Velo’s Debbie Percival returned to time trial action and claimed the prize for first woman vet at the VTTA (Kent) 10 held on the Thanet Way.

Riding a course she knew well, Debbie came home in 27:04.

Well done Debbie, and thanks to organiser Bob Giles and his VTTA team.

Evening 10 result held on 13th June on the Q10/20 course.

	Rider	Club	Category	Time
1	Jon Graciano	Medway Velo	TT bike	23:39
2	Mike Stanley	Medway Velo	Road bike	27:29
3	Simon Tucker	Medway Velo	Road bike	28:01
4	Fraser Blandford	Medway Velo	TT bike	28:07

Thank you to Chas and Rachel for marshalling.

Sally Smith’s return to road racing saw her claim a second place in the BMRC crit held at the Gravesend Cyclopark.

Smith rode strongly to stay with the chasing group in the EFGHW category race, and spent a good amount of time on the front, demonstrating her strength throughout.

Well done Sal, and thank you to all the volunteers who made the event happen.

Result of evening 10 held on 25 April on Q10/20

1	Jon Graciano	Medway Velo	Open	TT Bike	24:02
2	Phil Appleby	Wigmore CC	Open	TT Bike	24:22
3	Rob Kennison	Medway Velo	Open	Road Bike	25:56
4	Fraser Blandford	Medway Velo	Open	TT bike	27:22
5	Matt Nunn	Medway Velo	Open	Road bike	27:48
5	Mike Stanley	Medway Velo	Open	Road bike	27:48
7	Cameron Carthew	Medway Velo	Open	Road bike	28:08
8	Connor Clare	Medway Velo	Open	Road bike	28:16
9	Sally Smith	Medway Velo	Female	Road bike	28:59

Thanks to Phil & Chas for marshalling.

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 Sally Smith scored her first victory of the season by winning the road bike category at the KCA 10 held on the Brenzett course.

Smith recorded 26:56 and as well as taking the victory, she recorded her first time under 27 minutes on her road bike.

Well done Sally and thanks to fellow Velo David Mackey for timekeeping and organiser Pete Elms and his KCA team for putting the event on.

Across the channel, Phil Booth rode the Paris Roubaix challenge, successfully completing his ninth attempt at the event.

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.

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.

Well done both.

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.

The rule are as follows

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.