Datalynx’s Simon Daw has recently cracked his main targets for his cycling season.
Riding in the UCI world Gran Fondo Series races on the Isle of Man, Simon not only repeated his age group win (this time the 60-64 category) in the time trial, held on the mountain road made famous by the TT races, but also finished 6th overall from an international field of over 100, beaten by no one older than their 30s. He tells us that the event is exactly to his liking, climbing 400 meters in 11 kilometers.
The following day, he repeated his age group win in the Fondo event, this time finishing second overall from a field of over 200 in the Medio Fondo. Holding a position at the front before attacking on the major climb, Simon then struggled to match one young rider on the descents, and a possible overall win slipped away in the closing stages.
With only three weeks to prepare for a very different type of race, he then took on the RTTC National 12-Hour Time Trial Championships. As the name implies, this involves riding as far as possible in twelve hours. Simon had not attempted one since 1985, and had failed to finish on that occasion. Simon again won his 60-64 age category, this time finishing in 26th place overall with a provisional distance of 245 miles (Simon tells us it was actually 246.2 miles!). He reported being fit for work the following morning, but that standing up from his computer chair presented more challenge than usual!
Simon now has a handful of more minor events left for the 2024 season.
