Newbury Road Club return to host Time Trial on Boxing Day after last year's event was cancelled because of coronavirus pandemic

This year will, weather permitting, see the return of Newbury Road Club’s festive Boxing Day time trial after last year’s event was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

This is a chance for cyclists to ride the 10 mile A4 course between Halfway and Hungerford (and back), with it beginning at 10am.

Newbury RC time trial secretary, Ian Chitty, said: “The emphasis is on fun rather than serious racing.

“In fact, time trial bikes and aero suits are positively discouraged – fancy dress is more the dress code.”

A time trial is a race against the clock with riders starting individually, usually a minute apart.

Events are generally over a fixed distance, often 10 or 25 miles, but there are also events where riders ride as far as they can over a 12 or even 24-hour period.

The courses are generally on public roads and tend to be circuits or “out and back” with a turn at a roundabout halfway.

The courses are given codes - Newbury Road Club’s Boxing Day event is run on the H10/3 course.

In Chitty’s view, he said: “Time trialling is a really good introduction to racing your bike.

“It allows you to compete not just with other riders but also with yourself - by trying to beat your previous times.

“It also allows you to race without the added stress of riding in a bunch”.

The Boxing Day event marks the end of a busy season for Newbury Road Club’s regular time trials.

He continued: “Wednesday evening is our regular slot but we also hold events on some bank holiday weekends, some Saturdays in the early season and Wednesday afternoons once we run out of daylight later on in the year.”

“We held over 30 races this season, welcoming riders not just from Newbury Road Club but also other local, and not so local, clubs.

We also have a ‘come and try it’ scheme which allows riders who are not members of a club to ride up to three of our events to see whether time trialling may be for them.

“After the third ride they have to join a club - hopefully ours - if they want to ride any more of our events.”

Newbury Road Club has already agreed its time trial schedule for next year.

“We have a full programme of races planned for 2022, starting from mid March,” Chitty said, “and we are hoping to see lots of new faces from the local area”.

For more information on Newbury Road Club and time trials visit www.newburyroadclub.co.uk