Sunday 16 August 2015

Lifetime best for Sam Hayes at the Finsbury Park 25

After a week of watching the weather forecasts which all promised no wind at Tempsford on Sunday morning, the team arrived at the start of the Finsbury Park 25 knowing that quick times could be on the cards.

The F1/b may be a bit slower than the fabled (and much flatter) F1a due to the hills from Langford to Baldock on the A1, but it can still serve up good times if you're strong enough.

On the day Sam Hayes proved that he was certainly strong enough, and in the form of his life, by blasting around the course in 54:33, to knock 9 seconds off his fastest ever 25. Given the lack of traffic, the rolling nature of the bottom end of the course and the rising headwind on the return, this really was a simply stunning ride by Sam.

Next up for the team was Steve Robinson, who hadn't broken the hour for at least 17 years due to his dislike of 25's. A strong ride from Steve saw him record his 2nd fastest ever 25 with 58:59, an agonising 8 seconds away from his lifetime best. Worryingly for Steve, this ride shows that he can record decent rides at this distance, so he may now need to do a few more to improve on his best ever time.

If there was an award for greatest improvement by a rider in a season then David Ledgerton would have it in the bag. After a disrupted winter that lead to a slow start to the season for David he has steadily got faster and faster all through the year, and is now motoring well. David clocked 1:05:12 to record his fastest 25 in 5 years, clearly demonstrating that the speed is coming back.

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