There can be few sports that offer the opportunity for the journeymen sportsman to compete directly with Olympian champions, but that is exactly what happened on Sunday in the Addiscombe 25 mile TT, were Olympic superstar Joanna Roswell, who rides for the impressive Wiggle Honda Women’s Pro Cycling team, happily rubbed shoulders with mortals made from grosser clay at the local open event. Joanna formed part of the world record breaking, gold medal pursuit team in the London Olympics.
Far from the Olympian drama of the throbbing Velodrome, Joanna found herself encamped at the rather more prosaic setting of the Broadbridge Heath Community Centre car park to prepare for her race. She happily chatted with fellow competitors after the race, much to the delight of Lewes star Nick Dwyer, who was somewhat star struck himself after speaking to Joanna. Nick observed that she was a thoroughly down to earth person who was very approachable and friendly.
Joanna reported on her blog that she found the course lumpy but enjoyable, and finished in ninth position in a fast time of 55:57, an unconfirmed Lady’s course record.
The course is a reserve one and replaced the normal fast Broadbridge Heath route, which has been plagued by on-going roadworks. The new route is tougher as it has a jag saw profile, making it difficult to maintain a constant pace and rhythm throughout the 25-mile journey.
The Lewes contingent had mixed fortunes, and with a little more luck could have easily scooped the team prize, coming second by a narrow margin. Nick Dwyer powered his way up the climbs to finish in third position in a fast time of 53:44. New kid on the block, Phil Allen had a splendid ride, recording an impressive time of 57:.22. Other Lewes times were Duncan Fuller 58:40, Mark Frost 59:05, Peter Morris 59:45, Alan Lloyd 1:03:21, Neil Midgley 1:03:24 and Michael Valks 1:17:29.
Misfortune struck three of the riders, which made a difficult task even harder! There was a four-mile trip from the HQ to the starting point and Michael Valks miscalculated his journey time and arrived at the start a minute late. This incurred him a substantial sixteen minute penalty, hence his rather pedestrian time. Alan Lloyd had cycled half way to the start before encountering a mechanical problem, forcing him to speed back to the HQ for some hasty repairs. With time draining away Alan had to sprint the four miles to the start to arrive in the nick of time to make his starting time. Peter Morris had a different way of making his race longer by going off course to add over a mile to his ride.
Sebastian Ader won the race from a3crg. Sebastian was also victorious at the Hampshire RC Open ten held on a very fast course near Farnham on the previous day. Lewes had one representative at this meeting in the form of Neil Midgley, who posted a very impressive time of 22:36.
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