Victor Chetta strikes gold

Chetta, from promoting club Mid Shropshire Wheelers, powered his way to glory in round six of the Friction Hydraulics Series in a superb time of one hour 57 minutes 13 seconds over four laps of the Prees-Tilstock circuit.

Chetta was the only county rider to top 25mph, beating Hafren CC’s Bryn Davies who took the silver with a fine ride of 2:00:55.

But despite striking gold, Chetta still feels there is room for improvement.

“I’m still struggling with my form, but think things are starting to turn around,” he said.

Davies was much more effusive despite being nervous at stepping up to the distance for the first time.

“This was my first 50, I was pleased with the result although a little disappointed not to get under the two hour mark,” he said. “I took it a little too easy on the first lap.”

Davies wasn’t the only one trying his beginner’s luck, with Stuart Proctor not just winning one medal but two in his first attempt at the distance.

Proctor wasn’t far off Davies’ pace in 2:01:18, beating North Shropshire Wheelers’ Richard Kay to overall bronze by just 19 seconds.

A late recalculation then revealed he had won Veterans’ gold with +18:42.

“It was really tough out there for my first 50, and not helped by a failing power meter battery,” he said. “It’s a great course, but the wind definitely picked up on the Wem road on the last two laps with some hairy gusts at times.”

Proctor is closing the gap at the top of the Veterans’ standings, and is now just 35 points behind leader Bryn Davies.

But he wasn’t the only one to put pressure on the Hafren rider with Pauline Hughes taking the Veterans’ runner-up spot to consolidate her second place in the table and win silver with +18:10.

But Hughes wasn’t finished there, making it a brace after taking the second in the Ladies’ 50 Championship with a fine 2:15:02 on actual.

That stretched her lead at the top of the Ladies’ series to a comfortable 70 points.

“I was super happy with my performance,” said Hughes. “That was only my second 50 mile time trial and a huge improvement with a new personal best.”

North Shropshire Wheeler David Wilson picked up the bronze in the veteran category.

Becky Lewis posted a fabulous effort of 2:03:24 to take Ladies gold, an effort that was good enough for sixth spot overall and helped Mid Shropshire Wheelers to team gold.

Jenny York completed the top three ladies after stopping the watch on 2:19:49.

Chetta and Lewis were joined by Ian Hobley to register a combined 6:11:53 to see off the challenge of Revolutions Racing back in 6:24:55 – a big margin of victory.

That also gained Mid Shropshire Wheelers big points in the Top Club Award as they narrowed the gap at the top of the table to Nova Raiders by 80 points.

Juniors are a rare sight at the longer standard distances, so with Sam Morris not only racing his first 50 but taking eighth spot overall in 2:08:35, that Junior gold was well deserved.

Morris was was delighted with his effort, stating: “My first 50 – definitely another step up from a 25! My pacing was not quite right, but I was happy for a first go.”