Matt Lucas continued is slow return to competitive cycling and was the sole Sydenham rider in the Cat 3/4 event. The memories of how hard Palace is soon came flooding back though as the initial group of 70 (yes 70!) riders was soon whittled down to approx 20 by mid distance. Miraculously (by his own admission) this 20 included Matt who was struggling to find that ‘groove’ that is so essential to surviving at Palace. This group pretty much stayed together until the end with most other riders getting lapped and pulled out by the marshals. The race ended in confusion when a number of riders contested the finish a lap early, lunging for the line with a lap to go! This meant that the group contesting the ‘real finish’ was reduced by a few with Matt collapsing over the line for 9th place.
Christopher Mulford was also riding from the club in the Youth event. Hot off the back of getting a very impressive 7th overall in the Friday night Darenth League he has set his sights on Palace. He managed 6 laps of the full circuit ( they even send the youngest riders round the full circuit these days) and despite finding that climb round the back tough going has not been put off and is reportedly keen to ride next week!