Witham Wheelers held their annual British Cycling road races which have a history going back to 1963. Held on the Lincolnshire/Leicestershire border near Grantham it’s a rolling 12 mile circuit on quiet rural roads that encourages fast aggressive racing.

It takes a lot of effort and manpower to promote a safe and competitive race on the open road these days, so many thanks to all the volunteers who enabled this to take place. Also a final word of thanks to our event sponsors PedalPushers of Grantham the Ultimate Bike Shop.

The morning GT Ellingworth race is held over 3.3/4 laps for 3 and 4 category riders and averaged 26.0mph for the 45 miles. With a strong back wind start the high speed soon saw a dozen riders in trouble and dropped from the main bunch on the first lap. Despite numerous attempts it wasn’t until the penultimate lap that 2 riders Bernard Galea (SPRNT) and Jonathan Hornblow (Derby CC) pushed out almost a 30 second lead before 3 more riders joined them on the final lap. With the bunch closing in fast, the break just held on to the finish with Otto Chilton (Derby CC) taking the sprint from Galea with Paul Donald another Derby CC rider 3^rd.

Of the local riders Felix Earth (Ribble rechrg RT) from Corby Glen was 7^th with Grantham riders Adam Egner (Witham Whs) 8^th and Joshua Hemmings (Verulam) 24^th. A couple of females also took on the race with Junior Amy Kolbert (Witham Whs) riding well to take the prize.

The afternoon GA Bennett race is for Elite/1/2 categories and tackles 6.3/4 laps but still averaged 27.5mph to finish the 80 miles in 2hrs 55 minutes. Again the high speed and strong easterly wind made it difficult for a break to become established and it wasn’t until the penultimate lap that 7 riders pushed out a 30 second lead. Over the final lap they continued to extend this and coming into the finish Adam Lewis (Saint Piran) was the clear winner from Ben Pease (moonglu RT) and Jack Cutsforth (SPATZWEAR). James Mckay (Cycling Sheffield) led in the bunch 1min 40 secs later.

Reece Egner (Witham Whs) finished 22^nd in the bunch with Peter Cocker (Richardsons Trek) just behind in 25^th.