Bright spells for cyclists

6:46pm Tuesday 6th May 2008

The fortunes of the Maldon & District Cycling Club's racing members have closely followed the weather so far this year: lots of promise, but only a few bright spells. However, when the sun came out at the weekend, a whole range of riders made their presence felt across a series of races. Up until this point, chief bragging rights had been held by Neil Chapman who had quietly racked up a series of minor placings in local road races. Little did he realise when he rolled over the line in fourth place in the recent VC Revolution road race at Abberton, his accumulated points scored to date this season put him at the top of the Eastern region rankings, leading Finchley's Vince Devine by one point. Chapman defends his lead in the next counting event, the Lea Valley road race on the Little Baddow circuit on May 11.

Chapman's road racing colleague Steve Saunders had at that point in the season failed to score, not through lack of effort, but more through fully involving himself in a range of race making efforts which had ultimately proved unsuccessful. He was away in the main breakaway of the day in the VC Revolution road race, only being caught in the closing minutes.

Of the other usual suspects on the racing scene, Mark Beattie is sidelined with an ongoing chest infection and both Rob Tyas and Tim Butt are away at university. This has left a gap for the next generation to step in to fill, and they have not disappointed.

First to set the ball rolling was the club's youngest active racing member, 12-year-old George Wood, who took first place in two of the youth races on the track in the Welwyn track league meeting last Friday. Indeed, it may have been a hat trick of wins if an over enthusiastic starter hadn't fired the starting pistol before George was fully clipped in at the start of his third race. Although he is of tender years, George is surprisingly experienced, regularly riding across a wide range of disciplines and showing a maturity and aggression well beyond his years. His racing is proving costly, so he is on the lookout for sponsorship which will enable him to develop as far as he possibly can.

Only two days after Wood opened the club account, another two of the club's younger members also made their mark: Sam Connolley and Hamish Hore, who both took up the sport less than a year ago, rode in the youth races in the Whitewebbs CC promotion on the Ford test track at Dunton. Connolley took fourth and Hore fifth place in their respective events, quite a feat for both as Connolley was riding his first ever bunched race and Hore only his second. Later on in the day, Steve Saunders took fourth place in the senior race. The quality of this performance is best judged against the standard of the riders he beat, many of whom are regular winners on the local scene.

Earlier the same day the Colchester Rovers "50" saw a strong Maldon contingent, headed by Gary Wood, father of George, who recorded a splendid 2hr 7m 59s to put him high up the leader board. Other Maldon riders putting in good rides were Steve McDonald (2.18.50), Kev Bunton (2.24.42), Paul Sexton (2.26.52) and the third member of "team Wood", mum Sue who recorded 2h 32m 21s.

Elder statesman amongst the club youth is Jack Gibson. Gibson is in his final year of A-levels and is being careful not to let racing compromise his studies. Nevertheless, he is showing some of the best form of his career to date. His time of 25m 14s in the most recent evening 10 mile event hides the fact that on this particularly foul evening many left their bikes in their cars and went straight into the pub. Of those that did ride, almost all went back one or two minutes with the exception of Gibson who ignored the conditions and returned a time which, astonishingly, was his fastest of the year. Another junior who braved the conditions was junior lady Keely Bunton who rode the event as a two up with club chairman Paul Gregory to record a splendid time of 27m 54s.

A rider who has improved significantly, yet has barely been noticed is Dean Wylie who shot forward almost two minutes to record far and away his best time of 25m 02s the previous week. Now that he has the hang of racing, it is likely much more will be seen of him at the upper end of the results table in future.

Next club open promotion is the "25" at Steeple on May 11, starting at 8am.

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