Charl Jordaan became the Redhill CC 12hr time trial champion in Cambridgeshire this year when he completed an excellent 225+ miles on the hottest day in 2012.

Having given our all from early morning to very late afternoon Charl and Geoff Clifton finished within 3 miles of one another .

We headed up to Duxford on Saturday evening for a somewhat brief sleep at the local Travelodge followed by starts of 5.58 for Charl and 6.09 for Geoff. The first circuit was a 20 mile ride up the A11 to red Lodge and back. This was completed twice before heading onto a less busy triangular circuit up to Newmarket.

Having both completed the first 100 miles well within 5 hrs the next circuit took in a country road and the A505 past the Duxford aerodrome. Both riders were going well at 150miles but a 12hr ride is as much a psychological challenge as a physical one and at this point the heat and weariness started to tell.

Geoff of course has been here before and apart from a brief stop carried on biting the bullet through the mentally very difficult hours 8, 9 and 10.

For Charl this was unchartered territory and he showed great determination to push through the heat, some nausea from the constant eating and keep on going with the tremendous encouragement of our support team, Nick Brookes and Antonio (and Antonio’s dog Tsar). Many thanks to Nick and Antonio. We would not have got round without them.

On to the finishing circuit which, rather wickedly is the most sloping of the whole day but the mental aspect of the event really tells here as somehow the approaching end of the effort makes you feel stronger and the speed increases again.

The final results are yet to be verified but 223 for Geoff and 225 for Charl now look to be the final scores – a difference of just 1%! Both of us escaped accidents, mechanicals and punctures which on a day like this is a real blessing.

For the record the event was won by Nick Bowdler in 300.4 miles, using his trademark 77 tooth chainring. For context this involves breaking the RCC 100mile record, set last year by Rupert Burbidge, 3 times in a row without a break!

I think the word is ‘awesome’ (sorry)