King of Speed 8 report

Rook takes King (of speed). Almost, anyway. Carl Martin nearly got taken out by a rook in tonight’s 10-mile time trial in the King of Speed series. It was hopping about at the side of the road and took off - straight through his front wheel. He heard some squawking and a knock but it wasn’t there later. Luckily Carly has tri-spoke wheels, otherwise the rook would have been messily bisected and Carl would have been eating tarmac.

As it was, Carl had a strong ride on a night that - while warm and sunny - was very breezy. He was a clear winner at the finish, with a time of 23:51 (25.16mph). I (Dan) was second, but for that I have to thank either a) Tom Stockill’s shoddy seatpost/poor maintenance or b) the mighty, seatpost-destroying power that Tom was putting out during the ride. (Take your pick!) His saddle fell off around 7 miles or so into the race. He stopped, picked it up, put it in his pocket, and finished the race standing on his pedals - stopping once more when the saddle fell out of his jersey pocket. Despite all this, he finished with a personal best time of 26:26 (22.70mph).

Dave Schubert also did a personal best in this event, with a time of 28:33 (21.02mph). That’s enough for him to win the Best Improver competition in the series by a clear margin. This was based on the 5 and 10 mile events only, and he improved in every event.

The final event in the series, the 25-mile TT next Monday, will decide who in the club wins the King of Speed. Best result by a non-club member is a forgone conclusion: Dave Thompson of Scarborough Paragon.

Thanks to Jeff Francis and Kathy Underwood for time keeping.

1 Carl Martin 23:51 (25.16mph)

2 Dan Joyce 25:54 (23.17mph)

3 Tom Stockill 26:26 (22.70mph)

4 David Schubert 28:33 (21.02mph)

5 Jimmy Morrison (Paragon) 28:56 (20.74mph)