While the Great British weather is trying to decide what to do the BtB team has no problems this weekend with a firm split in the team between continuation training for targeted events and racing for training, you can be sure that the team will be amongst it!

Starting off on Saturday afternoon and kicking things off we have Clare Campbell-Smith who is racing in the Hampshire Road Club promoted 10 mile time trial event near Liphook, Hampshire.

Moving North-East will see Katja Rietdorf starting as scratch lady in the Cambridge Cycling Club 10 mile time trial event.

Finishing off the racing on Saturday we are able to field two teams of 3 to take part in the Coventry CC promoted Diana Cooke Memorial 10 Mile Time Trial event.  Leading the ladies team of 3 into action is Lynney Biddulph with Sue Semple and Libby McLaren.  The men however, go into bat first with Bob Awcock, Dave Pemberton and Stevie Biddulph  all looking on improving their position in the Midlands Vets League.

Finally its back down to Wales on Sunday and to the fast R25/3H course for the Welsh Championship 25 and one of the leading riders and up there with a shout of victory is our very own Chris Melia.

Good luck to all our riders this weekend; ride hard and ride safe.

Well hosting our first event along with Stafford Road Club turned out to be a great success.  We are very pleased that the event ran very smoothly and a massive thank you must go out to all the marshals, helpers, supporters, photographers and indeed the riders that made the BDCA 10 a great event and hopefully something that can appear on the calendar every year!

Over 119 riders (out of 147) took to the start line on Saturday.  Conditions were not looking great with a strong Northerly wind threatening what can be a fast 10 course.  During the 2 hours that riders were on the course we experienced sunshine, hail and a touch of snow coupled with strong wind and low temperatures made the course around one and a half – two minutes slower than on a better day.

All the BtB ladies rode really strong with all 6 of them finishing in the Top Ten!  First home for the BtB ladies and 3rd place overall was Chris Melia with a great time of 23:40, followed closely by Lynney Biddulph 23:57 and Sue Semple 24:02 rounding off the Top 5 overall.  Clare Campbell-Smith 25:05, Libby Mclaren 25:26 & Katja Reitdorf 25:45 finished 7th, 8th & 10th overall to top off a great day for the ladies.

The men set off slightly later than the ladies and produced cracking times also with Steve Biddulph leading the chaps home with 22:12, Ian Manders 22:29, John Cornfield 23:58, Dave Pemberton 25:03,  John McLaren 25:59 & Bob Awcock 26:13.  Bob’s time on this course was only 3 seconds off his season best last year, so keep an eye out on his performances once the weather picks up!

BorntoBike Racing Team was first formed back in 2010 and celebrates it’s 6th year at the very top level of the sport.  The last 6 years have seen the team grow, shrink, grow again and now expand into very talented ladies and men team who all share one passion…..’cycling’.

Due to the size of the team over recent years we have not been able to put anything back into our sport that we love.  During the weekend from Spring to Autumn we are often found whizzing along Dual Carriageways, urban roads and malingering in village halls jumping at every opportunity to ride other clubs open time trials and take advantage of others kind support of giving up their spare time to run events so that we can race in them.

Now the team boasts 12 ladies and 7 men its time to give something back to the TT community!  Together with our close friends at Stafford RC (www.staffordrc.org) we are very proud and extremely excited to jointly host our first 10 mile time trial in conjunction with the Burton, District Cycling Alliance (BDCA) at Etwall, Derbyshire on Saturday 16th April 2016.

Riders from both BtB & Stafford Road Club (SRC) are able to both first ride in the event and then later on you will see most of them either back on the course tactically positioned at a roundabout or turn, serving up a hot brew back in the HQ or ensuring that the results are sent through and displayed for riders to see.

BtB are pleased to have the following riders in the event:

Ladies:  Katja Rietdorf #2, Lynney Biddulph #5, Sue Semple #10, Libby McLaren #12, Clare Campbell-Smith #13 & Chris Melia #22

Men:  John McLaren #26, Dave Pemberton #29, John Cornfield #33, Ian Manders #35, Bob Awcock #38 & Steve Biddulph #132

Riders to watch out for from our friends at Stafford RC:

Martin Tolley #28, David Pugh #31, James Hadden #39, Melvyn Lewis #43, Paul Taylor #44, Roger Morris #64 & Alastair Semple #96

Many thanks in advance must go to all the other marshals, supporters and volunteers whom have helped and will continue to do so to ensure that this event may become an annual meeting that all riders will want to compete in.

