Thrills, spills and gutsy riding resulted in the Medway Velo Club taking third place in the club competition of the Paris – Roubaix sportive this Sunday (10 June).
16 members travelled to France to be amongst 6000 riders tackling the cobbles in the classic, which is often referred to as ‘The Hell of the North.’ The 210km course included 31 cobbled sections which totalled 54.25kms.
First member home for the MVC was Richard Kennison who flew over the dreaded cobbles to complete in 6.55hrs, he was followed by Reg Langford and Chris Butler who crossed the line in 7.20hrs with Simon Morris finishing in 7.25hrs.
Also representing the club were Sean Beatie, Rob Kennison, Spencer Stacy, Harvey Pope, Matt Fearn, Victoria Strila, Sally Smith, David Bellinger Steve McInally, Kevin Attridge, Andy Hawes and Adam Mumford. It was the first time that two ladies from the velo have completed the event.
Despite three crashes, mechanicals and punctures all of the members managed to dust themselves off and finish the gruelling painfest!
Well done to the Medway riders: it was nice to see such a good turnout from a UK club. Hopefully your guy who fell in the early crash in Troisville didn’t hurt too much later on.
Gavin (the one and only Cambridge CC rider)