PTW

Firstly, don't be put off by the strange-looking course code. It's the dual!

Basically it's a South Wales District initiative that allocates new course codes for club events and enables us to submit a slightly less onerous risk assessment that reflects the lower number of riders and lower volume of traffic on a Thursday evening when compared to a full-blown Saturday afternoon 'Open' event. I'll walk you through how the code works;

R = South Wales District
C = Club Event
10 = Distance
22 = The year submitted (a nice coincidence that the course was/is the R10/22A!)
R = Resolven (every course is given a 'local to' place name).

OK. Moving on to the time-trial itself here are the essentials;

1. We meet up at the Neath Canal Car Park in Resolven for signing on from about 17.45hrs and closing at 18.20hrs for a prompt 18.30hrs race start.

2. You have to be a member of the PTW or a second-claim member of the PTW. There is no 'single race' fee - you have to join the club as a first-claim or second-claim member.

Course Description

START on the Vale of Neath Supplier Estate service road opposite Lamp Post No. 18. Proceed eastwards along the service road to the Resolven Roundabout (0.458 miles). (Safety Notice:- Do not cross the centre line of the road on the right hand bend). Take the 1st exit left along A465 dual carriageway westbound to the 1st exit left (4.862 miles). Continue up the loop to the small Tonna Roundabout where take the 1st exit to the large Aberdulais Interchange. Take the 4th exit (5.505 miles) to proceed down the slip road to re-join A465 dual carriageway. Proceed eastbound to the Resolven Roundabout where take 1st exit left to FINISH at the access road to the Canal Car Park on the cross-valley link road (10.006 miles).

Not bad boys and girls! Fair play!

The 2022 club event season got underway last night in cool conditions and although the wind had noticeably dropped the temperature fell to single figure values after that brief hail storm before the race. Twelve riders started and I think all were pleasantly surprised by their times and we had a close finish that gives us a preview of battles ahead.

Anyway, we had a new member get us underway and rather confusingly she is called Emma Davies but it must be another Emma Davies because this one is a brunette. Emma finished with a 27:32 which is excellent for a season opener but our first rider back was John Deeley riding his full-on commuter bike c/w mudguards, rack and track pump! I'd like to thank John for his very kind donation of spare lights just in case someone forgets or arrives with flat batteries - cheers John! Hollie, on her dazzling new TT bike, was home next with a 25:24 which is only 20 seconds away from her 2021 seasons best (SB).

I hadn't noticed that 'Grog' was on his road bike when I set the field but his 24:50 was very competitive on the night and give him the road bike win. Stephan Wilcox was also very competive last night and his 24:47 pipped Mike Broadbent by a single second but it was Matt Jones who took the midfield win with a 24:03 which is only half-a-minute off his 2021 SB so there's plenty more to come.

My definition of 'midfield' might seem to exclude John Aspell and Neil Gregory but they are just a bit too good for midfield at the moment and, in particular, Neil will probably be knocking on the 'top three' door at some stage during the season. Well done to you both.

As I mentioned, it was close at the top with our top three seeded riders finishing with just 12 seconds separating first and third with Mike Hall comfortably dipping under the '22' barrier to finish third with a 21:52. Rob Jones raced home with a 21:45 to finish second but Rod Hicks took the win by just 5 seconds with a 21:40. Well done Rod.

Alfie's 'man of the match' is a tricky one as everyone did well but using everyone's 2021 times as a yardstick I'm awarding it to Hollie for getting to within 20 seconds of her 2021 SB on a cool April evening.

Many thanks to Dai Triggs for time-keeping and to Will and Gareth for marshalling.