The best conditions for racing so far this season results in a very close finish. With Chris Whitelam away on holiday the top spot was up for grabs tonight and on paper 3 riders were in with a chance of victory. Dean, Steve and Andy must all have fancied their chances of taking the win on the undulating circuit at Skidby. As it was Andy ran out the winner by 13 seconds from Steve and Dean a further 26 seconds in arrears. The surprise result though was from Glenn who put in sterling effort to claim joint 3rd place beating many of the other fancied riders in the process.

Nathan (Wilson), who has recently bought a lo-pro and seems to be reaping the rewards (24.14), and Matty (24.32) who also put in a great ride completed the top 6 places. Paul (Purdy) was an unaccustomed 7th on 24 .41 and Neil continued his comeback with a solid 8th place and 24.51.

With warm temperatures and very little wind, the conditions were ideal (for a change). The 3 favourites were the last 3 riders to leave the timekeeper, on the full 10-mile circuit. Some events have started slightly further up the road opposite the cemetery but this is not the full distance and reduces times by about 30-40 seconds.

As I was unable to ride due to a summer cold, I took the chance to spectate at the top of the drag through Little Weighton and again halfway down Riplingham Road. The one thing that struck me was how painfully slow most people appear up this relentless drag despite the obvious effort been put. The gradient really takes its toll and it was only towards the end of the field that the pace quickened significantly as the stronger riders came through at a visibly quicker speed. At this point an unofficial time check showed there was only a handful of seconds between the top 3. Dean was the quickest by a couple of seconds from Steve with Andy a further couple of seconds behind. Unfortunately I didn’t have clock running when Glenn came through but he appeared smooth and fast, as did Paul, Neil and Matty.

By time I got to Ripplingham Road many of the earlier rides had been through but I got there just in time to hear the thunder of Neil’s disk wheel as he flew past at about 40mph. The difference in pace between the fastest riders and some of the others here is massive and results in big time gaps opening. The aerodynamic advantage obviously has a big effect and it’s probably the first place riders need to look if they want to improve their performance. As the top 3 riders came into view the time gaps had been reversed with Andy having opened a slight gap on Steve but Dean having fallen away by about 20 seconds. Mike Adams was unlucky to get a front wheel puncture at this point and it gave him a bit of a fright as he struggled to keep control and slow down. However he picked the best place to do so as he was able to get a lift back and saved himself a long walk, as he had no pump or spare tub.

With 12 events gone and only 3 to go the overall positions are taking shape. With riders able to count their top 10 scores some riders have now started to drop scores whilst others who have to ridden 10 events can add to their totals and move up the table. The nest event is the hill climb at Spout next Tuesday followed by a 10 mile TT on new course at Warter. Full details of the route and meeting point will be published on the website shortly.

 

  1     Andrew Barnes             00:23:21                                           Hull Thursday RC

  2     Steve Macklin               00:23:34                                           Hull Thursday RC

  3=   Glenn Whitehouse         00:24:00                                           Hull Thursday RC

  3=   Dean Fulstow                00:24:00                                           Hull Thursday RC

  5     Nathan Wilson              00:24:14                                           Hull Thursday RC

  6     Matthew Barratt            00:24:32                                           Hull Thursday RC

  7     Paul Purdy                   00:24:41                                           Star Bikes RT

  8     Neil Cleminshaw           00:24:51                                           Hull Thursday RC

  9=   Mark Summer               00:26:13                                           Hull Thursday RC

  9=   Andy Peers                   00:26:13                                           Hull Thursday RC

  11   John Lockwood             00:26:14                                           Hull Thursday RC

  12   Mark Walker                  00:26:29                                           Hull Thursday RC

  13   Mike Kilgour                  00:26:33                                           Hull Thursday RC

  14   Dave Galbraith              00:28:09                                           Hull Thursday RC

  15   Phillip Eden                  00:28:34                                           Hull Thursday RC

  16   Alan Kaye                    00:28:44                                           Hull Thursday RC

  17   John Weaden               00:29:57                                           Hull Thursday RC

  18   David Watson               00:30:12                                           Hull Thursday RC

  19   Chris Peers                  00:30:58                                           Hull Thursday RC

  20   Val Brabiner                  00:31:41                                           Hull Thursday RC

  21   Mick Adams                  DNF                                                Hull Thursday RC

Private Entries

  1     Paul Jolliffe                   00:26:15                                           Hull Thursday RC

  2     Les Barratt                   00:30:17                                           Hull Thursday RC

  3     Ben Jones                    00:33:27                                           Hull Thursday RC