SPOCO Results - Farlington - 9th June 2016

[Matt H]

Here are the results from last night's TT...

1) N. Goscinski 25:33
2) N. Veall 25:52
3) M. Willan 27:10
4) S. Lawson 27:46
5) G. Johnson 28:15
6) L. Griffin 28:30
7) A. Docherty 29.05
8 ) I. Hagyard 29.16
9) I. Rankin 30.17
10) N. Lawson 30:47
11) D. Watt 30:52
12) H. Powell 32:40

Huge 'Thank You' to all marshals and timekeeper, see you all next week.

[HughPowell]

Thanks again Matt and all the volunteers. Just a small correction - it's H (Hugh) Powell not W Powell. My son Will would be very embarrassed yo have my time attributed to him . I'm happy enough though as 12th place is probably as high up as I've ever come!
Cheers, H

[Matt H]

Thanks again Matt and all the volunteers. Just a small correction - it's H (Hugh) Powell not W Powell. My son Will would be very embarrassed yo have my time attributed to him . I'm happy enough though as 12th place is probably as high up as I've ever come!
Cheers, H

My mistake ,now corrected, hope there aren't any more in there!

[nige gos]

Well done to everyone who rode . A great course but wouldn't like to be in a bunch going over bridge at Farlington . Well done to organiser and helpers . A big thx otherwise wouldn't of happened . Marshall on r/about in s Hutton !! Awesome and to Pete for Marshalling aft organising last week. True gent.

[Kobald]

Good ride Nige and well organised Matt.
I marshalled at stillington but tbh I don't think a marshall on a main road left turn offers a great deal of safety benefit. Prob more of a hazard for the marshall than the riders. Same for the left before terrington descent, left to ganthorpe etc. Of course I defer to greater experience, but 7 marshals/helpers for 12 riders doesn't seem sustainable or in line with other clubs arrangements. Compare the hazards on the TT to the un-marshalled fast and fun chaingang swarm on the otherwise of town
What do others think?
Neil

[DavidShort]

Feedback much appreciated, especially with it being a new untried circuit. I take your point Neil on marshals but I have to provide all details of marshals and signage on the notifications to the police, and they are very particular about public/competitor safety. The fact is our events are properly regulated unlike the 'chain gangs' you refer to. This ensures we are covered by insurance unlike the unregulated chain gangs. Having been on said chain gangs a few times I cringe at what goes on, especially as they 'swarm' on to the A64 from Sand Hutton Lane end to Flaxton Lane end which is why I don't bother any more. As regards the number of 'officials' balanced against competitors it is the course which has to be risk assessed and managed accordingly. Anyway, great to see it went off without incident and that it appears everyone enjoyed it. All feedback gratefully received. It's the only way to improve. Many thanks.

Kind regards David
TT Sec'

[Kobald]

Thanks David, I agree that safety has to come first. Other than not using the course marshals are the highest level of mitigation against the risks at high risk junctions - with signage the lower levels. Do CTT offer any advice on the right level of mitigation for our courses? Could we downgrade any of our lower risk ones and have more signed junctions to free up more riders? I appreciate this may require resubmission of the assessments but more riders make for a more fun and competitive series.

[G.]

The CTT risk assessment guidance can be downloaded here
Other CTT forms, including the risk assessment form, can be downloaded here

The CTT booklet only actually recommends marshals for 'high risk' junctions: for junctions on minor roads, it suggests that arrow and warning signs are sufficient.

If the course requires too many marshals, it's surely an inappropriate course. Personally I think we should have some proper courses on main roads: they have good sight lines, good surfaces and far fewer of the junctions that cause most accidents, so they're (counterintuitively) quite safe and use fewer marshals. However, assuming that everyone else is still in thrall to the myth that we can't use any roads that have more than 2 cars an hour on them what about something like this?

Wheldrake – Skipwith – Thorganby – Wheldrake

It's flat, it's 10 miles, it's only got 2 turns (plus two or three points that would require Cycle Event signs) and it's on the south side of York, giving us southerners an easy trip out for once.