Report – Ron Brown Memorial 100

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Adam Topham won the Ron Brown Memorial 100 Mile TT with the stunningly fast time of 3.34.01

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Report – Ron Brown Memorial 100

Hounslow & District Wheelers Report | 24th May

Adam Topham dominated last Sunday’s Ron Brown Memorial 100 Mile Time Trial with the stunningly fast time of 3 hours 34 minutes 01 second.

This gave him a winning margin of nearly 12 minutes over second placed Pete Harrison (GS Henley) who recorded 3.45.50, an improvement for this 33 year old rider of just over 10 minutes and a time which, under normal circumstances, might have been good enough to win.

This result gave Topham almost every prize that was on offer since he also took the fastest 50 award, was the first veteran on standard and led the High Wycombe CC to take the team prize (the other counters were Jeff Roberts, 4.10.25, and Cynthia Kunschke, 4.14.41). His time is the course record.

However, so far as the Hounslow is concerned, the most impressive aspect of the result is that Adam Topham has now won a record five consecutive Ron Brown Hundreds. The previous record of four wins (also consecutive) was held jointly by those two great centurions of the seventies Martyn Roach and Gary Woodward, and since this record had stood for three decades before Mr. Topham came along it had appeared to be permanently on the shelf.

Adam himself was satisfied with the outcome. Just back from a continental business trip, he had been concerned that he would not be sufficiently well rested to produce his best, but that was exactly what he did, and he felt that this may be his best hundred to date. It was, he said, a ‘power personal best’*, so well judged that all five laps had virtually identical times.

This is his ninth season of time trialling and with so much achieved the question of further motivation must be raised. Adam says that because he has been involved in sporting competition since the age of eight, now at the age of forty six, it would be hard to imagine life without it.

His immediate target is the all time fastest BBAR average speed, but he says that he still gets most pleasure from competing in time trials up and down the country against the best riders of the day. This is echoed by the feeling within the Hounslow that a rider like Adam, who applies himself to each event as if had not got a head start, really deserves to be in a more competitive environment.

And judging by the number of entrants without a qualifying time on this full start sheet, it does seem that this may come to pass. Excluding the reserves there were twenty one entrants in this category, most of whom would have been novices.

From these came three outstanding rides: Steve Williamson (a3crg, 3.52.26), Matthew Woods (Eastbourne Rovers, 3.59.23) and Andrew Warby (RST Sport, 4.00.11.), these are all excellent times. However, Williamson and Woods are both forty four year old veterans and while Topham has demonstrated very clearly that being over forty is no bar to outstanding time trial performance, it is natural that improvements by veterans are likely to be less dramatic than those of younger riders.

For this reason Andrew Warby, a youthful senior, may be the most promising of the three. It is said that Fortune favours the brave; how many of us would be brave enough to tackle a first hundred on fixed, as Andrew did? By the way, his gear was 53 x 14 or 100.3”.

In the Ladies Race Jasmijn Muller (Paceline) fulfilled expectations by recording 4.07.30, comfortably clear of her nearest challenger, Jill Wilkinson (Chester RC, 4.13.47), even though Jill improved on her qualifying time by almost 6 minutes.

Last year’s winner Jody Conibear (Hemel Hempstead) improved by three minutes, but sadly this wasn’t enough to keep her on the podium.

Jasmijn Muller is the current ladies BBAR champion, a title she notably achieved in her first season of time trialling. She had ridden without any assistance, an unexpected disadvantage for such a prominent rider.

Jasmijn is not optimistic about defending her BAR title since she feels she will not be able to beat Julia Shaw who is riding again this year. However, although Ms. Shaw is an exceptionally strong rider Jasmijn Muller has age on her side; in addition this event was only her third attempt at the distance, so there should be significantly faster rides to come. Don’t be over pessimistic, Jasmijn!

Another ride that deserves a mention was the Julian Jenkinson/ Stephen Whitewick (Velo Refined Aerosmiths) tandem effort: it was the fastest of the day at 3.29.58. While obviously a fine athletic achievement, perhaps the main interest here is in their machine. This was based on a standard touring frame but has many specially made components.

It is really a prototype which will eventually be superseded by a purpose built machine when the riders are satisfied they have achieved the best possible position. Since they have record breaking in mind, perhaps it’s best not to give away too much of their plan, but it seems safe to reveal that the rear rider is using some parts which have been borrowed from Graham O’Bree’s ‘Superman’ machine.

This pairing clearly has the potential for success and we wish them the best of luck with their project.

The event was run on the Farnham – Alton course, which with a moderate Westerly wind was not at its fastest. It was again organised by Trevor Gilbert – we all owe him a debt of gratitude for the huge amount of effort he freely gives us each year.

* ‘Power personal best’: a new term referring to the wattage shown on a power meter.

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Result

Men
1. Adam Topham (High Wycombe CC) 3.34.01.
2. Pete Harrison (GS Henley) 3.45.50.
3. Richard Spink (Bristol South CC) 3.46.21.
4. Jon Wynn (Northover Vets) 3.47.42
5. Steve Williamson (a3crg) 3.52.26
6. Tom Glandfield (Lewes Wanderers CC) 3.56.04
7. Phil Watts (North Hants RC) 3.57.34
8. David Shepherd (GS Stella) 3.58.11.
9. Dominic Hill (Bec CC) 3.58.48.
10. Matthew Woods (Eastbourne Rovers) 3.59.23.
11. Andrew Warby (RST Sport) 4.00.11
12. Paul Holdsworth (Hounslow & District Whrs) 4.00.58.

Women
1. Jasmijn Muller (Paceline RT) 4.07.30.
2. Jill Wilkinson (Chester RC) 4.13.47.
3. Cynthia Kunschke (High Wycombe CC) 4.14.41
4. Jody Conibear (Hemel Hempstead CC) 4.19.25.
5. Mary Bower (Chelmer CC) 4.24.27.
6. Jackie Dodd (Kingston Phoenix) 4.53.58.

 

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