Saturday the 10^th of September was the date that we had all been told was the day we must keep free for the clubs 10 mile TT.  Most of the work before that point had been done by Simon Beldon, we just needed to be there on the day and look useful.  The event had been planned from before I had even heard of SSLL, so to not have turned up to help out would have been a real death wish.

On the morning of the 10^th I went out on my bike first thing in the morning before setting off to the HQ to arrive (40 minutes later than half the team) at 12:30.  In Newport Village Hall the usual smell of stale sweat at the results board had been replaced by the smell of coffee.   Cakes were piled high in the kitchen and Andy was setting up the projector for the results.  For most of us though we just stood around drinking coffee and discussing how it was unfair that we wouldn’t get to ride on a day that sure looked quick.

Simon and Keith (our generous sponsors from SSLL) turned up not long after with fleeces and high-vis jackets for those of us that had 2 hours 30 minutes of standing on the roadside coming up.  Not long after we piled into the team car and headed 5 miles up the road to the turn and took up our places.  I assume all people took up their positions at start finish and HQ as the event ran as smoothly as we could have hoped for.

The next couple of hours are hard to elaborate on from my point of view.  I stood at the top of a slip-road and prayed cars didn’t come around the roundabout at the same time as a cyclist.  Around half way through I received a message to say that the Women’s Comp Record had been broken by Anna Turvey (Tyneside Vagabons CC) with a time of 19:08 beating the previous record of 19:18 set earlier this year by Hayley Simmonds.  It was clear that as we feared it was a quick day out there and we were all missing out on PBs.  As we got towards the end the job became slightly more entertaining.  Marcin Bialoblocki (ONE Pro Cycling) came storming up the slip-road at a noticeably quick speed.  Around the roundabout is one place where you can really see who is going well.  Marcin powered right onto the roundabout rather than slowing up as you take the right turn.  James Gullen (Pedal Heavan) had the same determined approach, racing around the turn which had already seen one rider (Clarry’s Husband David) hit the deck earlier in the race.

At the turn Joel had been asked by James to give a time check as to how he was doing at the turn compared to Marcin.  The answer was probably not what he was expecting considering how well James was going.  Marcin was 26 seconds up at the turn (a little under half way).

We cleared up the signs that had been stuck up around the course and headed back to the HQ whilst debating what whether or not the Comp Record had been broken.  Before we even reached the HQ we got a text saying that Marcin had done a 16:35 and James a 17:09.  Both had broken previous the Comp Record but only Marcin Bialoblocki gets the bragging rights on the occasion.

We got back to the HQ and everyone you walked past outside was discussing that Alex Dowsett’s record had been broken by 40 seconds.  I walked briskly inside, partially to see the results board partially because I had heard that they had nearly ran out of cake.  Fortunately I managed to get some Victoria sponge.  Other marshals weren’t so lucky.

A few minutes later Marcin walked in to hand in his number and received a round of applause from the room.  The best part about it being a quick day is that everyone is happy, almost everyone has a new PB.

The prize presentation was soon delivered by Simon Beldon as he announced £2000 had been raised for Erb’s Palsy Group and we had 2 new Comp Records.  The event had been more successful than we could possibly have hoped for and will be remembered for years to come.

As a team we would like to thank everyone for taking part and SSLL’s backing for making the event possible.

We hope to see you again next year.

