Several national events see Matlock cyclists impress

Junior Patrick Smart took part in the prestigious national 25-mile championships on Sunday, held at Tattershall in Lincolnshire.

Smart put in an astounding performance and only narrowly missed out on a top ten finish, coming 12th overall in a time of one hour, two minutes and 34 seconds – averaging almost 24mph.

Matlock CC organised its own Open ten-mile time-trial last Tuesday.

The course varies slightly to the usual club-10 event, with riders starting on the A6 near Darley Dale before heading north to turn at Bakewell Island.

With lots of the area’s top time-triallists taking part, it was to be a good test for the Matlock riders to test themselves against some top competitors from other clubs.

Matlock’s Patrick Gould put in the performance of the night to take a fine win – his first Open event victory – with an impressive time of 21 minutes and 44 seconds, 22 seconds ahead of Nottingham Clarion’s Andy Woolf.

Third place went to Gould’s team mate Chris Green, who recorded a time of 22.21, just a second ahead of club mate Alan Cooke who finished fourth.

Gould, Green and Cooke’s collective times were good enough for Matlock to take the team prize of having the fastest three riders.

Matlock’s Marianne Heffron was the fastest female , finishing in a time of 27.14 to come home 31 seconds ahead of Sue Dawson.

The event also runs along side the 72” Medium Gear time-trial, where riders have to ride a fixed wheeled bike.

Steven Wigglesworth took the win with a time of 24:39, whilst Matlock CC’s Eric Ruthenberg came fifth on 26:39, with club mate Richard Thoday sixth having ridden his Penny Farthing.

Matlock’s 6.5-mile hilly time-trial took place on Thursday night in warm and sunny conditions.

Kevin White got the better of Chris Green, with just two seconds separating the top two riders, White winning in 19.43.

Youth rider Cameron Orr came home in third place in a time of 20:44, and was also the fastest rider on a standard road bike.

Meanwhile, Matlock CC’s Alan Cooke put in a superb performance in the 13-mile time-trial event hosted by Doncaster Wheelers, taking first place in the veteran category ahead of Peak Road Club’s Chris Myhill, winning in 29.41.

Matlock CC youngsters made the journey to Milton Keynes on Saturday to take part in the National Youth Circuit Series.

Louis Swindell put in a solid performance to finish in the leading bunch in the U8 Boys category, whilst brothers Reuben and Cameron Orr also rode well to finish in the leading packs in the U12s and U14s races respectively. Cameron also won one of the intermediate sprints along the way.

The Smith sisters also put in great performances, with younger sister Libby taking first place in the girls U10 race, which was also good enough for seventh overall with just six boys getting the better of her in a large field of over 40 boys and girls.

Libby’s result increases her lead in the girls’ national youth circuit series.

Elder sister Ellie narrowly missed out on a podium position, finishing in fifth place.

Last weekend, the roads around Smithfield Market in the city of London were closed for a day as thousands of people gathered for the annual Nocturne cycling event.

Included in the festivities was Penny Farthing racing, with a field of 20 featuring local riders Jim Crew from Derby Mercury and Richard Thoday of Matlock CC.

Both managed to avoid a freak crash on a warm up lap before the start of the race that floored several riders and saw one taken to hospital.

A 20-minute race round the market buildings followed, and half way through the race the battle for first place was between Crew and Thoday, who was on a larger wheeled machine and able to keep his speed high through the corners and power away with the tailwind on the home straight each lap.

He gradually pulled away from Crew and never looked back, finishing in first place by a considerable margin.

This completes the set for Thoday who finished third and second in the last two Nocturne races.