A glorious evening saw personal bests tumble with a 21-strong field coming out to play as almost perfect conditions greeted Round 9 of the Decathlon Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport. Wrekinsport riders took full advantage of familiarity with the Shawbirch - Cotwall Bank circuit to occupy the Top 5 places - with Chris Halford slowly making up lost ground in the Series with a fabulous time of 21 minutes 47 seconds.

Halford was well over a minute clear of the chasing pack and whilst fourth to start reeled all preceding three riders in to finish strongly, churning his trademark 60-tooth single front ring as he flew down the 'mile straight' to the finish line. Not finishing first however was not in the minds of the next three riders as all recorded course personal bests - with fourth-placed Rob Jackson delighted with his fastest 10 mile time trial ever of 23:20. Heading the chasing pack was Decathlon Series leader Rich Smith, beating the 23 minute mark for the first time ever on a tough circuit that offers a range of challenges. A delighted Smith stopped the watch on 22:56 and his post-race comments were typically tongue-in-cheek: "It's only taken me since 2002 to get a '22' on that course. Another 17 years and I'll be in the 21's!"

Smith critically finished three seconds ahead of his closest rival in Decathlon Series, Tomos Hales, who whilst delighted to post his fastest ever 10 on the Cotwall Bank circuit was disappointed to see Smith pull away by another point after a huge finishing effort to ensure he beat the 23 minute mark in a season-long tussle between the pair.

One welcome sight was seven competitors riding road bikes to add a bit of spice to proceedings. Revolutions Racing's Andy Hellowell posted the fastest effort of 24:44, but Wrekinsport Chairman Dave Moore again took the honours in the club's Road Bike Series with his 26:14 ensuring he now has exactly double the points of nearest chaser Steve Smith who finished in 28:24 and now looks a shoo-in for the Series win.

Decathlon Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport: Top 10 after nine rounds

Pos'n	Name	Total Points
1	Rich Smith	42
2	Tomos Hales	36
3	Allan Henderson	26
=4	Chris Halford	24
=4	Rob Jackson	24
6	Dave Moore	13
7	Oliver Rodwell	10
8	Pete Mulloy	9
9	Ron Perks	8
=10	Adam Mumford	5
=10	Richard Howes	5

Road Bike Series after nine rounds

Pos'n	Name	Total Points
1	Dave Moore	30
2	Steve Smith	15
3	Mio Kontic	14
4	Andy Loveland	11
5	Bethan Till	5
6	Rob Bainbridge	3