It was a busy weekend of road racing and time trials for Sotonia over the long Easter weekend. Here’s how our riders got on…

Bournemouth Arrows Good Friday 10TT

Dan Edwards top club finisher and a fine 15th pace overall out of 99 starters in 22:49, Gawain Young (23.40) and Ed Slot 24:21 (road bike). The winner was James Copeland (Fareham Wheelers) who finished in 21:10 – an outrageous time on that course, which despite it’s flat profile could hardly be described as fast.

Dan: “The glorious bank holiday weather was a nice change from last years grey and drizzly event. There was a tailwind which really pushed hard in the first couple of miles, it was very easy to get carried away – but of course you paid for it in the last couple of miles. I had a good ride, certainly better than my atrocious season opener at the test valley weekend!”

Coombe Castle Easter Classic

In his first year as a second cat rider, Ben Scott-Munden had a stellar circuit race debut in the E1/2 in a full field of 100 riders, finishing 15th.

Ben: “We did 44 miles of racing at an average of 28mph. I was worried that I’d be spat out the back in the crosswind sections but found that it was well within me and actually felt pretty easy in the bunch. There were a few dodgy moments with a Pedal Heaven rider taking a spill. A break went after about 20 minutes containing seven riders including Ken Buckley (Eden Veranda) and an NFTO rider (an actual NFTO rider) which just stayed away with the NFTO guy outsprinting Buckley by a tyres width. I managed to muscle my way to the front and finish well within the top ten of the bunch!!!”

Yorkshire Day at the Races round 5

Up in Yorkshire, new Sotonia rider, Russell Speight had a successful first taste of crit racing in the 4th cats.

Russell: “I took part in my first ever race today at York Cycle Circuit (I’m home for Easter so didn’t travel just for the race). Lovely day for racing. Managed to get myself an 8th place finish in a sprint after a few people went off the front towards the end. Safe to say I’m pretty happy with points in my first event!”