The weather conditions were a stiff 18mph northerly headwind outward leg made for a very tough and slow first 13miles, despite being downhill. But this was rewarded by a strong tailwind on the way back, which was a welcome relief and made for much higher speeds up the hill.
Traffic on the course was steady but sensible with all vehicles giving riders plenty of space while overtaking.
With such a short TT season in 2020 made for a very strong field of the best amateur riders from across the country, along with professional team Ribble Pro Cycling fielding a large amount of riders and even Alex Dowsett (Israel Startup Nation) taking the start line after finishing 9th at the UCI World Championships just 4 days before.
Nic Fennell was the only Thanet RC rider attending the event. Battling the headwind to the turn averaging 28.1mph, before returning on the fast return leg finding at points that the 58tooth chainring was only just large enough in places when the road levelled out. Crossing the line in a time of 49:27 (30.3mph). Setting a new power PB of 330w NP for the distance in the process, which was good enough for 19th overall.
2nd claim member Chris Fennell also had a very strong ride finishing in a time of 45:46 (32.8mph), good enough for 3rd overall. Just 6 seconds behind 2nd. And 12 seconds faster than Alex Dowsett.
2nd claim member Alex Clay finished 3rd in the women’s event finishing in a time of 53:50, over a minute ahead of the 4th place rider. The women’s field was also stacked with very strong riders.
1st – John Archibald – Ribble Pro Cycling – 44:50
2nd – Dan Bigham – Ribble Pro Cycling – 45:40
3rd – Chris Fennell – Independent Pedlar – 45:46
4the – Alex Dowsett – Israel Startup Nation – 45:58
Post from Nic Fennell