Murphy easily breaks record

Rhonda Murphy was fired up when she smashed the women's 35-44 years record in the first evening of Cuddon Cycling Marlborough's Bike HQ time trial series at Fairhall last Wednesday.

The 15.2-kilometre time trial event covers a course from Wither Hills Winery along New Renwick Rd and Godfreys Rd to Fromm Winery and return.

A large field met unusual conditions, with both head and tail winds.

The fastest time of the evening was recorded by junior under-19 rider Jono Lee with a excellent time of 21min 02sec. Seasoned campaigners Ray Dunstan (21:27) and Paul Johnson (21:52) took second and third place respectively. Murphy was the fastest woman (ninth place) at 23:53, breaking the record set by Suzie Aviss in 2007 by 12sec.

The sealed handicap section winner was junior under-17 rider Ethan Roach, who recorded fifth-fastest time overall (22:27) to be 26sec clear of Murphy and another 14sec to Mason Spiers in third place.

Results: Bike HQ Time Trial No1: J Lee 21min 02sec 1, R Dunstan 21:27 2, Paul Johnson 21:52 3, J Scott 22:04 4, E Roach 22:27 5, C Heywood 22:32 6, K Bishell 23:13 7, M Fletcher 23:48 8, R Murphy 23:53 (new record for women 35-44yrs) 9, M Spiers 24:07 10.

Sealed handicap: E Roach (3:15) 19:12 1, R Murphy (4:15) 19:38 2, M Spiers (4:15) 19:52 3, J Scott (2:10) 19:54 4, K Bishell (3:15) 19:58 5, J Lee (1:00) 20:02 6, Peter Johnson (4:15) 20:07 7, A MacIntosh (5:30) 20:14 8, D Cresswell (8:00) 20:20 9, J Cunliffe (5:30) 20:21 10.

- The Marlborough Express