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
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.
France must have been good for Barry as he returned to a victory. There was some close racing between the non-TT specialists.
It was a warm evening with a north-east cross-wind.
Merv was chuffed. He established an East Anglian VTTA Group Age Record for 79 year olds. His time of 2.13.04 was nearly 10 minutes quicker than last Sunday, and only 2 minutes slower than his age record at 77 of 2.11.13.
A not too disastrous day. Weather reasonable, course reasonable, Merv reasonable, Peter rubbish. As he is about to celebrate his 79th birthday Merv was timed at 2:22:21. Peter had no excuses for 2:16:10.
Starting 1 minute ahead of Le Hutch, Peter wanted to see if he could get to 4 minutes before being passed. At 5mins 7secs he got his answer. This spurred him onto a course PB of 23:19. (Hutchinson - 18:10).
On an east\west course with a moderate north easterly wind, Peter scraped by with 24:15 and Merv came in with 26:17. In perspective, Le Hutch (18:37) beat 2nd place by over 2 minutes.
Nick C's latest adventure ... " The race was held in East Hanningfiield, sunny Essex and consisted of a six mile loop which we had to ride seven times. The roads were dry, sunny and hill-free - which made a refreshing change from last week's slog! I still have a lots to learn and was disappointed to miss out on a breakaway which came in 43 secs ahead of me. I rolled over the finishing line 24th out of 60 riders. I really wanted to beat my 18th place last week but all this racing takes time and I'm trying to run before I can walk.
Ian Penson took part in Trailbreak's Princes Risborough 45K Enduro MTB event. Whilst not exactly a race it was electronically timed and Ian came 10th out of 84! He reports that "conditions were a bit slippy (wet chalk) with some deep water but not too muddy". He started early so the course was not too chewed up.
