PTW

"Light cloud and a gentle easterly breeze - 13°C"

OK so we've settled in to our regular 7pm start time and the weather looks a bit cool with that easterly breeze but thankfully a lot less windy than of late.

Here are the essentials;

1. We meet up at the Neath Canal Car Park in Resolven for signing on from about 18.00hrs and closing at 18.45hrs for a prompt 19.00hrs 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).

Good event tonight and it was nice to see a few new faces.

We had 23 riders last night and I counted them all out and I counted them all back - well, Dai Triggs did anyway. Thankfully, it wasn't as cold as it has been recently but there was a keen easterly breeze that made it tougher than expected causing most of you to be about 35 seconds slower... but there were some notable exceptions!

Starting with Amy Seppman, first off and first back with a huge 98 second thrashing of her time from two weeks ago. Fantastic! There's Alfie's 'man of the match' right there. Boom! Progress was also made by Doctor Gavin Thomas (he's not a doctor but you should see his handwriting) who trimmed 15 seconds off last week and also gave Stephan a post-ride running partner. Emma Davies had a lonely ride but just managed to pinch a vital one second advantage off her chasing minuteman Stephen Morgan but Stephen does temporarily claim the bragging rights in the Morgan household by finishing ahead of young Ethan.

Diane Wilson-Evans continued her good early season form with a 26:25 whilst John Shehan really leapt forward with a 31 second beating of his time from last week. Hollie Labunsky was 40 seconds down on her excellent SB from a few weeks back but is building a useful lead in the Ladies points competition. Clinton Evans, in his customary early start, finished 4th and was 20 seconds down so fared a little bit better than most. Riding his first club event of the season, Hugh Pascoe was well up there finishing 8th with a 23:29 but there's a lot more to come from Hugh who was knocking on the door of a '21' during our short 2020 season (I almost mentioned the C-word there).

On a much more appropriate machine, John Deeley made a false improvement of 48 seconds but at least has a true benchmark for the season ahead. Bill Gannon stealthily snuck into the top half of the results table with a 24:09 that was only 9 seconds off his 2021 SB. A good ride that Bill and it was noted by some of your midfield rivals! Stephan Wilcox knocked out another '24' as did Mike Broadbent and both were about on par with their deficit compared to their SB. Matt Jones was well off the pace but this was at the end of a long working day with an early start so just counts as training. Back on a TT bike was Graham Rogerson who knocked out a short '23' to take 7th but needs a 21:30 to beat his best from 2021.

David Wilson-Evans was only 16 seconds off his SB so, in reality, went forward compared to others. Karl 'Alaphilippe' Rees made his season debut with a 24:02 so can aim for a '23' next time out and a '22' on a fine summer's evening. Neil Gregory finished 6th with a 22:42 which was 25 seconds off his SB so, again, a slightly better deficit than the 35 second average deficit.

It was nice to welcome Dan Jenkins from the Bynea and his PTW club event debut was a very competitive 22:27 to take 5th place. Our top three had a familiar look to it with Rod Hicks finishing 3rd with a 22:01, Mike Hall finishing 2nd with a 21:43 and Neil Seaward took the win with a 21:18 - well done Neil. With Alfie's MOTM already decided I've left the prestigious 'midfield win' until last. The algorithm for the midfield win is, of course, a trade secret and some of you rule yourselves out by being too good! But, this week, the midfield win goes to Hugh Pascoe.

Many thanks to Dai Triggs for time-keeping, Will for the whistles and also to JD & Joan for covering the turn.