Trio pass 250-mile test of stamina

IT was an historic weekend for the East Lancs Road Club with the resurrection of the longest reliability ride in the ‘Best All-Rounder’ competition, plus a member completing the second-fastest 50-mile time trial performance in the club’s history.

The 250-mile ride has to be completed in 24 hours, and this event has not taken place since the mid-1980s due to the severe test of stamina and fitness required.

However, three stepped forward to ride the ‘250’ and earn their points.

Starting at 6am, Paul Atherton, Steve Szelesi and Simon Abraham cycled towards Manchester on almost deserted roads in good weather.

The trio were accompanied by four other club riders for the first 50 miles to Chester.

The trio then rode on the North Wales coast road towards Colwyn Bay, where they completed the first 100 miles in the early afternoon.

The riders then turned South to Betts y Coed and then East on the A5 towards Llangollen.

Cycling on into the night without any sleep along the quiet roads of Cheshire, the small group finished in Rochdale at 4am on Sunday.

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