Tour of the Langtons TT report

28 riders lined up for the Tour of the Langtons TT this morning. As well as being a Club Championship event, this was Round 8 of the Round Robin TT Series, jointly organised with our friends Ratae Road Club.

Fastest rider was Ratae RC’s Alex Whitmore with 23:12 on a roadbike, followed by Hans Van Nierop (23:30) and James Moore (23:47). Fastest woman was Linda Hubbard with 29:02.

Results and standings in the WVCC Club Championships courtesy of Mike Ives (having cleared up again after his padawan) are here: https://wellandvalleycc.github.io/2025ClubChampionshipEvent22.htm

Final Round Robin standings will be available later this week.

Youth rider Aubrey Elmer (with some help from Richard Hardwicke) coerced his dad Chris to ride his first TT, and to add insult to injury, your correspondent got Chris to do a report:

“I have been a rider of bicycles for 40+ years but this has meant lots of London commuting or gentle exploring in the countryside. The closest I’ve come to competition since childhood is some Strava KOMs many years ago because I was quite an early user of the app. I have never really thought of myself as a cyclist, I just like riding my bike. Riding bikes is awesome.

A double pronged attack from Richard Hardwick and my son convinced me that I should attempt the TT this morning. Lots of lovely positive comments greeted me from everybody except James Moore who told me with glee that I’d chosen the hardest possible for my first one. Thanks James, ever the positive little ray of sunshine.

I had a few goals for the ride and achieved them all.

• My GPS unit did not auto pause at any point.
• Aubrey was not twice as fast as me (helped by him riding a gravel bike today after months injured)
• I was not the last person back – I’d worried that I would hold the timekeepers up as I counted the people passing me. I was number 14 of 29 and not the last to cross the line.
• Remember to clip out at the end (Today was my second day riding clipless)

I reckon I’ll take those as wins but I think I will revert to my role as Aubrey’s mechanic, driver, soigneur, nutritionist, chef, sponsor and DS for the upcoming hill climb.

Thanks to the marshalls and timekeepers, your efforts are appreciated.“

Thanks Chris, well done on your ride and the report.

Next up is the the Interclub Hill Climb on Sunday 7 September. Our friends at Rockingham Forest Wheelers are organising, this year, first rider off at 10.30, signing on will be at the RFW clubhouse.

The Hillclimb will be run over one assent of Neville Holt starting from the Medbourne side.

This event is traditionally contested between Welland Valley, Kettering C.C. and RFW with any guests welcome. However, for this year Rocko have invited members of Peterborough C.C. and Fenland Clarion to compete as part of a Northampton & District Cycling Association initiative to promote a Hill Climb. They will compete as non-scoring guests as will any other guests.