With temperatures nudging 16 degrees when the first man started at 06:04, closer to 20 degrees for the later starters and no wind to trouble the riders, competitors were out knowing there were PBs to be had for those in good shape.

With the Wheelers' fastest three all going under two hours they were expected to figure highly in the team competition, having won several team prizes over 25 miles this year.

And so it proved although they missed out on top spot, being beaten into second by Bec CC, a strong London based club.

Nevertheless the trio, led home by Doug Fox in a PB time of 1.53.57 - good enough for a top ten placing, had the satisfaction of obliterating the 1995 club record by nine minutes.

Stuart Nisbett was close to his best form clocking 1.55.34 and Rupert Robinson, with his 14th PB of the year completed the team in 1.58.45.

Nigel Langridge rode to 2.01.55, his best ever time, and not to be outdone Robert Hoodless and Dave Lashbrook also chipped in with PB times, finishing on 2.05.46 and 2.06.50 respectively.

Mark Penfold sliced a massive three minutes off his previous PB with 2.08.00 although with splits of 1.05 and 1.03 is probably wishing he had been a little less circumspect on the first of the two laps of the Horsham-Crawley-Southwater based course.

Full story in this week's Crawley Observer