Reading Cycling Club

Circuit Racing - Thruxton

It was a cold, wet, and windy day when Wayne Thomas, Brian Bingham, and Stephen Bale arrived at Thruxton motor circuit for the 3rd cat race of the South Circuit League. Thomas coped well with the conditions and, as he was to discover, succeeded in gaining the first British Cycling ranking points of his career as a third category rider.

Bale reports on the race: "Once underway the rain eased, but the bitter wind remained and conditions were so poor that the organiser shortened the race from 14 to just 8 laps. The wind is always a factor at this exposed location and speeds vary from near single figures to 40mph on what is essentially a flat circuit. With that factor known to all the riders few took on the challenge of breaking and early on there was never a critical mass that looked like it would succeed. All three Reading riders were comfortable in the pack and happy to watch the race unfold. With two laps to go a few elites racing in a concurrent race on the circuit caught us for half a lap. While the rules state that the two races should remain separate, three third cat riders latched onto the faster riders and took pace. Four riders quickly formed an alliance to chase but after a lap the effort overcame them and the main bunch came together as all the riders picked up the pace for the sprint finish. With about 400m to go Bale unfortunately punctured, ending his quest. Still in the thick of it Bingham forged on while Thomas made good progress up the field to put him in a strong position. At the line Thomas hadn't made it all the way to the front but had finished in what he thought was 11th with Bingham a few places behind. After the race was over, a stewards' enquiry disqualified the lead three riders for taking pace." This disqualification put Thomas into the points with 6th place. Bingham finished in 18th place, from 59 riders. The race winner was Robin Didymus of Fareham Wheelers."

Thomas Allnatt was also at Thruxton for the 4th cat race. He reports: "This was my second ever race. I started off with a clear goal to stay at the front of the bunch and come within the top 10. I almost achieved that. I moved to the front at the very start and had no trouble staying there. I stupidly got carried away and followed a lad who kept on attacking, this effort weakened my sprint at the end dramatically. I came about 11th and was pleased with that."

Circuit Racing - Hillingdon

Wayne Thomas, Paul Stedman, Dave Harmsworth and Robert King raced at Hillingdon on Saturday in the Beyond MBC 2/3/4 category event. About 50 riders turned out on an overcast day to do 34 laps of the 1.5km circuit. King had an excellent race. He reports, "I had an uneventful first half of the race, finding myself towards the back of the main field. A few attacking moves came to nothing. With about 15 laps to go I decided to work my way to the front and go on the attack myself. I saw two riders go off the front when I was in a good position to bridge across to them. Another rider had the same idea and together we caught the lead pair. We in turn were joined by another 3 riders to form a 7-man break. We organised ourselves and got a good gap on the bunch. With about 4 laps to go I began to tire and had to miss some turns at the front. In the final sprint I had nothing left and crossed the line 7th in the break. Chris Legg of AW Cycles took a very good 2nd place."

Time Trials

Trudi Sammons was Reading's only representative as a depleted field took on the Maidenhead CC hilly 30-mile time-trial on Sunday on a course taking in Stokenchurch, Henley, Marlow and Frieth. Conditions were appalling with heavy rain, flooded roads and a cold wind. Sammons commented afterward, "The terrible weather made the journey harder than normal and only a few riders started, with many of those not finishing. However I braved the elements and was pleased with my time of 1.22 44. Mad maybe, but pleased." Sammons was fastest lady by about 2 minutes, and overall placed an excellent 7th from 15 finishers. Fastest rider by a clear margin was in-form Dave Dent of Isle of Wight in a time of 1.10:46.

Sport Relief

Reading CC riders helped Sainsbury Winnersh to complete a "virtual" ride from Land's End to John O'Groats, a distance of 1400 kilometres, for Sport Relief. Sainsbury placed a stationary bicycle in their lobby and Dean Bond, Roy Booth and John Wann led the way in racking up the required number of kilometres.

Bond comments: "The event started the day before and the local store staff were able to get from Land's End to Somerset by the end of the first day. When I turned up they had managed to get three soldiers from the Arborfield Garrison to help out too and by 2pm we had managed to get them up to virtual Staffordshire. My personal tally was 41 kilometres in an hour. I could have gone much further had the background music been a little more uptempo!"

Clubrun

This Sunday sees Reading CC's annual Torture 40 ride, so named because the route climbs 11 of the sharpest hills around the Hambleden Valley. Organiser John Wann says, "This event is for any Reading CC members who fancy a testing Sunday ride. Like all good 40 mile rides it is actually closer to 45 miles." He cautions, "There are no marshals and no ride leader and each rider is therefore an individual taking responsibility for their own actions and conduct on the road, as normal."

Roderick MacFadyen
http://www.readingcyclingclub.com

Photo caption: Thomas Allnatt enjoyed his race at Thruxton