Eastern Counties Cycling Association (ECCA) 10 Mile Time Trial - 20 March 2015

The Team Salesengeine.co.uk bandwagon rolled out to the wilds of the Cambrideshire/ Suffolk borders to compete in and support the ECCA promoted, 10 mile  time trial on the A11-based, "E2/10" course. 

The team not only fielded a 3 man team in the form of Chris Hartley, Hugo Hocknell and Simon Doyle but were also putting something back in to the sport, with Directeur Sportif Richard Palmer and Chris Rimes pushing off in support of the organisers. Despite being a recently formed racing team, our ethos is always to promote the sport and Chris and Rik gave up their afternoons to support our friends in the ECCA.

Conditions for the riders were cold and blustery with a strong wind whipping in from the north. This made the race a ride of two halves, any assistance gained on the outward leg was neutralised on the homeward leg. The bluster in the wind required maximum concentration for riders on deep section wheels. Hugo continued to progress from his outing at the A5 Rangers event, recording a 23.10. Chris Hartley made his 2015 inaugural ride and notched 25.08, just shy of 24mph average. Doyle continued his early season form (having ridden the Lea Valley CC and Hitchin Nomads CC 2-Ups with comrade Steve Robinson in the preceding weeks) to record 22.34 for the 10 mile distance. 

These performance auger well for the Easter period where several TSE riders will be in action around the sporting course "SPOCO" time trials in the region.

Simon Doyle on the return leg - picture Davey Jones.

Andy Roffe 4th and Chris Rimes 9th at Wisbech Wheelers 10

Cold but calm conditions greeted two of the teams newest (but already fastest) members when Andy Roffe and Chris Rimes made the journey East to the Wisbech Wheelers 10.

Andy managed to record a staggering time of 22:38 on a course that isn't renowned for quick times to bag 4th place on the day, just 40 seconds behind the winner.

After having had several months out last year Chris Rimes demonstrated just how quickly his form is returning with an excellent 23:50 for 9th place overall. It's surely only a matter of a few weeks until Chris is back battling Andy at the sharpest end of the races.

Their times also show how strong the team is becoming, with top 10's are now becoming an almost weekly occurrence, and the new guys fitting in brilliantly and adding great strength in depth to the team.

6th place for Hugo Hocknell at the A5 Rangers

Hugo Hocknell took to the start line of the A5 Rangers 15.4 hilly suffering with the last remnants of a cold and sore throat that has been present for weeks now, so his expectations of a good ride weren't high.

Despite the lingering illness, Hugo managed to record a strong result of 42:47 for 6th place overall against a quality field.  His time was 3 minutes down on his course PB, which shows that he has paid the price for his illnesses, but it also points to strong underlying form once his health recovers.

With the season just getting started there will be plenty of strong rides to come.

Lea Valley 25 - a win for Simon Doyle and Steve Robinson

Warm weather and a robust headwind back from the turn greeted four members of Team Salesengine at the Lea Valley 25 on the notoriously lumpy E1 course at Saffron Walden in Essex.

Simon Doyle and Steve Robinson re-formed their 2-up partnership of 10 years ago to hammer round the course in 1:00:38 to give them the win on the day by 19 seconds.

Steve and Simon enjoying the tailwind and descent to the turn before things got really painful on the return leg.

In the solo event Sam Hayes showed that he has come out of the winter with excellent form, recording 59:59 to take 8th place against a high quality field.

Sam Hayes hammering his way to 8th place.

Chris Rimes looking aero and rapid.

Chris Rimes made his debut in Team Salesengine colours and showed that his form is improving fast after a few months off. His time of 1:01:19 put him right in the hunt and he finished 20th on the day.

The event shows that the team now has amazing strength in depth and it's going to be a rapid year for all!

Top 10 for Andy Roffe and Hugo Hocknell

Most sensible riders are still training in February and waiting on warmer weather to test their racing legs, but the very hardiest decided to start in the last weekend of February at the Kings Cliffe Flyers 12 mile time trial.

Andy Roffe made a strong debut for the squad with an excellent time of 29:46 that placed him 8th on the day. The fact that the very next day he succumbed to a chest infection shows that his underlying form is clearly superb.

Hugo Hocknell was the second member of the team doing battle with the elements, but he was on the comeback from illness rather than about to go down with it! Despite the missed sessions Hugo put in an excellent effort to clock 30:39 for 10th place on the day.

Stuart Hocknell also chose this event to open his account for the year and recorded 41:35.

TSE welcomes more rapid riders for 2015

This winter has been a fantastic one for recruiting new riders to the team, with an influx of quality racers that set us up really well for the year.

The first of the 4 to join us was Chris Rimes, a rider well known to the team for regularly taking top ten spots in many of the races we're at.  Chris has been joined in TSE colours by Andy Roffe who has a similarly rapid palmares and will add strength in depth to our challenge to retain the N&DCA championship trophy.

Shortly after the rapid duo we then managed to tempt across Martin Jones, a previous overall winner of the N&DCA series. Like Andy and Chris, Martin will be battling to be the quickest member of the squad this year.

The fourth new recruit of the winter is Steve Franklin. Steve is newer to the time trialling scene, but is rapidly improving and is already showing signs of being able to challenge right at the fastest end of the team this year.

2015 is going to be a massive year, and we go into it with a stronger squad than ever. Welcome to the team chaps!