Description

Update: The event closed on Sat 1 June at Midnight. I had 57 women, 12 juniors/juveniles that automatically got in. I had 1 paracyclist that got in under the 5% rule. Total 70.
That left 80 spaces for men. The slowest of those 80 was 20:22. I also have spaces for 15 reserves. Some of those men just slower than 20:22 didn't want to be a reserve so were rejected, otherwise they may have got a ride. Slowest of the 15 reserves is 21:08.
I have had to reject approx 60 or so riders, including club members and friends - I do not have the option of allowing favourites in! 
I can also not allow late entries, for obvious reasons. I have had several try already!
If you have been accepted but can no longer ride please email or message me on 07973 675052 (txt or WhatsApp) to say so and I can then allocate a space to a reserve.

Full start sheets will be available by the weekend.

Headquarters:

Aston Clinton School
Twitchell Lane
Aston Clinton
Bucks HP22 5JJ (the HQ is approx 2 miles from start)

The finish of the course is in the slip road. All riders must enter the sliproad in the first 10 meters and ride within 2 metres of the white line marking the left edge of the carriageway of the slip road. Failure to do this will lead to a DNF - If you impede a vehicle you risk disqualification or worse.

There must be no parking of motor vehicles on any part of the A41 apart from those of the officials.
All parking must be in the HQ car park. Do NOT obstruct other road users or driveways outside the school. Also do not park in the Premier Inn car park at the Crows Nest.

You must sign on in advance of your start at the headquarters where you can pick up your number and receive any last minute instructions or warnings. Do not forget to come back to the HQ and sign out after your ride - this must be done personally. You will be recorded as DNF if you fail to do this.
Please return number with all pins to canteen in exchange for a free tea/coffee/soft drink.
DO NOT fold numbers at all. DO NOT use sticky tape (or other sticking methods) to secure the numbers at all.

Please keep your head up at all times. At roundabouts the traffic coming from the right has priority over you, so please give way. In particular the first one at the bottom of the off sliproad does not have good line of sight for traffic coming from the right so please take great care here.
Local Regulation 1. No U Turns should be made at any time while riding on the public highway.

Please take note of the fact the first turn comes up a lot quicker than you might expect in a 10... it is in sight within 2-3 mins of starting! Please make sure you take the very first slip road you come to to turn... the next one is another 6 or 7 miles further and up some big climbs!
Also note that due to the nature of this slip road and the fact it is on a clearway there is every likelihood there will be NO marshal to make sure you turn off down the slip road. It is therefore your responsibility to know the course (as it is always).

This is important - please note! The finish of the course is on the sliproad and NOT on the main carriageway. You MUST move into the sliproad at the finish at the earliest opportunity (within 10 yards) and you MUST stay to the left side of the sliproad within 2 yards of the left side lane marker (unless you happen to overtake a rider coming into the finish) and you should continue after the finish up the rest of the sliproad. If you stay on the main carriageway you WILL be DQ and if you then make a (potentially dangerous) move to come into the sliproad after the finish then you WILL be reported to the District for further disciplinary action (and that could be a ban from all cycle racing). That is if you survive as several riders have nearly been hit by cars already in the sliproad as the cyclist moves across in front of them! It is for this last reason that this rule has been put in place and is very strictly enforced.

Note that the event this year is for one 150 rider field. I have had two events totalling 240 riders in recent years and had reserves and even rejected riders (a few years ago I had to reject over 200 riders!). I will be giving ALL women and ALL juniors preference. All will get a ride. The remaining spaces will go to men. I therefore do envisage that there will again be reserves. Because of this I will require anyone who is not able to make it to email me saying so before Saturday morning, or text me (with name and club please as I am not a mind reader and do not have everyone's phone numbers programmed in!). I will then attempt to contact the next reserve to allocate them their space. If you do not get allocated before mid-morning on Saturday it is still possible to give you a space for anyone who I deem to not be there or I get notified late of DNS.
Anyone not signing in 20 minutes before their start time will be declared a non starter as it does take 15 minutes to get to the start. At that point I can allocate a start to someone else. Not much time for getting ready and to the start, but the best I can do. Reserves will ride in their allocated number (151+) but in the space and start time of the rider they take.