A sting in the tail for JT

John Thompson of Velo Club Baracchi discovered the sting in the tail of the ‘Swaffham Scorpion’ 104km audax that he rode on Saturday.

The event started and finished at Swaffham Community Centre and its clever name related to the unexpectedly difficult hill (quite long and quite steep) encountered five miles before the finish.

John Thompson, possibly VCB’s greatest audax enthusiast

Thompson started at 9am in the rain, which was on and off for the whole ride, making the lanes wet and very muddy.

The main control was at Harpley at 54 km’s, with two info controls on the way. On the return to Swaffham there was another info control at 84 km’s near Whissonsett.

He said, “It was the sort of hill that takes those who think Norfolk is completely flat by surprise.”

Thompson got round in 5 hours 2 minutes despite having been caught out by a signpost pointing the wrong way and he was pleased with his time.

In Sunday’s rain Thompson rode to the annual Lowestoft Wheelers old-timers reunion at the Rumburgh Buck and said that with waterproofs on he stayed completely dry

He said, “Numbers were a bit down this year, but there were nine of us.  One person brought along some time trial result sheets from the fifties, which were interesting.”

The Chairman’s Breakfast ride the previous weekend gave club members a chance to ride off some of the effects of the presentation evening the night before. It had attracted a dozen riders and the first part of the ride was dry, even though the roads were wet.

“Bling” bowling along on the Wrinklies ride

Conditions remained relatively warm but somewhat wet for the Wrinklies ride on Tuesday of last week, though Friday’s ride was positively sunny at times and the riders returned in good spirits.

Wrinklies in the woods

The Wrinklies rides are not club based and leave from Carlton Colville church a 9am on those two days each week, weather permitting.

Waiting for a bus? No, a Wrinklies “banana stop”

It is a relatively quiet time of year for the club and most riders who are looking to compete next year get out for a ride whenever they can to maintain fitness.