Hello ELV clubbers
Brief report from ELV’s foray into the Wilds of Essex today during the testing Hainault Hilly. Sun and wind in the morning followed by a dessert of cold rain for those brave enough to cycle home after the event – Messrs Cainey and Wong we salute you – particularly Leon who had temptation put in front of him in the guise of Rob W, Anna and myself trying to persuade him to take a ride with us.
Much as Jesus repelled Satan in the desert during his forty days and nights, Leon cast our offers asunder. May his reward truely come with peak performances later in the year. Well done for doing the hard miles Leon.
There were a number of great rides done in the name of ELV today and I know full well judging from facial expressions and salt marks on faces that all was given by all.
But now the numbers, who did what etc.
First for ELV and third overall with a towering ride was Mr. S Bateson (1h 12m 50s). Only a minute and twenty behind Dean Lubin the winner. His continuing advance is a real asset to us all and I want to say thanks to Simon (ad I’m sure I’m not the only one) for his keeness to share his knowledge and experience with other club members.
Second rider for ELV was ‘TT bike virgin’ Jason Jeffers who powered in at 1h 21m 21s. He said he’d never ridden a TT bike before. I do believe him. Mr Jeffers, may I suggest you consider doing some 25s on some fast courses. It’s only an opinion but sub hour 25s are within you.
Third fastest Luis Rendon with 1h 22m 44s. Mr Rendon sir, brilliant. I checked over times from 2008 and you sawed off about 4.5 minutes from 2008. I’ll confess I was surprised when you caught me, then seeing how powerfully you climbed up those drags it became clear why this was no surprise at all! Seriously, get yourself onto some kind of TT bars, you’ll fly on the flat too.
That man Terry Garlinge came in fourth fastest out of the ELVers with 1h 23m 25s. Terry, at the moment you’re a bit of a man of mystery to me so it was great to meet you again today – we had to remind ourselves when we met last which was an evening ten. Ten mile tt are never good places to meet people because the evens hurt too much and screws up memory function.
Then we had Darren Cainey come in with 1h 23m 48s. Better than his 08 time by just over a minute – excellent stuff. Rode to and from the start. Creditable and fine example. I’ve got my eye on you sir, aswell as that Rob Windsor! I don’t know if other people find this but I do find I keep an eye on some riders who I seem to end up finishing near and Rob and Darren seem to be becoming my TT nemeses. Today Cainey sir, you bested me. I will not forget, no sir! Well done.
Dave Barnes next. 1h 24m 30s. And do you know what? He punctured about 2km from the finish; tried to ride, run and throw his bike away in sheer frustration. And he still finished 14 seconds ahead of yours truely. Like Simon B, when you see Dave ride TT, it is a fantastic combination of grace and power. Both their riding positions are noteworthy and they really look the part.
With a fantastic astonishing sixth fastest and also beating his PB on this course – me. I felt personally better about today’s ride. Competitive strength starts to return. The sun shining made me feel grand. Hill climbing is still a struggle to me but at least I felt progress.
Ed Bird turned up for ELV next with 1h 25m 36s. He seemed a little flat at the end of the event when chatting with him but boy, this is not the whole story. Ed won the Junior/ Ladies award. He also showed the most improvement over his time from last year. Ed chopped off a whole seventeen minutes from his 08 time. He also raced and came second yesterday. A great weekend for Mr Bird Jnr and for his demolishing of his own PB, I feel this was the ride of the day from our club – which is my opinion only and has not been based on consultation with anybody else. Ed, well done today. Your determination is also an example.
Next up Anna G. 1h 31m 00s. Anna chatted with me after. She initially said she’d had to contend with one or two negative thoughts on the ride but pushed on. Only pushed on to a bloody PB. Yes, another club PB today. Anna, when you get into a happy when TTing, my life, look out the rest! And get some tri bars mate!
Rob Windsor, my other nemesis (oh damn it it’s out now, he and Darren are going to ride me into the ground next time!). Time 1h 33m 48s. Not a PB. Only because he had a spot of technical bother ie his rear wheel came loose and he had a puncture and had to hunt the back roads of Essex for Leslie and her collection of spare wheels – many thanks again for providing this support and encouragement Leslie. But just to stretch this thin joke out a bit Rob, I beat you today! Oh yes. I tell you what though, any of you who feels they may have trouble with personal motivation, just have a chat with Rob. Indeed, just listen to him. He really is a most grounded and positive man who does look for the positive in things but in such a realistic way. He loved riding his new TT bike, is taking advice from Simon B and is shaping up to be an awesome tester.
Then we have Leon. 1h 35m 40s. I know he’s training for a triathlon in – get this – Exmoor later in the year. My god. This was another club PB. Furthermore, Leon did cycle home through that cold cold rain. Leon, it’ll be worth it. Honest guv.
Then, Peter Carter 1h 38m 26s. When I saw Peter at the end, Beau Geste sprung to mind with salt caked on his face. This is the joy of cycling how we thrash ourselves to within an inch of our lives for self-betterment and healthy improvement and that glow that only self-thrashing than give.
And bringing up the rear of the club riders – but certainly not the last in the field – Jamie X (1h 46m 42s) and Stacey (1h 47m 45s). Jamie was close to his PB but just missed out and Stacey got her first PB. Jamie rode the event last
year also and his positiveness still continues to shine. Stacey did well to simply step up and complete this her first TT and blimey what a first TT to enter! Stacey, this is a tough course to complete and well done to you.
One final noteworthy mention in dispatches is the return to competition of Jonathan T. He looked good out on the course and I thought made a big mental jump to make this his first competition back – which he did fantastically in last year. We all know that Jonathan has kept his fitness whilst expanding his filmic knowledge. I suspect the only thing that got Jonathan and caused him to abandon was just the lack of road miles – those roads were rough rough tarmac today which would transmit a lot of road shock. Welcome back to the fray.
These opinions are my own; they are observations of varying and spurious quality. I think it was a great day out with 15 completions and 6 PBs according to my research. Well done today.
Simon.
