Team test their mettle at the hardriders

It takes a certain type of nutter to take to a start line of a time trial in late February, and this year there were three such hardy souls from Team Salesengine.co.uk prepared to do battle with the elements at the North Road Hardriders.

Over running roadworks on the course meant that our intrepid trio only had 22 miles of biting cold and ice to deal with rather than the normal 24.5. 

First home for the team, and in a superb 36th place in a field containing some full time pros was Sam Hayes in a time of 59:02. After a consistent winter and some good training numbers it is great to see Sam getting off to such a cracking start.

 

Next up for the team, and making a welcome return to time trialling after a good few years away was Graeme Freestone-King, who quickly found his climbing legs, but cursed his decision not to ride tri-bars, to clock 1:07:55.

 

 

The third member of the team in was Lyndon Lewis, marking his debut in the teams colours with 1:17:39.  It's great to see Lyndon in action so early in the year, and after a less than ideal build up to the event he proved that he is as tough as the rest in completing the arduous circuit. 

 

Sam & Steve end the season on a high

In their last race of a long season Sam Hayes and Steve Robinson took the tandem all the way out to the East Coast to take part in the Norwich ABC 10 on the B10/43.

It is a pan flat course, but little traffic and some sections that were exposed to the col autumn breeze meant that a fast time seemed unlikely. But as it turned out the duo managed to power round the course in 21:07 to be more than a minute faster than the winners of the solo event. They were also only 11 seconds off the tandem course record, and end the season unbeaten as well!

It was a cracking way to end the year, and now the big build up for even faster times in 2013 begins.

PB's and inter-team battles at the N&DCA

The final round of this years Northampton and District Series saw a fantastic turnout from the team, with 7 members battling for high placings, PB's and inter-team bragging rights.

Hugo closed his season out with a strong 22:27 which gave him 16th on the day in a strong field, it should also help him cement a top 5 in the overall.

The battle for second fastest in the team was a three way between Dave Wentworth, Paul King and Steve Robinson. Dave put his end of season form to good use to take the honour of second in the team with an excellent 23:15 to beat steve by 17 seconds. Paul King was a further 4 seconds adrift. Steve's time should be strong enough to see him hold on to a top 20 in the overall series, and with a new personal best points score.

Next up for the team was Chris Hartley who didn't enjoy his best ride of the year but still clocked 25:37. Roy Robinson was next up, and smashed his last ten years PB by well over a minute to clock 26:45.

Stewart Hocknell was another member of the team to clock a PB on the day, riding to a really strong 28:23 to take 54 seconds off his previous best.

In a season when almost every member of the team has set a PB at a least one distance, and many of done so at multiple distances, it was a great way to round things off ready for a big winter!

Another top ten for Hugo at the Kettering CC 10

Another week and another top ten for the undoubted fast man of the team this year, Hugo Hocknell. Riding the challenging 10 circuit of the Kettering CC event Hugo managed a sublime 23:54 to take 9th place in a good quality field.

As always Hugo was backed up at the event by Stewart Hocknell, who clocked 32:38.

Dave and Hugo smash their PB's on the F11

When the VC10 event was postponed earlier in the year many wondered if they had missed their chance to set a flying time on the new course, but the rescheduled event came round late August and brought with it a favourable wind direction and mild temperatures. That said, it was a strong wind, so there was no guarantees of it being a quick day.

But what a day it turned out to be. Dave Wentworth managed to take full advantage of the course to finally break his lifetime best 10 PB that he has been chasing since 1976 (!) to record a fantastic 22:11. This has been something that Dave has pursued relentlessly in the last few seasons, so it's fantastic to see him get rewarded for all his work.

Chris Hartley had a good ride to record 24:00, but it shows how far he has progressed, as that would have been a rapid time for him a couple of seasons ago, but now it is a little shy of what he can produce when he's flying.

Last up was Hugo Hocknell, who has been on simply astonishing form of late with a string of top ten places. He stormed the course to record a seriously impressive 21:00 to slice over 30 seconds off his PB. 

As a team, the three of them also managed to update the Team SalesEngine.co.uk team 10 record to 1:07:11 as well. Good work chaps!

Chris Hartley has a Hull of a good ride!

Over the last 2 seasons Chris Hartley has made the long journey to the V718 near Hull in search of a PB, only to be greeted by 20 mph plus winds.

Finally, in August Chris again made the journey and this time got 10-12 mph winds and warm temperatures which gave him hope of improving on his best time of 23:59.

Having worked hard across the season he managed to enjoy the fruits of his success by clocking a superb 23:05 to smash his previous best and make it all worthwhile.

In true time triallist spirit he was really pleased with his ride, and then almost immediately contemplating how he can now go sub 23 next year. Nice one Chris!

Sam, Steve & Roy storm Blenheim Palace

 

 

In a season blighted by rain and cold temperatures the team finally got some hot weather for this years Blenheim Palace closed road time 12.2 mile time trial.

Over 250 people took to the start line this year in what is rapidly becoming the biggest event on the cycling calendar. Sam Hayes had never raced at Blenheim before, and took to the course like a duck to water with a superb 31:32 for 54th place.

Steve Robinson knocked another 31 seconds off his previous best with 33:12 and Roy Robinson made another even bigger leap forward by taking well over 2 minutes off his previous best with 40:15 which was good enough for 3rd place in his age category.

Every year this event gets bigger and more competitive, and there is no doubt the team will be back in force again next year.

Paul King ticks off another PB at the Bournemouth 50

Having already smashed his 10 and 25 personal bests this season it left only one more challenge for Paul King of Team Salesengine.co.uk to conquer - the 50 miler.

With date clashes throughout the season Paul was left with just one chance to take his PB at the Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers 50, knowing that it was far from the fastest course in the country.

But he went into the event with storming form, and put this to fantastic use by taking over 3 minutes off his previous best with a storming 2:07:11 which also bagged him 15th place overall. This makes Paul the first member of the team to update all his distance PB's in a single season. Top work PK!!

Sam goes well under in the Finsbury Park 25

In a season disrupted by various annoying viruses and illnesses Sam Hayes proved that his underlying class and fitness hasn't deserted him when riding the Finsbury Park 25 on the F1.

Despite being the slower version of the course that heads north Sam managed to go well under the hour to clock 58:20. Although some way off his lifetime best it shows that all he needs is a good day and even with less than ideal preparation he can still go rapidly!!

N&dca update - Hugo continues to storm it!

A hectic few weeks of racing has passed since the last blog update, and Hugo Hocknell has been heading the team in style at the Northampton and district series.

On the 30th June the team was out in force at the nc19 course with 7 riders taking part.

Hugo bagged 11th place with 46:39 to put him clear of Sam Hayes who was 15th with 47:42.

The paul king/Steve Robinson battle was again close, with paul just edging it with 50:23 to steve's 50:29. Next up was David Ledgerton with 57:38. Then Roy Robinson with 1:04:23 and Stuart Hocknell with 1:04:46.

Two weeks later four of the team were back for the 10 mile event at Nassington. Hugo was again quickest to bag an awesome 6th place in 23:36, well clear of paul king's 26:03 and Steve robinson's 26:19. Stuart Hocknell clocked 32:20.

Really calm conditions greeted the riders for round 7 of the series on the N1/25. Hugo scored his second top ten of the series with 9th place being the reward for his 59:02. Steve Robinson scored his highest finish of the year with 21st place for his 1:03:32, and Stuart Hocknell just missed evens with his battling 1:17:23.

In the overall with three events left Hugo is up to 10th, and looking good for a top 5 by the end and Steve Robinson is 13th.