Monday, 26th April 2021 7:00 pm
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No!! That's the sound of Samantha O'Connell riding 10 miles faster than any Newbury Velo woman has ridden before. Tonight, we are totally made up for Sam who has smashed the club's women's solo time trial record with a superfast time of 27:52 What's more, Sam can even say she did it on a chilly and fairly slow evening - what a ride, Sam!! Well done. We've attached a photo of you tonight by Teresa Robbins - so fast, you're blurred!
That was the only story tonight - a whopping 56% of riders on the startsheet were Newbury Velo riders. Many were riding their first ever time trial event but they all returned to HQ with the aura of seasoned time trial pros. Please correct us if we're wrong, but one of tonight's newbies to racing against the clock was Andrew Hamilton - Andrew crossed the line in an impressive 24:48. Another side duel tonight was also witnessed between two members of the Zwift "Newbury Velo Eagles" team. Simon Bowden (regular time trialler but has had some weeks off due to injury) was riding against newcomer to time trialling, Darian Vavatzanidis. Simon managed to be victorious on this occasion by just two seconds (26:04) with Darian's 26:06 still mightily impressive given he arrived at the start in a state of organisation akin to that of the current UK Government.
Anyway, to return to the results - a massive congratulations to junior rider Angus Hawkins (Spirit Tifosi BSS Rotor - but Newbury Velo at heart ;)) who won tonight's race in 22:26 - not bad for a 19-year-old riding only his second ever TT. Andy Tucker showed no signs of fatigue after organising the club's fantastic open even yesterday to come second in 22:51. Regular rider Phil Watts (North Hampshire RC) took the third spot with 23:02.
With Samantha O'Connell taking the top podium spot amongst the women, 12-year-old Emma Davies took second place with a new course best of 29:23. Clare Bassett - with her newly stitched up jersey undoubtedly causing significant air resistance - put in a great ride to finish third in the ladies. It was great to see so many women from the club riding tonight - but we need more! Speak to any of these girls and we know they'll convince you to give it a go!
Tonight wouldn't have happened if we hadn't (once again) managed to get a top team of helpers out. A big thank you once again to Glen Knight (race organiser), Gemma and Caitlyn Davies for being HQ stalwarts (and we witnessed Caitlyn lifting the World's Heaviest Table back to the car afterwards - what a hero!). We also had Yvonne Wilkins at HQ with her enviable organisation skills. Thanks also to those working in the start and finish areas: Mel Sneddon for getting riders in order for the start (wow, was that a job tonight!), Nick Lees for calling if the road is clear (and going on to assist at the finish) and Rachael Elliott for doing start timekeeping and living up to her blind label tonight. At the finish, Ian Greenstreet acted as finish timekeeper, but also acted as top educator for Sarah Edwards who is learning the job (and learning it well and quickly!) as she prepares to embark on being a fully qualified time keeper! Thank you everyone for riding and making another cold evening into one of fun!
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