Hemel Hempstead '25' F13/25, 27th June 2010

It certainly seemed as though summer had arrived when I arrived at Launton for the Hemel Hempstead '25', held on the F13/25 course.  Riding out to the start, it was immediately clear that my headset adjustments made before leaving home had left the bearings too tight.  I returned to the HQ and retrieved my mini allen key set.  A quick adjustment and I was on my way (with the allen key set in my pocket to be on the safe side). Before starting, I reconnoitred the finish area, since on a previous outing in this event, I'd been misdirected off-course by a charity ride marshal. It was quite clear that the finish comes after an annoying little climb.  I also straightened my handlebars a little. Lining up at the start, rider #4 asked if I had an allen key, as his saddle clamp (this was also on a Cervelo P3) wasn't tight enough - I was happy to oblige, and I think he was rather relieved.  Unbeknownst to me, #3 also had a mechanical - the nipple on his front mech cable had just popped off the cable en route to the start.  I've never seen this happen before!  He bodged a permanent shift to the big ring by wedging a stone in the front mech, which must be the most enterprising start line tech fix I've ever heard about! Anyway, my start finally arrived, and after some banter with the start line crew, it was off and joining the A41.  The F13/25 cruises along the A41, through Waddesden (where there is a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights - running red lights earns a DQ), turning at the first roundabout in Aylesbury.  The course is cerainly not flat, and there are some quite stiff, but fortunately short little climbs.  In particular, the road surface has degraded quite badly between Waddesden and the turn, particularly after the turn.  I'd caught all three riders in front of me before the turn, so the return leg was a little lonely.  And surprisingly tough - more so than the outward leg.  At least I never got caught at the lights in Waddesden (unlike the unlucky rider #3). By the time I reached the little rise to the finish turn, I was really hot, tired and my HRM was reaching in excess of 190bpm.  At last, I turned and yanked the gears up a notch for one last hammer down to the finish line.  My time of 58:50 was good enough for 10th place (start sheet of 49 riders had several non-starters.  the event was won in impressive style by Danny Axford with a 53:22. After the event, we pushed off to the Waddesden Garden Centre so C. could buy some requisites for the garden.  Oh and coffee and cakes.  Then home, where after lunch we nipped out on the Longstaff tandem for a 20 mile circuit.  A bit hot, really, and my legs knew about this morning's effort.
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Pos	No	Name	Club	Time	+/-	std	Std Pos
1	50	Danny Axford	Arctic Premier RT	53:22
2	45	Jesse Elzinga	Beeline Bicycles RT	55:46
3	20	David Johnson	VC10	56:08	+	16:03	2
4	40	André Dyason	St Ives CC	56:22	+	14:45	3
5	37	Thomas Bell	Twickenham CC	57:44
6	15	Pete Lawrence	VC10	57:51
7	22	Thomas Sutherland	Twickenham CC	57:53
8	25	Neill Coventry	API-Metrow	57:55	+	14:16	6
9	35	John Dowling	Hemel Hempstead CC	58:19	+	14:24	5
10	5	Robert Saunders	North Bucks Road Club	58:50	+	12:17	8
11	21	Jonathan Page	Bicester Millennium CC	1:00:15	+	13:01	7
12	11	John Bourton	Bicester Millennium CC	1:00:18	+	14:37	4
13	6	Stephen Hewitt	Hemel Hempstead CC	1:00:48
14	16	Jonathan Gillham	Stevenage CC	1:01:04
15	42	Nigel Atkins	Twickenham CC	1:01:17
16	28	Clifford Price	London Dynamo	1:01:30
17	10	Ian Brazier	Verulam CC	1:01:35	+	8:29	13
18	49	Rob Luff	Brighton Excelsior CC	1:01:35	+	11:08	10
19	4	Neil Fisher	Welwyn Wheelers	1:01:40	+	4:50	17
20	3	Mark Smee	Fenland Clarion	1:02:59	+	6:34	15
21	9	Richard Hutt	Lampard RC	1:03:17	+	8:54	12
22	36	Christopher Greig	VC10	1:03:44
23	48	Simon Hemington	Hemel Hempstead CC	1:03:52	+	2:08	19
24	27	Jody Conibear	Hemel Hempstead CC	1:04:30
25	18	Ian Huntingford	Hemel Hempstead CC	1:05:31	+	6:08	16
26	7	Julian Barnard	Dulwich Paragon	1:05:35	+	6:36	14
27	17	Tim Carey	A5 Rangers CC	1:05:44	+	3:49	18
28	14	Steven Abraham	North Bucks Road Club	1:06:41
29	33	Nikki Hunt	VTTA	1:07:04	+	17:18	1
30	32	Les Church	Camel Valley C&TC	1:07:19
31	34	Josephine Perry	Thames Turbo	1:08:36
32	24	Robert Major	Welwyn Wheelers	1:09:11	–	1:11	21
33	47	Brian Foran	Lampard RC	1:09:21	+	1:46	20
34	8	John Wheelwright	North Bucks Road Club	1:10:25	+	10:16	11
35	38	John Pfeifer	Icknield RC	1:10:51	+	11:39	9
36	44	Stephen Roffe	Hemel Hempstead CC	1:12:51	–	4:51	23
37	19	Christine Yuill	Stevenage CC	1:15:25
38	29	Michael Richardson	Icknield RC	1:24:04	–	2:11	22
39	2	Nigel Goffin	Hemel Hempstead CC	1:25:12	–	9:43	24
	43	William McFarland	East London Velo	DNF	Went off course