Ross Cycling Club played host to the local time trial season grand finale of the year in glorious sunny conditions on the Much Marcle circuit last Sunday.

Unlike normal cycling time trial racing; very much for individual riders, the Vintage Tankard is a three-way club competition where teams from Ross, Newport and The Forest of Dean put out a squad of riders. The combined time clocked by the fastest six riders from each club over the 19.5 mile course count to determine which team is the overall fastest and will walk away with the silverware.

Ross had not won this event since 2005 but knew going in to the race this year they stood a strong chance of victory with ever improving strength amongst the racing membership of the club. Whilst it has become an expectation that number one Ross rider Alan Cook will dominate such events, as he did on Sunday, clocking the fastest overall time of 44 minutes 45 seconds, the key to team success comes by the equally important times clocked by lower placed riders.

By the time the Ross team's last counting rider Steve Millard clocked just under 52 minutes, Ross had placed their six fastest riders in the top nine overall finishers; Will Bevan 2nd place 46:03, Dave Harwood 4th place 49:20, Jerry Roberts 5th place 50:21 and Graham Carter 8th place 51:06. This resulted in a final combined Ross Club time of four hours, 53 minutes and 33 seconds.

In second place the Royal Dean Forest Cycling Club five hours, 14 minutes and 50 seconds and Newport Pheonix Cycling Club taking third position in five hours, 41 minutes and eight seconds.

This was a particularly pleasing finish to the racing year with a win for the Ross club who have worked hard over the last twelve months to build a strong team spirit. It bodes well for next year with members already starting a social winter riding program on Tuesday and Thursday evenings together with longer steady paced weekend rides. Anyone interested in getting involved with local cycling can visit the club website which has full details and updates at http://www.rossonwye.cyclists.co.uk">www.rossonwye.cyclists.co.uk