Wigmore CC 25

[Ivor]

So a return journey to the Q25/8 course on Sunday morning for the Wigmore CC 25.
Late start not off until 8.43, so nice leisurely start to the day despite the drive over.
Knew where the HQ was this time so no need to circle Challock repeatedly looking for funny helmets again .

Sole Agreeable here, but busy busy. 128 riders in total.

Cruised over to the start albeit a little too early, but the sun was shining and everyone came over to admire the yellow beak .

Off for the usual crazy start for this course, practicing descending skills... wow that's FAST! Ah. doh. just in time to spot stupid mistake of the day. Polar watch is displaying speed in kph. oh fudge. I'd set it to metric to set the altitude up, and forgot to switch it back. Didnt fancy twidding with the buttons to try and get the units back, so practiced the mental arithmetic and got on with it.

GrgddgbbdBbvBbBBbbbDGBBB bBbb bBB dGgbb bBbBbBd dF mffmfmf. gosh. this road surface is rough . glgld ldld glglgl dldldld. glad I pumped the tyres up to 115psi since it was a nice dry day.

ok, up on the first long drag towards the first turn, a little undulating but (thought I) kept a pretty good pace up. big grin for the camera. up to first turn and back. tidy.

Getting a bit late in the morning and the traffic seems pretty heavy along the road, ah the disadvantages of a late start.

gahhh. come up behind queue of traffic. a lorry is stuck behind a rider in front causing a tailback and there's a stream of traffic coming the other way, so he cant get past and the road is narrow so I can't get any further either.

ok relax. its not the end of the world. and since I'm not expecting an amazing time, just accept it's just a few extra seconds in the long run.

anyway, he clears, the queue clears and I'm off again. vroom. turn left onto the second leg.
and this is my worst part of this course. I hate it. up and down, up and down, up and down. I have real trouble judging how much to honk up each hill without ending up a gibbering wreck on the flat.
I remembered that last time I'd not pushed hard enough up each rise and decided to try harder this time.
the first one I nail as hard as possible, and get that sick feeling at the top, end up easing off along towards the next bump and nowhere near a decent speed. ok try to take the next one a bit easier and twiddle up, ok lost loads of time going up, but manage to blast along the decent at a rate of knots. oh I hate this course.
round the turn and back again. think I gauge the pace a bit better on the return and seem to be able to mange a pretty decent pace. tidy.
ok left and back up towards the end.
right it's an uphill finish, er now how far up is the line.
I vaguely recall it being quite a way up and so keep a steady pace, turn the corner, oh it's just there. argh, so start churning away like mad and cross the line like a rocket. and over.

Final time: 1:06.20 hmmm. not as much improvement as hoped. Last years time was 1:10.32. still steady progress, but not the same as the improvements I've had on other courses this year.

On the whole. Moderately happy.

[Andrew G]

Hey nice one Ivor, course best by 4 minutes . I do like your write ups, they do make me .

I did that course a couple of times last year and came away a bit mmmmm. I sort of liked it but don't think I did as well as I should have done, those lumps on the second leg must take a bit of practice to know how to ride them I think.

Anyhoo well done. I'm going back there for a couple later this year so may get to admire your helmet in a different county to usual if you're doing those ones - 14/6 - GS Invicta and 5/7 Thanet.

[Doug]

Nice report Ivor.
Well done on your course pb. Found yet another great morning for this event which surprised me considering the weather during the previous days. It was as you know the first full field for an Open Solo "25" un the SEDC since those balmy days of Q25/3 in the 1970's. Excepting of course the day the National came to the County in 1984 when Daryll Webster's 53 was the first of his hat trick of wins.
I gave you a later start having regard to where you were travelling from. If you honour me with an entry in the future then please indicate an earlier start if you wish it. The Chilham course is arguably the best of the 3 currently in use in the SEDC. An event and course record of 52-08 for Ben Instone is the fastest time recorded in the County also since the1970's.
I moved the event off of the Romney Marshes course because of road works about 5 years ago. Back to Chilham, where I picked the event up way back in 1983. A slightly different course than used today, though using the same roads. Decided to stay there, as it was easier for most riders to get to. Because the event was always around the 100 mark I was required to have a 6am start down on the Marshes. So for Chilham a 7am start appealed.
Now the event is attracting good numbers on Chilham, 110 last year, the best ever for any '25' in the County since the 70's and now at last that coveted Full Field. I have worked hard to get there. 137 in by closing time and another 13 followed that. I have to be wary now of the DC giving me an earlier start time. I hope not. I had a chat with Ben for his opinion on the course. No problems. I believe the traffic came along in small groups and then there would be nothing. Well inside the traffic count I reckon.
Thank you Ivor for making yourself known. I would have liked to have had a chat with a few of those that graced the event but just did not have the time. I hope to see you and maybe even an Addiscombe team again next year.
Best wishes to you for a really good season.
Doug Laidlow,
Event Sec.,