Down in Dorset, our very own Joe Richer took on the Ironman distance of Challenge Weymouth! The swim was cut short due to what can only be described as surfing conditions but Richer completed the sea swim off Peston Beach in 47 minutes.

On to the bike course which started off flat then provided a leg testing climb out of Weymouth peaking at 13%. Richer nailed the undulating route as he came back to transition in 5:36. A swift turnaround and he was on his last leg of the triathlon. The flat marathon run course challenged Richer’s determination to cross the finish line and after digging deep and pulling himself back up on the second lap of the Marathon his stride was back. Richer finished strong with a time of 3:42 for the run and producing an incredible time of 10:12:17 overall and an Ironman PB! Coming 6th in his age category and 47th out of 364 men on the day.

NCTC evening TT series by numbers – taken from 21 Time Trials (not including the abandoned Red Lodge 2-up)

• Average 28.7 riders per TT (Lowest 17 for a moist Ashley A, highest 40 for the second Red Lodge)
• 127 different riders
• 5 different winners
• 634 total rides (Average 4.7 TTs per rider. Max and Malk Sahota did them all!)
• Total miles cycled 6340

Final results: Male

1st Matt Smith
2nd Max Sahota
3rd Bob Watson

Final results: Female

1st Rosemary Homer
2nd Angie Joiner-Handy
3rd Sarah Wells

Thank you to everyone who participated, but a massive thank you to those who have helped so much with set-up and timekeeping. It all works because of you.

Just as a reminder, for the purposes of overall league position the best 10 scores count (or as many as you’ve done). Timekeeping scores too, counting as a person’s average score. Some people have generously TK’d but never actually ridden a TT so haven’t scored anything or been listed in the table. Mark might try to get the table to include these next year. There were 19 people who entered/TKd at 10 or more TTs.

The scoring used is 50pts for 1st place, 47pts for 2nd, 44 3rd, 42 4th, 41 5th and so on decreasing by 1pt per position down to 1 pt for 45th place. (This scoring seems similar to how UCI ranking points are awarded for ‘proper’ races too, that is, the points available are the same for a category of race regardless of the calibre or number of the actual racers). Since I don’t think there are ever over 45 riders, anyone who rides gets points. The consequences of this is that the average rider will probably get more points from a small field than a large field, (10th/20 is 36 pts, 20th/40 is 26pts), but the smaller turnouts are usually for miserable nights and maybe that’s reasonable encouragement.

The overall result uses your best 10 results out of all the seasons TT’s, so you can miss some, DNF, or have an off day (or ride your singlespeed MTB for kicks) and it doesn’t affect your final position as much as if all counted. Obviously best 10 means if you do 14, your lowest 4 scores are dropped (grey and strikethrough in the table).

For the five TTs with a two lap option, this is considered the full course, and first place goes to the fastest 2-lap rider and then continues ranking all 2-lap finishers, then 1-lap finishers.

DSQ/DNS/DNF: Disqualified, did not start, and did not finish get nothing but a zero in the table to show they were there. The best 10 format allows for the occasional puncture. (I don’t think anyone was DSQ’d this year).

Suggestions for improvements are always welcome.

The National Veterans Time Trial Association championship was held on Saturday afternoon on the popular 10 mile course from Six Mile Bottom to Fourwentways roundabout and return, drawing entries from as far afield as Scotland and Guernsey. Club members Bob Watson and Paul Barnes took part, finishing in 21:43 and 23:11 on a warm early autumn day. Barnes was almost two minutes down on his personal best, a result he ascribed to a recent two week holiday in which cycling was replaced by wine and tapas in hot sunshine in Spain. The event was won in a very impressive 19:36 by Rob Pears of Bath on a day when most riders were slowed by a brisk easterly breeze.

On the same day, Matt Smith, completed a very impressive first full season by competing in the East Anglian 10, an event won by Daniel Bloy in 21:31. Smith’s talent saw him taking only 8 seconds longer than the winner to complete the course. His inexperience contributed to arriving late at the start line late and receiving a 2 minute penalty as a result.

You’ll see them in goody bags at our events this year, but they’re also available for sale to club members (while stocks last) for £5 a pair.

They’re manufactured and custom-printed in club colours by Tacx in Holland and are exactly the same as those issued to the Astana, Blanco Pro Cycling, Europcar, Lotto-Belisol, Omega Pharma Quick-Step and Saxo-Tinkoff professional cycling teams.

Once I have a decent ‘order’ together, I’ll bring them to one of the local (for me) time trials at Fordham or Red Lodge and you can pay me on collection.