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After the disappointment of driving all the way to Cambridgeshire last year for this event to be cancelled due to thick fog on what would have been an amazing float day, both Dave Twin and Rob Royston were glad to be met by reasonable conditions, although not a good as they would have been the previous year. There was a bit of a breeze out on the course but that didn’t stop both the Sydenham pair from both achieving personal bests. Dave did a 4.17.25 (31st), knocking over 6 minutes off his previous best from 13 years previous. Rob flew recording a very impressive 4.05.23 (18th) knocking about a minute off his previous best from about the 80’s. The winner was Andy Bason of teampedalrevolution.co.uk with 3.37.16.

Romney Marsh experienced a major thunderstorm on the Saturday night before this event, so all riders had very wet roads and some major puddles to contend with as they did their two loops. The wind on the day wasn’t as bad as it can be which assisted Kevin Tye of Data team Allstars set a winning time and new course record or 1.46.42. Four of the five Sydenham riders down to ride started. Both Steve Thurgood and Paul Delicata were riding their first 50 milers. Dave Twin suffered a rear tub puncture while waiting to start and had to race back to the hall borrow a wheel race back and incur a late start of 8.45 minutes. The wheel he borrowed had been used on a turbo so made the many bend rather interesting and then had to wait at level crossing for the train to go through on the second lap. The final times were Steve Thurgood 2.06.23 (12th), Dave Twin 2.16.32 (30th with 8.45 late start), Paul Delicata 2.21.35 (40th) and Bob Loader 2.37.15 (37th).

Of the seven Sydenham riders down to start Ed Rieu was the only one that didn’t. The remaining six had the delights of blue skies and light winds to enjoy on this challenging course. Richard Hallett turned in a very impressive 1.43.38 (11th), Robert Royston 1.47.45 (19th), Dave Twin 1.49.18 (24th), Neil Stanley 1.50.14 (27th), Steve Thurgood 1.50.51 (29th) and Bob Loader 2.21.55 (49th). In the process Richard and Rob won the vet team prize picking up £10 each. The overall winner was Steve Dennis, East Grinstead CC 1.33.39 which was a new course record.

Another bright but chilly morning with a bit of a breeze was what greeted Neil Stanley and Dave Twin when they arrived in Surrey. There was a general consensus amongst the riders taking part that it had been a strange, slower day for this course. Neil just came out on top of the two Sydenham riders with a 1.00.49. Dave finished only 11 seconds behind with a 1.01.00. The overall winner was David Wheeler of Rye Wheelers with a 52.13.

On 25th April Neil and Ed rode the Addsicombe CC 25. The weather wasn’t great with a lot of rain for the first half of the race. Ed finished 44th in 1:01:20 Neil 34th in 1:00:35 and second claim member Mark Newton finished 21st in 59:05. The race was won by Steve Dennis of East Grinstead CC in 52:14.

On Saturday 8th May Neil rode the Shaftesbury CC event on E2/25, the weather for which was absolutely awful! Very wet,very windy and very cold…struggling to get warm Neil pulled a PB out of the bag finishing 9th in 58:42, faster than his previous best by 1 whole second. The event was won in 55:00 by Chris Rines.

A rather chilly morning, with blue skies and not much wind was what welcomed the riders of this event. 7 first claim members and 4 second claim were down to ride. Unfortunately there were a couple of non-starters. There was some confusion at the end of the event as the last twenty or so riders all had times a minute quicker than expected. This now appears to have been resolved. The first claim members times in order of starting were; Steve Thurgood 24.09 (67th), Matt Preston 25.10 (76th), Neil Stanley DNS, Rob Royston 23.36 (55th), Bob Loader 29.36 (89th), Dave Twin 22.30 (35th) and Ed Rieu 23.24 (53rd). The second claim members times in order of starting were; Simon Stromberg 26.16 (85th), Mark Newton 22.06 (26th), Matt Miles DNS (stuck in Spain) and Andy Beswetherick 23.17 (50th). The overall winner was Pete Tadros In Gear Quickvit RT in 19.23.

The sun and some warmth made it a pleasant welcome back to Hampshire to ride on this rolling course. Three Sydenham riders were down to ride but unfortunately Neil Stanley was a none starter. Rob Royston was first of the remaining two to start and finished with a 1.01.05. Dave Twin recorded a 59.18. Second claim member Mark Newton was getting some form back with a 56.52. The overall event winner was S. Walkling of VC Raphael with a 51.19.

Neil Stanley’s DNS at the Farnborough & Camberley 25 on Saturday afternoon was explained after a browse through the results on the CTT website. Turns out he rode the West Kent RC/DCB Demelza RT 10 in the morning instead. This was held on the Q10/22 Harrietsham course. Neil finished 17th with 24.39. Mike Piper of San Fairy Ann won with 21.30.

Big thank you to all those that turned out to assist with the running of this event! Full result HERE.

The first SERRL road event of the year was contested by a full field of 60 with Matt & Dan Lucas providing the Sydenham representation. The weather was dry, there was little wind on the day and with Biddenden being a flattish (read fast) course there was always the possibility of the race staying together for a bunch gallop. True to form this was the way it panned out, the few attempts to get way including one by Matt accompanied by Richard Friend (Gemini BC) came to nothing with the majority of riders seemingly content to keep things together. The final lap was a treacherous affair with at least 3 crashes and kerb to kerb chaos from 1.5km to go. A London Phoenix rider did clip off the front with about half a lap to go and its not clear whether he was hauled back, however with the winner being Chris Dick (London Phoenix) is possible he wasn’t. Matt and Dan finished ‘safely’ in the bunch around the mid teens.

What a fantastic turnout for the first club time trial of the year which bodes really well for the new Inter-Club setup! There were also some less than shabby times given the awful weather we’ve had to contend with that has put many peoples training back. Apologies it took a few days to get the result onto the website, thats the price you pay for a big turnout…lots of typing. The full result can be found on the ‘Events’ page.

The East Surrey Hardriders always lived up to its name and this years version was run in freezing conditions with ice, wind and potholes adding to the excitment. There were three sydenham riders in the field and if there was a prize for ‘closest grouping of riders from the same team’ we would have won it! The times on the board were:
28th Richard Hallett 01:21:16
31st Robert Royston 01:22:18
33rd Ed Rieu 01:23:16

The event was won by Sigma’s Wouter Sybrandy in 01:07:44.