Sam & Steve win the ECCA tandem 10

Hard to believe that it is still only March when you're racing in 18 degree temperatures with 5 mph winds, but that was the case at the ECCA 10 on Saturday afternoon near Newmarket.

Everyone knew that fast times were going to be on the cards, and on the day Sam Hayes and Steve Robinson took full advantage of the conditions by winning the tandem in event with a storming new PB of 20:01. This was only their third race on the tandem, so although a fast time was hoped for, they hadn't expected to get that close to the magical 19! The team profile was further raised by Chris Hartley and Dave Wentworth powering to third place with 21:57.

The solo event didn't seem to produce as fast times as for the tandems (with no sub 20 minute rides which is unusual for the E2), but Hugo Hocknell got within a whisker of his PB with a superb ride of 21:55 which should be good enough for a top 15 placing when the full results are published.

2-ups in full flight on the E1/25

With thanks to Dave Jones for taking the pictures...

A5 rangers 10 - Quick rides and frozen riders

The problem with entering early season events is that it is always hard to know how many layers to go for, and Sunday proved particularly chilly for some of the team.

Team SalesEngine.co.uk were led home by Hugo Hocknell with a 23:59, which hopefully scored him a decent placing but alas we can only speculate as no full results appear to have been published yet.

Next up was Chris Hartley who made the mistake of opting for just a skinsuit and then promptly froze for the 26 minutes 50 seconds he was on the course for. Just behind Chris was Dave Wentworth, who was just 'pottering round', as the cold air and his asthma don't mix well, so he played the long game and didn't go too deep. Still, his 27:30 was enough to keep Chris honest.

Arguably the ride of the day though must go to Stuart Hocknell who managed to get within 1 second of his 10 PB from the last three seasons with his time of 28:58. Fair to say that if he can do that in mid March on a cold day then it's looking extremely promising for a season of updating his CTT form on a regular basis! Congrats Stuart!!

2 top 10's in the same weekend

Conditions on Sunday morning were absolutely perfect for racing, and riders from Team Salesengine.co.uk took full advantage of them.

Sam Hayes bagged third place in the Beds Road 11.3 mile spoco with 27:20, just 14 seconds behind the winner. This was 42 seconds quicker than he clocked on the same course in October, so any concerns he had about missed rides through the winter seem unfounded. It was a fantastic start to his season.

Meanwhile 4 of the team were over at the E1/25 near Saffron Walden. The mild conditions and light wind, plus solid winter training for both, all came together to see Steve Robinson and Paul King finish 7th with 1:02:10 which is a course PB improvement for them by 3 minutes 18 seconds!

Chris Hartley and David Ledgerton came home in 1:07:03, which is great first ride together as a pair and hints at more to the come from the duo.

Hurrah - Stuart Hocknell gets our new season under way

Our winter hibernation has given us plenty of time to recuperate, eat and then skulk back onto the turbo trainers to burn off the extra winter pounds.

So as we hit March it was simply a question of who would blink first and get racing - and the winner is one of our new members for the year Stuart Hocknell as he tackled the Kettering CC hilly 20.

And Stuart's reward for venturing out so early? Biting cold temperatures, strong winds and constant lashing rain! Unduanted though, he braved all of the elements to get round the course in 1:08:47. This was about 30 seconds slower than last year, but given the torrid conditions I'd say this shows promise for a successful season.

Next up for Stuart is the Bourne Hardriders (he's clearly not one for an easy life!), so let's hope he gets a better day for it.