A glorious winters days saw the return of the 2-rider TT format to the racing calendar after a lengthy absence. Some pre-ride discussion on the format had riders debating whether they could put on their disc wheels and point helmets, but Houlty quickly ruled that all bikes and equipment were permissible, and with favourable weather conditions the specialist bikes would have a definite advantage on the rolling Dangarsleigh 20km parcours.
With the time taken on the 2nd rider across the line, the pairs of riders would need to communicate well to ensure they finish together. Unfortunately someone forgot to tell Johnny, and the Eagle was rocking a full over-the-ear aero helmet which meant he couldn’t hear a thing when out on the course, a factor that would come to bite later in the race.
First off were Olly & Helen, with riders setting off behind at 1 minute intervals. Next off was Captain Creagan returning from an extended siesta in Spain, matched with Pete Wilko. The 2 Emily’s were an obvious match both in name and pacing, as were the father & daughter pair of Pete and Katherine Hosking. A couple of interesting pairs saw riders on TT bikes matched with a road bike partner – at 3 mins Hayden would provide the power while ice-cold Billy Mara would do the pacing on the hills; meanwhile Richard Wilko would set the pace with Clint “Cat” Bourke chipping in with some strong pulls. The 2nd last pair saw Phil “Keglegs” Thomas paired with Andy Robb as the only exclusive TT bike pair; while last off the Eagle on his TT rig was riding with Pat Ferris on a conventional bike.
The outbound leg had a cross-tailwind making for a fast start….as riders hit the turn, the early pace setters were the Hosking duo, with some outstanding teamwork seeing Dene Bourke and Olive Tutt hot on their heels. Richard Wilko was doing a fine job pacing the Cat to just pip the Hosking pair for 3rd place at the turn by 3 seconds, setting up a real tussle for the podium on the return leg. But the battle for top spot was well and truly on; Keglegs was setting a steady pace for his team on the outward leg, but the Eagle and Pat were on fire to record the fastest outward leg and have the pair ahead in their sights as they made the turn.
As Keglegs wound up the power on the return leg to try and hold off the chasing pair, disaster struck as the Eagle set a blistering tempo. Pat was unable to hold his wheel, and with Johnny unable to hear Pat’s desperate shouts to ease the pace, the lead pair struggled to stay together as the elastic kept snapping and Pat was put through a world of pain. This opened the door for Keglegs to power his team home, and as the dust settled Phil & Andy took out the win by a mere 6 seconds from Johnny & Pat. It was also a battle Royale for 3rd place on the return leg, as Richard Wilko brought his team home to just cling on to 3rd place by 5 seconds from the Hosking duo – great riding all round!
Well done to all riders for working well as a team; thanks to Wilf for some of the best road signage I’ve ever seen, to Col for manning the turn, and Mick for running the start and finish. Next week we return to RROTY for round 8 on Dangarsleigh.
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