Ian Dalton successfully defended his
National Masters Time Trial Championships on Saturday
3rd September. Ian covered 2 laps of a hilly course
around Holme Valley near Huddersfeild in Yorkshire to
regain his title with a comfortable margin over the
silver medallist.
The course covered an 8.5 mile circuit around Penistone
in Yorkshire, taking in two steep and long climbs around
the Denby and Upper Denby area. The riders started on
the main A629 road linking Huddersfield with the M1
before turning left to descend 2 miles to the village
of Cawthorne. A tight left hand turn at Cawthorne saw
the riders descend further before climbing again to
Denby. Once the climb was completed at Denby, a sharp
left turn saw the race descend to the bottom of the
tough 1 mile Upper Denby climb to descend back toward
the start and complete 1 lap.
1000 feet of climbing per lap.
The event, which is a joint competition organised between
the two governing bodies of the sport, is split into
age categories with Ian defending his title he won last
year in the 30-39 age group. A cool morning greeted
the riders with a nagging cold breeze from an Easterly
direction helping the competitors up the climbs but
making the start and finish sections of the race very
hard.
Ian had been out on the course a week earlier to get
an idea of the technicalities of the circuit looking
at his braking areas, how fast he could take the corners
and what gearing he would use. This information was
immediately effective to Ian as he covered the first
lap at great speed, and descended into the Village of
Cawthorne at 50mph without hesitation. Ian covered the
first lap in a time of 23.20 which put him into the
provisional lead but was only 10 seconds ahead Graeme
Stirzaker (Angliasport). With the time gap between first
and second place so tight, Ian ploughed on the pressure
on the second lap, using all of his course knowledge
gleaned the week before to shave seconds off his lap
time where ever he could. Meanwhile, Stirzaker was tackling
the climbs with menace and looked to be going just as
well as Ian and crossed finish line with an impressive
time of 45.03. The mark was now set for the day and
Stirzaker was now in the lead and the pressure was now
on Ians shoulders as he was the only rider left on the
road who could beat that time.
Approaching the long drag up to the finish line, Ian
was putting on the pressure and turning the pedals as
fast as he could to cross the finish line in a time
of 44.28, 35 seconds ahead of Stirzaker, to take the
National Championship Title for the second year running.
Meanwhile, competing in the Espoirs category, Sam Tuplin
suffered in the afternoon heat but still managed to
finish 8th over 2 laps of the circuit in a time of 50.13.
Warming up earlier with team mate Gareth, Sam was suffering
with twinges of cramp in his right leg which, despite
massaging before the start, didn’t ease off and
gave Sam some serious pain during the race. Sam started
well and found the descents fast even though he was
using his time trial bike and covered the first lap
in a time of 23.23. As the heat of the day continued
to rise, it was on the second lap where Sam had problems.
The descents were pretty straight forward for him but
as soon as the road went up the cramps returned and
put Sam into trouble. Although disappointed, Sam finished
8th overall in the Under 23 category.
Starting 30 minutes behind Sam in the mens event, Gareth
also had a quick start covering the first lap in a time
of 22.26. Trying not to put all his efforts into the
early miles, Gareth tried to hold back and still covered
the 2 laps of the circuit in a time of 45.09. The mens
event however, covered 3 laps of this hilly course and
on his final lap Gareth slowed dramatically. Gareth
eventually crossed the finish line in a time of 1.11.26
which placed him 27th overall.
Like Sam, Gareth was disappointed but not with his
ride. ‘I entered the wrong event’ Gareth
said afterwards, ‘I should have entered the Masters
category and I think I might have finished 3rd in that
event’.
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