PTW

"Light cloud and light winds" and quite a disappointing forecast 12°C although I am quite liking the wind speed which could be just 6mph.

Anyway, here are the essentials and please note the start time;

1. We meet up at the Neath Canal Car Park in Resolven for signing on from about 18.00hrs and closing at 18.30hrs for a prompt 18.45hrs 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).

Thankfully, it was a bit warmer than the forecast 12°C (my phone told me it was 16°C) with just a gentle breeze so the recipe for a SB/PB was there with the final ingredient being 14 keen testers. New ingredients for this week were David and Diane Wilson-Evans (no introduction necessary) and also Amy Seppman who was riding her first ever club event. Amy was one of five ladies riding night and with a field of just 14 riders that's probably our best as a percentage of starters (36%). Nice to see.

Emma Davies got us underway and clipped 22 seconds off her time from last week but our first rider back was Diane Wilson-Evans with a very short '26' - not bad after three years away from racing with us. New girl Amy snuck under the '30' which is all we can ask from a 'noob' as they grapple with pacing themselves and understanding the course. Trust me on this Amy, in the same conditions next week you'll take a full minute off that time. Ffion 'Ffreezer' Davies was being chased for a minute by the in-form Hollie Labunsky and not only managed to avoid being caught she took a huge 53 seconds off her 2021 SB! Hollie dipped under '25' to record a superb 24:59 - Hollie's best time since August 2020. Girl power!

Clinton Evans was delayed by a dopey lorry driver turning onto the course just as Clinton left the start line but was happy with his 21:55 and that's actually the first time he's dipped under the '22' barrier with us. David Wilson-Evans took the midfield win with a solid 23:25 to finish 5th whilst Stephan Wilcox took a useful 24 seconds off his time from last week to record a 24:23 making a '23' a very serious goal for the season. Mike Broadbent took an even more impressive 45 seconds off his time from last week to record a 24:03. Matt Jones trimmed 14 seconds off his time from last week and just needs to find an additional 16 seconds or more to grab a new PB. Graham Rogerson took the road bike win with a 23:44 - wait for it, a huge 66 seconds better than last week.

Our final three went very much as per seeding or should that be speeding? Neil Gregory sliced 43 seconds off last week’s time to record a 22:17 to finish 3rd whilst Mike Hall finished 2nd with 21:32 a useful 20 seconds faster than last week. Neil Seward was our scratch rider and I was a bit worried that his marathon mileage from Mallorca and lack of race mileage might have blunted his speed a bit but a 21:04 proves otherwise and that time was just a couple of handfuls of seconds away from a PB. Well done Neil.

Once again, there are plenty of candidates for Alfie's MOTM but for a sheer 'beasting' of his time from last week the award goes to Graham Rogerson. Grog, I hope you weren't sand-bagging last week!

Many thanks to Dai, Will, Julian and JD.