Five Cherry Valley riders in the top 10 results

Doncaster Wheelers Hilly (Rudy Project District TT) - 12/06/2005 - O13E

On a cold and overcast day, Ian Dalton headed a Cherry Valley quartet to 4 top 10 placings in the Doncaster Wheelers Hilly TT, which was a district counting event for the National Rudy Project Series, while Andy Lintin finished 5th in the vets event.

The event was held on Sunday 12th June over an undulating course that had very little flat in it and luckily the rain held off despite the darkening clouds as the event progressed. The race covered a 13.5 mile course from North Weatley to Beckingham roundabout before climbing into a strong wind up to Gringley on the Hill. At Gringley on the Hill, the course took a sharp left turn to descend to Clayworth where there was a rest bite from the hills as the course followed a canal before meeting the main road again to climb Clarborough Hill just 2 miles before the finish. The Veterans, including Andy Lintin, faced 1 lap of this tough sporting circuit whilst the men tackled the circuit for 2 laps.

With Andy starting first in this Doncaster Wheelers event, he was first to feel the effects of climbing the 1 mile drag up to Gringley on the Hill into a strong and cold headwind which would stretch the legs and open the lungs early in this event. Still struggling to regain some form, Andy crossed the line with a time of 32.56 which placed him 5th behind a surprise winner Mark Bladgen (Sheffield Phoenix) who beat pre-race favourate Tony Stott (Science in sport.com) into 3rd place.

A little disappointed with his ride, Andy blames his recent drop in form to his work commitments, which saw him at work before the event on Sunday and then back to work afterwards.

The mens event attracted some top seed cyclist from around the UK as Michael Broadwith (www.agiskoviner,com) and Gethin Butler (Preston Wheelers) travelled some distance to gain points for the Rudy Project TT series to face local competition from Julian Ramsbottom (De Rosa RT) and Cherry Valley’s Ian Dalton.

As the threatened rain started to fall and then stop, Sam Tuplin was the first of the Cherry Valley riders to start the mens event. A cold and un-inviting morning gave Sam difficulty in getting motivated to give it his best efforts and it took Sam almost a lap to start to find his time trialling rhythm and decide to give his all to the race. Once settled in and warmed up properly Sam had a better second lap and finished the 27.5 mile course in a time of 1.10.25 to place him 10th overall in the race. It was hard to get motivated on such a cold and windy day in June so no one can blame Sam for not wanting to race.

Having suffered with cold feet and lack of a good warm up, Richard Robinson (Cherry Valley RT) still found the strength to force his way around the hilly circuit in a time of 1.9.39. Despite the lack of a proper warm up, cold legs and a 3 hour training ride the day before, Richard was still disappointed with his ride as he knew he has better form at the moment than his time suggested. The cold weather was an obvious shock for Richard which clearly effected his motivation for the race and ultimately his time. Both Richard and Gareth were both going to find it hard having to adjust to time trialling after the riding road races during the last month.

Starting quick, Gareth Williams was the next Cherry Valley rider on the road but as Gareth approached the start of the climb at Gringley on the Hill into the wind the speed dropped off rapidly. Struggling to stay warm and find a good rhythm up the 1 mile climb, Gareth started to suffer and it was not until the Clarborough Climb was tackled that Gareth felt to start to get going again. Having a quicker second lap, Gareth crossed the finish line in a time of 1.5.23 to give a Gareth a final place of 6th.

With Ian having in-different form this season, this event would be an unknown quantity for him. With an in form Ramsbottom starting 2 minutes behind him, Ian knuckled down to some hard work and quickly found a good rhythm without worrying about Ramsbottom just 2 minutes behind him.

At the half waypoint, Ian had a split time of 30.43 which saw him in 4th spot. Despite feeling more comfortable and stronger on his second lap, Ian couldn’t improve on his position but was still pleased that Ramsbottom was not close enough to catch him. With Ramsbottom closing in on Ian towards the finish, Ramsbottoms time would still not be quick enough to win the event as Gethin Butler (Preston Wheelers) was the only rider to beat the hour with a winning time of 59.43.

Despite having a few beers the night before at a BBQ, Ian was surprised that this did not have too much of an effect on his race and was pleased to be closer to Ramsbottom with a similar gap in the previous weeks National 25.