Kate Churchill sweeps to VC Baracchi Rider of the Year title

Velo Club Baracchi’s membership voted Kate Churchill their Rider of the Year at the club’s presentation evening on Saturday. She was awarded the trophy and also the Women’s Rose Bowl.

Jenny Lusher with Kate Chrchill, VCB Rider of the Year

Her remarkable exploits this year included many audax events, capped by riding the Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur, a distance of 1,230 kilometres in less than eighty hours and also riding from Land’s End to John O’Groats, as well as riding tandem time trials.

The club’s guests on honour were Derek Lusher and Jenny Lusher of Norwich ABC who are enthusiastic volunteers and timekeepers and Derek is also a regional competition administrator and commissaire for British Cycling.

They were awarded the Charles Grimmer Memorial Trophy for services to the sport of Cycling and between them kindly presented most of the trophies. There were 17 riders in time trials in the year, with certificates for them all.

A certificate for Richard Allen

It has been a good year, in which new club records were set in the club and veteran best all-rounder competitions, the veteran 50-mile time trial and on the tandem at 25 and 50 miles; the tandem times also being East Anglian VTTA age records and in the 50-mile event a VTTA national age record.

Mark Richards, Club BAR

The club’s most prolific trophy winner was Mark Richards. He was the club champion in time trials at 10, 25, 30 and 50 miles, the club’s best all-rounder and short course best all-rounder, joint winner of the Baracchi Trophy and its handicap version and also the road race champion.

Derek Lusher with Richards and the Road Race trophy

John Swanbury was the veteran best all-rounder and veteran 25-mile scratch champion, Chris Womack took the veteran champion trophies 10, 25 and 100 miles, Paul Dennington won the veterans 25-mile scratch trophy.

Chris Womack with the 100-mile vets trophy

Paul Dennington with the 25-mile vets scratch trophy

John Thompson won the Ernie Randall Trophy for 50-mile scratch vet, presented to him by Freda Randall and Liam Gentry received the Bernard Dale hill climb trophy from Jenny Dale.

John Thompson with Freda Randall and his 50-mile scratch vet trophy. You have to be in it to win it!

Liam Gentry receives the Bernard Dale hill climb trophy from Jenny

Second-claim member Jenny Anderson was awarded the women’s trophies at 25 and 50 miles. The joint winner of the Baracchi Trophies with Richards was Liam Gentry, who also won the Keith Stephens cup for duathlon.

Mark Richards, Derek Lusher and Liam Gentry with the Baracchi Trophies

Derek Lusher with Jenny Anderson

John Swanbury and Ali Banks received the tandem trophies at 10, 25 and 50 miles and Chris Wallis received the Freewheel Trophy.

Ali Banks, Derek Lusher and John Swanbury with the 10-mile tandem double egg cup trophy

Chris Wallis won the Freewheel Trophy. In times gone by it had three wheels to go with the name.

The Holmes Cup for inter-club competition was presented to the Gt Yarmouth chairman Norman Harlow. Verity Smith of Stowmarket & District CC won the Jane Travers Memorial Trophy.

Derel Lusher with GYCC chairman Norman Harlow and the Holmes Cup

On Sunday the club vice-chairman Richards led the club on a ride of nearly 50 miles which included a stop for the “Chairman’s breakfast” at Bungay.

Riders gather for the Chairman’s Breakfast ride

On the road in the Saints

On the Saturday John Thompson had ridden the CC Breckland “Iceni” 163.2km audax, which took him Wells and along the coast road to Cley, then inland to Holt and Guist back to Swaffham and said, “I got round in 9 hours 5 minutes.  It was not particularly fast, but provided you are within the limit an audax is not particularly about how quickly you get round.”