LAST year's result in Poole Wheelers' midsummer 25-mile time trial on the Holes Bay course looked like being reversed on Wednesday night.
Steve Walkling (VC St Raphael Waite Contracts) raced into the last leg four seconds ahead of Ray Hughes (Clarence Wheelers).
But Hughes, who started ten minutes after Walking, responded magnificently to cross the finish three miles away in 53min 5secs and win again, this time by four seconds!
Such a narrow defeat, after finishing runner-up 57 seconds behind a year ago, was a bitter pill for Walkling, seemingly destined never to beat his 45-year-old rival.
But the outcome was an exciting climax to an evening which saw veterans Terry Icke (Poole Wheelers) and Glenn Longland (Antelope RS Holdings RT) beat 54 minutes, Hilary Webber (Salisbury RC) chop 2.41 off her qualifying time to record the best improvement and win the women's award, and others like Matt Parton and Bob Smith (Antelope RT) break personal records for the distance.
Walkling's clubmate, Malcolm Cox, who with Simon Berogna formed the winning team, will be doubling the distance when he joins forces with this year's 100-mile sensation, Rowan Horner, and Mark Wareham for the national 50-mile championship in Norfolk this Sunday, the first of three distances on which the British Best All-Rounder Competition is based.
Horner's 100-mile time of three hours 32 min last Sunday must make the Chandler's Ford teacher a candidate for the top three.
Fifty is the appropriate number of entries East Dorset CA has attracted for its annual 50 on the Lytchett Matravers course on the same morning. Though not the fastest entrant, Icke has pole position following his two-minute victory in the Wessex RC 50 on June 1.
Longland organises a less significant time trial championship for The League International in the Test Valley tomorrow afternoon - based at Timsbury and covering 30 kilometres between Romsey and Stockbridge.
Local interest is provided by Richard Burch (Sotonia CC) and his club's septugenarian marathon runner, Ray Gee, plus a seven-strong Antelope RT entry led by Parton. Midweek results:
Eighth 'Goodwood Gallop' - 1 P Pickup (Liphook Cycles RT), 2 P Gough (Portswood Cycles RT), 3 J Edwards (Redhill CC), 4 P Butler (VC Prestige), 5 G Wyatt (GS Europa), 6 K Brooks (VC Neudon).
Poole Wheelers 25, Lytchett Matravers - 1 R Hughes (Clarence Wheelers) 53-5, 2 S Walkling (VC St Raphael) 53-9, 3 T Icke (Poole Wheelers) 53-32, 4 G Longland (Antelope RT) 53-34, 5 M Cox (VC St R) 53-59, 6 R Robinson (Off the Record) 54-20, 7 J Woodburn (Maidenhead CC) 54-59, 8 G Harman (Sotonia CC) 5-9, 9 S Borogna (VC St R) 55-10, 10= T Ayliffe (Salisbury RC) & M Parton (ART) 55-48.
Women's Winner - H Webber (Salisbury RC) 1-2-51.
Racing fixtures (Saturday) - The League International TT Timsbury, 3pm.
Sunday - East Dorset CA 50, Lytchett Matravers, 7 am. Hantspol CC RR D-Day Memorial Hall, Southwick, 10 am.
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