A difficult evening to read as the riders turned up to sign on tonight. A bit heavy perhaps, but a cross-tailwind start, and even a bit of a tail-finish. This of course meant that there would be a headwind on the A50. Never good.
Nevertheless, 24 riders started, hoping to snatch at least a second or two from the PBs tat they had previously set. This was not to be in the main, and stories of a tough night were rippling around the car park after the event.
Lee Suthard was riding this evening, and was of first as he had a prior engagement that he needed to get to. The meant that Ann had to do a PB in her car to get to the finish to beat him there, as we had already witnessed Lee tonking along at 30mph as a warm-up(!)
In the end, despite the conditions, Lee came home with the fastest time of 22:04, the nearest next best time was over three minutes down by Chris Gilbertson, and then a flying Jo Blakeley, belting over the finish line to grab a PB.
| Position | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Suthard | 22:04 |
| 2 | Chris Gilbertson | 25:09 |
| 3 | Jo Blakeley | 25:24 |
| 4 | Jim Williams | 25:27 |
| 5 | Craig Lee | 25:40 |
| 6 | Nick Butterworth | 26:11 |
| 7 | Colin Carthy | 26:12 |
| 8 | Ben Jones | 26:19 |
| 9 | Andrew Woolley | 26:33 |
| 10 | Mark Walker | 26:47 |
| 11 | John Hassall | 26:50 |
| 12 | Dan Robson | 26:59 |
| 13 | Anthony Atkinson* | 27:21 |
| 14 | Steve Malkin | 27:38 |
| 15 | James Lovelady* | 27:38 |
| 16 | Daniel Pawson* | 27:55 |
| 17 | Paul Conner* | 28:15 |
| 18 | Patrick Lucas | 29:08 |
| 19 | Andy George | 29:24 |
| 20 | Steve Thomas | 29:35 |
| 21 | Geoff Lovelady | 29:40 |
| 22 | Dave Wilkinson | 30:06 |
| 23 | Elaine Mossman | 30:38 |
| 24 | Rob Amson | 32:00 |
* Non members will not gain points for Guardian Cup.
In fact, Jo’s PB meant that she was third best Guardian Cup point scorer for the night, just behind Nick Butterworth, improving his current PB for the competition by 37 seconds, riding fixed. Both were beaten for maximum points for the night by Patrick Lucas, improving his last year’s PB by 106 seconds. The only other rider to improve on PB for the evening, was new member Rob Amson.
| Position | Rider | Time | Current PB | New PB | PB Date 2014/15 | +/- Sec s | Guardian Cup Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Lucas | 29:08 | 30:54 | 29:08 | 01-Jun-2016 | 106 | 25 |
| 2 | Nick Butterworth | 26:11 | 26:48 | 26:11 | 11-May-2016 | 37 | 24 |
| 3 | Jo Blakeley | 25:24 | 25:38 | 25:24 | 01-Jun-2016 | 14 | 23 |
| 4 | Rob Amson | 32:00 | 32:03 | 32:00 | 18-May-2016 | 3 | 22 |
| 5 | Mark Walker | 26:47 | 26:34 | 26:34 | 18-May-2016 | -13 | 21 |
| 6 | Dave Wilkinson | 30:06 | 29:35 | 29:35 | 18-May-2016 | -31 | 20 |
| 7 | Andrew Woolley | 26:33 | 26:01 | 26:01 | 18-May-2016 | -32 | 19 |
| 8 | Chris Gilbertson | 25:09 | 24:24 | 24:24 | 04-May-2016 | -45 | 18 |
| 9 | Elaine Mossman | 30:38 | 29:50 | 29:50 | 18-May-2016 | -48 | 17 |
| 10 | John Hassall | 26:50 | 25:59 | 25:59 | 04-May-2016 | -51 | 16 |
| 11 | Dan Robson | 26:59 | 26:05 | 26:05 | 04-May-2016 | -54 | 15 |
| 12 | Colin Carthy | 26:12 | 25:16 | 25:16 | 24-Jul-2015 | -56 | 14 |
| 13 | Lee Suthard | 22:04 | 21:02 | 21:02 | 22-Jul-2015 | -62 | 13 |
| 14 | Steve Malkin | 27:38 | 26:34 | 26:34 | 24-Jul-2015 | -64 | 12 |
| 15 | Geoff Lovelady | 29:40 | 28:32 | 28:32 | 18-May-2016 | -68 | 11 |
| 16 | Craig Lee | 25:40 | 24:18 | 24:18 | 15-Jul-2015 | -82 | 10 |
| 17 | Andy George | 29:24 | 27:55 | 27:55 | 18-May-2016 | -89 | 9 |
| 18 | Jim Williams | 25:27 | 23:45 | 23:45 | 18-May-2016 | -102 | 8 |
| 19 | Ben Jones | 26:19 | 26:19 | Benchmark | No points | ||
| 20 | Steve Thomas | 29:35 | 29:35 | Benchmark | No points |
This means that this week there has been a bit of a shake up in the overall standings, with Jo Blakeley rocketing up to first place overall with 3 rides and 71 points, followed by Jim Williams with 67, and our other new member Mark Walker in joint 3rd with Dave Wilkinson, each with 65 points.
