Neil Palmer clocked a rapid new course record en-route to winning Spalding Cycling Club’s second 17-mile time trial event of the season.
The ever-impressive Palmer topped the leader board with a new personal best (PB) time of 37.30mins, which saw him finish just over two minutes quicker than second placed Chris Ward (39.33mins).
Next home was Chris Pratt, whose time of 42.20mins was pushed hard by Andy Bowser, who stopped the clock on 42.27mins – his second PB in as many weeks.
The only lady in the field, Aimee Stocker, took just 45.24mins to complete the course and finished eighth overall – a spot she shared with Ben Richards.
Other confirmed PB’s went to Simon Wright (43.14mins) and Ross McGivern (45.41mins), but when the results are compared to round one it is noticeable that other riders were also quicker.
The rising head wind back on the return leg from Tongue End did not appear to affect the times as much as it might have – and of the 17 starters, there were only a couple who went slower than the previous week.
Unluckily for Andy Foster, a puncture in the finishing straight meant he was unable to finish.
- Strong gusting winds and cool conditions faced the 26 entrants for the Spalding hosted round of the Hereward league, held over the 17 mile TT course.
Once again Palmer dominated – finishing with 37.52mins, which was just over a minute clear of second placed Jason Burrill of Bourne Wheelers in 38.54mins.
Third place went to Tom Comben, also of Bourne Wheelers, who stopped the clock on exactly 39.00mins.
In the ladies’ competition, Mia Purnell of Fenland Clarion rode a great race to finish with 55.03mins but top honours went to Sarah Bentley in 21st. Her time of 47.22mins was also good enough for second place on handicap.
In the handicap competition, the top spot went to McGivern. His time of 45.11mins was good enough for 15th place in the overall standings, while a fast improving Brian Johnson (52.22mins) was 25th overall and third on handicap.
Other Spalding riders: Chris Ward 39.46mins (7th); Andrew Gurney 42.00mins (9th); Andy Bowser 42.20mins (10th); Simon Wright 43.20mins (11th); Derek Chamberlain 46.22mins (19th); Gary Bentley 50.02mins (23rd).
- Away from time trialling, Tilly Gurney raced well to finish in second place in the under-16 girls’ race at the NCRA Rockingham Series 9 event.
Second claim Spalding member Matt Ellis, racing for his Sherwood Pines Cycles SRAM team, won the under-14 race.
The following weekend at Redbridge youth races, Ellis placed 17th while team and club mate Jake Norton was 42nd after getting caught up in a crash.
- At the end of June, Spalding CC’s Craig Richardson-Wood and a group of work colleagues completed the “Coast to Coast in a Day” Sportive from Seascale to Whitby.
The 150 mile route took in 4,500 metres of climbing.
