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SwissChap
Back then, I had custom Filofax pages printed to record the details required on the standard entry form, which was much more comprehensive than the modern one. I switched to an Open Office spreadsheet in the 21st Century and transcribed the Filofax pages just a couple of years ago.
In the mid 90s, I even went so far as to use database functions on a Psion 3 to pull the info into the fields on the entry form and lay them out for overprinting the pre-printed form. Not that testers tend to be geeks or anything 🙂
Without any written records, I'd still remember that 25. It was one of those special mornings when you just stick it in top gear and spin the cranks like you're not even trying. I had a stopwatch on the bars but no computer, and was on a course variant I hadn't ridden before. After what seemed like a ridiculously short time, I went flying past two blokes sat beside the road, with what may or may not have been a small chequered board. Unsure of the position, I thought it best to give it the benefit of the doubt and kept on the gas for the four minutes or so remaining until my old PB expired. I sat up and rolled back to the HQ, and seeing nobody else by the roadside it became obvious that those two blokes must have been the timekeepers. There was always an element of guesswork in the olden days with no hi viz, no GPS and no Google street view for pre-race reconnaissance. You tell kids that today and they won't believe you.