Top 10 National result for Aaron

National Championship 10 - 22/5/2005 - J7/8

Aaron Tuplin (Cherry Valley RT) finished 10th overall in the National Junior 10 in Cheshire on Sunday 22nd May. Meanwhile, team mate Ian Dalton was riding the senior event and caught the worse of the bad weather and increasing winds that came with it. Getting a last minute ride as a reserve, Sam put in a creditable performace despite being given short notice to prepare for the event and not knowing his start position until the day of the race.

Starting early in the morning, the Junior event missed the poor weather but there was a strong wind blowing from the South that the riders had to contend with. The course was also very technical, taking in 7 roundabouts over the 10 mile course which caught former champion Graham Obree off guard and crash to end his race in the senior event. Aaron completed his race with a great time of 23.19 behind winner Alex Dowsett (Glendene-Biketrax CC) who recorded a time of 21.05 to take the Junior title. Aaron still rode the event despite feeling ill and against doctor’s orders, he taking antibiotics and is currently undergoing tests for Glandular fever. Arron was feeling strong in the race up to the 7 mile point where the strength disappeared and was replaced by a feeling of sickness.

Meanwhile, Ian suffered in different ways in the senior men’s championships. After arriving at the event in good time to warm up, Ian warmed up on his turbo trainers near the HQ and the rode to the start. While riding to the start, about a 10 minute ride away from the HQ, the heavens opened and torrential rain poured from the sky. Ian arrived at the start very wet and had to endure a further 10 minute wait on the start line and which effectively ended any serious contention in the championships as now he was very cold as well. Not one to give up, Ian still started strongly but it felt like he had never warmed up for the event in the first place as his legs and hands were very cold. Negotiating the roundabouts with little trouble the rain hit hard again on the return leg from the turn. Approaching the finish, visibility was down to just a few metres and Ian could barely make out features on the side of the road but he eventually finished the race with a time of 22.02 which placed him 47th overall. Feeling well below par recently, this was still one of Ian’s lowest positions for a few years in the National 10 championship.

Starting as a reserve rider, Sam Tuplin also rode the men’s senior event. Starting as a reserve, Sam didn’t know until the morning of the event his starting position which didn’t help his preparation on the day. Sam still rode the event to finish with a very creditable time of 23.54.