A good ride by Womack in the national 100

Chris Womack of Velo Club Baracchi did the club proud with his ride in the national 100-mile time trial championship in Monmouthshire at 21.4mph.

Womack’s last ride with the Wrinklies before the RTTC National 100

He achieved a time of 4-41:04 on the course between Abergavenny and Monmouth and for the last twenty-five miles battled heavy rain and strong winds.

This was not as fast as his ride last year on an A11 course, but faster than the year before. The winner was Charley Taylor of South Pennine RC in 3-32:50, with Lady Hayley Simmons of Team Velosport the top lady in 3-55:06.

Womack suspected that he would find his best time trial bike too uncomfortable at this distance and rode his less aero Boardman machine with tri-bars and deep rimmed wheels.  His photo in the event is here: RTTC 100ml National TT Championsip – 5th July 2015/RTTC100-8771

The hot and windy conditions were probably something like the inside of a fan oven when Mark Richards rode the fastest 10-mile time he had achieved on a single carriageway course. He recorded 22:23 for sixth place ride in the Norwich ABC open event based at Wortwell.

Lowestoft’s Joe Skipper of Rock Estate won by a good margin of 23 seconds from Peter Balls of Team Velovelocity, in 21:44. Rock Estate team-mates Lee Cook and Mark Eastwood achieved 23:09 and 23:10 in 20^th and 21^st places.

Other VCB times were James Moore 23:18, John Swanbury 25:55 and Ali Banks 26:17, though it was Swanbury and Banks’ second ride of the afternoon. They took second place among three tandems with 23:09, behind Don Saunders and his grandson Declan Davis of CC Breckland (21:34) but ahead of a West Suffolk Wheelers team of John Steed and Mark Eastwood (23:57).

Exceptional rider Len Benton of Colchester Rovers CC was the best veteran with 25:04 at age 77, a “plus” of 5:36 (i.e. beating age standard by that amount of time).

In the Wednesday Lotus League racing at Hethel, Richards had a go in the novice section and crossed the finish line with a victory, earning ten points. It was his first race in the series and Richards will not get the chance to ride another this year.

Kate Churchill was one of many riders in the Dunwich Dynamo overnight ride from London to Dunwich, reaching home in Lowestoft before the rain.

John Thompson had his best-ever audax ride in the “Garboldisham Grovel.” His new personal best for a 203km audax stands at 10 hours and 55 minutes.

Controls were at Spooner Row (22.3km), near Weston Longville (39.2 km), Aylsham (main control) 59.8 km, Burnham Deepdale (108 km), near Sedgeford (128.2 km), Bircham (main control) (135.6 km), Necton (166.4 km’s), and a place also called Thompson (182.4km).

The weather was predominantly good and Thompson’s customary accidental venture onto the wrong road was blissfully brief.

The “Wrinklies” rides from Carlton Colville church on Tuesdays and Fridays at 9am have built up to nearly twenty riders on warm days and last Friday’s was particularly pleasant, venturing into South Norfolk and clocking up near 45 miles, with the customary café stop on the return. New riders are always welcome.

There go the Wrinklies