Racing along the A1 Great North Road
Legend has it that the infamous highwayman, Dick Turpin, escaped from London to York in 15 hours up the Great North Road. The 409 mile road has been in existence for many years – dating back to the Roman times when they built their roads nice and straight. These days, the Great North Road is not exactly a place for riding a horse, but, we still have a few cycle races on the sections of A1 which are not yet a motorway.
The race organised by Bedfordshire CC was early Sunday morning; traffic volumes, at that time are not too heavy, though by the end of the race there is a fairly steady stream of traffic. The idea of cycling on such a busy road is not everyone’s cup of tea. But, when you are actually racing it feels safer than it looks. It is less stressful than cycling through busy city centres – squeezing in between parked cars. Of course, the feeling of relative safety may be misplaced because vehicles are moving pretty quick, and any accident is more likely to be serious given speed of cars.
Racing past the mass ranks of spectators
The road surface is nice and smooth, which makes a big difference when your tyres are pumped up to 140psi (10 bar). A few minor inclines prevent it being really quick, but, because of traffic you do go faster.
I think I finished 5th out of 100+ on the start sheet in a time of 54.31. I enjoyed the speed of the race, though I do find it difficult to raise my heart rate early in the morning. Though to put the average speed in perspective, they say Ursain Bolt reached a speed approaching 26mph in his phenomenal new 100m world record of 9.58 secs.
It wasn’t dick turpin, all he was was a thug. the ride was done by “swift nick nevinson” he was pardoned by the king but broke his parole and came back to the country. he was arrested at the three houses at sandall near wakefield, tried and hung.
Great time, well done!
The winner did 52.00
The competition record for 25 miles is 45 minutes something set by Chris Boardman
Congrats for the time trial performance. Bolt did the last 20 meters in 1.62 seconds. That means 27.75 mph which i think was your average speed on this TT. What time had the winner?