Seniors and juniors impress

Two of Hafren Cycling Club’s ladies took on the 'Bickerstaffe Road Race' for 2/3/4 Cat which is part of the Racing Chance Foundation Series.

It was held on a fast and flat, 3.2 mile circuit and 40 ladies lined up including Rebecca Richardson and Lucy Davies.

With nine laps and a total distance of 38 miles covered, the Hafren ladies were comfortably positioned in the bunch with Rebecca helping to chase down several attacks before putting in her own attack on the final lap.

Rebecca had positioned herself well on the leader’s wheel in preparation for the finish line but unfortunately for Lucy she was held up by a crash when looking strong in her first race of the season.

Rebecca finished seventh in the sprint and Lucy rallied to finish an excellent 20th position with thoughts of what might have been. 

Ian Coe raced in the 3/4th Cat men's Bickerstaffe Road Race which again attracted a field of over 40 riders. Several attempts to break away were soon dismissed due to the strong pace averaging 25mph. Ian positioned himself well within the group throughout the race and finished an excellent 11th in the sprint finish.

Bryn Davies was also competing in Round two of the SCCA spring 10-mile time trial series. With such an early season race, Bryn was just targeting a time under 23 minutes, especially considering the blustery conditions and his late arrival which resulted in him going off last out of the 41 riders.

Not only did Bryn go under the 23 minutes target set by himself but in the process took the overall win on the night.

Bryn commented: “There was a strong head wind on the way out and maintaining speed was difficult but pushed on trying not to burn myself out for the return leg, with the wind behind I was able to put in a fast return run but did not think it would be enough to make up for the slow outward run, I surprised myself with my time and even more so when I was told I had won. So a good start to the season for me. I just hope I can keep it up now for the remainder of the season and carry it on into the Hafren CC Time Trial series.”

PICTURE (Rob Finch): Lucy and Rebecca line up for the Bickerstaffe Road Race

Meanwhile, Hafren Juniors made an early start on the road to Solihull for round four of the West Midlands youth circuit series.

First up Jess Bufton continued her good form in U8 girls taking a third consecutive podium and a bronze Medal.  Next up Max Bufton in the U10 was in the early break with the lead group, but was unfortunately dropped with a lap to go but hung on for an impressive 8th place.

New to racing Fred Meredith represented Hafren CC in the U12 race and put in a gritty ride to finish 18th.

Finally Sam Holwill raced the U14s which saw the main peloton stay together for the remainder of the race, on a narrow circuit it can be difficult to move up in the bunch.  Hollwill bided his time well and when the peloton did split he was able to move up to finish 14th.  Riders will be looking forward to round five in Stourport.