Because we were forced to change to an old version of the Herne Hill circuit, the previous rides were all too long ago and any riders from that era that much slower now. But, seriously, the Padbury 45km and 22km courses used today had only been used once previously: in January 2002; the 6-lap version, never.

Late amendment: I have discovered some PBs for the ride. If we consider speeds on both the big circuit (45km) and the usual 40km version, six people DID achieve PBs: Shayne Dimmer(+3.1km/h); Sam Flockhart (0.9); Luba Kovalenko (0.9); Paul Van Der Walt (0.4); Jason Walsh (0.2) and Andrew Williams (0.4). That should make you all feel better 　 - mouse

Race Report

For the second time now we have had part of a course declared a crime scene! At least this time it happened before we could start (in fact, it was the start area that was affected), so we were able to change the set-up quickly enough that the the start was only delayed by about fifteen minutes. The rides were all a bit longer than riders had anticipated doing last night, so they got their money's worth. But riders who knew the old course were reminded why we and probably the WCMCC, had changed to the smaller circuit.

Young Freddy had not been quite committed to coming out of retirement and riding this event but finally convinced himself to do so as a tribute to Big Jim Matthews who, sadly, died last Thursday, and Brian Hawes who's been holding a place on the start ramp for Big Jim since last May. They were both part of ATTA's founding group.

Anyway our National Road Champ, Michael Freiberg made it look easy even though he's recovering from his crash in the recent Suntour; another of the 'walking-wounded', Patrick S-W was separated from Michael on the podium by able-bodied Shane Dimmer. The fastest girl today and not for the first time, was Deb Kempe who was also #2 on Standards after Stu Gee. Because of the delayed start Matt Illingworth needed to leave a couple of laps off his schedule so he could fulfil parental duties and return to ride another day; unsurprisingly his 43km/h sprint warrants a course record that will last for a very long time yet; most of Matt's records last a long time anyway. Nevertheless Matt couldn't claim the #1 standards time for the 2-lapper—Phil Deisel had no intention of letting the puncture gremlins catch him again this week. Alison Ramm relished her return to the flatlands and was very close behind Deb and followed just as closely by Olesya who must also win high praise for the 'most consistent' ride of the day.

High praise too for our 'staff'/team of helpers for the way they coped with the chaos caused by the police incident: particularly Lorraine and David Equid who managed the course rearrangement. Lorraine at least gained some benefit from the rearrangement and was able to stand in shade to send riders off (assisted by her understudy, Rachel Thompson—you'll be seeing Rachel again in the near future); David didn't get to enjoy shade until he'd circled the course four times on his bike. David Nangle and John Ferguson marshalled two of the corners and Hayden Long was transferred from his desk job to a third corner while the QTM team managed the course set-up and the Campersic corner with the help of Craig Beeching. Geraldine James looked after the desk and Craig James cut his own ride short and helped her out; and Iain MacLennan brought us the trailer, called numbers for our timing back-up then returned the trailer to its home. That was it!
I strung the chain back across the car-park entrance as Matt Burton dragged Michael Freiberg off for a few more hours pedalling in the hills. Best of luck in NZ, Matt.