It’s been a busy Summer for Walden Velo! As well as our usual full calendar of club rides, some of our members have been getting involved in our local racing scene and beyond. We’ve compiled the highlights here in our July and August Racing Round Up.

The British Master’s Criterium Championships were held at Lee Valley VeloPark in London on 13^th and 14^th July. A favourite circuit for many with it’s flat and flowing parcours, racing was guaranteed to be fast and furious! Abigail Corsie represented Walden Velo in the women’s 30-34 category. Despite falling behind the leading group, she was able to work well with a rider in the 35-39 category to catch the front of the race just before the final lap and came away with 2^nd place in her category and a bit of silverware! Later that day, club member Ben Thompson was racing the open 35-39 category representing his race team, Primo RT. An experienced crit racer and regular on the Lee Valley circuit, Ben was sure to be one of the favourites. Although his race didn’t quite go to plan, Ben still achieved an excellent 8^th place in a stacked field of 1^st and 2^nd category riders.

This year’s Essex Roads CC Race took place on 11^th August on our local Wenden’s Ambo circuit. We had seven club members in the category 3/4 race, including several racing for the first time! The circuit is renowned for being one of the toughest courses in the Eastern region with racing expected to be highly attritional. Over 50 riders tackled six laps (72 km) including the Littlebury climb (1km, 4.3% gradient), with the race breaking up into smaller groups by the end of the first lap. Harry Rudd produced a strong finish on the last climb up to the finish line, securing 13^th place overall and was the highest placed 4^th category rider! Other Walden Velo results were Will McLaren (25^th), Ben Pratt (26^th), Benoit Bely (32^nd), Matt Davis (35^th), Tom Watts (37^th) and Nick Gibbs (DNF). Well done to all entrants, it was great to see so many club members out racing locally.

Cheryl Keen took on Ironman Copenhagen on August 18^th. Her second Ironman, following her debut at Kalmar last year, Cheryl started super strong with a 20-minute PB in the 3.8km swim. The 180km bike leg took her through beautiful rolling countryside and seaside towns, and she was on track for a big PB! Unfortunately, the 42.2km run proved a challenge. Despite a strong start, Cheryl faced some GI issues which risked putting an early end to her race. In true Chezza spirit she dug deep and pushed on, finishing the race within the cut off time! Cheryl said “Unfortunately you can’t always prepare or train for the unpredictable! But you can change your attitude and see it as an even bigger challenge”. With such a positive and determined attitude, we can be sure Cheryl will be successful in whatever challenge she takes on next. Chapeau, Cheryl!

The 25^th of August was the inaugural Cambridge Criterium event, which saw the return of professional bike racing to Cambridge for the first time since the 2014 Tour de France. Matt Davis, Toby Harris, Harry Rudd and Tom Watts raced in the men’s category 3/4 support race around the closed roads of Cambridge City Centre. With over 70 entrants on the start line, Toby achieved a fantastic 10^th place finish. Harry and Matt were 20^th and 46^th respectively, whilst Tom was unfortunate to get caught up behind a crash and was a DNF. We will definitely be hoping for the return of this event next year!

Next up on our racing calendar is our hill climb on 28^th September (entries open now - ENTER HERE) which we hope will be well attended by our members and guests alike. The cyclocross season also begins now, with a full calendar of races provided by our regional league from September until January (Eastern Cross – https://www.easterncross.org.uk/).

Abigail and Will

Women’s and Men's Captains

Use this calendar to see all of our rides and events coming up! This is hosted on our Google account, following the links will take you to the calendar.

We've added information about local events organised by other clubs and organisers, including links to get more information and sign up.

Love a cake and cycling? Who doesn't.. Every once in a while, we organise a ride that ends up at a bike-friendly café. Check out our Events calendar for the next one.

We also have a Café Map to show you some of our favourite bike-friendly cafés to visit in the local area round Saffron Walden.