Competition News

After a 22 year interlude Tony Marriott returned to bunch racing in a Ford Cycling Club event on 26th July. The race was one of a series of 1 hour Cat 4 and Novice races on the Ford Test Track at Dunton near Basildon.
Tony thought he had won a prime only to find out at the end that someone had been off the front! At the finish he contested the sprint until about 200 metres to go then "POP". Maybe he had a crystal ball as two riders collided at the front and he managed to swerve round them to finish 14th out of 38 starters.
The race was won by Mick Bath of API-Metrow.

  
     
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Lovely sunshine, but a bit windy going up the A414.  Nick Cramer was head and shoulders above everyone else!!
  

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Merv and Phil rode the Verulam 25 on the F1 course. A rising wind from the south made things difficult on the final 10 miles. Times Phil 1:0:23 Merv 1:6:48.

An incredibly fast course with the right conditions.  And these were the right conditions.  Sadly, Peter wasn't.  Did 2:07:29.  Should have got in faster than two hours.

Merv rode this event at Leighton Buzzard in torrential rain and recorded 26:48.

No roadworks, no rain - so we have a result!

Wheelers

On a circuit just north of Holmes Chapel, Peter started the 100 in good spirits and full of hope.  And for the first 40 miles everything went well.  Sadly in his preparations he had forgotten to eat and he had no food with him.  So he "hit the wall".  He struggled on to the 75 mile mark where for the first time in a race he stopped due to exhaustion.  A rider passed him and offered some food - gratefully accepted.  This got him through the next 10 miles when he stopped again - totally spent.  A spectator took pity on him and fed him with enough to get him to the finish.  With about 14 miles

This event was on the E2 course near Newmarket. The first half of field had torrential rain and most did not ride. The other half had no rain and good oxygen levels, seven riders were inside 50mins and one of these was 60 years old!
Phil rode in the first half but still managed to record a personal best and club age record of 54:49. This time bettered his 55:12 recorded 20 years ago!

Another blank night. Roadworks on the A10 meant that the appalling weather was of no consequence.

Congratulations to Tony Marriott on winning this year's Garrett Cup with 1:01:50.  It would have been quicker had he stuck to the correct route.  Still he did better than Barry who just got lost.  Peter's time of 1:04:43 was affected by the previous afternoon's exertions.  Saturday's racing was all done with an average heart rate of 145+ whereas Sunday's was ridden at an average of 134 - he never got out of Zone 5.  Again Alex Dowsett made a mockery of the conditions with a course record of 47:53, beating 2nd place by 5 and a half minutes.  How come the course conditions never seem to affec

Making it back from Newmarket with minutes to spare, PW completed the course in 24:48 to Phil's 24:34.  Sadly the wind-speed had not altered since the afternoon making it a very difficult ride.  Not difficult for Alex Dowsett who recorded 18:18, the next rider taking 20:21.  (Makes you sick, doesn't it!)

Due to a PW admin oversight he had failed to remember that the postponed end of April event had been scheduled for today.  This was not a major problem although it did cause a few technical difficulties for the rest of the weekend.  In some of the windiest conditions suffered on the E2 he recorded 1:04:25.  That included an outward journey of 38 mins!  Merv returned with 1:05:43.  PW then rushed back to Hertford for the next event.

Two HWCC members took part in this event.  Barry did the course in 22:56 whilst Peter took a long 25:02 - not helped by the fact that he forgot to change gear.  Don't ask!

Congratulations to Tony Marriott on winning this year's Garrett Cup with 1:01:50.  It would have been quicker had he stuck to the correct route.  Still he did better than Barry who just got lost.  Peter's time of 1:04:43 was affected by the previous afternoon's exertions.  Saturday's racing was all done with an average heart rate of 145+ whereas Sunday's was ridden at an average of 134 - he never got out of Zone 5.  Again Alex Dowsett made a mockery of the conditions with a course record of 47:53, beating 2nd place by 5 and a half minutes.  How come the course conditions never seem to affec

Phil's time was 1:03:32, and Merv's was 1:11:17.

This was Brian's first open event of the year and despite the strong wind and sometimes iffy road surface he recorded 23:44.

The event was abandoned due to flooding and the coning-off of part of a section of the course.

In his second "25" Tony clocked up a PB of 1:06:08 on the tricky Guilden Morden circuit.  This will drop dramatically in better conditions on a faster course.

In the HWCC 30 on a good morning on the A1, Phil recorded an impressive 1:10:52 and Tony did an excellent 1:15:12 in his first ever attempt at 30.  Merv carried on his good form with a 1:18:14 whilst Peter crawled in sometime the next day - 1:19:06.

What seems to have been a fairly perfect evening, a few PBs.

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