National '100' (West Wales Cyclist League)

Staying in the heart of the 'Valleys' at Merthyr Tydfil on the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons, Fiona & I ventured into town to find something to eat and found our self in a cartoon world of Saturday night which is repeated all over the country from Newcastle to Plymouth, after a Chinese (which cost less than £22) we decided to leave 'Gavin & Stacy' to their evening entertainment and retired to our just finished Travelodge it smelt of carpets and paint like a new car.
We drove over the stunning Brecon Beacons in the weak early morning light and along the first leg of the course on the A40, the only in cling I had of the course was the word 'Lumpy' as described on TT Forum in the week, I was horrified how hilly the road was, up and down It looked like the field was in for a tough day.

I was hoping for a top 15 placing and perhaps to win my age category so what was needed was a solid performance rather than a stunning ride, I started with this in mind and what I knew was to come and hoped the second half was not so tough. I caught my minute man at 20 miles but could not drop him on the undulating roads we passed and re-passed each other and I only dropped him in the last 20 miles for another minute, Paul Holdsworth (3.57.30) caught me for 5 minutes at 50 miles and I was a couple of minutes outside 2 hours and just prepared to survive the rest of the ride.

We were fighting a rising wind to the western end at Abergwili and my speed had stayed fairly constant at 24.4mph I had a brief second wind when my Av. speed rose a few points but with 5 to go I was praying for it to be over. Kevin Dawson (3.42.22) the eventual champion caught me for 25 minutes with a couple of miles to go he hardly seem to have been affected by the 3000ft of climbing as he headed to a near 27mph Av. Second was defending champion Richard Prebble (3.46.43) and on form Andrew Baston (3.48.01) perhaps a little disapinting in 3rd after getting 2nd in the '50' title where he beat Dawson. The women's champion was Ruth Eyles (4.19.03) with a clean sweep for Midlands clubs
I finished 3rd in my age category in 4.08.25 some way behind the winner Dave Birch (3.56.19) of the Stourbridge Velo (Full Result here)

National '100' Champions 2008 Kevin Dawson & Ruth Eyles
BikeRadar have started to compete with Cycling Weekly with their non existent coverage of domestic time trialling scene (some good pics as well)