Womack continues his TT campaign with a 20-mile ride
Chris Womack
Chris Womack of Velo Club Baracchi continued his early season time trial campaign with a strong ride in the Stowmarket & District CC 20-mile sporting time trial in the vale of Debenham.
He said of this hilly course that it changes in many directions with twists and turns. Womack added that, “the strong Northerly wind in places made the going very hard particularly the long drags up the hills but the course also has some fast descents with some very sharp bends.”
Womack was the second-fastest in his age group, just missing out on a prize. His time was 53:34 for 20th place. He was very happy with that considering the conditions and comparing with 2011 when in warmer and stiller weather he recorded 54:50.
The winning rider, with 44:19, was 29-year-old Dutch professional rider Wouter Sybrandy of Team IG-Sigma Sport.
Huge credit for ride must go to James Trenchard of Godric CC, who ran Sybrandy the closest with 47:12, with Glenn Taylor of Shorter Rochford Exclusive Ranges RT third in 47:19.
Chris Leggett of Stowmarket & District CC was fourth in 48:27 and Simon Daw of CC Sudbury fifth in 48:29.
On Tuesday last week John Swanbury of VCB took part in the first Diss & District CC club time trial of the season on an extremely cold evening with a strong gusting north-easterly wind. Simon Scott of Anglia Velo rode extremely well to win in 24:14, with Mark Ready of the home club second in 25:51.
Swanbury said he had never worn so many layers of clothes in a time trial and still not been over-hot and he was placed sixth of the thirteen finishers in a rather sorry time of 28:59.
VCB member Mark Womack (Chris’s son) took part in the club’s name in his first duathlon in Diss at the weekend, promoted by Tri Anglia.
It was frosty on arrival but the sun came out for a warm start at 9.30 and Womack started in the third wave of 50 competitors with club-mate Carl Prewer (running for Lowestoft Road Runners).
Prewer was unsurprisingly a stronger runner and on the first 5km stage led the way in his group with Womack taking a slower approach to work through the field.
After the one lap first run, the three 30km cycling route on country roads was full of pot holes.
With 56:16 Womack gained just over a minute on Prewer, but on the final run Prewer was in his comfort zone and with a total of 1-38:48 he came 14th. Womack was placed 38th of the 117 with 1-47:29.
John Thompson rode the Stevenage CTC’s “(not the) Start Of Summertime” 210 km (131 miles) Audax. The name was tinkered with this year as unusually it was not the morning after the clocks go forward.
Places visited along the route included Clare, Lavenham, Sible Hedingham, Finchingfield, Thaxted and Buntingford, to name a few.
Thompson resisted the temptation to stop for a second cup of tea at Gt Hormead, with seventeen miles to go, and so was able to get back within his personal target of twelve hours.
