NORTH Devon Wheelers had one of their biggest turnout of riders ever in a road race last weekend, at the first of the Mid Devon CC Springtime Pursuits. The handicap race saw the six clubmen spread throughout the field of five groups, but in theory each of them had an equal chance of winning as they should all join together towards the end of the 55km race. Unfortunately the strong winds that were blowing across the course made the racing extremely hard and many of the competitors were dropped from the main bunch before the finish. Of the North Devon Wheelers it was Steve Sage who was the club?s highest placed finisher ? this despite starting in the last group and having to make up a time difference of 5min 30sec on the first group. Adrian Street who started in the fourth group was the second member to cross the finish line. Junior rider Pete Vincent and first year senior Matt Yates were both unfortunate to be delayed by a crash but both performed well in one of their first outings in a road race. Phil Sage, who was returning to racing after a two year lay off through injury, and Lee Bradley both put in good performances until the pace and conditions began to take their toll. They decide to abandon the race with around 40km covered. This week the Wheelers will be back on the same course for the second race in the series of three. All the entrants will surely be hoping for a vast improvement in the weather conditions from the previous weekend.
