Womack rides VTTA 25; Wrinklies caught on camera again!

Chris Womack of Velo Club Baracchi had a strenuous ride in the East Anglian VTTA 25-mile time trial on Saturday, in very blustery conditions.

The course was on two laps of a circuit from Stetchworth roundabout to Dunston Corner and Six Mile Bottom and back.

The weather was dry but with a very strong south west wind which made the section up to and round the first turning at Dunston Corner very hard indeed with gusting cross winds but there were some fast sections around the course with mainly a tail wind from Six Mile Bottom toward the finish that helped.

Womack’s time was 1-07:19 (faster than his veteran standard time by a “plus” of just +5.51) and he said, *It was the slowest I’ve been since the Gt Yarmouth 25 round the Somerleyton course in March 2013, which shows what Saturday’s ride was like.”

He added, “I found the first lap hard going but had a better second lap. My time was slower than last year by 1:34, which considering the strong wind and being off the bike for a week wasn’t too bad.” He was thirteenth out of 32 finishers in the veteran competition on age standards.

The winner on standard was Trevor Borke (Cambridge CC) 57:05 +11.21 and the lady winner on standard was Mary Twitchett (Cambridge CC) 1-11:03 +3.20

The VTTA winner on scratch was Jonathan Weatherley of (CC Sudbury) 58:33 and the “all riders” scratch winner Dan Bigham (Beeline Cycles RT) achieved 54:39.

Team on standard winners were Cambridge CC (Martin Reynolds, Jan Ertner and Mary Twitchett +12:10).

“All riders” two-up scratch winners were Lowestoft’s Joe Skipper of Rock Estate and Jonathan Wale of Loughborough Students who made short work of the ride in 52:51.

On the Wrinklies ride

The “Wrinklies” ride from Carlton Colville last Friday attracted a good group for a ride into Norfolk in the sunshine.

There go the Wrinklies

John Thompson had entered Stevenage CTC’s ”Start of Summertime” 210km audax on Sunday, but suffered a “mechanical” on the Saturday while on a short ride in the Hertfordshire lanes.

His saddle bolt sheared near Luton and he obtained a temporary repair at a nearby national retailer, but the angle of the saddle could not be adjusted correctly and Thompson decided not to attempt the event like that.

At the HQ where he made his apology he was directed to another shop that was open on Sunday morning where they had the right part and fixed it perfectly.  He made the most of it by going for another ride around Hertfordshire lanes.

• Beccles Cycle for Life on May 10 will be based at a new venue, the Sir John Leman High School in Ringsfield Road, Beccles. See becclescycleforlife.org for details and entry.