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Decathlon Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport - Round 2 2020 - report

25 Jul 2020 18:24 | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Personal Bests were the order of the day in Round 2 of The Decathlon Evening 10 Series by Wrekinsport as six riders set new benchmarks with conditions favourable as the wind dropped away in time for the race start. Chris Halford made it two wins from two races after digging out a classic Rolf Vector front wheel which paid dividends as he sliced a huge 41 seconds off his Round 1 time to stop the watch in 21 minutes 30 seconds. Equipment changes weren’t the only experimentation the quiet fast man was trying out as he paced his race on the rolling Shawbirch – Cotwall Bank course using a completely contrary pacing strategy, and he revealed: “I rode it differently. I normally go hard on the hardest part but I rode a lot faster on the quick part, so I was doing 350 watts and then backed off, so I rode it completely the opposite way”.

Halford now has the maximum 12 points available in the Evening 10 Championship, with the same runner-up remaining within a minute of the winner after bettering his Round 1 time by 27 seconds for a Course PB. Tomos Hales has clearly been putting the work in during lockdown as his times are markedly improved, with a fine effort of 22:27 seeing him finish well over a minute ahead of the chasing pack, with Phil Roberts taking the final podium place in 23:38, 17 seconds ahead of reigning series champion Rich Smith.

The Road Bike Series appears massively popular in 2020 with 10 riders taking the line for this format, with a new Junior member Jack Inglis making his first appearance of the season posting a good time of 27:12 to push Darren Biddulph out by 15 seconds.

But it was the large number of Personal Best that made this race a memorable one, with Mike Bigwood talking 6th spot in 24:15 just one second ahead of Allan Henderson; Beth Till the best placed of six females in competition, dipping below the 27 minute mark for the first time with a fine 26:57 and seeing her make a wry comment: “Joining the sub-27 crew! Catching up with the fast boys – watch this space”! Not to be outdone Alison Salthouse also recorded a fine PB of 31:47 whilst Clare O’Donnell was ecstatic after knocking a giant 2:09 off her first ever effort to cross the line in 33:18. Meanwhile the club’s other Junior Henry Fleming also posted his fastest ever ride with an excellent 28:39.

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