It was entirely appropriate that the cycling Mayor of Rye, Paul Osborne should make the presentation of the Rye & District Wheelers VTTA National team Championship medals as one of his very last acts as Mayor.
Barry Goodsell, Jim Hollands and Granville Bantick made up the winning team in last years Veteran Time Trial Association (for riders over 40) National Championship 100 mile time trial and became the first riders in the Club’s 130 year history to win at National level. The presentation was made to the team in the Mayor’s Parlour at Rye Town Hall at the end of May because it had been impossible for them to get to Rugby in February for the VTTA Prize Presentation. Barry and Jim, along with Mark Nash, had also been successful in becoming the Kent Cycling Association’s Best All Rounder Team Champions in 2007. This event is a scratch competition for all ages over distances of 25 miles, 50 miles, 100 miles and Twelve Hours. This was the first time the Wheelers have won the BAR, a competition that was first run in 1932. 2007 was, by far, the most successful in the clubs long history, which started in the old Cinque Ports Hotel with an inaugural meeting in 1881. Liz King won the KCA Ladies 12 Hour title and was second in the VTTA National Championship 100. Liz also won every single Rye Wheelers Championship. Ninety per cent of all club records were broken, from 10 miles to 12 Hour. Trevor Bridge broke Bernie Dean’s mileage in the Twelve and took a record that had stood for 50 years and one day. Jeremy Temple got under one hour in a 25 mile event and took a minute and a half off Barry Goodsell’s time which had stood for just one year. The 2008 season is now well under way but riders will have to ‘ride their socks off’ if they are to improve on last years amazing list of results.
