XC Marathon National Championships
Back on Sunday 16th August, Ryan Machin (Destination Bike RT) ventured all the way to the forests of the English/Scots Borders to compete in the Cross-Country Marathon (mountain-bike) National Championships. As the event title implies, this was no flat sprint. Ryan successfully completed the 3 laps of almost 18 miles each, and nearly 7,000 feet of total ascent, after 5 hours and 7 minutes of effort. This placed him 63rd from 94 overall (with 8 non-finishers) and 15th of the 22 men in the Vet-40 age group.
Preston Park Crits
On the evening of Friday 21st August, Calum Elms took part in his first ever closed-circuit track race. He took to it rather well as, having been caught in the bunch early on, he got away in a group of four towards the finish and recorded a fine third place.
a3crg 10
Richard Burchett was tempted into an early start and long journey by the prospect of a fast, 10-mile time-trial course on Sunday 23rd August. Taking part against 79 others in the a3crg “Ham Barn Storming 10” he was richly rewarded for his dedication with a superb time of 21 minutes and 35 seconds. This placed him 32nd overall, 30th of 67 on TT-machinery and 4th of 13 in his age group.
Brighton Mitre Hill Climb
It was hill climb night on Tuesday 25th August and Calum Elms was back in action as Brighton Mitre hosted an event up Ditchling Beacon. He secured his second third step on the podium of the week as his superb time of 5 minutes 5.3 seconds placed him ahead of thirty-three others.
East Grinstead CC Hill Climb
Across the county a trio of Lewes Wanderers were joined by eight others as East Grinstead CC held its hill climb event up Legsheath Lane. The course starts near the road bridge across Weir Wood Reservoir and heads up towards Wych Cross. Peter Baker finished just off the podium with a time of 6 minutes 47.4 seconds. One place behind him was David Padwick in 7:14.8, while Emma Simpkins was second fastest woman and 7th overall with 7:34.6
SCA 10 & 25
Peter Baker by Bob Taylor
The August Bank Holiday weekend saw two Sussex Cyclists Association time-trials, both over challenging rolling courses.
Saturday morning’s “Robin’s Sporting 10”, organised by Robin Johnson of Brighton Mitre CC, was made even more challenging by strong winds and heavy rain. Calum Elms either made light of the conditions, or was keen to get out of them as quickly as possible. He raced around the vaguely rectangular course northeast of Petworth in 22 minutes and 28 seconds to take second overall and the fastest of the eight on road bikes. Peter Baker recorded 27:36 for 14th from 23 with one non-finisher.
Monday’s “25” was met with decidedly better conditions. Peter Baker returned to complete two-and-a-half laps of Saturday’s circuit in 1:05.56 for 10th from 18 overall, and 8th of 14 on TT-rigs.