A new addition to the Oxfordshire Road Race League this year, on Sunday Oxonians CC hosted the opening round with an individual Time Trial on road bikes on the undulating H36/18 course, up to the north of Blenheim Palace. We entered a team of 6 riders;
- Paul Elcock
- Chris Bartley
- Dan Marett
- Joe Edwards
- Harvey Weinberger
- Pete Ganderton
Conditions on the day were surprisingly good for early April…17-18’C and bright sunshine, with a mild breeze from the East (which picked up as the day went on). The ORRL event was set off after the Open event, with start times from 10am to 11am.
The start to the day was full of drama…Chris had to unfortunately drop out after succumbing to food poisoning, and on the morning Harvey had a mechanical nightmare, with his rear mech cable snapping, and the front refusing to shift on the start line (causing him to miss his start slot while we forced the front mech to work, to at least give him a choice of 2 gears!). Paul meanwhile had to have a late swap to a spare front wheel after a puncture…hardly ideal warm-up conditions (and it also caused me to forget to take any photos!)
…however everyone stepped up to the plate, and put in sterling performances! Paul went from a very nearly DNS to a comprehensive win, by nearly 5 minutes over second place! Dan put in a strong performance in his first ever TT to take 4th place, closely followed by Pete and Joe in 5th and 6th respectively. Special mention should go to Harvey, who completed the course in 1h37 on 2 gears, which would have placed him 8th before a rather harsh time penalty was applied for missing his start time (particularly harsh as he actually set off in Chris’s slot). It’s also worth pointing out that Paul’s winning time would have placed him second in the Open event where everyone was using full TT rigs, it was a genuinely classy ride that he put in.
So, GS Henley picked up the win, and won the team award as well. It certainly felt like victory in the face of adversity after all the drama at the start, and there were a lot of weary bodies sitting around afterwards as we waited for the results. Huge thanks and congratulations to Oxonians CC as well for running the event alongside their Open TT.
Full Results
Position | Name | Category | Club | Time |
1 | Paul Elcock | M | GS Henley | 01:27:38 |
2 | Greg Fitzek | M | Cowley Road Condors | 01:33:25 |
3 | Anthony Turner | M | Mickey Cranks | 01:33:54 |
4 | Dan Marett | M | GS Henley | 01:34:40 |
5 | Pete Ganderton | M | GS Henley | 01:35:21 |
6 | Joe Edwards | M | GS Henley | 01:36:33 |
7 | Adam Whitfield | M | Outdoor Traders | 01:36:53 |
8 | Matt Thomas | M | Cowley Road Condors | 01:37:49 |
9 | Tim Jones | M | Cowley Road Condors | 01:38:28 |
10 | Nick Owen | M | Outdoor Traders | 01:38:34 |
11 | Matt Hermon | M | Mickey Cranks | 01:39:10 |
12 | Martin Stanley | M | Didcot Phoenix | 01:39:16 |
13 | Tom Nightingale | M | Cowley Road Condors | 01:39:36 |
14 | Paul Renshaw | M | Mickey Cranks | 01:39:37 |
15 | Harry James | M | Didcot Phoenix | 01:40:30 |
16 | Katie Greves | F | Cowley Road Condors | 01:41:13 |
17 | David Beesley | M | Bicester Millenium | 01:41:30 |
18 | Mike Simpkins | M | Mickey Cranks | 01:42:52 |
19 | Nick Sanderson | M | Cowley Road Condors | 01:42:58 |
20 | Harvey Weinberger | M | GS Henley | 01:44:53 |
21 | Andy Pickett | M | Mickey Cranks | 01:45:02 |
22 | Mark Harvey | M | Outdoor Traders | 01:45:34 |
23 | Dominic Spalding | M | Mickey Cranks | 01:47:24 |
24 | Deb Davidson | F | Mickey Cranks | 01:47:49 |
25 | Leigh Blackford | M | Oxonian | 01:47:53 |
26 | Toby Franks | M | Outdoor Traders | 01:48:20 |
27 | Sabrina Harris | F | Outdoor Traders | 01:50:27 |
28 | Steph Foster | F | Mickey Cranks | 01:52:10 |
29 | Helen Keay | F | Cowley Road Condors | 01:52:48 |
30 | Mike Mallalue | M | Bicester Millenium | 01:53:16 |
31 | Aimee Jones | F | Cowley Road Condors | 01:54:07 |
32 | Charlotte Donohue | M | Mickey Cranks | 01:54:23 |
33 | Helena Coker | F | Cowley Road Condors | 01:54:55 |
34 | Becky Puddle | F | Outdoor Traders | 01:55:42 |
35 | Jules Birch | F | Mickey Cranks | 01:56:32 |
36 | Kate Bradley | F | Mickey Cranks | 01:56:38 |
37 | Jo Edwards | F | Mickey Cranks | 01:59:03 |
38 | Elenanor Law | F | Cowley Road Condors | 02:00:46 |
39 | Chris Lowe | M | Swindon RC | 02:00:51 |
40 | Tim Smith | M | Outdoor Traders | 02:02:54 |
41 | Elinor Spencer | F | Outdoor Traders | 02:05:25 |
42 | Anna Key | F | Oxonian CC | 02:10:16 |
Martin Prior | M | Oxonian CC | DNF | |
Tom Bolton | M | Cowley Road Condors | DNF | |
Cyndi Goh | F | Cowley Road Condors | DNS | |
Daisy Brown | F | Outdoor Traders | DNS | |
Pete Medhurst | M | Team Jewson – MI Racing | DNS | |
James Pither | M | Mickey Cranks | DNS | |
Edmund Dixon | M | Bicester Millenium | DNS | |
Tom Bolton | M | Cowley Road Condors | DNF | |
Chris Bartley | M | GS Henley | DNS | |
Stewart House | M | Arctic Tacx | DNS |