Riders prove that age is no barrier

THE Guernsey Velo Club have had a successful time at the recent veterans National 10 and 25 Mile Championships in Manchester, despite the road conditions. The 25-mile event took place at Jodrell Bank.

Unlike most of UK time trials, the course was all single carriageway on surfaces that the Guernsey team of Gary Wallbridge, Graham Le Maitre and Allan Renyard found hard going.

'What no one had said was that Cheshire has some of the worst road surfaces in the country,' said Renyard.

'One short drop into a dip, which would be negotiated in the race at over 35mph, was like riding across corrugated iron and most of the course consisted of tar and chipping surfaces which were badly in need of maintenance.'

In hot and humid conditions, both Wallbridge and Renyard suffered from dehydration, while Le Maitre managed to cope better. Michael Coyle of VC Etoile won the scratch race when the 44-year-old came home in 53min. 34sec.

Le Maitre just missed his personal best with 57-12 for fourth place as Caesarean Club's Dave Mayman took 13th with 59-46 and Gary de Gruchy 16th with 1-00-6.

Renyard achieved a personal best of 1-01-41 for 27th place, beating his old rival Allan Miller of Jersey by 2-17, as Wallbridge brought up the rear with 1-09-53.

In the handicap rankings, whereby all the veterans are handicapped according to age, it was 78-year-old Dennis Milsom of the Mid Shropshire Wheelers who took the honours with a 'plus' on his handicap of 24-15 to give a scratch time of 1-03-20.

Renyard managed 20th place in this section with a 'plus' of 17-14, well clear of Miller who is a year younger. Moreover, Le Maitre finished second in the 40-49 age group behind the fastest man on the day, Coyle.

The win would have earned him a national championship jersey and medal for the group. In the team event, Guernsey beat Jersey by 2-24.

In the 10-mile event at Doddington, Wallbridge was pleased with his ride as he improved on his best time of the year for the distance by two minutes for an eventual 54th place.

Renyard clocked another personal best with 23-48 for 32nd, while Le Maitre suffered the ignominy of missing the flyover turn and having to 'cyclo-cross' up the embankment and back on to the course for an eventual 23-51 for 34th place.

Coyle was again the fastest rider on scratch with 20-27 as Mayman finished 15th in 22-15, de Gruchy in 29th with 23-16 and Miller 45th with 24-41.

In the age handicap, Milsom was again the top dog with a 'plus' of 10-29, and a scratch time of 23-53.

Renyard led the Channel Island riders with a 'plus' of 6-57, to get the better of Miller again, while Le Maitre's mistake meant that the previous day's age-category second place was not to be repeated.

Despite this, the Sarnians still managed to come in front of the Jersey trio by six seconds.