Result: CC Breckland 12 Hour

Andy Wilkinson on his Dolan bike smashed the 12 hour Competition Record with a 317 mile ride in Sunday’s Cycling Club Breckland event. Mid Norfolk, 5th August

Fergus Muir reports … His margin over Jeff Jones’s record, set in the same event last year, was over twelve miles. Wilkinson’s distance is equivalent to riding a “25” in 56:38….and repeating it nearly twelve more times without a break. Second place went to Adam Topham with 306.124 and third to Topham’s young High Wycombe CC clubmate Jonathan Shubert with 294.048.

Andy Wilkinson on his Dolan during the record breaking ride. Photo: Fergus Muir

Conditions were good but not perfect. A mid-afternoon thunderstorm severely reduced visibility and washed Norfolk flints over road surfaces – all three top finishers punctured at some time during the event. But probably more important was the light southerly wind – favourable for the long stretches of the A11 trunk road between Thetford and Wymondham, broadly aligned southwest/ northeast – that made up the majority of the course.

Temperatures were mostly moderate, while air-pressure at nearby RAF Marham was given as a modest 1009 mb. However the warmth went out of the air when the storm hit. Wilkinson said he became very cold and took 20 miles to partially warm up again. His rare ability to give everything was exemplified by his appearance in the Scoulton headquarters after the event – still cold, wrapped up as if for winter and needing help to move – but still characteristically polite and helpful.

Left: Howard Waller, Right: Adam Topham. Photo Fergus Muir

The tricycle 12 hour record looks to have survived a challenge in the event from Howard Waller. The Oxford City RC member rode unsupported, swapping bottles from a cache at the Eccles Road underpass and amassed a provisional 255.709 miles, which, if confirmed, is less than 200 yards short of Ralph Dadswell’s 1993 ride in the Poole Whs “12”.

Jonathan Shubert. Photo Fergus Muir

Provisional Result: CC Breckland 12 Hour, Norfolk
1 Andrew Wilkinson Port Sunlight Wheelers 317.97
2 Adam Topham High Wycombe C.C. 306.12
3 Jonathan Shubert High Wycombe C.C. 294.05
4 Gregory Woodford Reading C.C. 279.19
5 Rob Dulson Hainault R.C. 272.22
6 Giles Oakley Clevedon & D.R.C. 271.89
7 Tim Davies Icknield R.C. 271.12
8 Laurence Wright Velo Velocity 269.97
9 Dale Sturman West Suffolk Wh 266.97
10 Martin Long Kings Lynn C.C. 264.4
11 Jason Turner Norwich A.B.C. 263.78
12 Jason Meachen Colchester Rovers 263.52
13 Stuart Martingale Sotonia C.C. 262.62
14 Howard Waller Oxford City R.C. 255.71
15 Chris Nudds C.C.Breckland 249.04
16 Geoff Perry Team Milton Keynes 246.9
17 Danny Watkins Anglia Velo 246.9
18 Bob Richards RNRMCA 242.9
19 Barry Quick Reading C.C. 233.31
20 Mark Fairhead C.C.Breckland 230.08
21 Karen Eaton Wolsey R.C. 223.27
22 Andrew Ward Wisbech Wheelers 221.06
23 Roger Graham C.C.Breckland 220.35
24 Mick Fountain Didcot Phoenix 216.7
25 John Murphy Gloucester City C.C. 209.49
26 Simon Hardy Kings Lynn C.C. 206.12
27 Kevin Younge Kings Lynn C.C. 198.75
28 Brian Foster Norwich A.B.C. 190.3
29 Anthony Hutton Welland Valley C.C. 187.22