Ian stays on target with 6th place

In what's turning out to be one of the closest National Time Trial Series to date , Ian Dalton (Cherry Valley RT) scored a superb 6th place in round 5 of the Rudy Project National Time Trial Series. With first place already decided, the real scrap is now for second and third place in this national title series between Ian, Gavin Pardoe (Stourbridge CC ), Ben Hallam (Dataphonics RT) and Gethin Butler (Preston Whls). Round 5 saw the riders tackling the undulating lanes of Buckinghamshire near to Aylesbury, around a 10 mile circuit of rolling roads. With the weather forecast not looking favorable, the early riders were to get a few brisk showers whilst the later riders contended with wet roads and high winds.

Starting 2 minutes in front of series leader Michael Hutchinson (MDT-Giant), Ian kept a fairly even pace over each of the 3 laps of the course. Hutchinson caught Ian eventually just after the start of the third lap, and pressed onto to win the event in a time of 1.07.15 from Matt Bottrill (Jim Wallker RT) by 24 seconds.

With the roads being damp when Ian started, there were further obstacles waiting ahead on the course. Approaching a rough section of road about three quarters of the way around the course and just past a railway bridge, a subsided section of road was covered in mud from a nearby field. As Ian came over the bridge and around the bend approaching this section of road for the first time, Ian was forced to take drastic action to avoid loosing grip on the mud and also avoid the deep subsidence in the road. Taking to the wrong side of the road for a short period of time, Ian avoided disaster with quick thinking and superb bike handling. Unluckily for some other riders, they came to grief on this section of road and one rider was taken to hospital.

Not letting this effect him, Ian went onto finish 6th with a time of 1.10.04 finishing only 25 seconds behind Robert English (21st Century Airports CT). Pushing hard for second and third places overall, Gavin Pardo was 4th today with a time of 1.08.04 and Gethin Butler third in time of 1.07.52 and Ben Hallam finished just behind Ian in a time of 1.10.31. With results going the way they did today, the points table near the top is now getting really tight for second and third place between Gethin Butler, Gavin Pardoe, Ben Hallam, Ian Dalton and Ben Hallam with the gap between Ian and Ben remaining the same after today’s result.

Pleased with his performance, Ian reflected on his close miss with the tarmac at the muddy subsided section of road 'John Cotton shouted at me to get over to the other side of the white line and I could see an Ambulance Parked just off the road and I was pretty lucky to stay upright'. 'I now need a high placing in the next district event next weekend to stay right up there overall'. Describing the conditions Ian said ‘when I warmed up it was still wet but by the time I started, it had stopped raining. It was windy in sections of the course, but there was plenty of shelter because the way the course weaved in and out of the lanes so it didn’t really feel too bad’.

1 Michael Hutchinson (MDT-Giant) 1.07.15
2 Matt Bottrill (Jim Walker RT) 1.07.39 1.07.39
3 Gethin Butler (Preston Wheelers) 1.07.52
4 Gavin Pardoe (Stourbridge CC) 1.08.04
5 Robert English (21st Century Airports) 1.09.39
6 Ian Dalton (Cherry Valley RT) 1.10.04
7 Ben Hallam (Dataphonics RT) 1.10.31
8 Nick Cave (Leicester Forest CC) 1.12.52
9 Mark Simmons (Team Milton Keynes) 1.12.58
10 Richard Hill (CC Breckland) 1.13.26