A start sheet for the even can be found at the link below:

BDCA 10 – Start Sheet

The team were out in force at the weekend and proceedings kicked off with the BDCA 25 Mile Time Trial held at Etwall, Derbyshire.

The weather was certainly a mixed bag from the sunshine in the morning fading out to the wind and rain picking up as the afternoon went on.  It was a great showing from the ladies topping out on most places on the results sheet!  Top rides from all with Jasmijn leading home the BtB riders followed by Katja, Lynney, Sue and Libby.  Quality rides and an excellent start to the time trial season with outstanding BBAR qualifying times bagged early on so bodes well for the future.

The men produced fantastic rides and ‘ride of the day’ must go to Ian Manders and Bob Awcock who came away from the event with substantial personal bests knocking minutes from previous best efforts!  Ian flew around the course in a awesome time of 53:51, the ever impressive Bob with a great time of 1:03:56 and Steve rounding off a good day with 54:34.

Meanwhile battling the wind ‘down South’ we had Clare Campbell-Smith producing a good ride at the Lee Valley promoted 25 Mile Time Trial event and crossed the finish line in a very creditable 59:41.  We await the final results to see Clare’s final position but a cracking time bagged early on in the season!

Lastly Jackie Hobson was in action on Sunday at the BUCS 10 Mile Time Trial Championships near Cambridge;  Jackie produced a great ride of 26:53 to finish well inside the top 25 at the event which featured some top names including National Time Trial Champion and full time professional Hayley Simmonds!

Next week features the BtB team hosting and riding in our very own event.  Together with our friends at Stafford Road Club we are proud to host the BDCA 10 Mile Time trial held on the fast Etwall course.

So this weekend 9 our the BtB riders will be heading over to the Derbyshire border to compete in the BDCA 25 Mile Open Time Trial on the fast (weather permitting!) A25/11 course on the A50 between Etwall and Uttoxeter.

As the BDCA is on a fairly fast course it has 6 BtB ladies and 3 BtB men racing in the event which also doubles up as a BBAR qualifier for the ladies so a great opportunity for them to get an early season qualifying time for the BBAR Individual and Team awards.

The action starts with ladies and the first rider off at 1401hrs and hoping to catch her up we will have Lynney Biddulph setting off #8 (1408hrs), Libby Mclaren #11 (1411hrs), Katja Rietdorf #12 (1412hrs), Sue Semple #16 (1416hrs), Jasmijn Muller #18 (1418hrs) and Chris Melia #37 (1437hrs).  The chaps head off with Bob Awcock #29 (1429hrs) leading with way, Stevie Biddulph #45 (1445hrs) and Ian Manders #56 (1456hrs) all hoping to be well under the hour and for this time of year will be fanastic rides.

There will be lots of awards on offer at the BDCA with one being the Westminster Trophy which is awarded for the quickest team of 5 riders!  Will we be in with a shout and if so which 5?

Meanwhile Clare Campbell-Smith is heading over to the Lee Valley promoted 25 Mile Time Trial on the equally  fast E2/25 course in Essex to hopefully notch up a fast time and secure an early season BBAR qualifier in the bag. Clare starts her race at 1457hrs (#57).

Good luck goes out to all the riders for this weekend and may the wind be with you!

The season is starting to get well underway now as the BtB team slowly start to come out of hibernation and show their hands at events around the Country.

The majority of the riders were out in force on Saturday at the VTTA (Midlands) 10 Mile TT Championship held on the fast (well sometimes it is!) K11/10T course near Dunchurch, Coventry.  Everyone produced excellent rides on the day considering that this is not a key event for most.

Continuing her great form was Sue Semple who produced a great ride of 24:29 to earn a well deserved second place in the ladies event only 20 seconds behind Lucy Walters.  Libby Mclaren put in a good first ‘open’ ride of the season and finished with 26:21.  The chaps were still holding back for the first race win but were lead home by Steve Biddulph 22:29, John McLaren 26:41 and closely followed by Bob Awcock in a fantastic time of 26:46!

Katja Rietdorf featured in her first race of the season in BtB colours on Sunday in the Icknield promoted 30 Km sporting course.  Now considering Katja says she doesn’t like SPOCO courses this wasn’t reflected in her time or position in the ladies event where she stormed around the circuit in a time of 39:41 and a very creditable second place behind Annabel Sill.  Fantastic ride and just think what Katja will be like on a course that she likes!

All in all great racing and its good to see the team out and about getting the results but most of all enjoying themselves on the bike.  The BDCA 25 and Lee Valley CC 25 Mile Time Trials take place with most riders in action again.  the weekend preview will follow on tomorrow so don’t miss out.