Seventeen is the new black

In early December we had our annual club Dinner and Prize Presentation at The Parrot Public house at Forest Green in the heart of the Surrey countryside. Before the meal a few of us walked up to the Tower and viewing point at the top of nearby Leigh Hill

Leigh Hill Tower

It's the highest point in SE England and the Gothic Tower was built in 1765 to take the height over 1000ft (1029)

I was club Senior Best All Round Time Trial Champion I won for the eight time in a row, I was the recipient of the magnificent silver trophy which dates back to the origin of the club in 1930. My time was 19:58 for 10 miles 51:45 for 25 miles 1:45:56 for 50 miles took my average speed over 29mph for the first time (29.120mph). It was my 10th club BAR the two previous in 1981-82 when the speed was considerably slower (24.687mph) but that included a 100 mile TT instead of the 10 mile (how soft we have become)
I was also the Club and Veteran Time Trial Champion. Fastest 10, 25 & 50 mile TT.

I was the fastest Ten miler of the year with a PB 19:58. This trophy which is named in Honor of my Grandfather Sidney (Syd) who was a SWRC founder member. In all I have won this trophy twelve times, the first four 1979 and 1981-83 when my times were 21:56 ; 21:10 ; 21:45 and 21:42 and done on a conventional road bike without any aerodynamic advantage. And then from 2007 21:06 ; 20:36 ; 21:23 ; 20:40 ; 20:16 ; 20:33 ; 20:07 and 19:58

The committee thought this was the Most Meritorious Performance of the year

Those 10 x 10's

21:10 but the turn was tough

If you look at the Competition Record times in more detail you can see the faster I go the further I seem to be getting behind the holder, this is a little bit worrying. When I did 21:10 in 1981 I was a second short of two minutes behind Dave Lloyd the Ex Professional who was the dominant Time Triallist at the time and won the De Laune promotion with a competition record time of 19:11 Dave put a massive chunk into second place Sean Yates 19:48 (he had held the record with 19:44). My time gave me a top 10 finish that day but Mr Lloyd who was from the Wirral had targeted the event on the A21 at Tonbridge where Yates had set the CR the year before. With it's 'Ski slope' start to get your speed up and carry it slightly uphill to the turn but the ramp up to the turn was ferocious and I could be seeing stars by the time I got to the top.

Lloyd 19:11

Dave Lloyd had trained in the Welsh Mountains but he was the only rider from outside the SE of England to be on the start sheet, I think there was another rider from Southampton which shows you that no other riders thought that much about the course or the CR. Of course as an Ex Pro Lloyd was banned from riding National Championships so he tended to travel to race the competition to prove he was the best in the country. In those days there was not even a National Championship for 10 miles which only came along in 1999 (won by Matt Illingworth 20:17)

 As I have sought out the courses and conditions to go faster and break the club record so I have come up against riders doing the same and my position had plummeted from being inside the top ten in open events to outside the top thirty! And riders travel from all over the country to ride the fast events on the fast courses the dominance of the Hull V718 course on the A63 along the Humber estuary, as you'd imagine its pretty flat but these days with 'Aero' equipment and 'Power' measuring tools the riders are looking for the most even (almost indoor) conditions to gauge their effort

Yates 19:48

In 2012 I rode on this course the same event that Michael Hutchinson set CR 17:45 and although my best at that time was 20:16 I only managed 30:33 on the day putting me 2:48 behind the record
Alex Dowsett is a top class Time Traillist and a Professional, he has won TT's in major Tours now holds the CR and although I did not ride and by all accounts and the other riders times) it was a pretty ordinary day. My time has improved to 19:58 but I'm still 2:38 behind the CR
I think my target for 2015 should be to put myself within two minutes of the CR, now 19:19 seems like an awful lot to take off my current best and the target is a bit arbitrary, all I can hope is that Bradley Wiggins does not start riding 10's in his preparation for the Hour Record and the 2016 Olympics as that could see me slipping back and not closing the gap o7ò

'10' Competition Records

Hutchinson - Time trialling in the current day