Report by organiser Chris Lovibond

This year’s Hounslow and District Wheelers Ron Brown Memorial 100 in Hampshire saw a close contest between Richard Gildea (Didcot Phoenix), Stuart Travis (Team Botrill) and Mark Smith (Crawley Wheelers).

It wasn’t at all clear to the spectators at the roadside (including Smith’s dad, Gary) which one would come out on top, but in the closing stages Travis began to suffer with cramp, and the result was victory to the Crawley Wheelers man recording a time of 3.34.29, with Gildea two minutes down (3.36.36) and Travis another minute in arrears (3.37.42).Nick Clarke (Arctic Tacx RT) was fourth with 3.39.50.

These are all creditable times, particularly considering that although the temperature was favourable there was a gusty south west wind, which many riders think is unfavourable on this Farnham – Alton course.

Among the ladies there was a clear winner in Vicky Gill (Drag2Zero) who recorded 4.00.38 and doubtless would have broken the four hour barrier without that wind. Second lady was Pip Jenkins (Southborough & District Wheelers) finishing in 4.11.03, who caught the eye with her stylish aero position which certainly made her look a potential winner.

It’s worth mentioning that Vicky is a former triathlon professional who has decided to make her presence felt in women’s time trialling this year – we are clearly going to hear more of her.

The team prize, so often won by the promoting club in this event, went to Vive le Velo, the counters being Steve Burrows (4.13.58), Ed Nielson (4.16.17) and JP Pretorius (4.36.00), which justified the long trip they had made from Humberside.

The winner, Mark Smith, comes from a cycling family – his Dad, Gary, had a distinguished racing career and was the force behind the expansion of the F.W. Evans chain in the eighties and nineties. Mark already has a long and impressive palmares, but this year has made a decision to concentrate on time trialling.

This has caused him to abandon his usual winter cyclo cross programme and instead aim for endurance riding followed by a recent trip to Majorca to complete his training. The outcome so far has been very successful with the CTT site crediting him with five outright victories in the month of May!

Second-placed Richard Gildea is still relatively new to bike racing, having burst onto the scene by taking third place in the National 12 Hour Championship with 301.19 miles last year. He is mixing his TT programme with some road racing and has his eye on the hill climb season. In time trials this year he has come third in the Charlotteville 50 and won the Oxonian Hilly. These results must be seen as outstanding bearing in mind that he acquired a baby daughter this January.

There was also a solitary tandem, so the riders could really only compete for records, and they came very close to achieving the Vets record by finishing in 3.38.40, just failing to match the 1986 record of G.E.Hodgson and Roy Manser which stands at 3.37.40.

However this ride was little more than a tryout for this new pairing of Tim Bayley and Adam Broyard (Arctic Tacx RT), both with long and successful racing careers, who have now set themselves a new challenge with this tandem venture. They hope to attempt some place to place records and it appears they have every chance of success. It is interesting to note that the machine used in this event was built by none other than Roy Manser himself.

Finally mention must be made of the organisation which represented a large amount of effort by the efficient Bruce McMichael and much work by other Hounslow members. It was very pleasing to the club that several riders commented on the excellent organisation of the event.