East Lancs RC race report

Rochdale Cyclists' Touring Club (RCTC) and East Lancs Road Club (ELRC)

The East Lancs riders have been very busy and prominent over the last week in both road races and time trials.

The Club was well represented in the third/fourth category Richmond Road Race last Sunday (24 May) with Chris Green, Ben Whitehead, and Sam Wilson taking part in the 32 mile race in North Yorkshire, which included over 3,000 feet of climbing. Inevitably, the bunch split under pressure on the climbs but Chris was well placed in the leading group and went on to secure seventh place and keep up his good form for the season so far. Ben and Sam were in the chasing group with Ben coming in second in the bunch sprint for the line.

Last Wednesday (20 May) Chris took part in the circuit race on the Litherland Circuit. On a tight circuit, which involves a lot of sprinting out of the corners, this short fast race completed a distance of 11miles in a time of 26 minutes with Chris taking second place in the bunch gallop.

In his present form it’s difficult to see anyone in the club preventing Chris from lifting the Road Race senior men’s BAR trophy at the end of the season.

However, the real drama from the last weeks racing, was in the time trials competed in by the club riders. Three weeks ago Frank Smith broke the club 10 mile record, which had been in place for over 20yrs. However, just 10 days later Frank’s record was broken again by Ben Trippier. Riding on the D10/1 course on the Rainford By-Pass, Ben completed 10 miles in 21 minutes 49 seconds to finish 4th in the Event and take a further three seconds off Frank’s recent record.

Feeling on top form Ben along with four other club riders rode the Janus RC 25 mile time trial on Saturday on the J2/1 course just South of Knutsford in Cheshire. The weather conditions were perfect and all the riders responded with fast times, which resulted in 44 out of the 120 riders completing the 25 miles in less than one hour.

Sam Walley was first to finish for the East Lancs in 1hr 03:33mins to take the fastest junior prize and then Ben Trippier finished in a new club record time of 56:07 minutes and take over four minutes of his previous personal best. Feeling good about setting a new club record lasted just 30 minutes for Ben, when Andy Gorton stormed to another yet faster record time of 55:33minutes. Both were terrific rides breaking the 25 mile club record which had also stood for over 20 years.

Last Thursday (21 May) the East Lancs had their regular slot on the Manchester Velodrome and 28 riders enjoyed some fast and furious racing on the track. With several new riders mixing it with the regular club riders, the group included men, ladies and several juniors all of whom packed in two hours of racing completing various events such as the one kilometre TT, scratch race, and three kilometre and one kilometre handicap races all under the watchful eye of BC Coach Paul West, which should prepare them nicely for the club track champs in July.

The bedrock of the club is nevertheless cub Rides from the Leisure Centre on Saturdays and Sundays and last Sunday 24 riders enjoyed a ride to Holmfirth and back totalling a steady 52 miles. Undertaken at a leisurely pace, the group set off in poor weather, which steadily improved as they undertook 4,000ft of climbing throughout the day, however the ride was notable for the unusually large number of punctures suffered by the riders.