Competition News

Brian was at the track again. Warm evening. Scratch race was good and with 2 laps to go he attacked and distanced the group.  He was chased by two Welwyn Wheelers who, once they reeled him in, decided to stop working. Some of the riders from the front of the main group caught them with half a lap to go, so he managed to get onto a wheel there.  Two riders went for it and Brian went with them and eased passed them, even having time to encourage the rider that finished 2nd. The rest of the races he didn't figure in but enjoyed the racing.

Tony flew solo at this week's track league.  Weather was fantastic, warm and little wind.  Scratch race first up was very slow and tactical as always with a group of 3 riders getting clear and no one committing to reel them in.  He decided to go for it at just over a lap to go and distanced the pack to his amazement!  He reeled one in and managed to roll in 3rd so was very pleased.

Richard suffers a mechanical and Tony wins with a course PB on his new TT machine.

Almost a eureka moment!  A race that wasn't heavily influenced by the direction and speed of the wind.  Don't get that very often.  Phil fared best with 57:47 followed by Peter at 1:01:33 and Merv 1:04:58.  On the E2 it was a quicker return than outbound, but at least the outbound was encouraging as well.

Trying to get 15+stone of underpowered lard up a hill and into Sunday's strong headwind really didn't work for me and if I didn't have non-racing cycling goals this year I wouldn't have turned up.  As it was, many others didn't start including most of those that I would have been competitive with.  There were some good times but mine wasn't.  It was OK heading north on the A11\A14\A11 but it was very hard southbound.  Into the wind the uphill slopes seemed like mountains and finding any shelter was impossible.

On a cool, breezy night Mark Jones won in 21:09.

Brian on his own at the track but brings home two wins!

A warm, calm evening helped produce some good times including PBs for Mike and Ian

The dynamic duo Brian(50x15) and Tony(49x15) were back for more.

Brian and Tony were at the track again. Brian won a prime.

Close racing but Tony was a clear winner once again

Three Wheelers took part, Phil, Steve & Merv.  Phil put in a phenomenal time of 22:19.  Steve's time of 23:50 was one of his better ones and Merv's time of 25:25 would have won his age group except that some 82 year old bettered his time by two seconds.

Within this event was incorporated the HW Garrett Cup (because we don't organise our own 25).  Tony turned on the style and romped home in 1:00:30.  He was followed in by Brian (1:02:13) doing his first 25 for donkeys, an unfit and not race ready Barry (1:04:56) and Peter who finally managed to finish before the timekeeper went home (1:07:28).

Tony is just outside the hour but manages a convincing win.

Phil Y strikes back with a win on an evening that threatened by rain.

Two HW members took part, Peter & Merv.  Peter's time was 1:17:23, about half a minute down on his PB whilst Merv did 1:22:04.  Much of the conversation afterwards was about just exactly which direction the wind was coming from.  General consensus seemed to be that the wind should have made the return slightly easier although it was difficult to be sure during the Time Trial.
Full results >>

Brian Evans and Richard Clark raced in the Victoria CC 2up on a 10.2 mile course near Newport.
There was a strong headwind on the outward leg so they decided to use most of their energy there. It allowed them to post approximately even splits and they finished in 24:28 which was quick enough for them to finish 2nd.

On Sunday 19th May Nick C took part in the Ashwell CC road race. This was 4½ laps of a 56 mile course in Bedfordshire, just off the A1. Nick finished 37th out of 60 starters which, to date, is his worst result. However, a few weeks ago he raced on the same circuit and got dropped. This time he stayed near the back of the pack and finished with plenty of energy left!
Full race report >>

Brian victorious in the scratch race - his first win in Wheelers' colours - as he and Tony continue to enjoy themselves.