Titchfield Cycling Association: The Chichester Challenge 2009

A firm fixture in the TCA calendar a hard core of veterans assembled at the start on a overcast, rainy morning. A departure from previous years the ride would set off from Lavant some distance north of Chichester. The organisers announced too that this year would be more of an orienteering event, with less marshalling and signposting around the course. This would cause chaos to riders less familiar with the area throughout the day.

Jerry and Ade were off out of the blocks on the gun, closely followed by Jon. Billy-Bob and Al brought up the rear. The route would be familiar to the TCA - following closely the regular rides of yore from the Parsons Pad. The first punishing climb up Chalkpit Lane was certainly all too familiar and the riders soon got spread out on the ascent.

Billy-Bob and Al split where the 30km and 55km routes diverged - Billy-Bob taking on the shorter route due to recent illness and family commitments. Billy-Bob obviously got back first but Ade was close on his heels. Jerry (who suffered an off, which resulted in a broken rear brake) came in second and at 4h 33m Al finished just as the Billy-Bobs and Ade & Julie were packing up for the day. Rather bizarrely Jon came in last after taking a wrong turn in the wooded section of the route.

Tee arrived later with Jimmy and accompanied Jon and Al to Whetherspoons for a post-ride pint. Thankfully the weather held off and another excellent day was had by all.