Warm and dry in there Bodi?
My primary thoughts when getting ready for the ten today were whether I should take the dog with me for a change or not, as I was worrying that with it being stuffy I’d come back to a Baked Bodi. I decided in the end that it was cloudy and cool enough so off we both went to Skivington Village Hall for the Withington Wheelers 10TT on the J2/1. I needn’t have worried, we arrived at the village hall to rain and a westerly wind of about 15mph!
I was the earliest starter of the Weaver Valley contingent at number 18, so set off for my ride into the rain whilst it was at its worst. I wasn’t expecting much after a few days of gallivanting round France this week doing some long TdF stage rides, as my legs were tired and tight; so combined with the weather I figured I’d give it a good go and see what happened.
Taking care not to ride over any standing water or grids I found the first half of the course to be fairly quick and looked set for a surprising high 24 at half way; however after turning very gingerly (no jokes required) on the slippery tarmac at Booths roundabout for the return leg, the wind was much more unkind, so I finished with a 25:59 – just scraping the 25 I was hoping for this year and giving myself a 10 PB in the process, plus knocking about 90 sec of my previous course best. So no complaints from me but looking forward to giving the route a good crack next year whilst fresh and hopefully in better weather.
Similar stories came back in from fellow Weaver Valley riders. Andy Woolley (completing his first open ten since 1993) came in with a 26:11, Stu Ward (on his first ever open 10) came in with a great 24:10, having been slowed by a tractor and similarly losing 50 sec on the return leg into the wind. Ewart got a brill 24:05, which he seemed displeased with but I think was fab for the weather. Alan Shuttleworth also braved the rain and came in with a 29:01, having been worried about wet braking against the carbon on the 3 deep sections he has on his trike. So not a bad set of times all things considered!
The rain eased for the riders after number 30, but everyone got wet from the road spray regardless, so it was back to HQ for welcome cups of tea, sandwiches and cake. Woody if you’d like the detail – chocolate swiss roll, buttered scones, fruit cake, mini rolls, ham or cheese baps.
Overall Results
Men
- David Crawley – Velotik RT – 20:18
- Jonathan Eildea – Seamons CC – 20:56
- Jack Schofield – Bath CC – 21:03
Women
- Emily Martin – Weaver Valley CC – 25:59
- Linda Flavell – Chester RC – 27:26
- Jill Fieldine – North Cheshire Clarion – 27:45
With a fair few DNS’ and an unfortunate rain-induced spill for Claire Harrison of Vision Racing on the Booth’s roundabout (whose coat tails I’ve been familiar with this year), it was a lucky first TT win for me today on my last of the season. Should help me buy some new socks as greyed my nice club ones!
Well done to all who came out and good luck at the Wild Wales tomorrow folks!
Results board.
Result!