LAURA Sampson was in fine form at the Winter Series mountain bike races near Santon Downham where the Stowmarket & District CC member won the women’s two-hour race by a large margin.

LAURA Sampson was in fine form at the Winter Series mountain bike races near Santon Downham where the Stowmarket & District CC member won the women’s two-hour race by a large margin.

Walden Tri also made their presence felt, with Sue McIntyre third and Mistley cyclo-cross winner Nicki Davis fourth.

The course, an anti-clockwise circuit near Grimes Graves, was firm and fast and featured a chicane cunningly placed in the bottom of the “brown bombhole”.

In the men’s under 40s two-hour George Budd (Salsa) scored a repeat win, ahead of Neil Richardson (RAF) with Ian Mockett (ThetfordMTB/Bike Art) shrugging off a cracked rib sustained in a first lap crash to take third.

The four-hour 18-39 race saw Andrew Cockburn (Cambridge CC) winning with Dan Howe (TROG) taking seventh the highest placed Suffolk man, while Revel Outdoors’ Richard Muchmore had that honour in the 40+ version, which was won by Paul Ashby (Fat Birds). Full results can be seen at www.timelaps.co.uk/results

Red Lodge riders Mark Arnold and Nino Piccoli (Team Pedal Revolution) collected an armful of awards at the East District Prize Presentation, including Arnold’s as winner of the Sporting Courses East competition. Collecting the SPOCO team award were Stowmarket & District CC brothers Andrew and Chris Leggett who cycled to the Carbrooke venue and home again afterwards, a round trip of 100 miles.

Distance riding also featured prominently at the CC Sudbury Dinner, where the Audax Trophy went to Brian Mann who, during 2010, has ridden no less than 28 100 kilometre rides, 32 200s, 3 300s, 4 400s and one 600 km ride – all done on a fixed wheel transmission. Asked to name a highlight from his year in the saddle he said: “Getting to Great Sampford just as dawn was breaking and hearing the dawn chorus from the first calls to the full orchestra, accompanied only by the hum of the bike tyres and the feeling that another ride was in the bag”

CC Sudbury’s Riders of the Year were Viv Marsh, like Mann an Audax Super Randonneur and Linda Pillet who in particular serves the club as a timekeeper.

Talking of distances, the latest list of members of the 300,000 Mile Club shows that Wolsey Road Club vice-president Mick Pepper now has 472,269 recorded miles to his credit, having added over 6,000 during 2010.

Overall winner of the Wattbike league at West Suffolk Wheelers clubroom was the club’s Dale Sturman. Thirty-three riders took part during the four week series.

Chelmsford brothers David and Andy Nichols took second and third places respectively in the British Universities cyclo-cross championships in Durham.