Bishops Stortford Hilly TT

Sunday 13th April

Bishops Stortford Hilly TT report

Julian Stock rode the Bishops Stortford CC Hilly SPOCO qualifying TT event on Sunday 13 April.

This 27.5 mile event is becoming a classic and is held over a very tough 'roadman's' course just north of Bishops Stortford and takes in many villages within the rural Hertfordshire countryside. This was his ninth appearance in this event and is turning out to be one of his favourites.

Off number 38 in a field of 60, Julian was mindful of his poor showing at Haverhill the previous week and was hoping for better fortunes in this event.

Like death and taxes, some things are inevitable in life and being caught by race favourite and renowned tester Paul Smith (PCA - Ciclos Uno) for 2 minutes was another one. He caught Julian in the first half of the race and was gone within minutes but he kept his focus and despite still feeling not his normal self on the climbs managed to negotiate the many climbs on what is quite a brutal course.

With 5 miles remaining Julian felt like he had nothing left in the tank but preferred to finish with what he thought would be a poor time instead of a 'DNF‘. He was caught by 2 other seeded riders within the last 2 miles and finished absolutely spent with a time of 1:25:34.

Having referred to his results book afterwards Julian noticed that he has gone round this course slower on two occasions which he felt encouraging however he has also gone round 7 minutes faster back in 1996.

All told, Julian was pleased with his ride given its severity and felt that perhaps his form might be taking an upturn.

Winner on the day was Paul Smith (PCA - Ciclos Uno) with an outstanding 1:09:27.