Another full week of results and nice to see some excellent results, from MK Bowl, to the latest NDCA race, the Lord Mayor v Dep Lord Mayor Tri (result not declared) to a TT "down South". Congratulations go to Sam McDonald for winning the NDCA race and the excellent result by the SNCC team beating Peterborough CC...

N&DCA series round 3 - 7/5/23 Sam McDonald 1st, Nic Pillinger 3rd, Adam Williams 11th, team prize 1st; Pat Ellerbeck fastest road bike and Frances Lammyman 2nd lady

The third round of the series was the most successful of the season so far for the club. Sam McDonald took the overall win, completing the 10-mile course in 20:13. Nic Pillinger was close behind in third with a time of 20:33, and Adam Williams came 11th with 21:27. Together they took the team prize for the club with the fastest combined time for three riders, comprehensively beating Peterborough in second place. Pat Ellerbeck also took the honours in the road bike category, posting the fastest time of 24:43. Finally, Frances Lammyman was the second fastest female in the event with a 25:51 which is a great result for her first TT of the year. Hopefully there will be more victories to come this season.   

Full results can be found here: https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-results/25186#anchor

Frances Lammyman Milton Keynes Bowl Summer Series 4/5/23 6th 

It was the first mid-week evening race I've done this year, and the first time I've had to travel from my new office (Cambridge) after work. Planning a quick escape from work was essential as the women's race starts at 6pm. Unfortunately all that planning didn't quite work out, I left a little late and traffic was not on my side. With congestion and traffic accidents, I made it to the bowl with 12 minutes till my race.

Panicked and full of adrenaline, I managed to get signed on, changed into my kit, number pinned on and cycle up to the start line for 6:00 somehow. But that left me with 1 minute of warm up time and no chance to get used to the circuit again.  

I knew that the corner at the bottom of the circuit was my weakness, and ideally I would have ridden it a few times on my warm up to remind myself of the line to take and altogether build my confidence. I had no choice at this point and just hoped that my cornering practice session yesterday would come in handy today.

Unfortunately, it did not. I completely bottled it - I took the wrong line at the wrong speed and unsurprisingly had a little mental wobble. I stayed upright but lost the back of the group. Frustrated, I tried to catch on the back. My lack of warm up was holding me back as the group sped along at full speed! After two laps of chasing I accepted defeat. Dropped within the first 500m of a race, how humiliating.

However I carried on, pushing a moderate pace on my own and getting the cornering practice in. Soon I was overtaking individual riders who had dropped off the group, pulling myself through the ranks. Ahead there was a strong group of 3 who had broken away very early on, and one or two who were chasing.

I found myself in a group of 3 for the final part of the race, one of whom had lapped me once, and the other who I had lapped. We pushed the pace between us and I pipped them both to the line on the final lap. It felt good to get a decent sprint in, although my overall ranking (6/10) didn't reflect my ability.

Note to self- leave work several hours early and get a decent warm up in! Onto the next one...

Anastasia Bowler Westerly RC TT 10 miles 8/5/23 2nd

A good outing in the Westerly Road Club 10TT on Sunday for me, relatively quick conditions meant I was happy to take 2nd in 21:58. Some more tinkering with the bike to get some extra speed but happy with my power for the distance, which is the important part! My dad also had a great race and came in second overall in 20:15. He's far too much faster than me than I would like for now, so I'm looking forward to hopefully getting a lot closer as the season continues! 

Richard Slade Triathlon Mayor v Dep Mayor Result not declared 8/5/23

Swim not known but a 28 mile ride in 1:46 and a 10K run in 64:30, well done Richard.