Evening 10, Round 1
The first of Lewes Wanderers’ series of 10-mile time trials took place on the warm and sunny evening of Monday 2nd June. Ten riders took to the start line in Halland, with a race down the Broyle to Ringmer and back up the Laughton Road ahead of them.
Fastest overall and in the road bike category was Ryan Machin (Destination Bike RT) in a time of 24 minutes and 41 seconds. Darren Haynes took runner-up overall and top spot among the host club riders and those on time-trial machines with 25:18. Darren was just 3 seconds ahead of Alex Steer, who took runner-up in the road bike rankings.
Second place in the TT-bike standings went to Peter Baker (25:56), while Ben Gregory took bronze amongst the road bike contingent with 27:35. Graham Faultless (27:37) was 7th overall, and Ben Probert took 9th with 28:18.
Evening 10, Round 2
Round 2 took place seven days later on a similarly lovely summer evening, but roadworks on The Broyle necessitated a late switch to the A22/Boship Roundabout course. Host club rider, Neil Edwards, took the overall and road-bike spoils with a time of 24 minutes and 30 seconds.
Darren Haynes by Paget Cohen
Darren Haynes again took runner-up spot and fastest on a time-trial bike with 25:08, just 15 seconds ahead of third placed Peter Baker. Ben Gregory took 33 seconds off his personal best to take runner-up in the road bike class with 26:15, while Graham Faultless improved from the previous week by one second and one position.
Ben Probert improved by two places to 7th and by 4 seconds to 28:14, while Steve Barry took 9th with 29:19 and David Wilkins was 10th in 30:41.
Eastbourne Rovers 10
Far from resting on his laurels Ben Gregory was back on the evening of Thursday 12th when Eastbourne Rovers hosted a 10-mile TT on the same course. On a warm, sunny night, he slashed a massive 43 seconds off his personal best, took victory in the road bike category and third from seven overall to boot with a superb 25:28. Club mate, Peter Baker, was that 7th placed rider with a time of 28:47.
Peter fared a lot better on the damp, but humid morning of Saturday 14th June as the Veteran Time Trials Association (Sussex) made use of the same A22 “Boship” course. Peter posted a time of 25 minutes and 18 seconds to place 12th from 18 finishers.
Sussex Cycle Racing League
As well as time-trialling, Peter Baker took part in track racing as part of the Sussex Cycle Racing League at Preston Park Outdoor Velodrome. Back on the evening of Wednesday 14th May, in Round 5, he came 3rd from seven in the 5-lap Scratch Race. He was an impressive runner-up in a similar sized field in the following 5-lap Elimination Race; 3rd from half-a-dozen in the 6-lap “Win-and-Out” and 15th from 20 in the concluding Block Handicap.
Three weeks later in Round 8 Peter came 4th from five in the 5-lap Scratch, 6th from eight in the 6-lap “Snowball” event, 4th from five in the Championship Elimination, and 18th from twenty-one in the final Block Handicap.