A large number of velos travelled the short distance to the Bredgar and Wormshill Railway to take part in a fundraising ride to support the efforts of the railway to install the grade 2 listed Garforth footbridge at the site.
Most opted for the 100km route, with some choosing the 50km route, which took in a wide variety of roads, reaching Ashford, Canterbury and Whitstable on their route.
Well done to the 19 Velos who turned out to raise some funds for the footbridge: Fraser, Andrew, Harv, Simon T, Simon M, Paul, Cam, Elliott, Helder, Nigel, Mark, Martin, Jamie, Jon, Chas, Debbie, Specs, Sally and Phil. Several of whom appeared in a report on the local TV news that evening.
Velo’s Rob Kennison crossed the channel to take part in the Gent Wevelgem sportive, riding the flemish roads of the spring classic one day ahead of the professional peloton.
Opting for the 220km version , Rob braved the winds of De Moeren, the cobbles of the Kemmelberg, and the gravel of the ‘plugstreets’, and completed the distance in just under nine hours, although that also included riding too and from his hotel.
Screenshot
An epic, effort, well done Rob!
Sally Smith raced closer to home, travelling to the Isle of Grain to ride the West Kent RC 10. Sally also had to brave the winds, and came home in 28:13, taking second female road bike and third female overall.
Well done Sally, and thank you to the volunteers from WKRC for putting on the event.
The opening day of the time trial season in Kent, saw seven velos travel to the Isle of Grain to complete in the VTTA 10, doubling up as the velo’s road bike championship.
Rob Kennison came home with the cup, finishing with a time of 24:58, good enough to also be second road bike overall, and first veteran road bike. Matt Nunn wasn’t far behind, recording 26:03. Fraser Blandford claimed third place, stopping the stopwatch on 28:10, with Simon Tucker (28:28) and Nigel Wharton (28:31) on his heels.
The event also saw the welcome return to time trialling of Steve Smith and Phil Booth, who both came home in under 30 minutes, here’s hoping they both start competing regularly again.
Well done all and thank you to Bob Giles and the VTTA for organising, velo member Dave Mackey for timekeeping, and Charlie Bruce for the photos.
Whilst the velo TT riders were racing in Grain, Sally Smith and Mike Stanley headed to Thetford Forest to ride a 53 mile Glorious Gravel sportive.
Despite a puncture for Mike which thankfully sealed itself the pair finished the course on 3 hours 15.
A new initiative for the velo is the club chair’s challenge for 2025, where members compete to firstly complete a ride of at least a particular distance each month, with the final month of the challenge seeing any members remaining in the competition aiming to complete the ride of the longest distance.
The aim is to monitor this via the clubs strava club, however at the end of each month the chair will produce a list of who they think is still in the challenge, and ask for any additions that need to be made.
Velo’s Sally Smith and Mike Stanley travelled to Norfolk to take part in the Glorious Gravel Sportive.
Taking in 54 miles around Thetford they completed the distance in 3 hours 43 minutes, with Sally enduring a number of issues, including a puncture that saw her covered in sealant!
Well done both on their off road adventures this year.
Velo’s top female time triallist, Debbie Percival, finished second in the final Kent event of the year, the VTTA 15 run on the Hamstreet course.
Debbie completed the course in a time of 39:48, good enough for second place in the women’s event and only just behind winner Rebecca Wilson’s time of 39:23.
Overall winner was Nic Fennell in 29:29.
Well done Debbie and thanks to the VTTA, promoter Bob Giles, and his team of volunteers for putting on the event.
The annual Wigmore CC hill climb, held on the lung busting Hollingbourne Hill, saw Medway Velo’s Debbie Percival take the win in the female category.
Riding in her twentieth consecutive Wigmore hill climb, Debbie also took her ninth overall category win in the event, coming home in a time of 4:51.1.
Mike ‘Specs’ Stanley was the fastest velo overall, taking the clubs hill climb championship, recording 4:36.6, with Connor Clare also coming home in less than five minutes with his time of 4:59, a very creditable effort given him needing to overcome a couple of logistical issues in order to take the start line. Time trial debutant Jamie Martin was velo’s fourth representative, crossing the line in 5:50.2.
Overall winner was Josh Aiken almost breaking the three minute barrier with his time of 3:03.1.
Well done to all the riders and thank you to our friends at the Wigmore and their team of volunteers for putting on another great hill climb, and to Sally Smith for the photos.
Medway Velo Cycling Club 