Win for Richard Handley of Rapha as he sees off the challenge of the star testers Andy Wilkinson and Derek Parkinson
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The Nelson Wheelers CC event
Chris Anderson (Biketreks RT) reports from riding the British classic Circuit of the Dales
After having taken delivery of the most stunning looking TT bike I have ever had courtesy of Specialized UK & Biketreks, it was time to put it to the test and what better way to do so than my first TT of the year, the classic Circuit of the Dales. OK, I admit it’s not the best decision I have ever made riding a 50 miler two days after actually riding the bike for the first time, but you have to start somewhere, right?
A gorgeous sunny but cold day greeted the 124 riders, keen to tackle this gruelling 50 mile TT around some of the most scenic country side Yorkshire has to offer. Being a hilly course, I decided against a disc on the rear and picked a pair of deep section front and rear, light enough to get me up the hills but still with an aero advantage.
The race went very well for the first 38 miles where the bike felt awesome, the position was spot on and the power transfer from the pedals seemed to go directly into the back wheel propelling me onwards. I passed quite a few riders before eventually being caught about two miles from Hawes by two riders, one being course record holder Mark Holton.
It was not long after this that everything started to go horribly wrong. Climbing out of Hawes on the B6255 Ingleton road, I began to feel the effects of my efforts (that and the fact I didn’t have a bottle DOH!). As the road climbed steadily upwards, I began to steadily go backwards, all energy now completely spent (the bonk) I was zig zagging as all the riders I had passed began to catch and leave me to grovel back to the finish. Passing Ribblehead viaduct, I had lost that much time, it only seemed right to put another few minutes on my time by stopping for a pee.
I had totally lost the will to live and just wanted it to end I crossed the line in 2 hours 25 mins 40 seconds which amazingly gave me 48th place overall,I can only assume others suffered the same fate!
So to sum up
… the bike was great ( thanks Biketreks)
… the course was hard (but I would do it again)
… the weather was great ( would hate to do it in bad weather)
… and next time I would take a bottle
Thanks to Steve Wilkinson and all marshalls / helpers of Nelson Wheelers for putting on a superb event. Overall winner was Rapha’s Richard Handley in 1hr 55m 38s, not a course record as road works cut the distance by 2 miles.
RESULT
1 Richard Handley Rapha Condor Sharp 01:55:38
2 Andrew Wilkinson Port Sunlight Whs 01:58:23
3 Derek Parkinson www.Drag2xero.com 01:58:24
4 Tejvan Pettinger Sri Chinmoy CT 01:59:09
5 John Tuckett Blumilk.com 02:00:11
6 Mark Holton www.Drag2xero.com 02:00:31
7 Simon Bridge Manchester Whs 02:03:09
8 Keith Murray Ferryhill Whs 02:03:35
9 Joe Skipper Manchester Tri Club 02:05:41
10 Stewart Wilson Baines Racing – Silverstone 02:07:44
11 Warren Gell Coveryourcar.co.uk RT 02:08:20
12 Paul Fleming Preston Whs 02:09:35
13 Ged Millward Ilkley CC 02:09:42
14 Rich Hunt Richmond CC 02:09:46
15 Tom Broadbent Huddersfield Star Whs 02:09:56
16 Adrian Dalgleish Lune Racing CC 02:10:03
17 Richard Harrison Triangle RT 02:10:03
18 Peter Greenwood Clayton Velo 02:10:49
19 Chris Clark York Cycleworks 02:11:41
20 Paul Shallicker Coveryourcar.co.uk RT 02:11:56
21 Duncan Orme Vanillabikes.com 02:12:04
22 Neil Mercer GMC Fire Service CC 02:12:26
23 Stewart Gregory Nottingham Clarion 02:12:38
24 Nathan Turnbull Leigh Premier 02:13:02
25 Paul Greenhalgh Manchester Whs 02:13:16
26 John Dewhirst East Bradford CC 02:15:30
27 Andrew Horrobin Lune Racing CC 02:15:37
28 Sven Wardle Richmond CC 02:15:40
29 Mark Tickle Leigh Premier 02:16:08
30 Simon Ketteringham Harrogate Nova 02:17:09
31 Randle Shenton Team Swift – Allsports 02:17:47
32 Richard Hamilton Yorkshire Velo 02:18:16
33 Paul Roby Coveryourcar.co.uk RT 02:18:38
34 Paul Warrener Rossendale RC 02:19:09
35 Richard Anderson VS Cycles, Brighouse 02:19:32
36 Ben Hallworth Ilkley CC 02:19:45
37 Craig Fenwick StayClassy RT 02:20:21
38 Rob Chaplin East London Velo 02:20:55
39 David Clark Richmond CC 02:20:55
40 Dougi Hall Border City Whs 02:21:54
41 David Leckenby Ilkley CC 02:22:19
42 Tony Kent Harrogate Nova 02:23:50
43 Richard Maughan Leigh Premier 02:23:52
44 Nathan Hesslewood Leeds & Bradford Tri club 02:24:20
