VCC riders have made a superb start to 2023, notching up multiple club records, PBs and podium positions.
Let’s start at the very beginning; a very good place to start. The Cardiff 100 Miles RCC kicked things off with their annual New Year’s Day TT event, this time on the R10/9 course which starts near the RAF base at St Athan and turns at the BA maintenance depot at Cardiff Airport. You wouldn’t call it a sporting course but, as ten-milers go, it’s not the flattest either. More significant is the exposed nature of the track. At that time of year the weather is, well, changeable and this can make it a challenge just to stay upright — especially if you’re using a disk wheel!
Ten hardy riders took to the course that day, including three from VCC. Our thanks go to Kyle Blackmore, James McGrath and Lewis Richards who did us proud by occupying three of the first five places on the day. Huge congratulations to you, chaps. Your three rides take our tally for the course up to eight overall, and they represent the quickest three we’ve registered.
Previously the VCC course record stood at 25m 58s, courtesy of Jeff Rees on a warm July evening in 2021 (in generous conditions that produced the all-time course record). All three VCC riders smashed Jeff’s club record on NYD 2023 but technically speaking, because of their starting positions, the club record was broken only twice. Lewis went off at 13:11 on the day, and returned 23m 48s later to snatch the record that Jeff had held for eighteen months. However, Lewis’ hold on the record lasted less than two minutes as it was immediately improved by Kyle Blackmore who had started four minutes later and returned in 21m 36s. James started a further four minutes behind Kyle, and stopped the clock at 23m 46s — again, a massive improvement on Jeff’s 2021 mark and good enough for fourth position on the day.
Kyle’s time clinched the overall win in the men’s event, nineteen seconds ahead of his nearest challenger. A superb start to the year and a fantastic result for the club — our first ever event win! With such an outstanding performance, especially given the course and the time of year, Kyle signalled that the all-time VCC 10-mile record would be under threat later in 2023. Once again, massive congratulations to all three.
Finally a special mention to a couple of very talented fourteen-year-olds. The juvenile divisions were clinched by Mabli Phillips (Maindy Flyers CC) and Alex Coles (Evolution Racing Academy) whose times of 25:49 and 22:19 were also good enough for 1st (female) and 3rd (male) in the overall standings. Bright futures for both, no doubt.