Mercia Report 22-08-10

The Mercia HBM open 25-mile time trial was held early on Sunday morning on the A38 between Alrewas, Willington & Fradley & attracted an entry of 82 solos & 2 tandems. The weather conditions were good with only a light northerly wind. The entry also included six Mercia HBM members. The fastest was Noel Adams who timed 59 36. Jack Hugill was just behind him in 59 42. Daniel Partington timed 1 01 37, Keith Staley (suffering from a heavy cold) 1 03 21, Tony Marlow 1 05 25 & Craig Tucker 1 07 26. Anne Staley (Plan B Racing) was 4th fastest lady in 1 04 53.The fastest rider was Stu Dodd (Drag2Zero.Racing team) from Slimbridge in Gloucestershire in 50 47.

The previous day Noel Adams & Jack Hugill both competed in North Notts Olympics evening10 mile time trial at Sutton on Trent. Noël finished in 22 43 for 16th place & Jack timed 23 27. The winner was James Coleman (Cherry Valley RT) in 20 33.

David Clarke (Pendragon Colnago) had sufficiently recovered from his injuries sustained when he crashed in the Victor Berlemonte race in Surrey to finish in 9th place in the Science in Sport Criterium at the Preston Sports Arena. The 1 hr plus 5 laps race was won by Andrew Hawdon (Herbalife/Wheelbase).

Despite his recent injuries David Clarke was the fastest rider again in the Mercia HBM 5 mile evening time trial on the Anslow circuit. The 16 competitors included 12-year-old Lauren Sleigh. Riders & times as follows David Clarke (Pendragon Colnago) 11 15, Sean Sleigh 12 21, Daniel Partington 12 48, Keith Staley 13 17, Brendan Walsh 13 24, Phil Jones 13 30, Ben Startin 13 55, Alec Taylor 14 00, Craig Tucker 14 01, Nick Chapman 14 34, Andy Burton 15 30, Graham Dingley 15 31, Phil Knott 16 01, Peter Rose 19 05, Dave Peters 19 26 & Lauren Sleigh 21 15.