Win, PB, PB, PB - business as usual for The Engine - Race Round up 31 July 2016

The weekend has proved to be a bit of a stellar one (not that kind Ric) for the team with Personal Bests and event victories abounding for "The Engine's" riders.

Victory in the Victoria
Kicking things off were Sam Hayes, Steve Robinson and Simon Doyle. The triumvirate were competing in Round 3 of the excellent Victoria CC 10.2mile team time trial series. The lads needed to fend off a keen TMG Horizon team, and our local friends in Hitchin Nomads, for the win on the day. A time of 22.49 was enough to secure the win by 4 seconds. By claiming the maximum points for the event, they also claim victory in the series. A just reward for some consistent performances and well drilled team time trialling (30 Jul 2016).

(L-R) Simon Doyle, Steve Robinson and Sam Hayes - Rd 3 Victoria CC 10.2 (pic Davey Jones)

Riding in the solo events were Hugo Hocknell and David Ledgerton. Hockers put in a shift to go sub-24 minutes with a time of 23.57. David, riding his first TT of the day (some of us can do two in a day - ahem), posted 26.50. Stuart Hocknell rode to a time of 38.16.

Time waits for no man in the Chronos
Joining David Ledgerton in the afternoon, on the Chronos RT F2A/10 (near Cambourne) were James Gomm and Dave Wentworth. Ledge made good going and clocked a time of 24.41. Two really robust rides in a day is a real achievement. Hot on his heels was Dave Wentworth, making a welcome visit to this version of the course our resident "flat cap Northerner type" tapped out a +25mph average with a time of 23.24. Last and by no means least in the pecking order was "young James Gomm". The not quite baby of the team capitalised on a host of training and effort to crack the magic 23 minute barrier for the first time, recording a lifetime PB of 22.47. Well done James, everyone in the team is really made up for you and glad to see how much your racing has come on since joining the fold.

Olden and Golden (VTTA E2/25)
(very) Early on Sunday morning (31 Jul 2016), Simon Doyle and Nigel Hale took themselves up to Newmarket to have a tilt at the famously quick E2/25 course. The 25 mile course is one of the quickest in the UK, on its day. The early coolness in the air and relative lack of traffic made the outbound leg of the brilliantly organised VTTA event heavy going for the first 50-60 riders. Simon was off #17 and had to use his experience to keep things ticking along and adjust his  ride to make the most of the road in the last 5 miles. Simon PB'd with a time of 56.20. An improvement on his previous best by 1m 04s .

It was Nigel Hale though who, despite his usual self-deprecating analysis, pulled off one of the rides of the year. Nigel beat his previous 25 mile best by 40s, recording a time of 53.52. That time secured 12th spot. A few seconds separated about half a dozen riders in the bottom half of the top 10. Awesome work Nigel. The day's conditions were anything but perfect. Both performances bode well for warmer and more conducive conditions. A celebratory Burger King breakfast was just the ticket. Although that did take longer to arrive than either of the time trials...

In the Valleys - breaking news!
Capping off the weekend was Steve Franklin. A more sociable start time and good conditions gave Steve the chance to pull a 55.25 on the Bynea CC R25/3h course in South Wales. A very good time indeed for the rookie. A warm up that involved pigeons, bowel movements (should that be posted here? - Ed) and race that included the circumnavigation of 7 roundabouts led to a power output that gave Steve a very tidy PB to take in to 2017.