Gentry and Anderson 25-mile VC Baracchi champions

Liam Gentry took top honours in the Velo Club Baracchi 25-mile championship time trial, run within the Godric event last week.

Gentry at the start

On the two-lap course there were two wind-assisted legs heading west and two that faced the blustery wind.

With the power in his legs to make the best of both conditions, Gentry was the quickest man in the windy Waveney Valley with a result of 55:08, which is an average of 27.21mph.  It was an occasion when Gentry not only felt good but rode well, or, as he put it, “I would have ripped the legs off anyone today.”

Esser

The runner-up was Nick Esser with a course-best 57:55.

Jenny Anderson

Top lady was Jenny Anderson with 1-06:55 with an excellent ride, beating Nicki Hawkes and Tracy Prewer.  Hawkes achieved 1-07:14 and might have run Anderson closer if she had not had to wait for traffic at a roundabout, though Anderson would still have won by a clear margin.

The veteran competition lasts all season long so this time trial was not for the veteran title, but notable in the results was 64-year-old Chris Womack’s ride, which was his quickest at the distance since his return to cycling.

Chris Womack

All the VCB times were Gentry 55:08, Esser 57:55, Mark Newnham 1-02:25, Chris Womack 1-04:41, John Swanbury 1-05:34, Anderson 1-06:55, Hawkes 1-07:14, Mike Wood 1-11:33, Mark Womack 1-13:40, Prewer 1-16:34.

Woody

Mark Westrup of VCB was the quickest rider in the Gt Yarmouth CC club time trial at Somerleyton, with 24:24 on a less than perfect evening after a rainy day. Ian Chatton of Iceni Velo was second in 26:49.

Westrup was also a force to be reckoned with in the Gas Hill Gasp hill climb at Norwich.  Riding in the “Stars” category he was awarded first place in the “Best of the Rest” results.  A Lowestoft rider Robert Chenery (not a VCB member) won the “Hopefuls” category.

In the last of the Trinity Park circuit races at Ipswich, Gentry and Esser rode in the scratch group, chasing the third and fourth cats, who had been given a head start.

The VCB riders caught and rode past all these except for three who had attacked and escaped to take the first three places.  In the scramble for the fourth place, with Esser trailing, Gentry was outsprinted by Mike Auger of VC Norwich and Gentry finished fifth overall.  Ben McCluskey set off with the first group and finished in the bunch

Gentry had not ridden the full series but even so was placed third in the series results with 46 points, behind Hugo Robinson (71 points) and Auger (46).

John Thompson did not make it to the EDCA 25-mile time trial he had entered, as a tree branch had broken away and fallen on him in Wymondham the day before, fortunately giving him nothing worse than a sore shoulder.  His consolation was that the time trial he missed was on a difficult windy day.

However, in the midweek EDCA 15-mile event, Thompson achieved 41:08.  He was the only VCB rider.  Peter Balls (West Suffolk Wheelers) won in 31:07.  Thompson said, “It was difficult to define the wind direction.  Both ways there were bits that were good and bits that were hard.”