45 Paul Taylor Richmond CC 02:24:43
46 Chris Dursley Coveryourcar.co.uk RT 02:25:15
47 Damian Ludlow Rossendale RC 02:25:36
48 Chris Anderson Biketreks racing team 02:25:40
49 Chris Rainford GMC Fire Service CC 02:25:55
50 Richard Pyatt Richmond CC 02:26:09
51 Peter Danby Ribble Valley CRC 02:26:14
52 Richard Cary Southport CC 02:26:46
53 Kev Shand West Pennine CC 02:26:53
54 David Constance Mammoth Lifestyle RT 02:27:07
55 Darren Kelly Richmond CC 02:27:31
56 Lynn Hamel Team Herbalife 02:28:35
57 Mark Pimlott Ilkley CC 02:29:33
58 Mike Westmorland Border City Whs 02:29:38
59 Roger Clarke Tyneside Vagabonds 02:29:53
60 Steve McQuade Lichfield City CC 02:30:36
61 Katherine Pimlott Ilkley CC 02:30:43
62 Martin Welsh Pendle Forest CC 02:31:41
63 Paul Kirk Seacroft Whs 02:32:28 02:06:28
64 Ian Wilcock Nelson Whs CC 02:32:33 01:45:33
65 Nigel Bennett Meanwood Whs CC 02:32:38 01:46:38
66 Alan Burton Manchester Tri Club 02:32:53 01:54:53
67 Philip Bradshaw Wigan Whs 02:32:55 01:54:55
68 Philip Simmonds Richmond CC 02:33:16 01:51:16
69 Ian Galbraith Drighlington BC 02:33:33 01:55:33
70 Barry Rimmer Wigan Whs 02:35:33 01:50:33
71 Pete Openshaw Knutsford Tri 02:36:58 01:46:58
72 Martin Kerry Lancashire RC 02:36:58 01:58:58
73 Judith Irving Kent Valley RC 02:37:54 01:54:54
74 Warren Mason Knutsford Tri Club 02:38:15 02:01:15
75 Tim Dalton Liverpool Century RC 02:38:20 02:01:20
76 Lucy Sill StayClassy RT 02:39:21 01:54:21
77 Richard Belk Kent Valley RC 02:40:06 01:52:06
78 John Fenwick Harrogate Nova 02:41:07 02:23:07
79 Daniel Burdekin Southport CC 02:43:27 02:10:27
80 John Griffiths Wigan Whs 02:44:16 01:49:16
81 John Tiffany Harrogate Nova 02:45:45 01:53:45
82 Bill Smith Cleveleys RC 02:50:12 01:42:12
83 Craig Wilson Nelson Whs CC 02:51:24 01:51:24
84 Geoff Booker Oxonian CC 02:52:19 01:44:19
85 Jan Scotchford North Lancs RC 02:52:36 01:54:36
86 Pete Price Knutsford Tri Club 02:53:26 02:20:26
87 Geoff Morgan Harrogate Nova 02:55:11 02:00:11
88 Adrian Dobson Rossington Whs 02:59:40 02:19:40
89 Howard Blakeley Wetherby Whs 03:00:03 02:13:03
90 Duncan Smith Cleveleys RC 03:00:10 02:25:10
91 Danny Davies Pendle Forest CC 03:00:32 01:56:32
92 Dave Higginson Nelson Wheelers CC 03:02:37 02:14:37
93 Alfie Shaw Southport CC 03:03:57 02:18:57
94 Michael Shaw Wigan Whs 03:06:49 02:34:49
95 Jim Hopper Derby Mercury 03:08:23 01:58:23
96 Peter G Knott Ribble Valley CRC 03:12:42 01:58:42
97 David Tinker Clayton Velo 03:14:24 02:03:24
98 Ian Mackenzie Southend Whs 03:19:13 01:56:13
99 Carolyn Hume Stockport Clarion 03:21:50 02:06:50
100 Malcolm Waters Hampshire RC 03:26:31 02:21:31
101 Jim Ithell Melton Olympic 03:27:27 01:57:27
Prizes
Fastest V40 Andrew Wilkinson Port Sunlight Whs 1:58:23
Fastest V50 Randle Shenton Team Swift – Allsports 2:17:47
Fastest V60 Peter Greenwood Clayton Velo 2:10:49
Fastest V70 Jim Hopper Derby Mercury 3:08:23
Fastest Veteran on std Andrew Wilkinson Port Sunlight Whs +20:38
1st Fastest Lady Lynn Hamel Team Herballife 2:28:35
2nd Fastest lady Katherine Pimlott Ilkley CC 2:30:43
1st Fastest trike on H/cap Geoff Booker Oxonian CC 1:44:19
Fastest team of 3 Coveryourcar.co.uk RT Warren Gell
Paul Shallicker
Paul Roby 6:38:54
1st Fastest on Handicap David Leckenby Ilkley CC 1:37:19
2nd Fastest on Handicap Mark Tickle Leigh Premier 1:38:08 £10
3rd Fastest on Handicap Rich Hunt Richmond CC 1:39:46 £8
Trophies
1st Fastest overall H Fitzpatrick trophy Richard Handley
7th Fastest overall DH Smith memorial trophy Simon Bridge
Fastest on Handicap The Wheatsheaf tankard David Leckenby
Fastest trike on H/cap Ed Green Shield Geoff Booker
Fastest Nelson Whs CC The Members trophy Ian Wilcock
From the organiser
Its been a roller coaster this year. Starting with the best field for many years, and getting a full field plus a few (we got dispensation to take 150), things looked good from the start. A number of us rode round a completely clear course last week in a heat wave, the biggest issue being the number of motorbikes out.
Only a few days later though, and news of the road works started to filter through. First at Chapel le Dale (thankfully these disappeared), then Ingleton, and on the eve of the event, at Casterton. The Ingleton road works unfortunately meant that the full course could not be used; Mark Holton was pleased as this at least means that his course record is safe for another year!
Many thanks and well done to all the riders for negotiating the Casterton road works without any reported incidents (yet!!).
Steve Wilkinson
