The 12th Year of the Betty Pharoah Memorial Legstretchers Road Race, held on Sunday 28th March, was the inaugural ride for local Stratford CC rider Tony Kiss. With 79 ‘3rd and 4th category’ riders competing over a hilly 52 mile course near Cardiff, Kiss was in his element.

Fairly early on a group of six riders broke away from the main field but their efforts came to nothing as the local Cardiff ‘jif’ riders, out in force, worked hard to catch them with 20 miles to go. The peloton then stayed together for the remainder of the race with all riders nervously keeping an eye on each other and not allowing further attacks to develop. The steep hill finish suited Kiss, who road through the field to finish a well deserved 6th overall picking up some valuable points for his licence and some prize money to reward his efforts.
Continuing with their early season of time trials, SCC members, Peter Ward, Mick Stallard, Martin Millington and Miranda Harris travelled to Princethorpe for a somewhat jinxed race. Despite a large field of riders, the popular K10 course was not to be. Road works and two traffic accidents meant that neither of the planned courses could go ahead and therefore, all credit to the organizers, a third shortened course was chosen which included a tough mile start with two short steep climbs and some uneven terrain.
A delayed start also meant that the later riders were caught in a torrential down pour which made conditions even harder. Luckily the men escaped the worse and produced some very quick times, with Ward finishing in 19.40 seconds ahead of Stallard, who has recently become a veteran and now qualifies for the Veteran Time Trial Association series. Birthday boy celebrated his recent passage of age with 19.58. Millington was also on form and finished with 21.26. Despite poor visibility and strong head winds, Harris was pleased with her ride of 25.30.
Once again Matt Clinton clinched the deal and showed us what racing is all about with 17.58. Also there to give most of the men a run for their money was national TT Champion Ruth Eyles, who despite being busy organizing the Midlands Women’s Series and campaigning for female cyclists in racing, rode calmly round in just over 20 minutes. 8 seconds to be precise.
Stratford CC is hosting its own 10 mile Time Trial next Saturday which has attracted a very fast and high profile field in preparation for the National 10 in May.