A frosty morning saw Petr, Andy, Matthew and myself heading up to Cold Ash near Newbury for the BKO district event. None of us had checked the details so it was lucky Andy got the 9:05 train not the 10:05 as last start was eleven o’clock due to the Yvette Baker Trophy final that followed. We obviously weren’t the only ones though as just after I started, they began to push competitors through at half minute intervals to get everyone out in time.
Consequently, it wasn’t really a surprise to me when, at number nine, I was caught by a train consisting of Andy and Matthew along with Paul Nixon and Colin Dickson. This was just the kick I needed though and the splits graphs show a) a distinct improvement in my times thereafter and b) that I was pulling my weight. Indeed, at seventeen I managed to pull away and stay clear until the end. The gap was sufficient to beat the first three although it then transpired that they had all mispunched before they caught me. The results have me in a respectable seventh place although six minutes down on Richard Barrett.
Congratulations to Deeside who won the Yvette Baker Trophy with Octavian Droobers a close second.