As many members will have heard by now, Charles Rees has been signed up for the rest of this season to ride for Team Raleigh Avanti, the feeder squad for Raleigh’s Premier Calendar race team.  Thanks to Charles’ recent excellent results. Charles will be issued with a team bike, kit and start racing with from the end of May.  Sadly, this will mean he will not be competing in Wheelers colours this season – and maybe longer if things go well! – but I’m sure everyone in the club will be pleased and excited for him.

Charles has had his first taste of what he’s in for, taking part in the Totnes Vire 2 Day/3 stage race for Elite, 1st and 2nd cat riders this weekend.  He joined up with Robbie Edgell from Somer Valley CC, another Espoir road racer who has also recently moved up to race with the Elites, but both found the incredibly fast pace hard to stay with on the hilly courses that the race used.  After a short prologue (43rd and 40 secs behind the winner) on Saturday, Charles kept with the main bunch in the first road race until the final climb near to the finish.  On the Sunday, Charles found that the efforts from the previous day had left him understandably drained and he pulled out just prior to the short finishing circuits after loosing contact on the 3rd ascent of Aylesbeare Hill.  A tough start to racing with the Elites then, but hopefully Charles will find further improvement as he takes part in more races at this level.

Simon Rouse obviously felt that last week’s Dursley RC time trial wasn’t hard enough as he took part in the Beacon Roads CC Little Mountain TT this weekend.  This event is held in Worcestershire and run over 39 punishing miles, with Simon coming home in 21st place with a time of 1.55.16.  Richard Bradley (Shorter-Rochford) was the overall winner in 1.43.56.
Don Tanner travelled over to South Wales for the Ogmore Wheelers 25 mile tt.  This is generally thought of as a fast course but riders found the final section into a headwind a real slog.  Don finished with 1.04.04.  Ex-Wheeler Stuart Kerton (Chippenham Wheelers) finished in 57.05, following up a 56.52 from the previous weekend on the Usk course.
James Chant continued his quest to get under the hour, returning to the scene of his very first 25 two years ago.  This event was the British University Championships held on the H25/17 course South of Oxford.  James finished with a time of 1.00.56, over four minutes faster than 2008, but that one minute reduction in time was elusive yet again.