Wednesday April 26th LVRC Series Hillingdon: Well this is such a momentous result, especially since it last took place in 2002 which was before London even thought about bidding for the Olympics. Inspired by a pre-match pep talk from John Mullineux on the wisdom ( or not) of having lots of lightweight carbon parts on bikes Graham Berridge managed to eek a win out in the B category race, just edging it on the line by a length or so in , yet another, Hillingdon sprint finish.

Sunday Aril 30th LVRC White Jersey Series Epsom RR: This was the 2nd event in the season long series the first of which was a time-trial event. A cold rainy morning actually turned pleasant once the race had started and the usual early mini-breaks came to nothing until a group of three successfully broke away, followed a lap later by another group of three. The great joy of category racing though is if they are not in your category you don’t need to chase them and all the guys off the front were from A category. With just over a lap to go Nick Welsh made a break for the B cat win and held his lead until appx 500 yards from the finish when the remaining chasers descended upon him and, with impeccable timing, Graham Berridge won the sprint for the line in a manner that wasn’t remotely reminscent of Valverde at Fleche Wallone other than in the actual result.

Saturday 1st April: It was all smiles, blue skies, frites and mayonnaise with Belgian beer at the end in Ninove but the early part of this year’s Tour of Flanders cyclo sportive tested the resolve of the toughest Phoenixers as the heavens opened and the slippery cobbled climbs defied even the most experienced of Belgians. For most of us, the ride took around seven hours (6 hours riding time) battling against cross winds, heavy rain showers and long queues at control points.
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Tyre choice and tyre pressure was crucial on many of the steeper cobbled climbs, particularly the Molenberg and the Koppenberg although the cobbles of the Muur de Grammont and the Bosberg had thankfully dried out by time we reached Gerrardsbergen and the final ascents.