More importantly, on Sunday, Willesden put in a good showing at the Hillingdon 25 near Marlow. Richard Jerome, riding his new 57-tooth chainring, clocked a 59:00, for his second fastest time ever (and 34th place) I did a 59:11, having cycled 30 miles out to the start in a mutinous mood, which is also my second fastest time ever (35th place) Stuart Birnie, somewhat hungover and also having cycled 30 miles out to the start, did a remarkable 1:01:29 in his first ever 25, moreover, he wasn’t using aerobars or a silly hat (42nd place). Chris James did a 1:08:38, and disappeared off to watch a road race that afternoon (62nd place).
What all this means is that Willesden CC, while not winning the team prize, nonetheless managed to get a sub-3 hour team time for Richard, Stuart and my time (2:59:40) – I can’t recall this happening since I’ve been a member of the club, so this is an achievement which must be celebrated by allowing Stuart to get in a round of beers, seeing as these obviously have a performance enhancing effect when combined with kebabs.
Mick Fountain had a crash near the finish, so Richard and Stuart manned the electronic scoreboard with great aplomb, while Mick got patched up. Best wishes to Mick for a speedy recovery, and many thanks to Hillingdon CC for a top event.
Ed Packard
Here’s my vague-as-usual race report:
http://thehippy.net/nucleus/index.php?itemid=1072