May reports 2009

5th May 2009
The rain stayed away but the wind didn't. Quite windy and chilly is a fair description of the conditions tonight, (we should be in Mallorca...).
Arthur sitting this one out as part of his recovery cycle after his 50 miler on Sunday (in that howling wind...pheww) and a great time too, 2:04 plus few seconds.
Simon was having bike problems and also missed out on a ride tonight.
SO, it was down to one, me. Not an epic ride by any means and finishing with 24:53 highlighted my lack of strength on a windy night. Must try harder, (is that possible when you're already going at 100%???).
The other Keith was taking a break tonight and by wisely staying at home missed the rain after the event.
Only the 2 shots tonight and a photo reminder of where we should be right now.
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The top island gang

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A little reminder

Official site of the Phoenix C.C. (Aintree). Created and Maintained by K.W.Williams.
To contact:- e-mail keithw@liv.ac.uk

12th May 2009
I heard it said tonight that the wind was a "bit funny", I laughed, knowing that most of the riders had suffered a very hard ride due to the "funny" wind doing its best to destroy any signs of improvement in their times.
There was also fear written across their faces as they tried to stay on course and not to take a sideways detour across the fields.
On reflection...... perhaps using 'funny' was a good description because a few riders did very well. Arthur, holding on to the bars like grim death and only briefly using the tri-bars surprised himself by finishing with 22:48, which was much quicker than anybody else out there.
I was a DNS due to a puncture 3 minutes before my start time.

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Thanks to Keith Linge for the 3 Photos of Arthur.

Great shot of Arthur's shiny new bike, with Arthur attached.	Arthur, disappearing into the sunset never to be seen again....	Photoshop modified by blurring all except Arthur.
		Stitched up!!!

Spent some time waiting for Arthur to appear. My night wasn't going to plan so I suppose I should have expected this.... (centre photo)

19th May 2009
The earlier rain had passed and we were left with the overcast grey cloud cover with a chill in the air. First thoughts were that tonight was going to be a fast night, but not a floater. How wrong could we be, it was the hardest night this year.
The Marshals were well wrapped up, as in photo, but clearly oblivious to poor Arthur's trip down the farmer's field, reducing his time to a miserable 23:25
For most of us 23:25 would be a time to be proud of but I was just about to get the violin out of the boot to accompany his crying..... Maybe he thought he was still finishing the Etape Du little hills of Yorkshire and was admiring the beautiful views... or maybe he couldn't find his big ring after spending most of Sunday twiddling a tiny 34 27 gear.
Sorry Arth, you did say try something a little stronger and there was only me and thee racing and I'm not going to have a dig at myself (well not tonight anyway).
I was bit slower than last week, that's all I'm saying....................
Keith Linge took some some dramatic photos this week. He was braving the cold so we can have a colourful web site, thanks Keith.

 

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26th May 2009

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