Womack on top form and Kerridge’s strong return to competition

As warmer weather started to arrive it brought with it a spectacular personal best by Chris Womack and a strong return to competition by George Kerridge.

The two Velo Club Baracchi riders were riding 25-mile events of entirely different character.

Womack’s was on the potentially fast A14 and A11 roads from Newmarket in the Lea Valley CC open time trial and Kerridge’s in the Godric CC club event along the A143 west of Bungay.

TheLeaValleyevent on Saturday was a British Best All Rounder qualifiying one and it attracted the top riders, including national champion Michael Hutchinson In-Gear Quickvit RT who duly won with 47:27.

Womack rose to the occasion and fought the headwind first leg, to dig deep on the tailwind return and achieve 1-00:05, only six seconds outside his aim of beating 25mph to go under the hour.

He said, “It made me very annoyed with myself for not just pushing that little bit harder in the last few miles.  Never mind, hopefully later in the season I will get under.  I was lucky being number 18 as the temperature was about 12 degrees but it rained for the riders at the end of the field including Mr Hutch when it dropped to about 9 degrees.”

Second was Kevin Tye  of VeloRefined Aerosmiths with 50:18, from Steve Irwin of Kingston Wheelers (51:37).

Also on Saturday in the Godric event, Kerridge, who has not ridden competitively since 2010, was the fastest VCB rider with 1-04:19.  John Swanbury’s 1-05:07 was quicker than his last season’s best.  John Dupen did not finish.

The full result was Will Bamber (VC Norwich) 59:19, Simon Scott (Anglia Velo) 59:36, Mark Ready (Diss) 1-02:16, Huw Jones (Anglia Velo) 1-03:47, Kerridge (VCB) 1-04:19, Swanbury (VCB) 1-05:07, Sally Withey (VCN) 1-06:35, Geoff Reeves (Godric) 1-09:25, Gavin Sumner (Godric) 1-14:47, S Barker (Godric) 1-21:32.

On the previous Tuesday Kerridge rode in the Diss club event from Billingford to theNeedhamroundabout, returning by the village high streets, in which he recorded 25:59.

John Thompson chose to enter the Bedfordshire Roads CC 25-mile event on the A1 from Tempsford on Sunday, another windy day.  It is a hilly course and the wind on the outward leg was especially strong on exposed stretches.

Thompson may draw the conclusion from his 1-20:10 result (a “personal worst, as he described it) that his recent few months of day-long riding in audax events is not a recipe for immediate speed, which requires some different preparation, but he was not downhearted about his effort.

The winner was Tim Davies of Icknield CC with 57:22, about four minutes over what he might have expected on a faster day.

• Entries for the Beccles Cycle for Life charity ride on May 12 have now picked up, possibly as a result of the better weather, and many more are sought.  See www.becclescycleforlife.org for details and entry forms, plus the optional link to enter on line with a sponsorship page on Charity Giving.