Race Report

This year, like last year, it was windy; it started fairly light but grew. So it was never going to be a very fast day. But at least the course provided plenty of changes of direction and the chance to vary the pace. A number of riders had their eyes on sub- 2 hour rides but it was left to just Andrew Foggin to achieve this with Steve tantalisingly close! But Steve gets the 'prize' for the most impressive sprints past the finish; particularly on the final lap. Reading the lap times suggests there is plenty of opportunity for post-race analysis - and speculation.

Once again Lorraine rode strongly and consistently to take home the Jack Norris Trophy for another year. But she couldn't have afforded to back off at any stage with Freddie hanging in there as usual; and then there was the tussle for third spot amongst the Standard Times where Duncan's consistency won out over Bruce's early speed that fell away in the latter third as he announced that he was in 'survival mode'

José seemed to have his mind on other things today: the sign just past the finish line had an almost irresistible attraction for him; it started to drag him in after Lap 1 (the Left arrow didn't help) but he resisted with howls of anticipation as he passed on each other lap only to discover that he was too late for the wine tasting it offered when he finally finished his ride. Another left to dream of what might have been was Mark Anderson who miscalculated the number of laps required and thought he had done enough after Lap 7.5. George Miller also added an extra 5 minutes to his ride time when he was forced to detour to the schoolgrounds to grab a wheel-change in the middle of his race. And Jenny Holt gets the award for gritty determination to finish. Her reward will come when she tours Spain again in a few months time!