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Wiltshire | 18.5 miles | U604
Mikey Mottram (Ribble Collective) and Ruth Shier (Hutchinson - Brother UK) battled to victories in the men’s and women’s events respectively at the National Road Bike Championship.
Meanwhile, Matthew Thompson (Rugby Racing Cycling Club) and Poppy Kisley (Banbury Star Cyclists' Club) were the fastest junior boys’ and girls’ competitors.
The U604 saw riders complete an 18.5-mile loop around the South Gloucestershire countryside. Starting on the A420 competitors were greeted to a tailwind on the fast downhill section for the opening three miles down to Ford.
Competitors then turned onto the A4039 through Burton to Acton Turville coming after 12 miles. Riders then joined unclassified roads to Tormarton and then a climb towards the finish.
Men’s winner Mottram came into the event having finished third in the National Circuit Championships two years ago in the road bike category.
The 33-year-old, from Wallingford, was the only rider to break the 40-minute barrier stopping the clock in 39 minutes and 40 seconds.
The battle for the remaining podium positions was a close one with Paul Burton (Paceline RT) second with 40-02 and Guido Blee (Paceline RT) stopping the clock in 40-10 for third place.
“It was a tough course, but it was good,” said Mottram. “It was a really fast start, so it was a real trap not to good too hard early on.
“I set off the first 10 minutes definitely going off too hard and managed to find a pace and sit on it after a bit.
“The difficult finish definitely suited me as I was using a bit of raw power to get up the climbs. I don’t really do any time trialling at all so I’m definitely happy with it.
“I’ve been going quite well in training so thought that I’d give it a go. I’m exclusively a gravel cyclists and I’ll certainly try and do more of the sporting time trials over the winter.”
The women’s event saw Shier record an average speed of over 24.1 miles per hour on her way to stopping the clock in 45 minutes and 55 seconds.
Shier, aged 32, from Eastbourne, finished second earlier this season in the East Sussex CA 10 but was not to be denied this time out.
Joanna Brewis (Sheffrec CC) finished second in 47-14 which was 13 seconds faster than Miranda Clements (Cambridge University CC) (47-27).
“It was really good and I really liked it,” said Shier. “I’d looked at the weather and knew that it was a tailwind to start and downhill.
“I knew I had to go pretty hard from the start to get as much speed as possible. I tried to carry as much speed from that first section and carry on from the end.
“The final had a kick up and then dragged all the way to the finish into a headwind, which when you were suffering was quite hard.
“I was pretty done towards the end so I tried to hang on as well as I could. It’s the end of my season so it was really nice to do a time trial on my road bike.
“It’s nice to get a CTT national title.”
In the juniors’ category there was a close battle for the boys’ honours with Thompson stopping the clock in 43-20 which was just eight seconds quicker than Matthew Gilmour (Backstedt Bike Performance Junior Race Team), while Mathys Veter (Maindy Flyers Cycling Club) finished third (44-46).
The junior girls’ event saw Kisley record an average speed of over 19.9 miles per hour on her way to posting a time of 55-41, ahead of Sophie Heighton (Ferryhill Whs) in second (56-40).
Michael Vernon (North Devon Velo) was the quickest juvenile boy, ahead of James Tregear (Wheal Velocity) in second (54-10), while Thomas Bennett (Palmer Park Velo) finished third in 56-13.
In the veteran men’s categories the quickest were: Paul Burton (Paceline RT) aged 40-44 in 40-11; Cris Coxon (Brighton Mitre CC) aged 45-49 in 40-53; Kevin White (Matlock CC) aged 50-54 in 42-50; Simon Bowler (AS Test Team) aged 55-59 in 44-49; Garry Hobbs (Stroud Valley Velos) aged 60-64 in 44-44; Patrick Ellerbeck (St Neots CC) aged 65-69 in 48-26; Mick Stevens (Melton Olympic CC) aged 70-74 in 50-49; Raymond Batsford (Penge Cycle Club) aged 75-79 in 1-08-51; John Murphy (Gloucester City Cycling Club) aged 80-84 in 1-15-22.
In the veteran women’s categories the quickest were: Joanna Brewis (Sheffrec CC) aged 40-44 in 47-14; Chris Murray (Army Cycling) aged 45-49 in 50-09; Angela Carpenter (...a3crg) in 48-37; Claire Emons (...a3crg) aged 55-59 in 51-17; Judy Brown (Newmarket Cycling & Triathlon Club) aged 60-64 in 54-20; Theresa Frost (Tri Logic Cornwall) aged 65-69 in 57-06.
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