ON A typically wet Good Friday, Paul Baker, Steve Chmiewliski and Tom Hann competed in the 3rd cat race at Castle Coombe hosted by Chippenham Wheelers.

ON A typically wet Good Friday, Paul Baker, Steve Chmiewliski and Tom Hann competed in the 3rd cat race at Castle Coombe hosted by Chippenham Wheelers.The field was 140+ strong and as the riders lined up for the start the heavens opened. This made the riding tricky on all the bends as the water mixed with motor oil around the circuit.Riders tried to break away from the main bunch, but all failed. With four laps to go there was a crash with one rider falling heavily and out of the race. On the last lap it was inevitable that a bunch sprint would take place.Tom and Steve where positioned well in the bunch and come the sprint both finished almost side by side and in the top 20. Paul was not far behind.Steve Chmiewliski, Tom Hann and Mark Macgregor entered the Somerset Road Club Spring Criterium held at Ilton airfield.Things didn't start to well for Steve having issues with his brakes half hour before the race, but managing to borrow some new pads with 10 minutes to go.There was a large field of around 60 riders including one lady rider, Ann Owens daughter.The race would stay together, but following the usual path of riders trying to break away and being pulled back in. All the Wheelers riders were active throughout the race and trying to go away in breaks. On the last lap, two riders went away and would just stay out of reach of the main bunch.Ann Owens' daughter launched an attack and with the rest of the riders looking at each other it took a little time before the group reacted. On the last corner, Tom was best positioned as Steve was cut up and had to brake to avoid a crash.Unfortunately, Tom pulled his foot out of his pedal and lost a top 10 finish and Mark was not placed even though it looked like he was in the top 10. Rob Heathcote rode the Bristol South 25 on the new U17 course, which is based on the Gloucester road and uses two laps of a twisty lumpy circuit.Fifty-five riders faced the timekeeper on a sunny day with a slight breeze. Rob finished in 26th place with 1.03.48. The event winner was David Liddell with an impressive 55.42.Weston Wheelers had two teams entered for the annual Northover vets Team two-up 10 mile team time trial. This was held on the U21/10 course that is also used for the club's Wednesday evening time trialsThe pairing of Mike Dix and Peter Rogers were the first Wheelers off. Peter started the ball rolling and set a good pace to start with. By the end, they recorded a time of 27.15 giving them 21st place.The last team up was Steve Chmiewliski and Rob Heathcote. This was a new partnership as Steve's usual partner Steve Summerhayes is recovering from a broken hip and unable to ride for a year. Rob kicked off the first leg and then both riders worked well together reaching the turn in 11 minutes. On the homeward leg though the conditions where a little tougher, but both riders managed to record a time on 22.52 giving them 11 place overall.The winners where the pairing of Stuart Dodd and Charles Zaneettacci from Leisure Lakers RT with a time of 20.41Rob Heathcote and Peter Rogers represented the club in the Yeovil CC 10 on Saturday afternoon. Rob recorded a time of 23.48 while Peter managed 28.46. Greg Sandy from Somerset RC came out on top with a time of 20.41 against the likes of Dave Kiddell, Stu Dodds, Julius Jennings and Peter Kench. Sarah Dunn from Somerset RC crept closer to the 24-minute mark by one measly second, lowering her PB to 24:04.Also a reminder to all riders, Weston Wheelers and Somerset RC club 10-mile time trials have started and run every Wednesday evening until the end of August. Sign on time is 6.15pm at the Axbridge bypass lay-by. All welcome to come and try. Please see the website www.westonwheelers.co.uk for more information.