9:44am Thursday 11th March 2010
By Dave Brown
AFTER 14 years the course record held by Gethin Butler for the very demanding Circuit of Pendle was finally beaten on Sunday, when fellow Preston-based rider Mark Holton shaved 10 seconds off the 1996 mark.
In an event that began in sub-zero temperatures, Holton clocked 1 hour 1 minute 38 seconds.
That gave him a winning margin of over five minutes on the rest of the 60 entrants over the 27-mile course, which starts and finishes in Whalley and takes in the 1,000-foot climb of Cold Weather out of Barrowford.
Our East Lancs-based riders placed four in the top 10, with Burnley’s Jimmy Wright best of them in fourth slot in 1:08:04, also claiming the award donated by Pendle Cycles of Padiham for the fastest rider living in the BB postcode area.
Darwen’s Ian Cox took sixth in 1:08:50 with Burnley’s Peter Greenwood eighth in 1:09:27, while Rossendale’s Paul Warrener and West Bradford’s Duncan Park tied for 10th with 1:10:11.
The promoting North Lancashire Road Club won the three-man team award thanks to Cox, Park and Rob Dickinson of Burnley (1:12:16).
The previous day, Cox – a relative newcomer to the sport – had finished fastest of 80 entrants in the NLTTA Combined Clubs 10 mile at Garstang with an outstanding 21mins 36secs for so early in the year.
The North Lancashire Road Club was best team with Cox plus Fraser Snape of Blackburn third in 22:17, Park fourth in 22:19 and Warrener sixth in 22:49.
This Saturday several of these riders, along with last week’s Rossendale winner Paul Oldham of Colne, will be in action in the annual Pendle Forest Cycling Club ‘Circuit of Ingleborough’ – for which new organiser Danny Davies of Brierfield has received a class field of 80 entries.
The event starts at Ingleton at 10am.
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