The decision to postpone last week’s event proved to be the right one as conditions were much improved for the rearranged event on the new 10-mile sporting course at Warter. Warm sunshine and blue skies greeted riders that contrasted strongly with the near monsoon conditions 7 days earlier. The wind however was still fairly strong and from the east making for a very hard race.

Chris Whitelam took his 9th victory of the year in convincing style with a 45 second winning margin over Dean Fulstow who in turn had a similar margin over 3rd placed Glenn Whitehouse who once again put in a very strong performance. Make no mistake 24.10 for the 10-mile course is one hell of a ride in anyone’s book and shows Chris’s awesome speed on these courses.

The first 4 miles from North Dalton to Warter were undulating but reasonably quick due to the tail wind that provided some assistance. Once riders turned onto Warter Priory hill they faced an uphill and headwind slog for one and half miles that was painfully slow and dropped average speeds significantly. From the top of the hill the mainly downhill run to the finish was deceptively hard due to the strong wind blunting speeds.

Behind the top 3 Neil proved quickest with Tim and myself a little further behind. Paul Purdy had the hard luck story of the day and suffered ring problems on the second half of the course. As he tried to change back onto the big ring at the top of the climb his bars moved and the gear cable slipped leaving him stuck on the little ring for the last 4 miles. Mike and Dave also put in strong rides and showed a marked improvement over their performances at the beginning of the season.

1     Chris Whitelam             00:24:10                                               Hull Thursday RC

2     Dean Fulstow               00:24:55           @   00:00:45                Hull Thursday RC

3     Glenn Whitehouse       00:25:33           @   00:01:23                Hull Thursday RC

4     Neil Cleminshaw           00:26:21           @   00:02:11                Hull Thursday RC

5     Tim White                     00:27:13           @   00:03:03                Hull Thursday RC

6     Paul Kilvington              00:27:29           @   00:03:19                Hull Thursday RC

7     Paul Purdy                    00:28:08           @   00:03:58                Star Bikes RT

8     Mike Kilgour                  00:28:37           @   00:04:27                Hull Thursday RC

9     Dave Millson                 00:28:44           @   00:04:34                Hull Thursday RC

10   Calum McElwee            00:28:45           @   00:04:35                Hull Thursday RC

11   Mark Walker                 00:29:12           @   00:05:02                Hull Thursday RC

12   Nathan Chester            00:29:28           @   00:05:18                Hull Thursday RC

13   Mick Adams                  00:29:45           @   00:05:35                Hull Thursday RC

14   John Anson                  00:31:03           @   00:06:53                Hull Thursday RC

15   Phillip Eden                  00:31:31           @   00:07:21                Hull Thursday RC

Private Entries

1     Steve Savage                00:26:46           @   00:02:36                Clifton CC

2     Paul Jolliffe                    00:27:41           @   00:03:31                Hull Thursday RC

3      Les Barratt                     00:33:49          @00:09:39                 Hull Thursday RC

The final event is of the series will be held this Saturday (16th September) at Skidby. Meet in the car park at the windmill or at the Half Moon car park  – DO NOT MEET at the bottom of the hill on Eppleworth Road. The event will be followed by the prize presentation and buffet. All riders, marshals and club members are welcome to come along and congratulate the prizewinners.