Mick Harris took full advantage of near perfect conditions on the hilly Long Swamp course today to take victory once again in the Armidale Cycling Club 15K ITT. Riding on a conventional bike, Mick posted a time of 22m:37s, just 7s outside his PB set earlier this year but still with an average speed over 40kph. He was the only rider to go under 11 minutes on the outward leg, and 12 minutes on the hillier return.

John Scott-Hamilton pushed his 30s man hard though and was just 10s slower at the turn. On the homeward run the two riders swapped places a number of times as Johnny couldn’t hold Mick on the climb of Imbota but had the edge of the downhill and flat sections aboard his TT rig. He was no match for Mick on the final Dump Hill, ultimately finishing in second place, 56s down but recording a PB for the course, bettering his previous time which had stood since November 2014.

Also on a conventional bike setup, Holly Harris took fastest female with a punchy 26:08, almost two minutes down on her own PB but still an impressive 6th fastest overall on the day and only just missing out on a top five spot by a handful of seconds. That fifth place went to Andrew Kirk who caught the attention of race officials on Dump Hill as he encouraged a group of riders to work together on the climb, once again skirting with regulations, but fortunately this time without his Lorna Jane active wear.

David Cook grabbed third place with an impressive 24:35 as he looks to be coming back into some form but the achievement story of the day belonged to Tom Simmonds who rode a great race, shaving over a minute off his own PB and finishing fourth overall with a 25:04.

Other notable performances included a PB for Clint Bourke (who elected to ride his conventional bike), and James Harris who made his two-wheeled comeback following a MTB injury a few weeks back. Full details of all rider historical race performances are available on our Senior Race Results page which includes details of every handicap race and ITT event since January 2014.

Congratulations to all riders and especially to Mick on another excellent result. Many thanks to Wilf who volunteered to do the signs and run the race ably assisted by Col as always.

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