Albany Cycling Club begin new season with first of a series of time trials

The Albany Cycling Club began its 2021-22 season with the first of a series of time trials on Frenchman Bay Road last Saturday morning.

The event featured a couple of well-credentialed triathletes polishing off their preparations for the Busselton Ironman and setting fast times.

With glorious the only suitable adjective to describe the conditions, and the promise of chocolate cake and scones at the finish, riders powered along the out and back course.

Jill Bascombe, who does a bit more running than riding, came in with a 30km/h average speed.

The evergreen Shirley Thurston surpassed that by a bit, and so did David Marshall, making a welcome return to ACC racing after some time away.

Track cyclist Jenny Sammons showed her form is still strong with an average speed of just under 34km/h.

Paul Gibson found the course a bit too flat to really show off his prowess. Conversely, Matt Bascombe found that pancake-flat was just that little bit too hilly for him to really shine.

Times dropped rapidly and average speeds rose sharply.

Mike Staude, in spite of a bad back, was just able to beat Ryan Mclaren, and he’s still trying to return to an upright position.

Jackson Pitman, another regular time trialist, recorded the fourth-fastest time and took the average speeds into the 40km/h range.

Brett Dal Pozzo in third was the fastest of the club riders but was heard mumbling something about needing a proper time trial bike after the event, having seen David Bryant, a Tokyo Paralympian, scoot past him in a lot of a hurry, as well as Nick Bakker who recorded the fastest time of the day.

Bakker finished first in 26min. 31sec. at an average speed of 43.4km/h followed by Bryant (26:37/43.3km/h) and Dal Pozzo (26:51/42.9km/h).

Details on upcoming events are available on the Albany Cycle Club’s Facebook page and website.