Easter exam

This year we they blessed with some fabulous spring like weather and the riders could have had no complaints about the conditions.

Eight members of the Lewes Wanderers Cycling Club entered the traditional Good Friday Crawley Wheelers classic 41.59 mile time trial run on tough rolling terrain.

Fastest Wanderer out of a total field of 68 was Mark Winton whose time of 1:47:34 was a mere four seconds faster than teammate Andy Cox.

Roger Watts (right), meanwhile, is on the comeback trail after a year away from competition. He continued to show his early season form with a time of 1:53:36. But Peter Barling, one of four Wanderers down to race on three of the four days, was non-plussed by his time of 1:59:28, and reported having "no energy, power, zip or concentration".

Other times were: Spencer Coleman 1:58:12, Bob Coleman 2:01:19, Joe Pardo 2:05:05 and Tracey Caudle 2:06:08. The event was won by In-Gear's James Dear in 1:39:27.

Winton bounced back to form on Saturday's Brighton Mitre 10.

He classified his Friday ride as "appalling" by his own high standards and was therefore pleased with second place on Saturday and a time of 23:30.

Early season fast man Peter Tadros, of In-Gear was the only rider in a strong field to get the better of Mark, his event winning time was 22:08. Winton, Andy Cox (25:38) and Alan Lloyd (28:10) won the second team prize.

Saturday saw the Lewes Wanderers Road Race Championships held at Dunsfold Aerodrome (home of TV's Top Gear).

The event was promoted by Mark Winton for the Surrey League and was a big success and enjoyed by many riders. Peter Barling is comparatively new to the discipline of road racing and therefore his top 10 finish out of a field of 80 in the fourth cats event was a good result. Bruce English was the only other LWCC rider in the event.

To finish off the weekend, riders face the classic Easter Monday Brighton Mitre Hilly 25 '“ a truly demanding test of bike handling skills and courage. Seven members of the Lewes club tested themselves on the tough course. Winton continued to show his form with third place overall in a time of 1:03:11; he was also joint fastest with event winner Tadros (57:45) over the prime, which is measured over the final 2.5 miles. Winton, along with Cox (10th place in 1:06:32) and Barling (1:11:22) won the team prize.

Other times included long distance specialist John Mankelow (1:14:03), Bob Coleman, whose time of 1:16:07 was 11 seconds faster than his son Spencer, and Alan Lloyd who was another to complete the Mitre double with a time of 1:18:04. For more info on LWCC www.leweswanderers.co.uk