A change of course……………
Due to grain cartage starting early the scheduled Spokes event for Sunday 23rd October 2011 was re-routed to the Nabawa Northampton Road, removing the Chapman Valley and Morrell Roads from the route. Our decision to change the race was vindicated when we passed 6 grain trucks on the way out to the race.
16 riders faced the start on a calm, warm morning, welcoming a new rider Rhonda Bradley on her mountain bike. Two juniors Jonty Calder and Cameron Napper, started with Rhonda and Peter Burchell. The juniors left their elders behind and rode strongly throughout the circuit.
The next group to ride off was made up of experienced riders Tim Glenister, Mort Harslett, Julie Firth, Jon Tamm, Mike Reymond and Reg Salmon. Julie and Reg lead the riders out and maintained their turns on the front for most of the race. Mort hung on behind with Jon Tamm who eventually fell off the pace and Mike Reymond moved between leading the group up the hills and joining the centre of the peleton. This group maintained a strong pace and caught Rhonda and Peter just before the turnaround point at the Northampton Wheat Bins and set sail for Jonty and Cameron who they passed on the long climb out of Northampton.
The final group to set off, with the daunting task of catching the others, was made up of the “big boys” Mike Paxman, Peter Johnson, Richard Quinlan, Johnny barber, Andrew Outhwaite and Simon Mulligan. The group set a fast pace and pulled in first group. Andrew’s flat tyre took he and Johnny Barber out of the contention.
Tim Glenister with Mike Reymond, Mort and Julie hot on his heels burst around the bend to the last 200 metres. Tim managed to hold the sprint and crossed the line first. Julie rode strongly and it was disappointing for Reg and Julie to be pipped at the post. This group finished the race in 1:23:30
Eight minutes later Mike Paxman, Johnno, Richard and Simon sprinted across the line in a final time of 1:15:20. A strong ride, that would have been even faster if they’d had a sniff of the second group who they were chasing down.
Jonty and Cameron dashed across the finish line in a fine time of 1:45:44. Jon Tamm came across the line on his own with Andrew and Johnny 5 minutes behind.
Rhonda and Peter came in finishing strongly. It was delightful that Rhonda rode her longest ride supported so well by Peter.
The consensus of the riders was that this is a route to be repeated in 2012 with enough challenge for all ability levels.
Corrected times have Mike Paxman, Richard Quinlan and Peter Johnson as fasted in a blistering 1:15:20 with average speed of 37.4km/hr. Full results are below.
Many thanks to Tim and Barb Glenister and Reggie Richardson for putting out the signs, marshalling and timekeeping.
