A lovely sunny day with a favourable south easterly wind welcomed seven Thorpers and two 2nd claim Thorpers on the drag strip over at Hull today.

 There was a mixed bag of fortunes and performances but it was great to see so many Thorpers out racing! A few people even credited the club on the turn out, so good representation of the “vert et blanc”.

Thw wind was in our faces out to the turn but seen as it is slightly shorter (4.5 miles) it is without doubt the best direction. Sections on the outward leg though saw most of us commenting on hitting >30 mph on the middle outbound section.

The turn was purgatory and was where serious time was lost if a good tempo could not be held, BUT as soon as the front wheel hit the ramp back onto the A63 the speed rocketed!

I personally saw amax speed on 34.16 alongside the petrol station ( more on which later :-(   )

Speds were easy to maintain until the false flat in the middle return section, e.g. the opposite side on the carriageway of the fast outward section Suprisingly it was hard to maintain 25 on there ???

 The finish was a total screamer with speeds held on the incline before the drop prior to the finish with Andy C commenting he spun out in a 54:11, KAPOW my man!!!

Unfortunately I did not experience the fast finish (probably cos I’m not fast anyway!) but I suffered a puncture in a pot hole at the Ellerker turn off, losing 140 PSI in 0.00054 seconds at 31 mph was a bit hair raising :-(  Thanks to the guy who gave me a lift back to the HQ!!!!

 Thankfully this allowed me to cheer on the plethora of Thorpers along to the finish and I must admit there was some power being put down there guys!

Scores on the doors.

Andy C - 21.46 - Excellent 1st ride of the season dude (I’d be happy with that anytime this season!)

Jack - 21.50 NEW PB!!!!! Totally leapfrogged the 22s to get get a 21 is fantastic, well done Jack.

John L - 22.30 A significant improvement in time from last week John.

Les - 22.38 A NEW PB, great riding Les. A good winter of training is certainly paying off!

John C - 23.16 Disappointment for John but a serious fall just 4 weeks back and not riding your bike does have it’s consequences, you will be back on form in a few weeks I’m sure.

Hatty - 23.31 A great time for John, well done, shame we didn’t meet up due to start times.

Steve  - 19.32 !!!!!!!! To the Ellerker turn off

Turns out that my projected time would have been approx 22.15 taking into consideration I was 1.3 miles from the finish. Approximations i know but I was ecstatic how I rode, felt like I hadn’t been off the TT rig for as long as I have. A good solid season awaits me thinks.

Significant others.)

Al Wareham, remember him? He’s the one we all used to beat and laugh at, well he certainly showed us a thing or 2 by knocking out a 20.40, a stunning 28 secs off his PB (at those speeds that is truly astounding, well done buddy!)

Paul - 21.58, another PB and he looked well chuffed, a stunning ride and well deserved!

Hutch won the event because he was sucking Jack’s wheel for a mile and slingshot past him madison style after the turn, earning him a stunning time of 18.07. Blumming ummer, thats fast.

Keep it up guys, we are showing great improvement and all bodes well for the season ahead.

ALLEZ LES VERT!!!!!!

Scores on the dorrs