Rix powers to Southern Counties win
Veteran Crawley Wheelers rider James Rix took his eighth podium in a row with victory in the Southern Counties CU 10 event held in Broadbridge Heath on Saturday.
It’s an incredible run of form which has seen Rix win three of the events, including this one. His other two wins came in the Norwood Paragon 25-mile and the 10-mile Catford CC in April.
He has also finished second in four trials and took the last place on the podium in the Lea Valley 10.
Here, Rix was the only rider to go under 20 minutes, tearing round the course at an average of 30.43mph to complete in 19.43.
His form is all the more impressive given that it is his first year in competitive cycling. James said: “Training has been going very well, I’ve had a change of focus and this year I’ve held my position better on the bike. I’ve been going over 30mph and breaking personal bests so every race is like a milestone really.
“I very much enjoy cycling and I’m enjoying completive cycling, possibly a bit too much because I’ve been out every Saturday and Sunday.
“The day after this I rode in the High Wycombe event and broke the course record. Although it only lasted about 18 minutes because John Dewey came along and smashed it! I’m at Crawley next Saturday on the same course as the Southern Counties and then I’m going to have a beak for a couple of weekends.”
Simon McNamara of South Downs Bikes, another veteran, was second in 20.08, 25 seconds down on Rix.
Crawley Wheelers got another rider on the podium with Mark Smith five seconds down on McNamara to finish third.
Ruth Summerford of Eastbourne Rovers took home the women’s prize with her time of 23.13 placing her at 31st overall.
With a time of 24.01, Angela Radden-Rutt of The Cycleroom was second fastest woman in 24.01 and Jackie Dodd of Kingston Phoenix CC was third in 26.52.
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