Appalling weather hit attendance at Cycling Club Sudbury's annual Reliability Ride.The wind and rain caused a 75% drop in the number taking part, with just 28 hardy souls venturing out.
Appalling weather hit attendance at Cycling Club Sudbury's annual Reliability Ride.
The wind and rain caused a 75% drop in the number taking part, with just 28 hardy souls venturing out.
The Sudbury club provided more than a third of the riders with the rest coming from clubs around East Anglia. Most riders elected for the longer 48-mile circular route through Bildeston, touching the outskirts of Stowmarket, and back via Cockfield.
One of the first back was 18-year-old Dominic Schils, of Colchester's Interbike club, in two hours, 25 minutes. Dominic also races in Europe for the Belgian Lotto Olympia development team, so his 20mph average around the waterlogged roads was good wet weather training for the coming season.
As the rest of the riders trickled back, it was plain to see what conditions had been like on the roads as they all sported black faces and sodden clothing. With only two not completing the ride, the organisers and cyclists were pleased with their day's efforts, despite what the weather had thrown at them.
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