Mercia Report 22-03-08

The fitness gained in riding in cyclo crosses in the winter certainly paid off for the Waters brothers when Joshua finished first & Bailey third in the first of a series of road races held at Darley Moor near Ashbourne. The race was for the under ten years old over 12 kilometres, in very windy conditions. In the 3rd race Joshua finished third & Bailey fifth. Noel Adams also raced in two of the races for Seniors over 55 kilometres, but didn’t finish in the top fifteen in either race. David Clarke was one of the competitors in the First Premier Three stage Bike Line Two Day held at Hope in North Wales. comprising of a time trial over 1.6 kilometres & two road stages over 56 km & 138 kilometres respectively. It was in the longer Sunday stage where Clarke made his presence felt when he formed an early breakaway, which stayed away for over 100 kilometres. Until the strong Rapha Condor & Plowman Craven teams caught them near Denbigh. David finished 36th overall. The winner was Dean Downing a member of the Rapha Condor Team. The final ride off for the Mercia HBM Roller Racing handicap trophy held at the clubroom was between club stalwarts Wally Pasley & Peter Rose. Wally narrowly beat Peter over the 500 meters race to retain the handicap trophy he won last year.