VTTA (Kent) 25

Alex Clay (Team Bottrill) and Martin Kober (Abellio-SFA Racing Team) proved quickest in the women’s and open categories as VTTA Kent staged a 25-mile time trial near Molash on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, Simon Henderson (Thanet Road Club) was the quickest veteran on standard, the 61-year-old from Ramsgate beating his age standard by 12-18 with an impressive actual time of 58-42.

Clay clocked 56-54 to take the win, but she was pushed all the way by talented junior rider Carys Lloyd (Tofauti Everyone Active) who was just six seconds slower despite being just 17 years old. Third quickest female was Maria Sparks (Ashford Wheelers) with 1-02-47.

Kober clocked 54-21 to finish as fastest on actual time by 1-17 from Paul Burrows (Thanet RC) on a road bike, whose team-mate Mathew Lister was third overall and just seven seconds behind his clubmate.

There were a good number of personal best performances reported despite there being temporary traffic lights on the course which appeared overnight.

The event used the Q25/8 course which begins near Molash and heads to Chilham, on to the outskirts of Canterbury before turning down the A28 to Kennington and turning back, finishing just beyond Chilham on the A252.

Other results of note include Burrows being the first road biker on age standard with +11-23, while Thanet Road Club were top team on standard with Henderson and Burrows forming the winning duo.

There were prizes too for the first non-veteran riders on scratch, and while Clay was top female in that category the best non-veteran in the open category was Douglass Tulett (Thanet RC) with 1-00-22, impressive for a 15-year-old although he will be disappointed not to beat the hour-mark.

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