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.

Just as we are starting to come out of a long winter, it is announced that finally the lockdown restrictions are going to be lifted. It’s been a time of spending time with some members of the family, not seeing others and generally being more cautious than we would normally be around others. The one hour of training outdoors has encouraged more people to take up running and cycling rather than sit watching the TV all day. Let’s hope these new athletes remain with the healthy lifestyle after the lock down ends…..and what a day that will be.

How’s your training been? Have you been able to continue as normal as possible? Have you started something new or just carried on as usual?

LincsQuad members have entered into the three week Zwift Super League Triathlon Club Series competing against clubs from all over the UK.

The series comprises of a virtual run and cycle each week. Everyone completes individually within the race claiming at least 1 point for the club. Racing is fast but you can also ride at your own level and still be eligible to claim a point.

After week one the club sits at 10th position in the men’s events with a total of 11 points. Good luck to the ladies team who kick off their claim on points from the 26th Feb.

Our youth members were given the recent half term to complete a series of challenges over the course of a week which ranged from cycling 4 miles, running a mile, going for an hours walk and completing some Strava art. For those who completed six challenges a small prize and medal was awarded.

Our club mascot Racey Raccoon even got in on the act demonstrating how to correctly do the Burpees, Squats, Plank, Star Jumps, Sit Ups and making his own Strava Art