"Traditionally held on Good Friday using a circuit that takes in Longnor and Flash, the Buxton Mountain Time Trial is no stranger to bad weather. However, this year’s event was exceptional. Heavy snow on the Wednesday had made Longnor inaccessible by road and there was a real possibility of the event being cancelled. A thaw on Thursday allowed the event to take place although the snow lining the roadside made it more like the Alps than Derbyshire. To add to the problems, temporary traffic lights had also appeared on the main road between Flash and Leek that morning. Despite this, the event went ahead with 90 riders taking to the start line, the strongest line up for many years. Conditions were tough with a head wind up the 4 mile climb from Longnor to Flash and only two riders improving on their previous year’s time. The Wheelers were well represented with Ben Trotter the fastest in 1.44.12 for the 33 miles to put him just outside the top twenty. Ant Allan was just under two minutes further back in 1.45.37, followed by Matt Lawton 1.47.50, Marcus Fielden 1.54.01 and Richard Thomas 2.08.05.
On Easter Saturday, attention turned to the Withington Wheelers 25 mile event on the Chelford course. Steve Burke continued his excellent early season form by taking third place in 56.14 and Mike Stretch showed that he will be a serious challenger for honours this year with a fine 58.29 which put him ina tie for tenth place.
World Champion, on both road and track, Colin Lynch travelled to Thurlow in Suffolk for the second round of the Rudy Project Time Trial series. Lynch extended his lead in the competition – which is one of his main goals for the season – when he beat defending champion Tim Challoner.
Veteran Roger Wrenn made the long trip to the East Coast to ride the City RC (Hull) 10 mile event. This turned out to be one of the fastest events of its type ever held and Wrenn recorded his best time this season with 22.17."
Just to put the City RC (Hull) event into perspective, there were 25 riders inside 20 minutes and 73 riders under 21 minutes. Reminds me of when I rode the Unity CC 25 back in the mid 1980s: I broke a rear spoke at 10 miles and finished near the back of the field with a short "56"! One of those days that every tester dreams about and a far cry from the Buxton event or slogging round J2/9. If you're not of a nervous disposition, do try and see Chris Hoy winning the Keirin today: now, where was that gap
