I'd stayed overnight so only had a 10 minute drive to the HQ, but still had a 4.30 alarm. Started fairly steady on the rolling SC bit, the onto the DC and into metronome mode. At the top end of the course at Red Lodge there's a dog-leg onto a B road to make up some mileage, with a bit of a rough surface. Somewhere on this bit, at about 30 miles, my bike started rattling like an old butcher's bike, but I couldn't figure out what was causing the noise. Back on the DC and I glanced down between my legs and things were dangling down a bit wonky (steady Finbar
). I'd put one of those behind the saddle bottle cage things on, and one of the bolts clamping it to the saddle rails had sheared off. I pulled in at the next layby and made a running repair; swiped off the gaffer tape covering the valve hole in my disk wheel and used it to help keep the clamp in the right place on the saddle rails. I didn't hold out much hope for this surviving for another 65 miles. It did though, up and down the DC for another lap, back onto the SC for the last few miles and finished in 4:31:27.Paul also had mechanical trouble when his saddle took a dislike to his seatpost. Luckily Mrs T was nearby in the Tunnell team-car so a bike swap got Mr T going again for a 4:37 finish.
Andy Bason was the winner with a rapid 3:37, Nik "Big Ring" Bowdler 2nd in 3:41.
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