Newbury Road Club’s program of racing returned on Easter Monday following the restarting of outdoor sport. The event was the first since last October and provided many riders with their first taste of racing on the open road after many months of Virtual Racing in garages and conservatories.
It wasn’t the weather than many would have hoped for on an Easter Weekend with a strong northerly wind and temperatures hovering not far above zero. However, it was dry, and the sun did shine for most of the event.
Racing got underway at 9am on the A4 between Theale and Thatcham using a new variation of a course that has been in use since the 1950s and probably earlier. The event saw a mix of local riders from both the home club, Newbury Road Club and also Newbury Velo. We also welcomed some newcomers, as well as friends and regulars from other clubs in the area. From an entry of 40 riders, 33 actually took to the road, a good field given the conditions.
The fastest to cover the course was the Tandem Pair of Rachael Elliott and Ian Greenstreet from Newbury Velo. Rachael and Ian are holders of several mixed Tandem National Records so their winning time of 52m 42s came as no surprise.
Of the solo riders, Henry Latimer of the Didcot Phoenix Club comfortably took the honours with a time of 55m 27s ahead of North Hampshire’s Lee Williams with 55m 42s and Andy Morgan from GS Henley in 56m 12s. The strength of Henry’s win is even more evident when considering he was riding a standard road machine as opposed to the specialist Time Trial bikes used by the majority of riders. Sadly, the event had only a small representation of women riders. Of the 2 entered, one succumbed to a mechanical failure just before the start leaving just Reading’s Teresa Robbins to compete, finishing in a very respectable 68m 30s.
Racing continues now on Wednesday evenings for the remainder of the Spring and Summer while there are further Bank Holiday events at the beginning and end of May. Full details can be found on the club’s website at Newbury Road Club
Yesterday’s results are here.
Our next event is on Wednesday 7th April on H10/3a first rider off at 18:31.
Ian Lakey
Time Trial Secretary
Newbury Road Club