Results

1. Marcin Bialoblocki 00:16:35
2. James Gullen 00:17:09
3. Stephen Irwin 00:17:49
4. Simon Wilson 00:17:52
5. David Allonby 00:17:53
6. David Crawley 00:17:54
7. MARK JONES 00:18:06
8. Philip Graves 00:18:19
9. Daniel Barnett 00:18:26
10. Peter Barusevicus 00:18:28
11. Gavin Hinxman 00:18:38
12. Adam Coffey 00:18:39
13. PAUL ELCOCK 00:18:41
14. Alex Foster 00:18:43
15. Sam Henning 00:18:46
16. Oliver peckover 00:18:47
17. jon wynn 00:18:48
18. Stewart Gormley 00:18:53
19. Stuart Travis 00:18:54
20. Richard Harrison 00:18:56
21. Aled Roberts 00:18:58
22. Neal Parkin 00:18:58
23. Christopher Jones 00:19:00
24. Harry Walker 00:19:06
25. richard dean 00:19:06
26. Anna Turvey 00:19:08
27. PAUL DABLE 00:19:10
28. Shaun Eden 00:19:18
29. Neil Palmer 00:19:21
30. Carl Ruebotham 00:19:22
31. Michael Cross 00:19:22
32. Nick Rogers 00:19:22
33. Tom Thornely 00:19:25
34. Alex Russell 00:19:25
35. Dave Elliott 00:19:25
36. Jack Levick 00:19:27
37. mathew Eley 00:19:28
38. Eric Grill 00:19:28
39. James Lindsay 00:19:30
40. Matthew Hallam 00:19:31
41. Philip Jones 00:19:32
42. Nick Nettleton 00:19:33
43. jeremy stone 00:19:34
44. Liam Bosley 00:19:36
45. Simon Cannings 00:19:39
46. Christopher Bates 00:19:40
47. Jason Swann 00:19:41
48. Paul Deen 00:19:41
49. Stu Wood 00:19:42
50. Robin Brennan 00:19:42
51. Ed Neilson 00:19:45
52. Steve Colloby 00:19:45
53. Alex Leek 00:19:47
54. Greg Plummer 00:19:50
55. Mark Morgan 00:19:52
56. Dael Sidwell 00:19:53
57. Shawn Gough 00:19:55
58. Kris Bowditch 00:19:55
59. Chris Henderson 00:19:56
60. Stuart Wells 00:19:56
61. Simon Gibbs 00:19:57
62. mark bembridge 00:19:57
63. chris sleath 00:19:58
64. Steven Fullerton 00:19:58
65. Alastair Semple 00:20:01
66. Richmond Denton 00:20:03
67. Edward Priddy 00:20:03
68. andrew cutts 00:20:04
69. Neil Cleminshaw 00:20:06
70. Andrew Wright 00:20:07
71. Dave Robinson 00:20:08
72. andrew ASKWITH 00:20:12
73. Justin Ford 00:20:15
74. Martyn Shore 00:20:17
75. MICHAEL WILLS 00:20:18
76. Ross Holland 00:20:18
77. Neil Holden 00:20:18
78. andre dyason 00:20:19
79. Daryl Maffey 00:20:19
80. Simon Coates 00:20:21
81. Tim Wheeler 00:20:25
82. Paul Mason 00:20:28
83. Daniel Shaw 00:20:29
84. jeffrey regler 00:20:30
85. Mark Woolford 00:20:31
86. michael lawrenson 00:20:33
87. Ian Manders 00:20:33
88. Ritchie Towers 00:20:33
89. Paul Arnold 00:20:33
90. John Martin 00:20:34
91. Robert Cooke 00:20:37
92. paul granger 00:20:39
93. Richard Hey 00:20:39
94. Jim Trevor 00:20:40
95. Ashley Roue 00:20:40
96. Dave Hudson 00:20:42
97. robert grainger 00:20:43
98. Steve Burrows 00:20:47
99. andy gates 00:20:49
100. Lee Watson 00:20:54
101. Mark Symons 00:20:56
102. Mark Rowland 00:20:58
103. Steve Mountford 00:20:59
104. Ian Garbett 00:21:03
105. Adrian Humpage 00:21:04
106. Steven Loraine 00:21:04
107. Rich Banks 00:21:11
108. Mark Haynes 00:21:13
109. Simon Geraci 00:21:18
110. RICHARD HEMBROUGH 00:21:19
111. Ray Gullen 00:21:30
112. steve wilkinson 00:21:32
113. Anthony McNamara 00:21:45
114. Tony Stott 00:21:51
115. Oliver Wright 00:22:08
116. Francesca Rust 00:22:09
117. Mark Philipson 00:22:09
118. ANDREW CARROLL 00:22:14
119. Barry Teal 00:22:24
120. Andy Fretwell 00:22:32
121. allen bell 00:22:41
122. Joanne Burnett 00:23:00
123. Sue Cheetham 00:23:25
124. Michelle Morley 00:23:43
125. Tracy Rowlinson 00:23:56
126. tony jackson 00:24:30
127. Cheryl Trueman 00:25:07
128. Helen Hudson 00:25:38
129. Gill Henshaw 00:27:05
130. mickie Hornby 00:27:46