| Place | Total Points Best 5 | Name | Counting Rides | Current Handicap | Race 1 11th May | Race 2 218th May | Race 3 25th May | Race 4 1st June |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71 | Jo Blakeley | 3 | 25:24 | 25 | 23 | 23 | |
| 2 | 67 | Jim Williams | 4 | 23:45 | 20 | 21 | 18 | 8 |
| 3 | 65 | Mark Walker | 3 | 26:34 | 20 | 24 | 21 | |
| 3 | 65 | Dave Wilkinson | 3 | 29:35 | 22 | 23 | 20 | |
| 5 | 62 | Emily Martin | 3 | 29:50 | 19 | 22 | 21 | |
| 6 | 61 | Colin Carthy | 4 | 25:16 | 14 | 11 | 22 | 14 |
| 7 | 60 | Andy Woolley | 3 | 26:01 | 24 | 16 | 20 | |
| 8 | 54 | Geoff Lovelady | 4 | 28:32 | 10 | 19 | 14 | 11 |
| 9 | 47 | Elaine Mossman | 3 | 29:50 | 13 | 17 | 17 | |
| 10 | 41 | Dan Robson | 3 | 26:05 | 8 | 18 | 15 | |
| 10 | 41 | Ady Japp | 3 | 26:11 | 11 | 10 | 20 | |
| 12 | 40 | Steve Malkin | 3 | 26:34 | 16 | 12 | 12 | |
| 13 | 39 | Craig Lee | 4 | 24:18 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 10 |
| 14 | 35 | Colin Walsh | 2 | 25:56 | 17 | 18 | ||
| 15 | 32 | Neil Drummond | 3 | 24:59 | 12 | 7 | 13 | |
| 16 | 31 | Stu Ward | 2 | 24:40 | 16 | 15 | ||
| 17 | 30 | John Hassall | 2 | 25:59 | 14 | 16 | ||
| 18 | 25 | Lee Suthard | 2 | 21:02 | 12 | 13 | ||
| 18 | 25 | Andy George | 2 | 27:55 | 16 | 9 | ||
| 18 | 25 | Derek Heine | 1 | 31:25 | 25 | |||
| 18 | 25 | Jim Duffy | 1 | 22:56 | 25 | |||
| 18 | 25 | Rich Munro | 1 | 27:31 | 25 | |||
| 18 | 25 | Steve Marlow | 2 | 27:19 | 6 | 19 | ||
| 18 | 25 | Patrick Lucas | 1 | 29:08 | 25 | |||
| 25 | 24 | Nick Butterworth | 1 | 26:48 | 24 | |||
| 26 | 23 | Dave Fearon | 1 | 23:24 | 23 | |||
| 27 | 22 | Rob Amson | 1 | 32:00 | 22 | |||
| 28 | 21 | Caroline Fearon | 1 | 28:46 | 21 | |||
| 29 | 18 | Chris Gilbertson | 1 | 24:24 | 18 | |||
| 29 | 18 | Alan Silver | 1 | 29:55 | 18 | |||
| 31 | 13 | Geoff Mullett | 1 | 23:33 | 13 | |||
| 32 | 9 | Simon Howells | 1 | 30:46 | 9 | |||
| 33 | 8 | Mark Dixon | 1 | 25:47 | 8 | |||
| 34 | 7 | Dave Read | 1 | 27:19 | 7 | |||
| 35 | 6 | Matt Sayle | 1 | 25:23 | 6 | |||
| 36 | 5 | Anthony Booth | 1 | 26:07 | 5 |
Plenty of time yet though for the comp. to turn upside down, with 6 rounds still to give you a chance for overall glory! Remember, it’s your best 5 counting rides from the season long competition that count.
Some hastily grabbed shots of tonight’s finish line are in the gallery section of the site – or just click this link: Guardian Cup 2016 – Round 4.