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.
Nick Cramer reports on his latest road race, which took place around Great Chesterford. This 62miler was the toughest race I have done to date. It consisted of 6 hilly laps, including a big, two-stage hill, complete with a strong northerly wind.
The F1 (A or B) is never the fastest course when its very, very windy. On an essentially north\south race a northerly (or southerly) wind can put paid to many riders hopes of a quick time. This was Tony's first attempt at an Open 25 and he recorded a time of 1:08:41. The term "Brick Wall" entered his mind at the halfway turn.
It was a good and fast journey southbound on the A11, always with the nagging thought that the return would be payback time. And so it came to pass! A strong northerly wind put paid to any thoughts that Peter had of a fast time. He eventually crossed the finish line at 1:00:44.
About 30 riders hit the roads today on a bright but cool and windy morning. Unfortunately this rather overwhelmed the (in this case) aptly named Tortoise Tea Room. Next time we'll have to organise ourselves a little bit better. Still, it was good to see so many of us out today.
We saw something today that has not been around for much this year - rain. This brought out a selection of punctures on both the easy (six out) and medium (twelve out) rides. The medium ride was delayed the most, and we got back over an hour later than expected. With the rain came the cold, so not the most accommodating day for riding.
A large group of riders met at the Ware car park for what turned out to be an enjoyable ride in excellent conditions. Twentyone took the medium ride and two the easy pacer to Buntingford. There were two cafe destinations and as they were within 30 yards of each other everyone just split up according to whether they wanted tea & cake, or tea & something cooked! Three took to the road for the fast ride - they did not need to worry about a tea stop. Sadly when it came to JP's ride in the afternoon nobody was able to "Come & Try," so he had to ride on his tod.
On a very windy and undulating two lap course, the only person seemingly unaffected by the conditions was Michael Hutchinson who went round in 49:35. The first of the real people came in 6:49 later. Peter's sole aim was to see how far he could get before the Hutch (who started 9 minutes behind) caught him. He succeeded in getting onto the second lap so that was a result in itself! He finished on 1:06:41 and Merv clocked 1:10:35.
After an apprehensive night, Nick turned up for this event with plenty of enthusiasm but not enough warm clothing. The event consisted of 4 laps of 13.5 miles each. Every lap his learning curve shot up, and now he realises that he must improve on his final sprint in order to better his 24th position out of 50.
A nice warm March evening. 11 club riders and 1 private. Brian Evans pumped Nick Cramer's tyre up before the race allowing him to conserve his energy for the race. Hat's off he was on a standard road bike and clocked the fastest time for a club member. Barry, Alex and Phil were all within seconds of each other. Similarly with Tony just pipping Peter. The Clarkster debuted his new machine and showed he has improved since last season. Chris Wells rode his first time trial finishing in a respectable time.
After a cold and somewhat foggy morning temperatures soon rose to something acceptable. Thirteen riders started from Much Hadham, although this would have been more had another two or three found the correct start point at the correct time! With a further six riding the easy paced tour, HWCC was well represented on the roads.
Rob Godfrey of Marshall's Cycles had to cancel at the last moment. Undaunted, Peter W took himself to Hertford where Campbell Rae was putting the finishing touches to the new branch of Highway Cycles , due to open on Saturday. Campbell very kindly agreed to give up his evening and step into Rob's shoes.
Many riders out on a pleasant, sunny morning. With eleven riders having competed in the Club TT, the medium ride started slightly later than normal and visited Emily's at Whitwell. After this some carried on further whilst others took a fast thrash back home. Meanwhile the ever popular easy pacer took off to Hare St.
A bright, sunny day enabled 13 riders to turn out for the medium ride. For a change we headed south via Northaw and the backstreets of Borehamwood before heading north via Radlett, Shenley and Brookman's Park. Another 10 enjoyed the delights of the easy-pacer to Buntingford including a forensic examination of Jane's bike at Barwick Ford.
