Bowditch defies odds in breaking 23 minutes

ANN BOWDITCH'S performance in the London St Christopher CC 10 mile time trial was nothing short of sensational. The talented local cyclist sped down the course one minute and 48 seconds faster than she had ever gone over the distance to clock an incredible 22min. 16sec. - the second-fastest time in the country this year.

To enable Bowditch to record such a time, she had to average just over 27mph.

This amazing ride nearly did not happen, as a late ferry, long tailbacks on the M25 and a number of hastily contrived diversions meant she arrived at the event headquarters in north London just 25 minutes before she was due to start.

'It was certainly cut finer than any of my normal trips,' said Bowditch.

'When I go over for nationals, I often get there a day or two in advance to prepare fully.

'This was not on that level, but I would have liked to have got there a good couple of hours beforehand and at least driven the course.'

Bowditch had just enough time to change into her skin-suit before making off for the start. Lack of a warm-up meant an easier start than normal, but it was not long before the Sarnian was sett-ling into a fast, smooth rhythm.

The course was very flat, with a small rise at the half-way turn.

Bowditch noted that she had covered the first five miles in a little under 11 minutes, which was encouraging, to say the least.

Although it was just after 7pm, the temperature was near 30C. This coupled with a slight tailwind had the record-breaking Guernsey woman crossing the line in a phenomenal lifetime best.

'I started my stopwatch when the person three ahead of me went off. It is something I usually do because if you leave it until the person directly ahead of you goes off a minute before you do, you will often forget because your mind is on other things.

'I had to wait for it to come up on the board before I was sure of the time.'

To clock a sub-23min. time for the 10-mile TT broke an important barrier for the Sarnian.

'When I did the national 10, all the top riders were doing short 22s and getting into the 22s had been a big aim of mine. It was nice to get a short one as it shows I can compare with them.'

Remarkably, the London St Christopher time trial was added to Bowditch's schedule only recently. She is understandably delighted that it was.

'We booked it only two weeks before we went. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing because we had to go to the UK anyway and we thought, why not do a race while we are there?' said Bowditch.

'It is funny how these things can turn out. Sometimes you can plan and prepare for months for an event but things don't work out, or you can have an event like this and it is just a bonus.'