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On a windy day that made the return much faster than the out, Phil continued his excellent form with 22:13 whilst SteveW did 24:20, Peter did 24:36 and Merv completed the set with 25:15.

The rain stopped but it was cool and breezy at Panshanger. This is a tough course combining some steep hills and tricky surfaces - congratulations to the four riders who braved it!

Nick Cramer rode the London Phoenix Grand Prix (cats 2,3 and 4) - the latest round of the Eastern Road Race League. He reports a return to form after a couple of disappointing results.

One short of thirty turned up at Hertford in order to divide into the three groups.  Seven went careering of Roystonwards and another twelve made a more benign journey to Whitwell.  The remaining ten soon became nine as one disappeared off the front in order to catch up with the zippees.  There was only one major problem for those heading for Shenley - an uncharted lake across the road which required some cross country antics in order to find a detour.  And some hills!

An excellent evening at Cole Green; warm enough and with a very light breeze.
There was an excellent entry with two riders - Michael Jewis and Mark Tappenden - making their debuts. Both were comfortably inside 30 minutes so there is obviously more to come. Chris Wells also had a good ride with a PB for the course. Mike East had a less happy evening as he had a mechanical problem on the first lap.
At the top Tony Marriott was comfortably ahead of his rivals with Alex Powell, (his form honed in the Pyrenees?), just pipping Nick Cramer for second place.

Despite it being billed as an 6:45 start, there were still a few who turned up at 7.  So two groups made the ride, both going in roughly the same direction, with about ten riders five minutes ahead of the following seven.  On a good sunny evening both groups made the most of the remaining light and had good rides.

With his time of 27:52 Merv won the King Vet Award on the Leaden Roding course.

Again, about 25 riders split over the three rides.  On a hot day, five made their way to Much Hadham to meet up with JohnF for a trip to Saffron Walden.  The rest met in Hertford where seven took off for a whizz around the Royston course.  The remaining dozen easies headed in a southwest direction for a trip to Shenley thereby riding on roads that they were unaccustomed to travelling on by bike, and suffering only one puncture for their pains.

About a dozen took to the road for this Weds offering.

It was a warm but windy afternoon when Merv recorded 1:13:37.

Phil and Merv rode in the Bedfordshire Roads 25 on the slower course on the A1 from Tempsford to Baldock and back. Phil recorded 59:46 and Merv managed to improve slightly, recording 1:5:52.

Mark led a ride for the first time and as usual it's not easy shepherding 15 people about but he got all back in good time, especially as the evenings are getting much shorter.  It was an invigorating journey for all and the newcomers enjoyed it as much as the regulars.

It was a damp evening but the wind was fairly light and from the south-west. Some excellent times were returned including PB's Tony, Richard, Ian, Chris and Mike.

Wheelers

Again over 20 out over the three rides.  With about a dozen on the medium, nine on the easy and three more doing the medium\fast, all managed to get caught in the torrential downpour that arrived just before midday.  The easy pacers dealt with this setback the best by remaining in the cafe, re-entering the outside world when the worst had passed over.  The mediums also suffered a couple of punctures, but apart from that there were no major problems.

To cap an exceptional season, Tony broke through the hour barrier for the first time with a 59:07.  Merv's time in this event was 1:06:21.

A dozen turned out for a tour of the wilds.  Due to a good southerly wind, the route from Ware to Furneaux Pelham via Stanstead Abbotts was accomplished in good speed and the group was back at Ware by 9 pm, a distance of 26 miles.

Merv rode in the Eastern Counties 10 on a course near Leaden Roding. This was an an alternative course due to roadworks on the intended course. He recorded a 27:00.

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A reasonable evening on the E64 (A414 to Harlow).  Great ride by Tony to go under 23 minutes.

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A reasonable evening on the E64 (A414 to Harlow).  Great ride by Tony to go under 23 minutes.

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After a 22 year interlude Tony Marriott returned to bunch racing in a Ford Cycling Club event on 26th July. The race was one of a series of 1 hour Cat 4 and Novice races on the Ford Test Track at Dunton near Basildon.
Tony thought he had won a prime only to find out at the end that someone had been off the front! At the finish he contested the sprint until about 200 metres to go then "POP". Maybe he had a crystal ball as two riders collided at the front and he managed to swerve round them to finish 14th out of 38 starters.
The race was won by Mick Bath of API-Metrow.