After the horrendous weather that led to the cancellation of TT7, the sun came back out to play.  Not a frozen marshal in sight and some cracking times.  The only down side was that the sunshine and heat seemed to have spawned an outbreak of agricultural machinery and other traffic on the roads which led to some rider frustration.

Not the best TT for me as organiser this week.  Having diligently cycled the route pre-event and found it clear, a tractor sneaked out after I had left for the event and deposited mountains of muck all along the road out of Hibaldstow.  Ok, a bit of hyperbole, but thanks to Simon and Isaac for alerting us so that Fabulous Fiona starting the riders could pass on the information.

Then there was the speed limit furore.  There was a complaint from a resident that competitors were breaking the speed limit through Hibaldstow as evidenced by the speed detectors at two points in the village.  While most of us can only wish we were capable of this, I must stress that all participants MUST adhere to the Highway Code at all times and this includes abiding by the speed limits.

From the 7^th July there will be marshals at the speed detectors and anyone observed breaking the speed limit will be disqualified.  Likewise, anyone evidenced to have been discourteous to residents will be DQ.

Meanwhile, another great race with no rain!  Congratulations to Bevan Jones on breaking the 20-minute barrier.  His 19:23 is the course record for the new course this year.  Sheehan Quirke notched up a wonderful effort on 21:14 and Simon Abdy, another consistently fast rider, followed him in on 21:24.  Six other riders broke the 23-minute mark.  Jayne Baldwin put in a PB effort to be the first lady to get under 26 minutes this year and beat off stiff opposition from the impressive Rachel Gottlieb.  Vikki Wilson took the 3^rd spot and Imogen Hall had a fantastic ride to finish 4th in 27:02 and take 3^rd Lincsquad female on the night.

Many thanks to everyone who marhsalled for the evening, you did a fantastic job.

I only have one volunteer for 7^th July so please let me know if you can help out.

Good luck to everyone doing Coast to Coast this weekend.  Have a great ride and stay safe.

Jane Taylor

LincsQuad TT Secretary

What can I say but another fabulous evening? 

Catherine Butterill bravely led the field out aided by a helpful arrow to show her the right direction, kindly supplied by starter Fiona. 

Catherine’s approach to the event was unorthodox with a brief, even cursory, warm up and an extended cool down.  In fact we thought she had got lost so were somewhat relieved when she reappeared, still smiling and in one piece. 

The weather gods smiled upon the Lincsquad TTs again this week.  A day that started very wet found some lovely sunshine for the evening and there was very little water left on the course by the off.  The dreaded headwind home had returned but was more benign this week.  Sheehan Quirke, flying home in 21:27, reversed positions for TT3 with Simon Abdy (21:53).  Chris Ware sustained his excellent form finishing in a PB of 22:02 with Stuart Martin and Jon Challen also breaking the 23 minute mark.

Rachel Gottlieb continued her dominance of the ladies’ race dropping her time to 26:06 this week despite eschewing anything resembling aero bars.  Jayne Baldwin had another great ride to take second with Vikki Wilson 3^rd and first Lincsquad lady.

Kev Wilson provided a talking point this week, missing his start by 11 seconds.  He elected not to start.  Luckily for him, Jacob had mechanical issues and was unable to compete and Kev slotted into the vacant spot later in the field.

Many thanks to Malcolm Marshall, Mark Gollings, Stephen Cannings, and Steve Hall for their marshalling and to the wonderful Time Team, Julie, Catherine and Fiona.  There are still plenty of marshal spots for June if you have not volunteered yet.

A special thank you to Vikki for the drink (much appreciated) and the entertainment (even better).  I am not sure Wal was so amused by the attempt to break into his car.  I will be publishing The Adventures of Rachel and Vikki at the end of the series.

At last, a May evening that felt like May.  The improved weather conditions were reflected in the good times posted by the riders.  Sheehan Quirke got us off to a cracking start posting a time of 21:45. Ben Creasy had another great ride on 22:10 and Jon Challen also flew the Lincsquad flag high finishing in 22:33. However, going at 50 Simon Abdy from Barton Wheelers stole the honours, snatching victory from Sheehan by 5 seconds in 21:40.  Young Jacob Riby had another excellent ride in 5^th on a time of 23:20.  Sadly the male leader board was disrupted by the untimely departure of Chris Ware, forced off the road by an impatient driver.  Chris has been flying in the series so far and it was a real pity that he was unable to complete the race.  Happily, he was brought to ground on a grass verge and both he and his bike were able to return to base largely unscathed if fuming and disappointed.

The numbers of women in the field are slowly creeping up with 7 turning out last night.  Leading everyone home in a time of 26:17 was Rachel Gottlieb. Vikki’s cunning plan to get her to wreck her bike by driving under a low arch that took her bike off the car, was foiled.  Jayne Baldwin was close behind in 26:25 with third place going to Claire West who also took top spot for the Lincsquad Ladies.

It was a lovely evening and it was great to see everyone relaxing and enjoying the pub’s facilities in the sunshine post event.  A much pleasanter prospect for all the excellent marshals and the Time Team too – thank you all so much.

Jane Taylor

LincsQuad TT Secretary

We are pleased to annouce that we can now open membership for new members. To read more and join the club goto our membership page here.

It was déjà vu for TT2: lovely and bright but with a cold wind blowing.  Again, there was a tough headwind on the return leg, the description in vogue being “BRUTAL”.  Times were very similar to last week but Mark Turner, Darren Scutt and Roo Butterill all managed to shave time off TT1 with the largest time improvement belonging to Malcolm Marshall who reduced his time by 53 seconds.

Amazingly, the sun shone throughout the first TT of the season.  It was lovely to greet familiar and new faces and see the relaxed camaraderie (appropriately socially distanced of course).  The sun was a bit misleading and marshals and riders alike were chilled by the end of the event.  Except for hardy Yorkshireman, Robert Marley.  There was a nasty headwind on the return leg which was very draining for the riders.

Read more on our TT page about the changes due to Covid and how to register. Click here to read more.

Just over 10 weeks to go for the Bomber Quad and open water Tri. Hope the training is going well! Open water venues should be opening from the 29th March and swimming pools from the 12th April leaving plenty of time to get that swim training in.