Father and son pairing Frazer and Josh Wallis smashed a record as they won Spalding Cycling Club’s 2-up Championship last week.
On a fine sunny evening for racing at the Pode Hole to Baston Road course, the Wallis duo clocked 21.58mins to beat the club family record set around 20 years ago by Ian and Oliver Fensom of (23.30mins).
The wind was in the east, which meant that riders were assisted on the 2.5 times down The Delph towards Baston.
However, for a 2up this was not the best type of course as riders had ten corners to negotiate with the rear rider attempting to stick close to the front riders rear wheel even on the bends.
On the night there were seven pairs and two riders who chose to ride solo.
The winners were followed home by Andrew and Tilly Gurney (26.02mins), Andy and Velvet Bowser (26.56mins), Derek Chamberlain and
Brian Johnson in (28.34mins), Barry Drew riding with guest rider James Davey (28.58mins) and the final pair of Shane and Ben Norton (29.13mins).
Club stalwarts Adrian Thurston and Bill Wood came in at 33.25mins, while solo rider Kieran Buffham picked up a course best time of 22.22mins and Mark Hills clocked 25.30mins.
- Tilly Gurney was Spalding CC’s only representative at the Heckington Show this year.
The wet and windy conditions made for a tough and exciting day of racing.
As there were only three lady riders in total, they raced with the men – save for an 800m finale where Gurney picked up second place.
Keeping with tradition, she managed to qualify for the 400m handicap final and finishing fourth, having avoided crashes in both her qualifying heat and final.
- Spalding CC members Julie Wright, Sarah Bentley and Gary Bentley took part on a self-organised trip to the to the French Pyrenees with three other local riders last week.
Over seven consecutive days, the Spalding trio and Alan Harris, Chris Peel (Bourne Wheelers) and Dan Towell, – with logistic and medical support from John Charleston Stokes – the group cycled from Biarritz on the Atlantic coast, to Perpignan on the Mediterranean.
The whole trip saw them cover over 400 miles and climb more than 38,000 feet, with the hardest day being nearly 10,000 feet including four mountain passes.
The highlight was reaching the top of the iconic Tourmalet pass (almost 7,000 feet high), which is revered by cyclists the world over and was included in this year’s Tour de France.
- In 2018, club member Barry Drew was lucky enough to be given the treat of riding the Danube Cycle route from Triborg to Vienna as a 70th birthday present – and it has finally taken place.
Along with his son Liam, who was responsible for handing out this punishment, they set of from Triberg on the afternoon of the July 1 and rode the 650 miles to Vienna, arriving there on July 15, with one rest day.
The route was full of variety with early sections including a lot of gravel tracks, more than was expected and on a road bike with rear panniers and 25 mm tyres this made for some tricky cycling.
- Spalding’s midweek social riders, who ride, weather allowing on Mondays and Thursdays, have taken advantage of the good weather with rides to Corby Glen, Bourne and Stamford.
Anyone who is interested can contact Barry Drew on 01775 724969. The rides operate on a no drop policy, which means that no one gets left behind and there is always a cafe stop to socialise.
- Second claim Spalding CC rider Tom Wright took part in the Junior National Championships at Bassingham South of Lincoln on Sunday.
Initially the roads were wet and resulted in a number of crashes which he avoided, but fortunately further rain held off for the finish the roads had dried.
The 11-mile lap was flat, resulting in a fast race with an average speed of 27.8 mph.
The juniors finished the 70 miles in 2 hours 30 min. A large bunch had broken away ahead of Wright, who still secured 40th place overall.
