Velo’s Phil Booth and Elz Lloyd set out to ride the infamous pave of the hell of the north, taking on the Paris Roubaix sportive.

Warm early April sunshine greeted the riders, although they had a stiff headwind to face on the way out to the start of the cobbles, although this also meant a tailwind on the return to Roubaix.

Despite starting well, on the Bourghelles- Wannehain section of cobbles, Phil, opting for his cyclo cross bike, managed to put his chain through the cage of his rear mech, and his drive train refused to move anymore. After spending an hour fixing the problem on the roadside Phil and Elz were underway again, however not wishing to cause any more damage that may leave Phil by the roadside, they opted for a more direct return to the famous Roubaix velodrome.

Not one to let adversity coming in the way of completing the event, Phil returned to the area later in the week, this time with his shimano equipped road bike, completing the final 25km of the race once again, including a lap of the track.

Well done both on braving the fearsome cobbles.

Two velos were in sportive action over the weekend.

Sean Farley travelled to Belgium to ride the Ronde Van Vlaanderen sportive. Having opted for the shorter version last year, this time Sean tackled the 129km version, taking in more of the famous climbs of the spring classic.

In the south of the UK Sally Smith took part in the Glorious Gravel sportive on Salisbury plain. Riding alongside her friend Katy, Sally covered 60 miles of gravel and off road tracks in just over 5 hours.

Well done both.

The first weekend of open time trials in Kent saw 4 velos travel to the Isle of Grain to race the VTTA time trial organised by club member Dave Mackey.

Due to roadworks the event was shortened to a little over 8 miles, however the weather still made the race tough with the riders facing hail as well as rain and sun.

All four velos opted for road bikes with Rob Kennison coming home in 21:20 with Mike Stanley next in 23:03. Sally Smith, who was forced to ride in one gear after snapping a cable at the start finished in 24:09, whilst Connor Clare competing in his first time trial recorded 24:39.

Sunday morning saw Keith Johnson compete in the Hillingdon Triathletes Season opener duathlon. In windy but dry conditions Keith covered the 3km run, 15km ride an second 1.5km run in 51 minutes 43 seconds, provisionally placing him in the top 20.

Well done all and thank you to Dave Mackey and his band of VTTA helpers for putting on the time trial, and Hillingdon triathletes for the duathlon.

Velo’s Jon Graciano showed he is starting to hit some form by taking 2nd place in his age category at the BMCR Circuit race at the Redbridge cycling circuit in East London.

With the early morning rain starting to ease off Jon remarked that he felt stronger than the previous week at Lee Valley and the 25 mile race was run off in just over an hour. Due to the conditions there were a number of punctures amongst the field, and Jon also got a cut in his tyre, however as he was running tubeless the sealant did its job, and Jon came home in fifth place overall, claiming 2nd within his age group, and picking up some well deserved prize money.

Well done Jon, and thank you to the BMCR race organisers and volunteers.

Velo’s Jon Graciano opened his 2024 season at the Full Gas Masters Race at the Lee Valley Velopark in London.

Describing the race as a ‘baptism of fire’ Jon held the pace well in the second half of the race, finishing a credible 19th place, and also remarked “roll on the next race”.

Well done Jon and good luck for the 2024 season, and thank you to Full Gas for putting the event on.

Medway Velo is saddened to hear of the passing of former member Dick Wallis.

A strong time triallist for the club for many years, Dick achieved many club records across solo, tandem and team categories, including the 24 hour distance record of 436 miles which still stands.

Dick’s son Antony, also a former velo, has become a successful racing cyclist, and the club offers it sympathy and thoughts to him, and the family.

2023 saw the welcome return of the annual club party and prize presentation event, where cups are distributed and a good time had by all.

Trek-Lidl pro Elynor Backstedt was the special guest, and was interviewed by host, Andy Hawes as well as distributing the various prizes to the winners.

Winners of awards were as follows:

10 mile men: Matt Nunn

10 mile women, and club events (women): Sally Smith

15 mile: Aiga Kolosova

50 mile: Mike Stanley

Hill climb: Tom Patrick

Club Events (men): Jon Graciano

Team time trial: Mike Stanley and Jon Graciano

Road racing cups: Katie Painter

Sportive rider award: Bill Stacey

Club Person of the year: Rachel Hartridge

Over £400 was raised for Cancer Research in the raffle and the club is grateful for donations from the following businesses; AC Performance Bike Fit, Freedom Fitness, Chopra and Associates, Hannah Smyth Lashes, Rodmersham Coffee Shop, Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway, and Jade Barton Personal Trainer.

The club wishes to express their thanks to Charlie Bruce who organised the event, Andy Hawes for hosting, and Rachel Hartridge and Sally Smith for organising the raffle, and thanks to all who attended.

The annual KCA reliability ride, a test of rider and machine against the weather conditions, saw seven velos out to win points for the club, defending their third place from the previous year, in a ride in which cycling clubs compete against each other based on the number of riders in their respective club(s).

Phil Booth, returning from a bout of not having had enough time to ride his bike, opted for the shorter 50km distance. Whilst two groups set out to tackle to full length 100 mile route, one containing Rachel Hartridge, Simon Tucker, and Dave Croud started in Hunton, whilst Sally Smith, Mike Stanley, and Rob Kennison started at Potters Corner on the A20.

All of the riders contended with spells, of rain, heavy rain, and downpours, alongside breaks in the weather that saw rainbow’s across the Weald of Kent, and all seven finished within the time limits set out by the organisers.

Well done to all those who rode, and thank you to the KCA for putting on the event.

Velo’s Tom Patrick concluded his hill climb season for the club by taking 13th on the Ditchling Beacon Hill climb, organised by Sussex Nomads.

Racing in the passing rain from storm Babet, Tom completed the mile long closed road climb in 5:14.6, good enough for 13th place out of 69 finishers, although a good number of riders opted to DNS because of the weather.

Well done Tom and thank you for repping the velo colours, and thanks to Sussex Nomads for putting the event on.

A busy weekend of the final Kentish time trials and hill climbs off the year saw a velo victory, with the hill climbers also in action.

First up was Aiga Kolosova, racing in the VTTA 15 time trial held on the Hamstreet by pass. Despite being only one of her first time trials Aiga claimed a victory as the winner of ladies category in time of exactly 39 minutes, this also breaking the club record for the distance formerly held by Sally Smith.

Many thanks to Bob Giles and his team of helpers, including MVC member David Mackey, for putting on the event.

Three velos travelled to West Kent to compete in the Catford Hill Climb, one of the longest running events in cycling, held on the short but steep York’s Hill Climb.

Tom Patrick lead the velo’s home with a time of 2:12, with Mike Stanley and Jon Graciano starting a minute apart, Mike recording 3:02 and Jon 3:05.

The Catford event traditionally forms a double header with the Bec CC event held on Titsey Lane held in the afternoon of the same day, and Tom went for both events, coming in with a time of 2:11.7.

Thank you to the Catford and Bec clubs for putting on their events, and well done to all of the velo’s repping the red, white, and green.

Photos courtesy of Simon Tucker and Phil Booth.