Competition News

On the 16th May Nick C rode the 2nd race of the Dunton summer circuit series and came 15th. This result has moved him into 11th place on the leader board out of 41 riders.
Nick's next race in the series is on Thursday 30th May. He says anyone who would like to have a go at road racing should come along. " It's easy going and very enjoyable. Starts at 19.00hrs at the Ford test track at Dunton (A127) ". 

Brian and Tony took part in another night's racing at the Welwyn track both gaining track league points.

Tony Marriott rode the Maldon 25 mile TT on the E21 course near the seaside.
The event incorporated the inter-services championship so there were lots of boys and girls from Army, Navy and Air Force. This was a twisty rolling course with a lot of wind both cross and head. Tony was aiming for 1:05 and did 1:05:05 - so job done!
Winner was Sean Childs in 55:09. Tony finished 41st out of 82 finishers.

Nick Cramer enjoyed himself in this circuit race...

Tony Marriott makes his debut on the track.

Four Wheelers on the same course on the same day.  Whatever next?  All came back with different stories.  Phil had the earliest start and was quite happy until he turned around at the halfway stage for the return - and saw the storm that had been chasing him down the road.  He eventually crossed the line after 24:50.  Merv had been caught in said storm on his way to the start but was able to race in good, but very wet conditions to 26:31.  Peter & RichardC got to the start where they both got the best of the weather with Richard excelling at 23:07 and Peter trundling at 25:05.

Tony wins again! Excellent times from some others: Brian H, Karl W, Rikki H & Spencer S all secured PB's.

Brian Evans has begun his track season with a return to something like his form of a few years back ...

It was a day for dodging the showers.  However if the rain didn't get you, the wind did.  For much of the time it was blowing a near gale, a lot of it from the side.  Phil (59:10) coped the best with Peter (1:03:51) just managing to edge out the amazing (nearly 80 year old) Merv (1:07:40).  However their combined efforts saw them coming second fastest team of three on standard.

Three Wheelers; Brian Evans, Tony Marriott and Spencer Stratford entered this event on a new course. This covered part of the North Road Hardriders course but without any easy bits. Basically it was non-stop up and down and included the climb up Carbonne Hill into Newgate Street and Darnicle Hill up towards Hammond Street. Brian reports ...

A good turn out once again, with some fast times. Tony leads the way with Richard and Spencer in hot pursuit.

Tony Marriott rode this for the second year running. Conditions were opposite to last year with a strong head wind out and some tail on way home. He managed 1:03:43, some 5 minutes quicker than last year, so a course PB!
In the strong wind (~18 mph) he struggled to keep above 21 mph on way out but took only around 26 minutes for 12.5 miles on the return! He finished 15th. Winner was Tim Davies in 57:22.
You can view the stats of Tony's ride on Strava .

PhilY           23:50
MervP        27:23

A bit of a head wind on the Coach Road slowed people down. Tony's winter training has paid off and he took his first win of the year.

Alex set the standard for everybody in the First Club TT of the year with a blistering 23:52. The time was all the more remarkable due to the gusting easterly wind and generally cold conditions.

Three Wheelers rode this event; Brian Evans, Richard Clark and Spencer Stratford. Congratulations to Richard and Spencer who both got their first individual open TT under their belts .
Brian did a did a 1:04:17, Spencer a 1:08:48 despite a crash (see below) and Richard a 1:10:31 (on a road bike without TT bars).
Many thanks to Spencer for this account of his ride:

Nick Cramer rode his first "proper" road race of the season on Easter Sunday.
The race, run by Braintree Velo, consisted of 4 x 13.5 mile laps of a circuit just outside Sudbury in Suffolk. Nick likes this course but ice on the road delayed the start and gave him the "heebie jeebies"!
Self deprecating as usual, Nick reports " Did I learn from last years experience? No, it was a repeat performance and I rolled over the line 23rd out of 60 ". Most of us will be more likely to admire his determination to race at all in what passes for "spring" this year!

Tony M rode this 18 mile SPOCO TT.
It was cold but, thankfully, not raining - though the road surface was wet in places. The race was on the E20/9 course just outside Maldon. The course was rolling, twisting and with a big hill called North Hill on each lap of a 9 mile loop which was ridden twice.
Tony was hoping to go under the hour and surprised himself by managing 52:57 - so was pleased with that time. He finished 27th out of 59 finishers his first time inside the top half.
Winner was Scott Cousins in 46:05. One Mr Dowsett rode (unofficially) - no time recorded.

Brian E and  Richard C rode this event on a course near Ugley - Richard's first 25 mile TT. Many congratulations to both of them for racing in such tough conditions. Here is Richard's account of their race.
" It was a day of first's - my first 25 mile TT, my first Open event, my first 2up, and my first time on my new bike....and it was snowing!  

Tony Marriott returned to Redbridge, this time for a 4th cat. race.
Given this event was only for 4th cats he was expecting a little less haste! However, the pace was quick from start again, though he found it marginally easier than the ELV Winter Series race two weeks previously - " if you can call that finish line hill easy! ". Tony compared his Garmin data with that from the earlier race and found the speeds were comparable, so he was very pleased to finish with the bunch. He was about 24th and in a photo finish with 2 other riders.