Double time trial win for Armstrong

It was a double winning weekend for Berwick Wheelers rider Harry Armstrong, who won both the Tyneside Vagabonds 10 on Saturday as well as the Seacroft Wheelers 25 on Sunday.

Armstrong, 37 and from Alnwick, secured victory in the Tyneside Vagabonds 10 at Ponteland in County Durham with a time of 21:50, to win by 1:01 from the promoting club's David Robinson.

And the following day he travelled down the A1 to Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire, where his time of 50:49 was fastest by 41 seconds in the Seacroft Wheelers event which used the V236 course to Dishforth and South Kilvington.

While many of the top riders were in action in the British Championships in Cambridgeshire, there was plenty of quality to go around the other events - not least in the VTTA South Wales 25 on Sunday.

The event at Rhigos attracted a full field and the fast R25/3L course saw four riders go under the 50-minute mark.

High Wycombe CC's Adam Topham proved fastest clocking 49-23, which was just three seconds better than 12-hour competition record holder Jeff Jones (Chippenham and District Wheelers).

Third spot went to Rob Pears (Bath CC) with 49-48, while Simon Harradine (Leisure Lakes) also went under the 50-minute mark with 49-54.

In-form Jones was unlucky not to take the win - but it might have had something to do with the 100 miles he covered in the Burton and District CA event the previous day.

He finished third in the event at Etwall in Derbyshire, while the winner was his rival Julian Jenkinson (UTAG Yamaha.com) who covered the distance in 3-28-41 to push Derek Parkinson (Cleveleys RC) into second by 2-01, while Jones was another 1-09 off the pace.

Elsewhere, East Grinstead CC rider Steve Dennis secured a comfortable victory in the WF Johnson Memorial Trophy event, staged over 25 miles by Colchester Rovers at Great Bromley in Essex on Saturday.

His time of 55-16 was fastest by 1-41, while Rob Young East Seventeen Bikes) was second.

High winds on the A45 east of Coventry played havoc with hopes of personal best times, with warm and sunny weather proving little consolation for most.

Times generally were around a minute slower than previously, and David Barnes (Team Echelon-Rotor) clocked 21-24 to take victory on the K11/10W Wolston course which was eight seconds faster than Rugby RCC's David Lane.

Damp roads gave many riders a tricky time in the Poole Wheelers 25 on the P413 course at Lytchett Matravers in Dorset on Sunday.

Only a few riders managed improvements despite a favourable westerly breeze which aided riders as they negotiated the Upton rise.

Victory went to Simon Tout (VC St Raphael) whose time of 52-27 was just two seconds quicker than Sebastian Ader (a3crg) in second.

Pete Tadros made his journey from East Sussex worthwhile when he won the Glossop Kinder Velo hill-climb which traversed the 3.2-mile Snake Pass climb in Derbyshire on Sunday.

A regular winner in hill-climbs up and down the country, Tadros was fastest by 8.2 seconds with his time of 13-19.0, while Dan Evans (Rhos on Sea CC) was second.