Brighton Mitre Hilly 25Mi TT – 18 April 22
Glorious weather conditions for this annual pilgrimage to Devils Dyke, just north of Brighton, to race the Robin Johnson promoted hilly 25. Nine riders were entered in the road bike and fifteen in the time trial bike events. The relatively low numbers in part due to a late Easter and other less extreme challenges available for the intrepid time trialist.
The course is as its name suggests, hilly, starting with an ultra-fast 50mph+ and technical decent followed by some undulating and scenic roads then the fearsome climb back up to the top of Devils Dyke and a finish. The course is ideally suited to a youthful, very light rider with good bike handling skills who can descend without fear, hold a good pace on the undulating sections and finish as if wearing the polka dot jersey. Peter Owen the only Norwood Paragon rider on the day only able to claim that he can descend without fear.
The time trial bike event was won by Pat Wright, Paceline RT, in a time of 59.27- and first-woman Tracey Williams, Brighton Mitre, at 1:18:06. The road bike event was won by Richard Cartland, HuntBikeWheels, in 1:04:14.
Peter Owen rode boldly holding on to avoid the Lantern Rouge with a time of 1:20:48. This not his fastest time for the course but the years do begin to take their toll as did the additional winter covering that is a bit late coming off this year.
Any club rider can get an entry to one of these events that are not on super-fast courses, and they are always well organized and a pleasure to ride. Everyone who rode enjoyed the challenge and as ever with a time trial it’s all about the time you achieve relative to your peers and your previous rides. I would encourage all to ride these events as they need our continued support to survive.
Peter Owen
If you’d like more information on riding time trials, come & give our club TT’s a go, details here. Alternatively, please see the CTT website.