Jim Trevor, ‘The Hellenic Hawk’, added the Veterans’ 50 mile TT record to his portfolio, beating the previous record held jointly by Gill Foston and Derek Roe by a 1:46 margin.

Jim reduced the time taken to cover the 50 miles from 1:51:59 to an impressive 1:50:13 in the closing BBAR event, organised by Yorkshire Road Club on the V259/1 near Thirsk.

The event was in jeopardy when organiser Steve Smith discovered over 2 miles (covered twice due to the two-lap nature of the course) of the A19/A168 tarmac planed leaving a very un-even surface as part of the road resurfacing works.

After making the proper risk assessment Steve decided to run the event taking into account the dry and mild conditions. Undoubtedly the Highways Agency did not help the finishing times and it was estimated that riding over 4 miles on some of the fastest parts of the course on such a surface was costing riders over a minute as they rattled across the roughness with 160psi 20mm tubs.

Otherwise the day proved to be good with 15mph southerly winds and warming conditions for the back end of the field.

The event included another BBAR showdown as Topham (reigning 2014 BBAR) took on the current 2015 season leader Bideau in this last chance attempt to claw back his title. Other top riders BBAR riders included Steve Irwin, Andy Jackson, Joel Weinman and Rob Townsend. Topham was victorious as Bideau DNF with back problems.

Speaking with HTRC website exclusively, Jim Trevor commented, “I have the ‘100’ record and the ‘15’, but this was the one I really wanted. I was there the day Gil and Derek took it back in 1997. The ‘50’ is a really tricky event to pace properly. Start to fast and you’ll pay in the last 20 miles. Start too slow and you’ll never recover the lost time as your body becomes fatigued.”

“Today I was even-paced throughout. I was like a metronome. I was 27.3 mph all the way round. I knew at 35 miles the record was on so I stayed calm and just rode to my ability. I didn’t get greedy.”

When asked about the other records Jim added, “I only just missed the ‘12hr’ record by 0.7 miles, which equates to 0.3%, so that has to be the target for next season. Clem (Neil Cleminshaw) and I have discussed purging the Vets’ records in our joint aim to ensure this is the best era of Vets’ time-trialling in the history of the club.

“Clem has two and now I have three. I’m going to make a deal with him… he has to take the ‘30’ and I’ll try for the ‘12hrs’. I think it’s a fair deal.”

Congratulations to Jim from the Hull Thursday Road Club committee and all the club’s members.

Result Sheet

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