Sunday 15 October 2017
October is here again I am sure that the season goes quicker each year (just as the hills keep getting steeper). It’s time for the Spin Wheels Team to promote the final open event of the Season for the VTTA, a fifteen-mile time trial held on the Q15/1 course. Sadly, this year the numbers were down from 66 to 38 riders.
As always, the event starts for us on the Saturday with Alyson Nye collecting the hire car so that we can go and check the course for road works and any other hazards, this year no problems as the whole course had been resurfaced.
Sunday morning up at 04.00 for a final course check and to put out the signs, boy are we glad it’s not a 06.00 start. No problems and probably the best morning that we had in the five years we have been doing the event, little wind and just the odd mist patch rolling about the marsh.
Back to the hall and Alyson unlocks the hall – masters the alarm only to find we don’t have access to the main hall. Well it wouldn’t be our event without something. Ann Burden set up the tea bar in an anti-room which we had to use for signing on. Not being able to use the main hall we were denied access to the main screen so Keith Burden improvised with the only available laptop to set up a results service which Vicky Marshall coped with without problem.
Timekeepers Val and Tony Peachy and Chris Burrows arrived, this is always a relief for the organiser even though they have all done more than their fair share of events throughout the season. DNS is not an option for them.
Keith Burden goes off to take photos on his way checking that all marshals are in place, Alec Mayes (Ashford) ready to push off and Mark Amon (Rye) with our own club stalwarts Sue and Taj Matharoo at Bridgefield and Barry Goodsell and the Rye at Brenzett.
With the event now on the Q15/1 there are more marshals and officials required than the Spin Wheels Team have members, so it was thanks to the Ashford Wheelers and Rye & District Wheelers for helping out with marshals.
The event went off without incident but is always great when course marshal Gary Booth tells you that all riders are back safely. Somehow after this news the tea and cake supplied by Ann Burden and Karen McGarry taste a lot better.
Sadly because of shift working patterns and the amount of annual leave that would have to be taken by Alyson this is our final year of promoting this event after five years. We will miss doing it as we so lucky to keep a very good team which hardly changed from year to year – just a few additions when it moved to the Q15/1 course.
Val and Tony Peachey Timekeeping the finish