The final round of the Five Mile Time Trial Series was held on the Porth/Pontygwaith course on Thursday 18th August 2011. The series has been affected by bad weather this year with two rounds having to be cancelled due to rain. Riders accumulated points according to finishing positions in each round and after four events the series leader was Gerald Stevens with 75 points. Nine riders, including all the ‘top contenders’ set off at one minute intervals from Porth to determine the series winner. Neil Lewis took the honours on the night, completing the undulating course in an excellent time of 12 mins 15 secs. Undoubtedly Neil would have been a serious contender for the overall win if he had ridden every round. Gerald Stevens pulled out all the stops to maintain his series lead and finished in second place with a time of 12 mins 41 secs. The winner of Rounds 2 and 3, Paul Harries, finished in third place on the night in a time of 12 mins 50 secs. Paul is another rider who has lost out on an overall podium position due to missing an event.
Always improving rider Tony Rees started this event in second place overall with 66 points. The battle for this position has been particularly fierce with the talented first year member Kevin Stoddart just 3 points behind. Both riders had competed in every round with never more than 4 points separating them. Tony cemented his runner up position by equalling his personal best time for the course, 13 mins 31 secs which saw him finish in fourth place on the night. True to form Kevin finished in fifth with a time of 13 mins 43 secs. This was just enough to hold off Paul Harries for the final podium position. A special mention should be made of Simon Kinsey who only joined the club this year. Simon has persevered with his training and rode a personal best time of 14 mins 57 secs in this final round.
Final Series Points Table
1. Gerald Stevens 94
2. Tony Rees 83
3. Kevin Stoddart 79
4. Paul Harries 77
5. Neil Lewis 60
6. Ian Humphries 54
7. Tony Morgan 51
8. Simon Kinsey 43
9. Chris Thomas 39
10. Kevin Millard 29
11. Dean Cummings 17
12. Paul Griffiths 16
13. Tavis Rees 15
14. Lee Harris 14
At the end of the event Club Chairman Roger Evans presented Gerald Stevens with the Five Series Trophy. All riders would like to thank Gwyn Humphries, Carol Dietman, Kerry Lewis, Jason Dodd, Roger and Margaret Evans and all other members of the club who officiated and marshalled the events.