Farnham Road Club have held their first open time trial of the 2024 season.

The event was organised by Paul Charman and run with help from club volunteers, including timekeepers Jim Brown and Mike Rice. After some dismal weather in the preceding days, the morning turned bright and sunny – although it was still chilly at the 7.30am start time – and the roads were dry.

The event attracted more than 50 entries and was open to solo riders, tandems and teams of four riders.

The event distance was 25 miles and the winning men’s solo time time was recorded by Colin McDermott (Festival RC) in 52min 50secs, with Larry Wiltshire (Chichester City Riders) second in 55min 28secs and Matt Phipps-Taylor (Paceline RT) third in 55min 57secs. Farnham Road Club was represented by four riders. Demetrius Onoufriou finished in 1hr, 1min 18secs, Dan Pearce finished in 1hr, 2min 12secs, David Welling finished in 1hr, 7min 4secs and Stuart Morgan finished in 1hr, 8min 0secs.

The fastest female solo rider was Natalie Green (New Forest CC) in 1hr, 2min 23secs, followed by Danielle Forshaw (VC Venta) in 1hr, 6min 45secs and Emma McDermott (Oxonian CC) in 1hr, 8min 50secs.

The fastest four-up team comprised James Hadley (Le Col Race Team), riding with three Onyx RT members – Anthony Levy, Andrew Cocker and Stuart Coleman – who covered the course in 53min 18secs. Second was the Team Velo Sportif quartet of Peter Allan, Frank Bauer, Paul Pickup and Andrew Thomas in 54min 14secs, while the Farnham RC team of Roger Taylor with Alastair, Mike and Charlie Godfrey recorded 56min 35secs. The all-female team of Kathryn Hughes and Kimberley Burrows (both Onyx RT) with Kasia Madej (Sigma Sports Race Team) and Sasha Halsey (London Dynamo) finished in 59min 59secs.

There was only one tandem entry, that of Ian Greenstreet and Rachael Elliott (Newbury Velo), who turned in a blistering ride of 51min 4secs, which was the fastest time of the morning.

Race headquarters was at Farnham Town Football Club, where riders, officials and helpers were able to gather for a chat and refreshments after the event.

By Jim Parker