On Tuesday, 14th June, three GYCC riders took part in the Godric 10, competing in a strong field of 25. Jonny Hawes completed the course in 23:30 taking 7th place. Jan Smith was the fastest female GYCC rider, and she improved her personal best by 16 seconds, taking it down to 27.43. James Soanes, riding fixed gear, finished in 29.23, and the event was won by I. Robertson (Tri Anglia) with a time of 22.04.
Breckland CC held their Open 10 time trial on Wednesday night on the A11 between Attleborough and Snetterton. Weather conditions had improved throughout the day and were excellent by the start time. The lone GYCC representative, Jonny Hawes, smashed his personal best by over a minute taking his time from 23.29 down to 22.09. The event was won by Harley Matthews with an incredible time of 19.28 and setting a course record.
Also on Wednesday 15th June, the first leg of the Women’s Tour of Britain started in Southwold. As this was a local event, a group of 20 + members from GYCC rode over in support to see the start. On the way to Southwold, they picked up another 5 club riders. Club Social Secretary, Tim Amphlett, was interviewed by BBC Radio Suffolk about GYCC attendance at the event. After watching the sign in and start of the race, GYCC riders headed to Norwich to see the finish. On the way there, they stopped at Brampton and watched the Tour riders pass through. They arrived at Norwich in plenty of time to see the exciting, fast paced, highly technical finish to a great race. The weather was kind and everyone had a great day out. Afterwards, the riders returned to Great Yarmouth, recording a total of 82 miles for the day.
The final week of the Lotus League saw GYCC take 1st and 6th in the men’s 4th Cat. The race was defined from the start by Rob Anderson and Clive Julian trying to make breaks on each of the first 6 laps, which they were, however, unable to keep up. On the penultimate lap, the speed increased dramatically in the hope of breaking up the pack, but again, the strong field prevented fragmentation, and a sprint finish was definitely on the cards. Coming out of the chicane on the final lap, Rob Anderson put the hammer down. A defined single line took shape and with 400 metres to go, the sprint was at full gas. Clive pulled out of Rob’s slipstream and went for the line at 200 metres, finishing a bike’s length in front of the field with Rob close behind in sixth place. The standard of riding in the peloton was a massive improvement on that of previous weeks with no crashes or injuries being sustained by any riders, which was a first for this year’s series. This was a fantastic series result overall for GYCC: 5 x 1st places, 23 x top ten placings, 1st & 7th in the 4th Cat Men’s League and 1st Place in the League for the ladies (Alice Codling). In addition, 3 riders gained their 3rd Cat licenses.
Thursday evening saw good conditions, apart from slight headwind, for the 24 riders taking part in the weekly club 10. Steve Konrad was the fastest GYCC rider of the night, taking fourth place with a time of 22:47. Christopher Hodds had an excellent ride, setting a new personal best with a time of 22:06. The event was won by Harley Matthews (TPR) in a time of 21:40 and in the process, he set a new course record by 26 secs: his second course record of the week.
On Saturday, Ian Freel took part in the Sprint event at Fritton: a 750 metre swim, 20k bike, 5k run. He was 109th out of 135, and for his 3rd event in a row, he was 3rd in his age category. This was a tough course, and wet conditions certainly didn’t help, but it was a well organised event in its 10th anniversary.
On Sunday, the club held its annual 30 mile Pendle Trophy time trial event. 16 riders took part, 8 of whom were representing the club. The winner of the Pendle Trophy for Yarmouth riders was Steve Konrad in a time of 1:13:02. Steve’s time along with that of Louis Julian (1:14:41) and also Ian Sandall’s time of 1:18:20 set a new Club 30 Team Record. The previous record had stood at 3:57:00 for some thirty years, but yesterday’s ride took nearly 11 mins off this time, bringing it down to 3:46:03.
The fastest rider of the morning was Harley Matthews (Team Pedal Revolution) with 1:07:23. This time also broke the existing course record (Joe Skipper with 1:08:20), which had stood for 3 years, by 57 seconds: a cracking ride on the day and the third course record Harley had broken this week.
Also on Sunday, Neil Goward attended the bike-events New Forest Sportive. Under cloudy skies, he left Brockenhurst at 8:30 and rode the 62 mile course around the beautiful New Forest area. It was similar terrain to Norfolk with one or two challenging ascents. The event was certainly worth the trip and is one that I can recommend to other riders.
