The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Neil Palmer was in scorching form as he topped the charts at Spalding Cycling Club’s opening ten mile time trial event of the season.
Held in warm and calm conditions, the event attracted a field of 23 club members and eight guest riders – with a number of personal best (PB) times clocked.
Palmer, who was the outright winner on the night, set the pace with 22.19mins. That time was almost two minutes faster than his result in the same event last year and also a full eight seconds quicker than his 2014 club championship winning effort.
Not to be outdone, Chris Ward achieved much the same, taking just 22.37mins to complete the course.
Again, he was almost two minutes faster than his 2014 time and half a minute quicker than his club championship offering.
Third overall was Andy Bowser, who stormed round the circuit setting a new PB of 24.15mins. Meanwhile, Simon Wright was just beaten into fifth place by club hill climb champion Ben Moore, who recorded 25.07mins.
Away from the pace-setters, impressive PBs went to Mark Hills (27.27mins) and Craig Richardson Wood (29.27mins).
Other times were: Sam Bentley 26.58mins; Rob Boothman 27.40mins; Ross Mcgivern 28.18mins; Gary Bentley 28.28mins; Chris Bettinson 29.09mins; G Hughes 29.49mins; Derek Chamberlain 30.32mins; Brian Johnson 30.52mins and Bill Wood 35.32mins.
The sole under-18 representative, Tom Richardson-Wood, returned a time of 31.45mins, while in the under-16s a clear winner emerged as Matt Ellis got inside 26 minutes for the first time. He stopped the clock in 25.55mins to finish ahead of Jake Norton (26.28mins).
Tom Wright, starting his first full season of time trials, made it back in 31.54mins, with Will Gurney behind him in 35.24mins.
Under-16 Sophie Wright flew the flag for the ladies –and she completed her ride in a solid 33.06mins.
Guest riders Callum McPartlin, Tom Drew and Clare Wookey, of Spalding Triathlon Club, recorded 24.47mins, 28.19mins and 30.32mins respectively.
Louise Day, from Team Swift, finished on 27.18mins, while M Bland – another guest – clocked 34.51mins.
- Neil Palmer, Simon Wright and Chris Ward rode at Sleaford Wheelers CC’s charity ten mile time trial, which raised £1,142 for Cancer Research UK.
Palmer took just 21.53mins to finish fifth, while completing the course in 22.39mins was good enough to secure 16th overall for Ward.
He was just one second ahead of ex-Spalding member Jeremy Hargraves, while Wright was 73rd in a fine 26.05mins.
