Captain Shackleton informed Lieutenant Holmes of his intentions to engage in combat with local cycling militia from East Lancashire and Merseyside.
Contact was made with the ABC Centreville Militia men and Major Whitehead proposed attacking on two fronts, Lancashire Hill country & Merseyside flat lands . Field Marshall Trippier of East Lancashire Road Club proposed that Battle commence on Blackstone Edge Old Road & then move forward on to Blackstone edge itself. With a final being held on the Yorkshire borders outside Diggle.
The undercover art of Time trialing under both CTT and CTC were discussed fully using a fully encrypted WhatsApp application. Question one was understanding the difference between CTT (Cycling Time Trials) and CTC events (Cycling Touring Club, now Cycling UK) then unraveling district codes, course designations and finally how far in advance you must sign on to qualify for a prize.
Captain Shackleton leading from the front signed up for the two stage event On Blackstone Edge, a 10 Mile Drag Race against Liverpools finest on the Rainford Bypass. Once confirmation that the militias club membership of the CTC allowed participation in the fabled Beard Cup Shackleton duly signed on. Lieutenant Holmes and Major Whitehead signed on too. Warrant Officer, Lone Wolf and Star rider Louis Szymanski committed fully to the first attack before moving out to Derbyshire for a Skirmish on the Cat and Fiddle.
The outcome of stage one was very positive Field Marshall Trippiers Militia provided excellent tea and cakes in the officers Mess before and after the event.
Insurgent Dan Evans of Team Elite took overall command of Blackstone Edge Old Road and Blackstone Edge after a battle of 8:44.5 Star Rider Louis fought Valiantly losing less than a minute to his adversary. Shackleton, Whitehead & Holmes all suffered hardship for 11:18, 11:58 and 14:25 minutes respectively.
Moving West to the Rainford Bypass Shackleton and Holmes chose to forgo modern Aerodynamic technology and rely upon traditional Road bikes. A mighty tail wind acted as both a blessing and curse but Shackleton fought on to win the non Aero event Shackleton 23:54 second was Francis McCoy Liverpool Century 25:20 with Holmes limping in at 27:33
The ABC Militia were acknowledged at the start as a force born out of Middleton CC.
Capex approval would be required to even contemplate competing in a technological Arms race with Joshua Williams of Team Bottrill who stormed the event with a time of 19:46
It seems that word had got through that Szymanksi, Whitehead , Shackleton & Holmes were in need of support as 3 Clough’s (Rick 5:35, Hannah 8:35 & Stan 8:58) Joined Gary 6:21 Lake to make up a squad of 8 riders.
This time Star Rider Louis was victorious recording a blistering time of 04:38 while Field Marshall Trippier acknowledged the time no prize could be awarded as the contract was formed on the start line and not in advance.
The battle for a team Prize continues, this time the Venue once again is Blackstone Edge the hosts, West Pennine and this time a team of eight is fully signed up and primed in time for the 2nd of October 2016
Nice report and pics Lieutenant Holmes, ta for that!