Members of the Ely & District Cycling Club - B&T Motor Repairs took advantage of the spring sunshine to take part in a busy weekend of racing, the junior riders in particular.
On Saturday club member Darran Bennett was the organiser of the ECCA time trial race on the 10 mile E2/10 course near Newmarket. While many club members were busy marshaling on the course and assisting in the smooth running of the event at headquarters, two Ely riders were out on course taking part in the race. While the warm sun was welcomed by all, the stiff winds made life tough on the course for the racers. Simon Butteriss was the faster of the two Ely racers, finishing the 10 mile course in a time of 21:37, putting him 18th out of 74 starters. John Manlow stopped the clock in a time of 23:13 to give him 38th place. The event was won by Paul Pardoe of Peterborough CC in a time of 20:03.
Junior members Harvey Woodroffe and Tom Lewis were also racing on Saturday in the first round of the LVYCC Spring Series at Redbridge. The weather was again sunny but with a strong gusty wind. In the U12 boys race Woodroffe finished in 18th place. In the U16 category Lewis was in the lead group for the first 20 minutes of the race, but misjudged a fast sweeping downhill corner and ended up coming to a stop off the circuit on the grass. The lead group was gone, and Lewis rode solo to the end to finish 16th.
Lewis was also racing on a closed circuit road course on Sunday, this time in the fourth round of the Hillingdon Slipstreamers Youth Spring Series. The pace was fast from the start in the U16 event, with the racers riding at an average of over 25mph for nearly the first hour. Due to the speed of the race no-one was able to break away from the group, so the race came down to a bunch sprint. Lewis got himself in a good position for the final sprint, but picked the wrong rider to follow and, having spent much of the last two laps in 4th place, ended up in 5th.
Woodroffe switched to off-road racing on Sunday, taking part in the Crank It Eastern series mountain bike race at Shrublands near Ipswich. Woodroffe took a podium place, finishing 2nd in the boys Under 12 category having completed 5 laps of the course in just under 22 minutes.
Ely & District Cycling Club - B&T Motor Repairs Press Release 24th March 2022
Photographs:
Simon Butteriss in the ECCA 10 mile race. Credit Davey Jones.
John Manlow in the ECCA 10 mile race. Credit Davey Jones.
Tom Lewis racing at Redbridge.