Breckland rider battles to vets victory
CC BRECKLAND rider Chris Nudds was best veteran on age standard in the Ely & District Hardriders – by a large margin.
His time of 1:05:16 for the 25.2 miles of hell beat the standard for his 64 years by +5.40.
It was more than a minute better than next best veteran, 49-year-old Keith Moseley from the West Midlands, who was one of a number of stars who had travelled a long way to sample this semi-classic event based at Little Downham and using roads across the black fens and the Isle of Ely.
“It was the usual muddy back roads, subsidence, broken, rutted and potholed surfaces, huge patches of diesel, and a flood to contend with and on this occasion add rain, sleet and blustery winds which not only made handling difficult but also reduced the temperature of plus-two to minus-one with the chill factor,” said Nudds.
Another outstanding ride came from former CC Breckland man Danny Watkins (Anglia Velo), who took 12th overall with 1:06:25 and told the Time Trial Forum: “It’s amazing how much fighting against strong side winds and the cracks in the road can sap your power.”
The event drew together a great cross-section of the cycling world.
Club riders like King’s Lynn CC’s Gavin Costick (1:28:10) rubbed shoulders with the likes of Chris Hopkinson (Army CU, 1:05:04) riding one of his last time trials before tackling, solo, the Race Across America, winner Joel Lewis (Abbis Colbert) an ambitious Kettering junior who recorded 59:01, Charles Pitt-Ford, who took third place in 1:00:30 as a novice time-trialist but a serious Cambridge University oarsman, and Elanor Cadzow, top lady in 1:16:11 and a Welwyn clubmate of Olympic gold medallist Laura Trott.
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Ely & District Hardriders: 1 Joel Lewis (Abbis-Colbert Cycles RT) 59:01, 2 I Turner (St Neots CC) 59:48, 3 C Pitt-Ford (Cambridge University CC) 1-00:30, 4 K Woolf (Prestige Velo) 1-00:56, 5 P Tedbury (CUCC) 1-01:23, 6 S Cousins (St Ives CC) 1-01:55, 7 K Moseley Stourbridge Velo) 1-03:17, 2nd Vet on Std, +4:28) 7 C Hopkinson (Army CU) 1-05:04, 8 L Hattersley (St Ives CC) 1-05:15, 9 C Nudds (CC Breckland) 1-05:16 (1st Vet on Std +5:40), 10 N Jackson (Cambridge CC) 1-05:26, 11 T Rae (Kingston Whs) 1-05:36, 12 D Watkins (Anglia Velo) 1-06:25, 20 Elanor Cadzow (Welwyn Whs) 1-16:11 (1st Lady).
