Easterley Road Club 25

London Dynamo’s Selina Clifford and David Halliday (Team Bottrill) were fastest at the Easterley Road Club’s 25-mile event near Ugley in Essex on Sunday morning.

Clifford was riding in her first 25-mile event and only her third time trial, but experience of triathlon and road racing put her in good stead for the win.

Meanwhile, Halliday’s win was his second of the season so far following victory at Newmarket C&TC’s 7.5-mile event last month, with him taking second in the Great Yarmouth CC 10 two weeks ago.

Despite chilly temperatures there were generally good conditions with only light winds on the undulating sporting course.

Halliday, who rides the Diss and District CC 25-mile event next Sunday, clocked 53-48 while Alfie Salmon (Hart Performance Coaching) was second in 54-41 and Mike Debney (Verulam-Really Moving) was third overall and first on a road bike in 55-25.

Afterwards, Halliday said: “I’ve done a few shorter races already, but this was my first 25 of the year so I was a bit apprehensive driving down to Essex.

“It was quite cold, but with only a gentle crosswind the conditions were good for racing. It’s a challenging sporting course with lots of up and down, and a few s-bends to negotiate.

“I was really pleased with the way I rode, and obviously delighted to take the win for Team Bottrill! I really enjoy the sporting courses, and it was a great event put on by Easterley RC.

“The event is a counter for the SPOCO South East series, so I’ll try to make sure to fit more of those into my calendar over the course of the season!”

Fastest female Clifford covered the E1/25d course in 1-04-04 to win by almost three minutes from Chelmer CC’s Paulina Mozal on a road bike, with Claire Lee (Shaftesbury CC) being third with 1-08-28.

“I really enjoyed the event,” said Clifford. “This was my first 25 so I was really out to set a good benchmark for myself. The course was perfect for me to do that as it had some fast flat sections and some hilly sections (which I also enjoy!).

“Also, being an out and back, it was a relatively simple course which meant I could really focus on trying to maintain consistent power and a good position.

“Being a newbie to time trials I still have a lot to learn and my biggest concern was going out too hard. I was pleased with how I paced it and to be able to finish with a smile rather than a painful grimace.”

In other categories, the team prize was won by Team Vision Racing with Paul Turton, Graeme Garner and Matthew Saunders being their counting riders.

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