A Serious Business

There are bad days, and then there are days which make you realise the bad days weren't bad at all... 

We've had some difficult stuff to deal with this last few days, stuff which puts everyday stuff into perspective  On the evening of May 1st, whilst out training, Steve and Ross Clarke hit a car which crossed their path whilst doing around 30mph on the Redbourn Road at the Luton Lane Junction. Both were rushed to hospital requiring immediate attention with no recollection of the actual collision.

Ross has sustained flesh wounds with no broken bones.He appears to have hit the front of the car and had a relatively 'softer' landing. Softer, that is, relative to Steve, who came to a more sudden stop into the side of the car.

Steve has now been in intensive care now for 10 days since the accident. News of the incident has been passed around by word of mouth but we were, frankly, not sure what to say or report because Steve was fighting for his life for several days.

He is now described as stable. Stable means he is beginning a long journey to recovery from potentially life changing injuries, and with, amongst other things, 10 broken ribs, a broken hip, broken leg and broken bones in his back, he has a lot to get through.

Although still on a ventilator, he has had moments of consciousness where he has recognised family members and the doctors have said that his spine appears to be intact which suggests that a full recovery should be possible.

At the moment, he's still not in a state to see visitors.Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, and Steve, one day we look forward to the thought of you reading this and laughing! 

Terrific Trio Boss the Bowl

John Lacey joined Neil and Paul at the MK Bowl last night for the first round of the evening LVRC series. With a large field, they stayed active near the front from the off.

Neil - group A win

Having PB'ed twice in the last three weeks on local TT courses, John was happy to stretch his sizeable legs and he spent several laps away, testing the nerve of his rivals. When it all came back together, Neil and Paul were ready to respond and the team kept things under control.



After a frenetic series of moves, Neil's breakaway partner from Saturday, Tim Davies, launched a serious attack which had many of the front group in difficulty. Sensing an opportunity, Neil followed: "I gave it everything and that's what it needed to stay with Tim," he said. "He made me work a little bit more than Saturday too." By the end, the duo had a solid 20 second gap, but Neil had nothing left for the sprint. Paul and John, on the other hand, had played a canny game and wereready for the sprint, which Paul took by a decent margin.

Final result: Neil - group A win; John - 2nd in group B; Paul, group C win

"We were really buzzing off that," said Neil. "That's definitely the best start we've had!"

LVRC Regional Championships

Cranfield's notorious 'Tricky Triangle' was the venue for the LVRC Regional Championships on Saturday. Neil and Paul were in attendance for the team and ruing their luck at the start. Within 3 minutes of the start time, the heavens opened and set the tone for a filthy first hour.

With wet conditions, a nervous bunch meant they stayed close to the front and out of trouble; somewhat fortuitously as it turned out.

Neil - get some sleep! Bronze for him and Gold for Paul

Pre race favourite Ian Knight joined an early move by David Palmer which escaped Neil's attention: "His acceleration was just too strong," recalls Neil. "I was boxed in at the moment I needed to move and by the time I got out, he had a good gap and I knew he wasn't slowing." Frustrated, Neil made one effort to chase but decided not to pursue any further: "It seemed unlikely I would catch them," he continues. "And even if I did, I'd definitely have been wasted by that point!"

Sitting in for a while, Neil eventually formed a strong break with Tim Davies of Icknield Road Club, a situation for which he was particularly grateful when a crash occurred on the fastest part of the course. The two man escape gained steadily on the bunch in the closing half hour and having dealt with repeated attacks from Tim, Neil won the sprint for 3rd place.

Paul followed in the bunch, taking the sprint and the title of Regional Group C champion. Neil took the bronze for Group A. Delighted with his win, Paul said: "It was a tough race but it's great having a team mate up the road. With Neil in a break, it gave me the chance to relax a little more than usual and focus on the finale."

Mixed fortunes on another cold weekend

Steve Clarke at the VTTA (East Anglian) 25, thanks to Dave Jones

Ross Clarke showed the way this weekend as some of our riders struggled to match some of their early season promise.

On Saturday, Tony May led the way on the E2/25 course in Cambridgeshire through hail showers and high winds with a time of 56:28 in the VTTA event with Steve Clarke following on 56:54

Sunday saw Paul Caton at the LVRC Finchley Road Race. As round 2 of the Mstina series, he was keen to get a solid result but, by his own standards, was found wanting when the race hotted up: "I missed the big moves today," he admitted. "And to be honest, my legs didn't feel great either." Placing 4th in his category, he is joint 2nd in the Mstina series standings. "It's still early days," he continued. "Hopefully that's my bad day out of the way for the season!"

Michael Skipsey finished in the main group: "I'm hoping for some form once the temperatures get back to a decent level," he joked afterwards.


Ross Clarke made his return to Road Racing after a 6 year absence on Sunday. Riding the Reading Road Race at Woodcote in Oxfordshire with Neil Wass, he was prepared for a tough race - and got one. With a 2km crosswind hill on each lap, the circuit proved a challenge for the category 234 field.

In the move - Ross Clarke at the Reading Road Race on Sunday - photo - Graham Robins for British Cycling

The race was stopped temporarily on lap 2, and once it got going again, the gloves came off and Ross made sure he was near the front as a gap opened up over the climb. Cementing his place in the break of 12 riders with some strong pulls, he did his fair share of work to ensure that, despite a desperate chase from the 2nd group, the move stuck. Crossing the line in 9th place, he was pleased with his performance: "I knew I wouldn't be strong in the sprint because of my Time Trial Focus - the shortest intervals I do are 10 minutes! But the background form seems to be OK so I can sharpen things up a bit with a bit more work. It was good fun and as starting point, I'm quite pleased with that."

Neil came in with the 2nd group Ruing his missed opportunity, he admitted to being disappointed: "I let myself get too far back on that climb," he reflected. "It was a simple error, but we held the break within sight most of the way, and the main group were much further back from us so I guess that's a positive."