Dunc Get's it by a Whisker (Dunc is the almost hidden rider)

Ian's Report

We had a very good showing from Stockport at the RR on Saturday!

Dunc won in a very close final sprint against a guest rider (Andy Parr, Revolution Fitness) with Geoff hot on their heels as 2nd Clarion rider.

Video of the sprint here

A small field of about 20 took the start at a breezy Darley Moor. There was plenty of attacking going on from Dunc, Andy Parr and the Nottingham riders mostly, however the headwind drag to the start/finish line dulled most riders aggression and legs and nothing would go clear.

The repeated accelerations got the better of my legs with about 6 laps to go leaving me with a painful 20 minutes alone against the wind to keep ahead of Andy Horner!

Lindsay Clarke rode comfortably in the bunch to win the Women’s prize uncontested but creditably.

The National Clarion road race champs took place at Darley Moor on what you would class a great day for Darley Moor. The weather was warm and dry, but the wind was blowing hard (as normal). The only difference was that the start/finish area was a block headwind which is a first for me. Warming up we were doing 17mph past the finish.

Dunc, Geoff and Ian all took the start line for Stockport. Only Darren & Justin have a pass for not entering
as Darren was on Hooneymoon, and Justin spent the previous Saturday at Darley Moor (in preperation) falling off his bike and shedding skin on the tarmac !!!!

As this was a Clarion event with other TLI riders entering on the line there were a few other riders, with Clarion making up the mass of the event.

We all set off at a very steady pace for the first lap as people tried to see what was in store for the remainder of the race. There were many attacks, but nothing got more than 30 meters away as the wind just knocked any speed out of the legs. I tried a few times only to be told by Andy Horner (Bury Clarion) to "stop doing that!!!!" This was good advice as my legs did seem to tighten up after 30 mins or so. Geoff was also putting in a few digs to try to break things up and this had the same effect with him.

The constant stop/start pace got rid of quite a few riders and unfortunately Ian dropped off (probably thinking of the hill climb he had the next day).

Towards the last few laps it looked like it was going to come down to a sprint so I was happy with that. If you know Darley Moor then you'll know the finish is after a long drag slightly uphill, and with the headwind made it even harder.

Nick Hall from Bury picked up the pace with 1/2 mile to go which caught a few people out, i.e. me and Geoff. We had to make our way up the group on the left (into a  crosswind), then we turned into the headwind it was just a mad dash to the line trying to leave it as late a possible to get out of any slipstream to the line.

Dunc JUST got it ahead of Andy Parr (Revolution Fitness) / Non Clarion, with Geoff getting 3rd (2nd Clarion) a great SCCC 1-2 !!!!!!

The sprint was at 29.9mph into the headwind; probably 29.899999 for Andy Parr.

Dunc's Garmin

Race Results

Over 50's

Under 16's

Thanks to Matt Hall and Emma Emerton in helping with the judging