	+	15:44	25
20	11	Geoff Bunyan	Spirit Racing			57:04
21	124	Graham Painter	Chelmer CC			57:11
22	5	Tony Boardman	Team Swift	Man & NW	01:13:16	57:24	+	15:51	23
23	80	Simon Best	North Road CC	EA	01:07:30	58:05	+	09:24	42
24	31	Christopher York	Maldon & District CC			58:17
25	87	Mike Shean	Ford CC			58:20
26	41	Ralph Richardson	Hinkley CRC	Mids	01:08:31	58:33	+	09:57	39
27	56	David Rogers	Hemel Hempstead CC	L & HC	01:12:11	58:34	+	13:36	31
28	12	Clayton Knight	Easterley RC	EA	01:10:35	58:52	+	11:43	35
28	126	Peter Thomas	West Kent RC			58:52
30	125	Simon Boyle	Stowmarket & Dist CC			58:53
31	43	Bill Broadfield	Flitch Crono	EA	01:21:53	58:54	+	22:58	5
32	67	Andrew Bright	Team Sanjan Design	EA	01:07:00	59:05	+	07:54	46
33	72	Alan Crane	Team Sanjan Design			59:09
34	12	Peter Hardiman	Maldon & District CC	EA	01:14:55	59:12	+	15:42	26
35	6	Richard Moule	Bossard Wheelers CC			59:27
36	1	Jeremy Temple	VC Elan			59:28
37	11	Michael Coulter	Gravesend CC	Kent	01:17:45	59:34	+	18:10	12
38	96	Steve Peck	Newmarket Cycling & Tri	EA	01:12:11	59:52	+	12:18	34
39	26	Peter Anderson	Kingston Wheelers	EA	01:16:03	01:00:04	+	15:59	21
40	6	Corinna Francis	Chelmer CC			01:00:12
41	17	Peter Walton	Herfordshire Wheelers	EA	01:13:49	01:00:23	+	13:25	32
42	64	Roger Selmes	Wolsey RC	EA	01:18:20	01:00:41	+	17:39	17
43	57	Andrew Gibson	Gravesend CC			01:00:51
44	58	John Parkes	Wolsey RC	EA	01:19:30	01:00:58	+	18:31	11
45	113	Brian Martin	PCA Ciclos Uno	EA	01:17:11	01:01:33	+	15:38	27
46	73	Michael Fry	Glendene CC	EA	01:10:35	01:01:38	+	08:57	44
47	29	Peter Lock	Victoria CC	EA	01:07:30	01:01:44	+	05:45	49
48	32	Geoffrey Martin	Glendene CC	EA	01:13:16	01:01:46	+	11:30	36
49	8	Ann Shuttleworth	Chelmer CC	EA	01:11:39	01:01:48	+	09:51	40
50	33	Brian Lusk	45 Road Club	EA	01:09:02	01:02:00	+	07:01	48
51	77	Stewart Kirk	CC Sudbury	EA	01:14:55	01:02:05	+	12:49	33
52	53	Dominic Whitehead	29th Wheelers CC	EA	01:11:39	01:02:10	+	09:28	41
53	38	David Mellor	Chelmer CC			01:02:48
54	2	Keith Dalton	Southend Wheelers	EA	01:12:11	01:02:55	+	09:15	43
55	102	Merv Player	Herfordshire Wheelers	EA	01:26:56	01:03:30	+	23:26	3
55	9	John Dupen (T)	Godric CC	EA	01:20:05	01:03:30	+	16:34	20
57	23	Brian Foran	Lampard RC	EA	01:11:07	01:03:32	+	07:34	47
58	118	Peter Baumber	Cambridge CC	EA	01:28:14	01:04:57	+	23:17	4
59	3	Trevor Parrish	A5 Rangers CC			01:04:59
60	18	Adrian Perkin (T)	Godric CC	EA	01:27:35	01:05:37	+	21:58	7
61	7	Angela Nye	San Fairy Ann CC	Kent	01:16:37	01:05:40	+	10:56	37
62	13	John Baines	Yorkshire RC	Yorks	01:23:44	01:06:00	+	17:43	16
63	104	Peter Horsnell	Chelmer CC	EA	01:28:54	01:06:54	+	22:00	6
64	84	Andrew Porter	Welwyn Wheelers	EA	01:10:04	01:09:09	+	00:54	54
65	36	Karl Read	North Norfolk Whlrs CC	EA	01:07:30	01:11:51	–	04:21	56
66	9	Jeanette Degiorgio	Victoria CC	EA	01:17:45	01:12:54	+	04:50	51
67	4	Bob Loader	Sydenham Wheelers	Kent	01:26:56	01:13:03	+	13:53	30
68	2	Lynda George	Maldon & District CC	EA	01:19:30	01:14:23	+	05:06	50
69	19	Ray Legg	West Suffolk Wheelers	EA	01:18:55	01:14:55	+	04:00	52
70	114	Brian Foster	Norwich ABC	EA	01:24:22	01:15:45	+	08:36	45
71	69	Phil Paffey	Chelmer CC	EA	01:11:07	01:20:47	–	09:39	55
72	3	Barbara Law	CC Sudbury	EA	01:25:00	01:21:04	+	03:56	53
	59	Chris Hutchinson	Redbridge CC	EA	01:14:55	DNF
	22	Geoff Bores	Ford CC	EA	01:13:49	DNF