Nicky Bardin
...and that's upwards for the riders
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Five CCC riders travelled to Gloucester to take part in the British Time Trial Championships.
The abysmal weather in Gloucester on Friday and Saturday meant the course for the British Time Trial Championship had to be amended as part of it was impassable due to flooding. Rain threatened early on Sunday, the day of the event, but thankfully with only minor showers during the juniors' and masters' categories we got away with it.
Head quarters was a hive of activity, the car park and surrounding areas were full of cyclists, all around the sound of rollers, turbo trainers and the smell of embrocation as the riders prepared for their moment. With a field of 240 riders the first man off was at 09.01 working through the day to last man at 15.26.
The course, I would describe as poorly surfaced and undulating with one hill requiring the use of the inner ring. It resembled an inverted triangle with two sides being very rough and technical on narrow roads and the third side was on an undulating single carriageway main road with a climb and a sweeping descent. This was covered twice by all categories bar the elite who completed it 3 times.
A good performance by all, Paul Lipscombe placed 4th in his category and Allan Miller 5th in his.
The ladies was the most competitive as there was no distinction between abilities. Helen Goulding was placed 13th and Nicky Bardin 19th needless to say this category was won by an Olympian, Beijing road race rider Sharon Laws.
Chris Spence chose to ride above his age category and contested the elite event finishing in a credible 13th place. This event was won and dominated by multi-champion Michael 'Dr Hutch' Hutchinson.
A great weekend was had by all and it was also a fantastic experience to be mixing and competing against some of the best British riders that generally we only read about in the cycling magazines.
With the 5 CCC riders and the 3 Guernsey Velo it was mentioned by one competitor that the Channel Islands were better represented than nearby Coventry - can't be bad!! Thanks to Nicky Bardin for this report |
