Wrekinsport Autumn Sprint 5
The curtain came down on Wrekinsport’s truncated time trialling season with a bang as a course record fell by a massive margin – a record likely to stand for a very long time. CC Bridgnorth’s Will Lewis carved an almost unbelievable 33 seconds off the record to stop the watch on 11 minutes exactly in the fast and furious Autumn Sprint 5 held on the third choice course between Crudgington and Shawbirch due to long term road works putting first and second choice courses out of action. Lewis punched through the southerly breeze blighting the ‘out’ leg to Shawbirch, which guaranteed a flyer back. Usually when a strong headwind affects a ride it is very hard to make up time lost later due to strength being gradually sapped battling the elements, but Lewis somehow did, crossing the finish line visibly faster than any other rider in the club’s by now traditional season closer.
But Lewis wasn’t the only rider to beat the old record of 11:33 as 16 year-old Henri Bedford briefly held the record for 10½ minutes with a fabulous effort of 11:25 after starting 11 minutes ahead of Lewis. The youngster’s superbly steady, locked-in low profile, tucked in tight behind his ‘praying mantis’ tri-bars to offer the lowest possible profile into the prevailing conditions served him well as he sliced through the air to push out Lewis’ team mate Jonathan Mills-Keeling by 12 seconds to take the runner-up spot.
Taking the honours for the promoting club Tomos Hales headed up a run of five riders helping themselves to a Top 10 spot amongst the 22 starters in 12:02, pushing out Phil Roberts by 36 seconds to grab 4th place.
The event was notable for the number of Juniors riding, with several attempting heir first ever time trial in far from perfect conditions. Top of the youngsters was Harry Corney in 13:14. Meanwhile the Women’s honours were taken by Market Drayton CC’s Alison Dockney, making a belated first appearance in 2020 to stop the watch in 13:11 despite having trouble clipping in, a feature of racing under the temporary Covid regulations.
