Cherry Valley fill top placings

Alford Wheelers 25 - 14/08/2005 - C25/27

Ian Dalton held a slim lead all the way from the start to the finish to win the Alford Wheelers 25 mile time trial on Sunday 14th August. Supported by team mates Sam Tuplin and Gareth Williams, Cherry Valley also ride of with the team victory as well to cap off a successful day racing.

The course covered roads around the Boston area from Frithville to Sibsey, then heading north up the A16 to Keal hill and turning left to Revesby before turning left again and heading down the 7 mile straight back towards Frithville where the finish was 2 miles past the start area. With a very strong wind blowing from a north westerly direction, the riders faced a fast start all the way to Sibsey before turning into a nasty headwind to Keal Hill and eventually having the wind behind them down the 7 mile straight from Revesby to the finish.

Gareth was the first of the Cherry Valley riders on the road battling the strong cross and head winds and catching all the riders on the road by Stickney before heading alone down the 7 mile straight from Revesby with the wind behind him to finish in a time of 57.02. This time led the event for 15 minutes until pre-race favourate Dominic Sweeney (Lutterworth Cycle Centre) finished with a time of 54.45, despite missing his start time by 20 seconds.

Finishing just seconds in front of Jon Surtees (Lukracing.net), Sam Tuplin was having an off day due and could only manage a time of 59.30 but would still see the Cherry Valley rider finish 7th overall and along with Ian and Gareth win the fastest team award.

With pre-race favourate Dominic Sweeney setting the pace for the day, Ian was out on the course and his returning form was not eluding him as he was holding a slim lead over Sweeney from the minute he started. With about 17 miles covered, Ian had stretched his lead to its maximum and at Revesby Ians lead over Sweeney had grown to 45 seconds. With the wind now behind Ian the victory was in his grasp as he powered his way down the 7 mile straight through the villages of Bollingbrook and Carrington and onto Frithville. The next sharp right hand bend at Frithville, only a mile before the finish, Ian nearly came to grief as he hit the bend at over 30mph and nearly ran out of road on his exit. Just about keeping his bike on the tarmac, Ian crossed the finish line a few minutes later in a time of 54.15 to beat Sweeney for the win by 30 seconds.

The last rider to start the race was Richard Robinson. Although starting last Richard was not the last rider on the course as he caught and passed a multitude of riders from different clubs. Struggling to start well and taking nearly 17 miles to finally find his time trialling rhythm, Richard was now flying down the 7 mile straight and taking back valuable lost time he lost after a slow start. Using all the road to cut the second corner at Firthville and more seconds from his time, Richard sped onto the finish to record a time of 59.31 which would see him finish 8th overall and ensuring all 4 Cherry Valley riders finished in the top 10 result.

1 Ian Dalton (Cherry Valley RT) 54.15 2 Dominic Sweeney (Lutterworth Cycle Centre) 54.45 3 Jon Surtees (Lukracing.net) 55.45 4 Gareth Williams (Cherry Valley RT) 57.02 5 Matt Hoyles (Preston Wheelers) 57.57 6 Paul Griffiths (Alford Wheelers) 58.58 7 Sam Tuplin (Cherry Valley RT) 59.30 8 Richard Robinson (Cherry Valley RT) 59.31 9 Rob Brewer (Lincoln Wheelers) 1.00.19 10 John Elliott (Alford Wheelers) 1.00.36