No April Showers as sunshine tempts out 38 TTers
Entry numbers had increased for this weeks club tt no doubt due to the big bright thing burning out every ones eyes…no not Lincsquad Coaching Secretarys brightly coloured bike but the sun! Ideal conditions meant many marshals were cursing their early selection but a appreciative nod wink and doff of the cap to all who honoured their committment to ensuring this weeks round of the years tt series went ahead. Your (PB) time will come.
Local TT ace Julian “Rambo” Ramsbottom continued to maintain his form from Stuart Wells with LIncsquadder Steve Grocock maintaining his low time average in his efforts to regain the TT title. Top lady was Suzanne Szenher followed by Pam Challen and Emma Watts.
Nick Stonehewer bagged the raffle prize generously donated by Cathy Walsh.
Results below:
J P Knight is off Lincsquads christmas card list! Round 2
In 1868 JP night a railway engineer invented the first traffic signal for outside the houses of parliment. The intention was to help traffic but as Lincsquadders know durring 2016 they did nothing but cause problems!
Now here we are in 2017 and up to Round 2 his legacy continues to thwart us from our fortnightly escapism with the sudden appearence of a temporary set just before Redbourne village due to a gas leak. C’est la vie.
So with 29 riders ready to test themselves and all riders reminded of the traffic lights before setting off round two was under way. As always we rely heavily on club members supporting our races and we asked for additional support at the beginning of the year and we really needed it to man the outward and return lights. Massive thank you to the timekeepers and marshals for supporting the club and its members.
It seems appropriate to remind everyone how the traffic light stoppages are calculated. An allowance of TEN SECONDS is given to every rider who is stopped. The length of time the rider is stopped is taken FROM THE MOMENT THE RIDER STOPS AND THEIR FOOT IS ON THE GROUND. This is important as some riders coast up to the lights and some even track stand. The foot must be on the ground! True experts ride up to the line and come to an fast (but safe!) stop and put their foot down straightaway. As soon as the lights change the rider should get up to speed asap. Using this criteria adjusted times are “very close” to the times the riders see on their Garmins when Auto pause is on. Its not perfect but its the best we can come up with until we find better…..or an unobstructed route!
Results below;
Steve G still has “it” – Round 1
Rumours of Lincsquad time trial stalwart Steve Grocock coasting to retirement due to youngsters with better hair styles and Aussie accents gaining on him were reduced (albeit only slightly) with the Britcon/OTCF Kona athlete maintaining his number one position at the TT season opener by a mere 2 seconds (21:44) from Scunthorpe Polys rider Richard Walker (21:46) with Julian Hesp 3rd (22:21) on the 9.8 mile LQ10/3 course.
Ruth Wilson was fastest lady (25:47) on her Spencer Engineering Felt DA despite a recent illness followed by Suzanne Szenher (27:13) and Jane Taylor (27:44) third.
With a significant cold crosswind many riders opted to only shed their coats right on the start line with Emma Watts (28:25) drawing the biggest crowd much to the disappointment of Sheehan Quirke (23:12) who not only had to rely on second hand accounts but was (fortunately) largely ignored as he removed his clothing.
Despite the potentially poor conditions many rider set personal bests no doubt due to the cancelled rounds of last year hiding the improvements gained by the dark art of effective coaching and training. The roll of shame of riders setting PB’s and lining up top push older lazier club chairmen further down the order is
Craig Day 24:36, Kev Lovett 24:54 Dan Ellis 25:38, Luke Stonehewer 26:07, Steve Enright 26:12, Darren Scutt 26:53, Pete Wilson 27:25, Jamie Moss, 27:53, Josh Blackley, Sharon Wilson 30:16, Rita Mooney 32;32 and Belinda Allen 35:37
As always a big thank you to our Marshals John Chambers, Amanda Clements, Paul McEwan and Stephen Cannings plus our TT team of Kerry “Raffle Queen” Padley, timekeepers Anna Gibbs and Jess Porte and the signing on team Rob and Cathy Walsh.
Next round in two weeks when no doubt more home made mint choc chip ice cream from the King Billy will be consumed to dull the pain of poor results.
Results attached below: