Surrey League Vets Series
Just for once, Ryan Machin didn’t have to travel half the length of the country to “get his fix” of road racing as the action came to the roads of Sussex on Sunday 26th April.
Racing around a vaguely triangular course of roughly 6-miles to the south of Wivelsfield, Ryan was among a team of Destination Bike RT riders competing in a bunch road race as part of the Surrey League Vets series.
On what was a warm spring day, he could have done without dropping his drinks bottle after barely half an hour, but he stayed within the bunch for the full nine laps of high-speed racing to pass the chequered flag in 18th place from 25 finishers.
VTTA-10
Richard Burchett and Peter Baker were among 27 entrants to take to the start line early on Saturday, 2nd May, for a Veterans Time Trial Association 10-mile event along the well-used A22 course.
Richard posted a superb time of 23 minutes and 31 seconds to place second among seven in the road bike category and 13th overall.
Recovering following an operation, Peter improved on recent results to record 26:05 for 15th in the time-trial bike class and 20th overall.
British Gravel Trophy Series
Ryan was back on the road as he travelled to Norfolk to compete in Round 2 of the British Gravel Trophy Series promoted by Glorious Gravel, and held on the fast trails of Thetford Forest.
109 racers set off in the men’s race with one lap of 10 kilometres, followed by four of 13 kilometres. After a good start placed him among the leaders, a bump caused his saddle to dislodge from its set position. Ryan’s attempts at running repairs were unsuccessful, but his seat was still attached as he pressed on to finish a fine 11th from 47 among men in their forties, and 29th overall. There were nine non-finishers.
In the early morning women’s race, Georgina Wise set off along with 34 others to tackle the same course. She avoided mechanical mishaps, but her back started to trouble her, and she was disappointed to finish 16th of 18 among women aged 19-39 and 22nd overall.
Pedal Hounds Enduro MTB Series
From gravel to single-track mountain bike action, Georgina returned to the saddle on Sunday, 10th May, for the 3rd Round of the Pedal Hounds Enduro MTB Series. This was held in the grounds of the Matterley Estate just east of Winchester.
As with the other events in this series, riders are permitted multiple attempts to ride designated short sections, with their two fastest times counting towards their overall position.
After an opening “sighter” run at each of the five stages, Georgina recorded her best times on each of the following pair of attempts, apart from Stage 5, which she only raced twice. Her cumulative times were good enough for a strong 4th place among women aged between 16 and 39.