Cycle Racing – 3rd May 2011

What a pleasant evening for a bracing ride in the North Yorkshire countryside. With the Cleveland Hills in the background

or golden rape fields beside the warm tarmac.

As ever the juveniles began the evening.

For a change they rode the ‘correct’ way round.

which meant they took the chicane as the motor racers do.

Various groups formed and re-formed, some large

some smaller

and with a variety of age groups.

We shouldn’t forget the unsung heroes and heroines who escorted some of the younger riders and. it must be said, appeared to be enjoying themselves.

And finally, let us remember that in cycling we can all aspire to own good equipment. After all Lance Armstrong rides Trek bikes.

About 90 riders participated in the senior event which followed, using the normal ‘reverse’ direction.

And being quite a still night, the action began early.

There were all varieties of rider;

including professional, club, team and university.

In spite of the dry weather, bike handling skills were much in evidence.

It was good to see Dan Smith back after his recent accident, fully involved in the Velo29 cohort.

The tempo increased as the race continued

until the final sprint was won by a small yet comfortable margin by Raleigh professional Matt Kipling from Craig Anderson, Richard Kipling and David Johnson.

Giles Pidcock was a little disappointed at ‘only’ being fifth although I’m sure he’s cheered by the fact that he still leads the series.

Please accept my apologies in advance because prior commitments mean I may miss all or some of the next couple of Tuesdays.

Tony Todd