Testing Track and Taking Time

After a difficult couple of weeks racing which saw me visit the Newport casualty department on Saturday night (think ER meets Gavin & Stacy!) to have my head examined after taking a tumble and banging my head (No Hat!) on the roads while warming up for the British Masters 10Km scratch race. My 'over the bars' incident saw me sitting out the afternoon race while my track 'buddy' Adrian Ward (Shaftsbury CC) did an fantastic ride and just missed winning in a blanket finish but the title went to local rider Courtney Rowe (Cardif Jif sic), Trevor Burke (Finchley RC) the bronze.

I was deemed not to have suffered concussion but it was after 10.30 before we got away and after super gluing a head wound and giving me a tetanus the nurse instructed me "Don't do anything strenuous for 48 hours" I proceeded the next day to ride a 3000m pursuit for which I managed a PB 3:40:911 but only good enough for 6th place (same as last year) won by graduate to the 44-49 group Tim Lawson (SIS) in new record time 3:30:260 from last years champion (& ex-record holder) Peter Ettles (Sandy Wallace) 3:37:861 'roadie' Peter Georgi (Epic) 3rd 3:38:350
Then later on the Sunday a hotly contested points race which saw some full blooded racing and me ride over William Fotheringham (The Journ'o in the Halesowen C &AC) at 30mph with one foot unclipped, I used him as a handy footrest but Adrian Adgar not so lucky and there were several other incidents it left everybody a bit nervous and I could only manage 8th. Georgi the winner from Ettles & Lawson So I returned home to lick my wounds and prepare for the National '100' the next weekend in Suffolk.
I did not do the ride I thought I might and I could only manage to scrape inside four hours by a second after a promising morning was disrupted by windy conditions and I found I could not keep up with my early pace and I faded in the second half. Not that this stopped Michael Hutchinson (In Gear) who won the event and made a clean sweep of all the National 'distance' TT for the second year running, his 3:23:04 less than a minute outside competition record was a truly amazing ride on a tricky morning on the A11 between East Harling and Browick just outside Norwich covered four times. Second was Julian Jenkinson (UTAG) 3:38:54 and third Andy Bason (Team PR) 3:39:32 a long way back.
The National '100' was tough going

Photo - Dave Jones
National '100' Result Here

Masters Track Results Here