Three Sotonia riders (James Peckham, Phil Wilks and Ed Slot) took on the a3crg Hard Riders 10 mile time trial on Saturday 27th February on the rolling p886 course with strong tailwind out and a blustery headwind for the return uphill drag. The attraction for many in this edition was that the course will be used in August for the National Ten (Men’s) and quite a few riders wanted to test out the course which runs between Rake and the Ramshill roundabout at Petersfield.

Ed Slot was the early starter in the road bike category, Finishing just outside top ten in 11th with a time of 27.03.

In the TT bike classification, Phil Wilks overcame difficulties with loose cleats to finish 16th:

[quote color=”#666666″]It was a classically well run a3crg event with results up on the projector by the time you get back to HQ. The course was unusual – undulating but generally downhill for the first half and then back up for the second half. I did quite a lot of free wheeling with a tailwind down the main hill. Strava says I hit 43.8mph. I have had a new pair of cleats on my shelf for a couple of months but haven’t bothered putting them on. I’ve learned my lesson as I came unclipped on the steepest section of the course when I was grinding it out of the saddle. I don’t know how much time this cost me but due to the gradient I almost came to a halt. Still pleased with my result though.[/quote]

James was top Sotonia rider in 11th place:  [quote color=”#666666″]It seemed I was either at 34mph or 14mph! I managed to miss out on top ten by two seconds to finish joint 11th. A good test for the national 10, should nail that in the summer![/quote]

With a strong team this year, Sotonia could be in with a good shout at some team prizes. Its going to be a corking season!

Full results are here