Ely & District Cycling Club - B&T Motor Repairs Press Release 2nd June 2021
HOT WORK FOR ELY RACERS
While some members of the Ely & District Cycling Club - B&T Motor Repairs were enjoying the pleasures of a 110 mile social ride from Ely to Norwich and back on Sunday, others were racing and taking advantage of the warm weather to set new personal records. Only one rider, Ferenc Vanhoutte, elected to do both.
Vanhoutte was racing on Saturday in a closed circuit road race held at the legendary Lotus test track at Hethel in Norfolk. Although Vanhoutte had competed in time trials and cyclocross races previously, this was his first road race and he finished a creditable 35th position out of a field of 61 riders, 25th in his category. His son Kieran was also racing at the event in the Youth B Boys race where he finished fourth. Harvey Woodroffe was the other Ely junior rider competing at Hethel, and he finished 5th in the Youth C/D/E category race leaving him 4th in the Under 12s race.
There was also time trial action on Saturday, with Rob Golding competing in a 25 mile time trial organised by the Northampton and District CA on the F14/25 course near Guilden Morden. Golding finished the two lap course in a time of 56:29, putting him in 10th place overall. The event was won by John Archibald, brother of Olympic gold medal winner Katie Archibald and a professional racer who rides for the Italian team Eolo-Kometa, who finished in a blisteringly fast time of 48:56 on what is a technical and challenging course.
Not satisfied with that result, Golding was also racing on Sunday in a 15 mile time trial organised by the Cambridge Cycling Club on the F2/15 course near Cambourne. Five Ely riders took part in the race, and Golding continued his recent run of excellent form to be the fastest Ely rider on the day, finishing the race in a time of 30 minutes and 48 seconds to put him in 19th place overall. Darran Bennett ran Golding close, however, stopping the clock only 23 seconds slower to give him 24th place. Rory Havis was the third fastest Ely rider, and again there was little to separate them with Havis completing the 15 miles in a time of 31:35, only 24 seconds slower than Bennett, and a distance personal best for Havis. John Manlow and Derek Ricketts also set distance personal bests for 15 miles, with times of 32:06 and 33:08 respectively.
Things were rather quieter on Monday, as Will Shepherd was the only Ely representative in a 10 mile time trial held on the B10/38 course near Bury St Edmunds and organised by the Stowmarket and District CC. The racing started at 7:30, giving Shepherd a start time of 8:21 in the morning, and Shepherd found the early start less than conducive to a fast time. Nonetheless, he finished the 10 miles in a respectable time of 23 minutes and 11 seconds putting him in 42nd place overall.
Junior member Harvey Woodroffe was racing once again on Tuesday, taking part in the another closed circuit road race, this time at the Redbridge cycling centre near Ilford in the first round of the Lee Valley Youth CC Summer Series. With only two riders in his age group Woodroffe was guaranteed a podium place, but was denied a win on the challenging and (at least compared to Hethel) hilly circuit as a result of lower back pain. Having battled hard with his only competitor for the first half of the race, Woodroffe considered retiring from the race when the back pain struck, but gritted his teeth to complete the 45 minute race.
Photographs:
Junior rider Harvey Woodroffe at the Hethel test track. Credit Joshua Woodroffe.
Darran Bennett in the Cambridge CC 15 mile time trial. Credit Davey Jones.
Rob Golding in the Cambridge CC 15 mile time trial. Credit Davey Jones.
Rory Havis in the Cambridge CC 15 mile time trial. Credit Davey Jones.
John Manlow in the Cambridge CC 15 mile time trial. Credit Davey Jones.
Derek Ricketts in the Cambridge CC 15 mile time trial. Credit Davey Jones.