AFTER Christmas Day's miserable weather, the next day's glorious sunshine tempted 16 riders out to compete in the traditional CC Breckland Boxing Day 10-mile event at Scoulton.

AFTER Christmas Day's miserable weather, the next day's glorious sunshine tempted 16 riders out to compete in the traditional CC Breckland Boxing Day 10-mile event at Scoulton.

Bursting onto the scene with a real Christmas cracker of a ride, junior Tom Fitzpatrick, on his first attempt in Breckland colours, beat all his club-mates to finish in 27 minutes 36 seconds.

Geoff Frost (API) was the only one faster than Tom with his 26:42 ride but Nick Parravani led the rest of the field in 28:53.

Bobby De'ath finished in 29:07, Rodney Hobbs 29:28, Ian Doe 29:43, Myles Lubbock 29:52, Tony Reynolds 30.54, Ken Price 31:46, Alan Stevenson 34:06, Geoff Fenwick (another new recruit) 36:15, while juniors Tom Doe 30:37, and Adam Cross 32:21, joined the large crowd of supporters enjoying the festive fare in the village hall afterwards.

Evergreen Norman Eldridge, a young 85-year-old (pictured), crowned his 2007 season with his record-breaking ride of 32:37 confirmed by the East Anglian group of the Veteran's Time Trial Association and is already gearing himself up for a successful 2008 season.

The CC Breckland open New Year's Day 10-mile event at Morley attracted 38 entrants, including Ian Cornish and Sam Barker.