Weekly Round-up: 17 April 2022
Glorious weather and double bank holidays made the four day Easter bank holiday weekend a real treat… Making the most of the sunshine, NFCC members were out in force and some escaped to various events too.
First up, Tuesday evening saw the first running of a NFCC Road Bikes Only time trial on the P311/10 course in Ringwood – with 21 riders, it was the most successful club TT for a few years… A full report can be found here and images are in the gallery.
Thursday evening chain gang was a successful test of a new course:
Probably back to the usual course next week, we’ll do a test ride before making any announcements so please keep an eye on the usual sites for final information.
After testing their legs on P311/10 on their road bikes on Tuesday Evening, Jonathan Chadwick and Bob Jolliffe raced the Bournemouth Arrow Good Friday 10 on the same course. Chadwick finished with a time of 24:19 – finishing in 13th place overall – a full 2 minutes quicker than on his road bike 3 days earlier. Jolliffe crossed the line in 30:07 – nearly four and a half minutes quicker than earlier in the week! Full results can be found here.
Phill Brown flew under the radar once again to stretch his legs at the Good Friday Easter Classic at Castle Coombe in Wiltshire, flawlessly hosted by Chippenham Wheelers.
The enormous field of riders was seriously impressive, thrown together from a bunch of fresh upgrades like me, seasoned riders just hunting those elusive points to return to Cat2, and even those that turn up with a full team, just to play their cards. The start was pretty intimidating with 100 bodies all trying to be the first person to kiss the apex of the first corner, and that energy didn’t subside for the whole race – it was a constant game of cat and mouse. As soon as the break away was caught, the next attack was fired off thanks to all the fresh legs in the peloton.
I found myself getting caught in the wind far too often, probably from a lack of racing experience, but enjoyed every second of the adrenalin filled race, averaging a whopping 44.3kmh (27.5mph). Closing my winning streak, I crossed the line 13th out of 100 in the final bunch sprint. Regardless of the final positions, invaluable lessons were provided by the experienced riders around me and I can’t wait to get the next one booked…
All the usual suspects were on the road for the Saturday Club Ride:
A group enjoyed the Sunday club ride but it seems they all forgot their cameras and notebooks… Don’t forget to jot down a few words, snap a few photos and send them over to press@newforestcc.co.uk if you find yourself out representing the Club.
