News & Features

Strong winds and heavy rain and snow led to the cancellation of some time trials last, but for those that did go ahead it made for some memorable performances.

17-year-old Amy Monkhouse (Storey Racing) and Chris Holmes (Twickenham CC) were fastest female and male riders in the East Surrey hardriders 29.9-mile time trial promoted by Dorking CC on Sunday.

The 55th running of the hardriders event, the event lived up to its name with riders who started later on having to deal with winds gusting up to 50mph, while some of those who competed in the earlier road bike event having to climb over a large tree that had fallen across the course.

Holmes clocked 1-08-24 to win by just 26 seconds from Crawley Wheelers’ Mark Smith, while Monkhouse clocked 1-17-11 to finish 13th overall.

In Somerset, David Janes and Laura Rayner were the fastest male and female respectively at the Gillingham & District Wheelers 19 in Somerset on Saturday afternoon.

Rayner (Westbury Wheelers) clocked 56-27 to top the podium, while David Janes (Wheels of Dorset) was the fastest male with a new course record time of 41-06.

North Yorkshire was the location for a bitterly cold and windy Cleveland Wheelers 21-mile event, with Keith Murray (DRAG2ZERO) surviving a puncture to take the win with 49-28, while Kate Sanderson (Cleveland Wheelers) was fastest woman.

Current national 30-mile competition record holder Rachael Elliott teamed up with Ian Greenstreet as she begun a comeback to cycling at the Cardiff 100 Miles RCC 15-mile event in Gwent on Saturday.

Elliott, from Newbury in Berkshire, suffered a stroke last year which left her with seriously impaired vision. But the determined 41-year-old is back on a bike, this time as the tandem stoker for Greenstreet.

The pair clocked 33-45 to win the tandem category by 1-21 from Bristol South CC duo Joanna Knight and Andrew Legge, despite riding a borrowed touring machine with clip-on aerobars, rear wheel covers and a front tri spoke.

Cwmcarn Paragon’s Chris Smith, the 30-year-old from Gwent, clocked 33-05 to set the fastest time of the day.

Fiona Sharp and Darren Yarwood were the winners as the Yorkshire CF staged a 10-mile time trial near Ferrybridge on Sunday.

Team Swift rider Sharp, 40 and from York, clocked 25-20 to win the women’s category by 1-27 from Karen Taylor (Team Sportslab). 44-year-old Yarwood (Vive le Velo) covered the course in 22-57 to secure overall victory by just one second from Harrogate Nova CC rival Peter Watson.

Thomas Hutchinson (Team Kirkley Cycles) and Michelle Fairclough (Salford CC) were fastest male and female riders respectively as Manchester and District TTA staged a 10-mile time trial near Allostock in Cheshire on Saturday.

23-year-old North East-based rider Hutchinson clocked 20-43 to win by 1-49 from Seamons CC veteran Adrian Hughes. Michelle Fairclough, the 43-year-old from Manchester, covered the course in 26-15 to win the women’s prize by almost nine minutes from Diana Bite (Univ of Manchester CC).

And in South Yorkshire, Joe Perkins, Alex Pritchard and Alex Clay, Francesca Hall were the fastest males and females respectively at the Sheffrec CC two-up 25 on Saturday afternoon.

Perkins (University of Derby CC) and Pritchard (University of Nottingham CC) finished their run with a time of 53-01 to top the podium.

And Clay (Loughborough Students CC) and Hall (DAP Cycling Club) finished their run with a time of 1-05-45.

* All reports are copyright of Cycling Time Trials/Snowdon Sports. Not to be used without permission.

* See the individual event listings for more detailed reports on these and other time trials.