This weekend's racing action for members of the Ely & District Cycling Club did not start well, as the Victoria CC race on the E91/10 near Great Dunmow in Essex had to be cancelled at the last minute due to a burst water main, leaving those racers who had set off before sunrise to take part with nothing to reward their early start.
Happily, the ECCA Championship race on the E2/25, which also took place first thing on Saturday morning, did go ahead. Darran Bennett continued his recent run of excellent form, setting a new course and distance personal best with a time of 52 minutes 37 seconds for the 25 mile course, an average speed of just over 28.5 mph. His time was good enough for 11th place on the day and represented a 20 second improvement on his previous fastest time for the distance. John Manlow also took part in the ECCA event, finishing in a time of 57:10 in 46th place.
On Sunday it was the turn of the off-road racers, with the the 5th round of the Mud Sweat and Gears XC MTB race series at Carver Barracks. Father and son duo of Gary and Charlie Fleet were racing again, with Charlie Fleet finishing 24th in the Under 12 race while father Gary Fleet finished in 48th in the Open Race. Ride of the day came from Mathew Eley, who finished sixth in the Sport race, followed by Mikie Burrell who finished in 15th in the same event. Dan Bromilow was the club's sole representative in the Veterans race, finishing in 24th place, while in the Grand Vets category Phil Peacock was the first EDCC finisher in 11th place, with Paul Harbinson and Martin Holland coming home in 16th and 27th places respectively.
