In which I almost bottle out, then lose my bottle!
After last week's relatively balmy conditions, this evening was a bit of a shock. Unseasonably cold, and with a very strong head wind for the out bound leg, this event was always going to be 'interesting'. Over the past week, I'd been having a bit of trouble with the front brake on my P5 bike. I had stupidly screwed the pressure point adjustment screw too far in, to the point the brake was no longer functional. This required a tricky disassembly and then re-filling the system with oil. It took a fair bit of application to do this. It wasn't until the day of the race that I finally got this sorted out! There had also been some kind of serious accident on the course on the previous week (I don't know the details, but sadly I think it involved several fatalities). This had needed some kind of repairs to the roadside barriers, and threatened a weekend open event, though it was cleared by Wednesday evening. Anyway, I rode over in time to sign on as #22. I got cold at the start! The initial descent was a little alarming, with the wind buffeting my front H3, and I decided discretion was the better part of valour and didn't attempt to use the tribars. At the bottom of the hill, I could see a large collection of flowers left at the roadside, but the newly repaired tarmac and barriers, which sort of stuck in the mind a bit. Once down the hill, it was quite odd, with my speed varying between low 20s and well over 27 mph, presumably depending on a mix of gradient and exposure to the headwind. I wasn't too troubled by this most of the way, and anyway was looking forward to the return leg! I had no traffic holdups at either the first or the turn RAB, and I set off on the return. I quickly found myself flying back. Sadly, I was zooming along at around 30mph over one of the rougher sections of tarmac when I heard a bang and a clatter, and I saw black object leap off my bike, bounce of my transmission and disappear back off down the road. My first reaction was that it was one of the front brake shrouds (remember I'd been fiddling with the front brake), so I jammed the anchors on. At least the front brake did work! It turned out to be the bottle, now minus its cap. I retrieved the bottle and set off again, cursing myself for not just carrying on (after all, a capless aero bottle isn't much use). The rest of the race was pretty uneventful, though the stop must have cost me quite a bit of time, especially since I found myself starting a in a mammoth gear! Still, you live and learn! Next up should be the Hemel Hempstead '10' on the F11/10 on Saturday. After missing some events due to pressure of work, I'm keen to ride, even if the forecast weather leaves something to be desired!| Pos | No | Name | Club | Time | Cat | Vets Std | .+ / - | Vets Std |
| 1 | 6 | Ady Dench | Sheffrec CC | 22.15 | V46 | 26.27 | .+ 4.12 | 1 |
| 2 | 13 | Richard Golding | Equipe Velo | 23.02 | V46 | 26.27 | .+ 3.25 | 2 |
| 3 | 21 | Jason Lee | TeamMK | 23.24 | V46 | 26.27 | .+ 3.03 | 5 |
| 4 | 23 | Lindz Barral | Equipe Velo | 23.28 | Sen | |||
| 5 | 22 | Robert Saunders | NBRC | 23.47 | V55 | 27.09 | .+ 3.22 | 3 |
| 6 | 19 | Andy Wickham | NBRC | 23.57 | V44 | 26.18 | .+ 2.21 | 9 |
| 7 | 24 | Tim Bailey | TeamMK | 24.01 | V48 | 26.36 | .+ 2.35 | .= 6 |
| 8 | 15 | Graham Line | NBRC | 24.10 | V50 | 26.45 | .+ 2.35 | .= 6 |
| 9 | 16 | Alan Crane | Chronos RT | 24.14 | V46 | 26.27 | .+ 2.13 | 10 |
| 10 | 18 | Kevin Creese | Chronos RT | 24.27 | V61 | 27.44 | .+ 3.17 | 4 |
| 11 | 9 | Ant Newland | Bossard Wheelers | 24.32 | V49 | 26.41 | .+ 2.09 | 12 |
| 12 | 12 | Dave Price | NBRC | 24.51 | V47 | 26.32 | .+ 1.41 | 14 |
| .=13 | 5 | Graham Mackie | Corley Cycles | 24.52 | V53 | 26.59 | .+ 2.07 | 13 |
| .=13 | 14 | Jacob Tresham | Corley - Drops RT | 24.52 | Jnr. | |||
| 15 | 11 | Ian Markham | Chronos RT | 25.02 | V46 | 26.27 | .+ 1.25 | 15 |
| 16 | 8 | Paul Woodham | Bossard Wheelers | 25.54 | V64 | 28.06 | .+ 2.12 | 11 |
| 17 | 4 | Dave Brown | Leighton Buzzard Roads CC | 25.58 | V66 | 28.23 | .+ 2.25 | 8 |
| 18 | 3 | Ian Stokes | 45 Road Club | 26.19 | V55 | 27.09 | .+ 0.50 | 17 |
| 19 | 17 | David Creese | Chronos RT | 26.49 | V63 | 27.59 | .+ 1.10 | 16 |
| 20 | 7 | Trevor Watson | Bossard Wheelers | 27.20 | V56 | 27.14 | .- 0.06 | 19 |
| 21 | 20 | Luke Daniells | NBRC | 28.12 | V42 | 26.09 | .- 2.03 | 20 |
| 22 | 10 | Helene Wight | Corley Cycles | 28.31 | LV52 | 29.03 | .+ 0.32 | 18 |
| 23 | 2 | Dave Crane | Chronos RT | 31.26 | V50 | 26.45 | .- 4.41 | 22 |
| 24 | 1 | John Pick | Chronos RT | 32.39 | V70 | 29.02 | .- 3.37 | 21 |
| Time keepers:- Steph Cousins & Tony Farmborough NBRC | ||||||||
| Pusher off:- Bryan Scarborough. NBRC | ||||||||