Steve Webb storms to victory in Gorrick Round 2 for Singular

Singular race team '09 officially kicked off last Sunday at the always well attended Gorrick series - this round being held on the excellent Tunnel Hill course in Surrey. Postponed from the prior weekend due to excess snow and ice, it was impressive to see how good shape the course was in. Steve, Dom, Grant and I lined up in the Masters category at the ungodly time of 9.45. Being the early bird that he is, Steve shot from the start line with all the fast boys, with Dom not far behind him. Part way through the first lap he hit the front, and never looked back. A commanding lead stretched out to over three minutes by the end of the race - at a pace which would have garnered probably top 5 in the Elite category. Steve was on board a Swift SS nicely decked out with a selection of light but solid parts. The course was really ideal for a rigid singlespeed.

Dom Perry had the misfortune of breaking his chain at the end of lap 2, unfortunately surrendering fifth place in the process. A strong ride up to that point certainly bodes well for the season ahead however - someone just needs to have words with his mechanic.... Again he was on a rigid singlespeed Swift, this time a converted geared frame using a half link - it was the half link that failed. We'll have him on a proper SS frame for the next round. Though the burnt orange with silver parts and white saddle and grips did look cool.

Grant and myself were further toward the back of the pack, I just snuck into the top 30 by race end, while Mr Taylor suffered a bio-mechanical and was a few minutes further back. I was on board my prototype Ti Pegaus, also rigid with my favourite drop bars but running a 5 speed cassette out the back rather than the usual single cog. This was largely due to the recent failure of the Exzentricker bottom bracket unit and needing to get something to the line. It worked very well and with the shape I'm in at the moment I was thankful for a couple of gears.

Pictures © Joolze Dymond