VCB’s reliability rides went well despite cold weather

Velo Club Baracchi’s reliability rides went ahead on Sunday and were well supported despite the particularly cold start.

The organiser, John Thompson, set off for the 4-hour target (finishing in 3:48), followed by Alex He and Paul Dennington aiming for and easily achieving 3.5 hours.

The main group of eleven riders set off in the three-hour group and Nick Esser reported that “The lanes between Hulver & Uggeshall weren’t the best.  With frozen mud and spots of frost they made for a gingerly 17mph in the first 40-minutes.”

Once on the Brampton to Halesworth road the pace picked up and two riders dropped out of the group very soon.

After leaving Wissett and heading up Rumburgh hill the group split, leaving just seven. Lucas He had a dig at Fox Hill in St Cross but, as Esser said, “This was neutralised pretty quickly.”

With a slight tail-wind the pace picked up through Bungay and onto the A143. Past Broome and up Stockton rise Liam Gentry and Mark Richards rode away and had a lead of 100 yards by Stockton roundabout.

James Moore tried to get across the gap but as his legs failed him Esser tried and got across before Gillingham roundabout.

The three of them worked together and arrived at St. Marks Church in Oulton Broad in exactly two hours and thirty minutes, about three minutes ahead of the next group.

All came in within the allotted times, except two riders who took a wrong turning somewhere and were delayed.  Ray Skipper helped with the organisation and refreshments on the day.

The full list of participants was, from VC Baracchi, John Thompson, Alex He, Paul Dennington, Paul Hayward, Rory French, Mark Richards, Mark Saunders, James Moore, Nick Esser, Liam Gentry and Lucas He and from Rock Estate, John Nichols, Kyle Garrett and Ben Crane.

Thompson said, “Despite the need for care initially it was a lovely morning to be riding!”

Paul Hayward, James Moore, Paul Dennington, Kyle Garrett, Nick Esser, Mark Richards, Liam Gentry, Mark Saunders, John Thompson and Rory French (Photo by Ray Skipper)

He had taken part the day before in the “Kelvedon Oyster” 100km audax, which he finished in around 6.5 hours.  Places visited en route from Kelvedon included Pebmarsh, Rowhedge, West Mersea, Tollesbury and Heybridge.

Thompson explained that the event was so called “because the organiser had made an arrangement with a cafe owner in West Mersea for riders to get a free oyster to eat.  However, not everyone bothered, including myself.”

He added, “There were some fair hills, including a sting in the tail of a long drag of about 3 miles within around the last 7 miles.  On finishing I had a pub meal and two pints of Doom Bar and crashed out on the train home – absolute bliss!”