Evening 10 #1 Report

Despite the warnings from Frank about the possibility of post-apocalypse type weather adorning the A24 for this first evening 10, it turned out that it didn't materialise and actually, for April, the weather was excellent. A bit of a headwind on the outward leg but relatively warm and no rain; it was definatley as good as it was going to get for this time of year.

This turned out to be a really full field, baring in mind that we were not sharing the event with the Wheelers, and therefore it was excellent to see 20 starters. Even better was the fact that we had 5 female riders, with new members Sam Pickup and Jenni Chapman taking the start in their first tt and Ann Bath returning after a tt absence of 3 years. This is really encouraging and hopefully we will see the ladies battling it out for the honours this season.

Marcus was back for his first event of the season. Apparently he hadn't done much over the winter but after his result last night I am not sure that I believe him! With Russell Williams and Simon Trehearn both on the start list it was going to be interesting to see if Russell could keep his nose in front of Simon in this event, with another cluster of riders, myself, John Beer, David Watt and Simon Waller, all potentially within a few seconds of each other.

And so it proved. Marcus was off the front with a low 23! A great ride so early in the season. He must have had that motor in his Scott frame cranked right up!  ;-) Russell was still on top form, pipping Simon by 10 seconds for second place and the next three riders were all within 5 seconds of each other! I think all these riders could be pushing each other all season long and it could be anyone's guess as to the destination of the trophies at the end of the season.

The women's event saw Florence Hallett take the win, with Ann Bath in second and Jenni Chapman taking a third place in her first ever time trial. I am sure that we will see both Jenni and Sam bringing their times down as the season progresses and with Jake absent from this one, it has allowed some of these ladies the chance to close the gap on her lead at the moment.

In the handicap event, Rick Opie took the win, despite shipping his chain, with Simon Tottle in second and Grant Pyke third.

A special mention to James and David for putting out and retrieving the event warning signs and good luck to David who will be racing a half ironman triathlon next weekend. As usual, this wouldn't happen without Frank on the stopwatches and Brian doing the handicapping. Thank you all.