Fortunately, the icy conditions we'd seen since Christmas had warmed a bit, so there wasn't any danger of slipping on ice. But on the other hand, the roads were distinctly damp and there was a very strong and blustery wind from the south. As Steve Abraham was calling in on the time trial (and riding it) as part of the first day of his attempt to beat Tommy Godwin's mileage record (follow his progress here), we had the presence of CNN and BBC Local News together with a large number of cyclists, many of whom decided to take part in the race.
The new course devised by Tony Farmborough and Bryan Scarborough was being used for the first time, and this turned out to be something of a blessing, as there was much more space for people to meet and park near the start than at the assembly point for the earlier version. We'd scheduled Steve to start as #1, with NBRC riders starting behind him, though the #2 spot was left vacant. Out on the road, the starting section was really quick, with a stiff tailwind. Of course once we turned left at the first RAB, things got a bit twitchy in the wind, particularly for those riding with aero wheels (such as my H3).
It got a little bit more twitchy after the second roundabout where riders turn left to join the main Stoke Hammond bypass, indeed at that point I not only had to dodge a sizeable diesel spill, but found my front wheel being wrenched violently from side to side. This soon passed, but really one needed to pay close attention and try to predict when the gusts might be worst. The new course's turn is one RAB further along that the earlier version of the course, and while this additional section is quite short, it's uphill and (today at least) into the teeth of the wind. After the event, riders were complaining about how slowly they completed that section!
Round the turn, and we had a nice tail wind along the bypass before turning right to retrace to the finish. The final RAB sees riders doing a right turn. This did concern some people on safety grounds, but in practice it seemed fine - riders just need to keep an eye out for traffic and move into the right hand lane in good time. The final stretch was tough, into the wind to the finish.
All in all a tough morning for a time trial. I think most of the riders felt for Steve, who by the time he started the time trial had already covered 116 or so miles.
I finished in 24:55, a measly 1 second behind the winner, Richard Wood. As one wag observed, that probably corresponds to one wobble too many out there in the head wind! Still, I was fastest NBRC rider on the day.
Pos
No
Name
Club
Time
Cat
Vets Std
.+ / -
1
26
Richard Wood
Arbis/Colbert
24.54
Sen
2
5
Robert Saunders
NBRC
24.55
V55
27.09
.+ 2.14
3
25
James Fox
CCLuton
25.42
Sen
4
7
Lindz Barral
Unattached
25.51
Sen
5
15
Geoff Bunyan
Bossard Wheelers
25.52
V54
27.04
.+ 1.12
6
18
Jason Lee
TeamMK
26.46
V45
26.23
.- 0.23
7
14
Ant Newland
Bossard Wheelers
26.55
V49
26.41
.- 0.14
8
4
Andy Wickham
NBRC
27.14
V44
26.18
.- 0.56
9
20
Andy Smith
TeamMK
27.34
V57
27.20
.- 0.14
10
8
Julian Thrasher
LBRCC
27.46
V40
25.59
.- 1.47
11
21
Matt Exley
Corley Cycles Drops RT
27.52
Sen
12
22
Chris Hopkinson
API - Metrow
28.04
V47
26.32
.- 1.32
13
28
Richard Golding
Unattached
28.21
V43
26.13
.- 2.08
14
11
James Barlow
LBRCC
28.37
Sen
15
9
Miles Walker
LBRCC
28.59
V52
26.54
.- 2.05
16
27
Rimas Grigenas
Unattached
29.10
Sen
17
16
Tom Krause
Unattached
29.32
Sen
18
12
Andy Martin
LBRCC
29.37
V43
26.13
.- 3.24
19
13
Trevor Watson
Bossard Wheelers
29.43
V55
27.09
.- 2.34
20
10
Tom Deprez
LBRCC
29.58
Sen
21
24
Katja Reitdorf
TeamMK
30.05
LV44
28.24
.- 1.41
22
23
David Goodhew
NBRC
30.07
V41
26.04
.- 4.03
23
3
David Price
NBRC
30.12
V47
26.32
.- 3.40
24
6
Neill Boddington
NBRC
31.30
V40
25.59
.- 5.31
25
19
Darren Winfield
LBRCC
32.40
V49
26.41
.- 5.59
26
17
Clive Faine
TeamMK
32.46
V68
28.42
.- 4.04
27
1
Steve Abraham
NBRC
33.27
V40
25.59
.- 7.28
Timekeepers: Bryan Scarborough & Tony 'Desperado' Farmborough (NBRC)
Pusher off: Dick Selley (NBRC)
Route Signs: David Price (NBRC)
