An evening of mixed fortunes is the best way to describe the first 10 mile time trial of Spalding Cycling Club’s 2017 league.
In contrast to the rainy start of 2016, the weather was dry, bright and sunny with a strong, cold head wind down the Delph and this was reflected in slower times posted for some of the 18 club members and five guests.
Despite the headwind three personal best times (PBs) were reported.
Second claim member Matt Ellis, who took just 23.26mins to cover the distance as fastest Spalding rider, was two seconds faster than Ben Moore in 2016, and only 20 seconds down on Neil
Palmer of Velo One who posted the quickest time of the night with his 22.54mins.
The other new bests came from Chris Bettinson with 27.10mins and Tom Wright, whose ride of 28.26mins, smashed his 2016 result of 31.42mins.
In the club overall standings, the 2016 10 mile TT league champion Andy Bower took second place, just 12 seconds down on Ellis, and third was Andrew Gurney.
His 25.52mins was just a scant seven seconds ahead of Mark Hills, who couldn’t quite equal his 25.47mins time from 2016.
For Nigel Howard, Tim Wing and Matt Crick in their first 10 mile TT’s as new club members, the results show solid performances. Howard just got inside 30 minutes on 29.59mins to finish ahead of Wing (31.24mins), while Crick crossed the line on 34.25mins an improvement of 54 seconds on the time he set as an unattached rider last year.
Not so lucky were SCC’s Will Gurney and Harry Bellars riding for Watford Velo Sport, as both were non-finishers despite looking strong on the first lap.
Sophie Wright’s 34.06mins finish time put her at the top of the list of the club ladies’ again and 13th overall, while Nicole Flatters recorded 36.34mins to finish 16th.
Guest ladies Rebecca Hare – riding as a private member and using fixed gear – and Tilly Gurney of Bowlphish Racing posted 28.05mins and 30.03mins respectively.
Other times: Richard Flatters 28.10mins, Barry Drew 29.17mins, Gerry Charlwood 29.32mins, Simon Hare 29.51mins, Brian Johnson 34.37mins, Ed Gurney 41.23mins and Ian Fensom of
Fenland Road Club, who posted 25.29mins as second fastest guest.
