Tough conditions made Wrekinsport’s Gordon Davies 19 mile time trial a testing affair in more ways than one as a strong westerly wind made things difficult for competitors in Round 8 of the SB Sports Injuries Series. Being held over two laps of the club’s usual Shawbirch – Crudgington – Cotwall Bank circuit riders knew just what was facing them second time around in a race won by Phil Roberts, with the time reflecting the difficulty as he won by 28 seconds after crossing the finish line exhausted in 44 minutes 28 seconds after taking the win from West Midlands Police rider James Gibney. Roberts moved up to equal 5th in the SB Series standings and used form gained in two recent 25’s, stating: “I paced the ride really well and was very happy to take the win. I think I managed to ride the second lap quicker than the first which is always a good sign on a long time trial. My race legs are in great form at the moment after back to back 25's and a couple of road races. Twice up Cotwall Bank into the big headwind was a massive slog. Well done everyone for completing 2 laps and thanks as always to the marshals and organisers”.
Gibney was using the events as tapering training for two National level events and expressed satisfaction at his effort. Whilst hard conditions aren’t pleasant pushing hard into a block headwind is definitely great preparation for taking advantage when racing in more favourable circumstances, as Gibney explained: “I was preparing for the National Emergency Services 10 and 25 mile time trials in Keswick the following weekend and was using the opportunity to try race pacing and tactics in difficult conditions and was pleased with a second-place finish”.
Paramount’s Chris Riley filled the final podium spot with a solid 45:14, as well as taking runner-up spot in the SB Veteran’s contest with +7:02 and narrowing the lead of Jonathan Mills-Keeling to 16 points as a result. Riley was hampered in his efforts out on course which thankfully didn’t affect his points tallies in any way, but he knew he had been in a race: “A tough evening on the slopes of Cotwall Bank fighting a brisk westerly. Unusually for this course I was held up by traffic on several occasions but was never in contention to beat a flying Phil Roberts who was miles ahead. It's a great course over the two laps distance and sadly missing a few more bike riders. Thanks Dave and Rita”.
There was no stopping Deb Hutson-Lumb as she took her seemingly customary double win in the SB Veterans and SB Women’s competitions with an actual time of 24:55 and a Veteran’s Standard of +10:04. In the Women’s SB Series Hutson-Lumb moved to just four points behind Series leader Helen Tudor and narrowed the gap to Veteran’s third-placed rider Mark Stocks of Newport CC to 16 points, but only perseverance and a grim desire to finish saw those results materialise: “Battering into the headwind on Cotwall Bank once nearly had me heading for home, but I grovelled over a second time and was relieved to finish - a tough evening for it whether racing or marshalling”.
Things are much more assured in the SB Junior Series as Ben Southgate opened up an impressive lead of 108 points as he looks a shoo-in for the title. Southgate crossed the line in 46:13 and was looking forward to putting his feet up after a heavy studying load, succinctly stating: “I’m happy with how I did; now I can relax on holiday”.
Rather humorously Rich Smith who finished as third Veteran in +4:57 voiced the feelings of many at the post-race dissection with his tongue-in-cheek summary: “What's left of my soul left my body the second time up Cotwall Bank”!
