LVCR Glendene RR

Sunday 15th March

Sunday March 15 saw The League of Veteran Cyclists road race promoted by Glendene CC. This event was held over a distance of 50 undulating miles on a circuit at Thaxted near Chelmsford.

VCR members putting a number on their backs for this one were club Chairman Richard Norris, the ever-present Paul Dewberry, road race debutant Steve Enright and, on the comeback trail after a two year lay off from racing, established Colchester roadman Alan Lawrence. The weather was dry and sunny but with a stiff westerly wind making it tough for the riders on certain parts of the course.

Paul was using the race to get some quality training miles into his legs so his objective was to sit in the bunch and enjoy the race however he almost came unstuck on the last climb of the race where he collided with Trevor Ormes (Lotto Olympia Interbike) in an attempt to avoid a rider who was coming back down the bunch. Fortunately Paul managed to stay upright and finish safely in the bunch.

Alan had the same objective as Paul for this race. Using this one as an early training race in preparation for races during the peak season he sat near the front of the race for the first 20 miles to see how it would pan out before heading back into the heart of the main bunch. 3 riders clipped off the front of the group midway through the race, a breakway which would stay away until the end. On the final climb at Debden Green, the bunch split and, noticing the danger, Alan made sure he was towards the front and didn’t lose contact, finishing in the bunch.

Richard, having been laid low with illness the previous week, spent the first couple of laps towards the front of the group and was unlucky to miss the break due to being run off the road by a fellow rider . He recovered to spend most of the race in the bunch however with 3 kilometres to go got himself into a small break of 6 but sadly his breakaway companions were not willing to work with him to stay away. Therefore with 1 kilometre to go he decided to launch an attack in hope of gaining a handy 4th place. It was a brave effort but unfortunately was pulled back in by a sprinting bunch.

Steve, not knowing what to expect from his first ever road race, rode steadily and gained a great deal of experience but was unfortunately tailed off however he rode 3 laps of the circuit as extra training.

All-in-all a good days racing for all concerned.