Evening 10s Rd 11 and racing round-up
On the sweltering morning of Sunday 10th July Duncan Fuller subjected himself to racing in an a3crg 50-mile TT on the roads near Petersfield. Despite far from ideal preparation he recorded a fine time of 1 hour 57 minutes and 29 seconds
On the same morning Joe Benians competed in the Brighton Excelsior 25-mile event where he shaved 2 seconds off his personal best in finishing 3rd of 17 racers in a time just 2 seconds outside of 54 minutes.
The following evening saw the 11th Round of Lewes Wanderers 10-mile time-trial series with thirteen racers taking to the start. Joe had to give best on this occasion as his time of 22 minutes and 18 seconds was bettered by 13 seconds by Nick Dwyer (Drag2Zero), although Joe’s impressive time made him the clear winner of the road bike category.
Fastest female was 4th placed Kate Thomas with a new female Club course record for the A22-based “Boship Course” of 23 minutes and 16 seconds. Gav Richards was 6th in a fine 23:49 with Mike Hannay just behind in 24:14
Behind them there was a brace of personal bests. Graham Knowles chipped a further 5 seconds off his previous mark, but stopped the watch agonisingly still a single second outside of 25 minutes. Jamie Goldstein improved by 23 seconds as he beat the 26-minute barrier by 2 seconds and claimed runner-up amongst those on road bikes.
Peter Baker took third in that class and 10th overall in 27:57 a single second ahead of Dave Beale with Charlie Middleton four seconds further back and Adrian Hills posting one of his best rides of the season with 31:46.
Gina Boakes by Julie Cooper
Gina Boakes placed a fine 11th of the 15 female racers in the latest round of the Goodwood Summer Series races around the Historic Motor Racing Circuit on Tuesday 12th July.
The following night Peter Baker was back for Week 13 of the Sussex Cycle Racing League around Preston Park outdoor velodrome where he had his best night so far. He was runner-up in the opening 7-lap Scratch Race; 4th in the following 3-lap Dash and 4th again in the 6-lap “Win-and-Out”. He then placed 3rd in the 10-lap Points race before finishing with 10th in the Distance Race.
He was racing against the clock the following night when he was joined by Jamie Goldstein and Tom Moss (racing for Southborough & District Wheelers) as Eastbourne Rovers hosted a short, but hilly time-trial. Starting from a car park just east of Birling Gap the fifteen competitors would go straight uphill past the Belle Tout Lighthouse, on beyond Beachy Head and back through East Dean on a 7.2mile loop.
The tough first stretch to Beachy Head was timed as a “hill-prime” in which Tom came 2nd in a time of 7 minutes 10.8 seconds. Jamie was 8th in 8:57.4 with Peter only just behind in 8:59.8. Jamie and Peter held those relative positions to the finish where Jamie crossed the line in 22:18 to Peter’s 22:44. Tom was 3rd in a time 9 seconds outside of 19 minutes.
Further west the same evening Joe Benians and Kate Thomas competed in the latest of the Worthing Excelsior Cycle Club “Don Lock” Evening 10s up and down the A24. It was worth the trip as Joe broke his personal best by 15 seconds to stop the watch in 20:18 to take 3rd, while Kate reduced her’s by 10 seconds to 22:47 and placed 11 of the 15 competitors.
