Wheelers’ star Wrenn excels in the ‘Gentlemen’s GP’

THE season is ending on a high note for Macclesfield Wheelers.

Not content with recording the fastest time by a club member at 25 miles this season, 70-year-old Roger Wrenn won the prestigious Johnny Helms Memorial 2-up 25 Mile Team Time Trial held at Chelford on Saturday.

The event is held in the unusual format of a ‘GP des Gentlemen’.

One rider in the team is a veteran (the Gentleman) and the other rider sets the pace for the first 24 miles before the Gentleman comes past for the final mile, and the results are calculated on the Gentleman’s time.

Wrenn was teamed with Rob Hayes from Manchester Wheelers (pictured) in a top-class field that included riders of the calibre of former national champion and Tour de France rider Roger Hammond.

The day started out very wet and windy and, although the rain stopped just before the off, the wind made for tricky conditions on the twisting course with its poor road surfaces.

The pair’s reward included a £500 prize plus a £300 charity donation, which they gave to East Cheshire Hospice.

Elsewhere, Christine Higgs followed up her bronze medal in the individual pursuit in the European Masters Track Championships at the Newport Velodrome, with a bronze in the World Championships in Manchester at the weekend.

Higgs missed out on silver by just two tenths of a second.

Wheelers Hill Climb Champion Matt Lawton took a top-30 finish in the Monsal Hill Climb on Sunday.

First held in 1930, this is the most prestigious event outside the National Championships and attracts hundreds of spectators to the 675-yard climb to Monsal Head with its average gradient of one in six.

Not content with the Three Peaks last week, Mark Rowson and Mark Bethall travelled to Heaton Park for the latest round in the North West Cyclo-Cross League, organised by Manchester Wheelers.

Robert Rowson and Tom Bowers (the latter riding his first cyclo-cross) also took part in the Youth and Junior events.

For a bit of end-ofseason entertainment, 10 Wheelers rode non-stop from Macclesfield to Chirk and back on Sunday, in a event nicknamed the “Chirk Express”.

The 10-strong group completing the 112 miles at nearly 19.5 mph were Dave Werrell (who organised the event and chose the route), Ant Allan, Phil Cunningham, Daniel O’Donnell, Terry Hayward, David Higham, Gordon Low, Mike Knudsen, Tim Rushbridge and James Russell.