Just to make it interesting, on Thursday, the local Highway authority decided to upgrade the old road from Usk to Raglan and using that old favourite of mix of chippings and tarmac. As you can imagine, with only two days traffic this resulted in an interesting decent immediately after the start.
The first 2 minutes were decidedly hairy as riders picked their way between three lines of loose gravel. Even if you made it down ok, finishing was a lottery with some 10 competitors failing to finish due to Punctures.
Once out on the dual carriageway, the strong tail wind meant for quick times to the Tunnels but for those who braved the wind and dodged the punctures the reward was a long hard slog back to Usk.
Hugh Davies was the fastest of the PTW riders recording a superb 57:01
Other times recorded were
Les Thomas 1:01:07
John Stroud 1:03:18
Vernon Davies 1:04:52
Dai Triggs 1:13:26
Wyndham Thomas DNS
Also a notable ride by young Rhys Lloyd with a 53:35 for a creditable 4th Place.
The event was won by Alan Cook with a 51:33