NEW FOREST Cycling Club champion Tony Green spent his Bank Holiday racing further than ever before and successfully too when he won the Western TTA 12-hour championship on roads between Chippenham and the Cotswolds.

And Gosport's top time triallist, Paul Rogers (VC St Raphael Waite Contracts) enhanced his second placing in the British Best All-Rounder Competition by slicing almost seven minutes off his 100-mile time on his way to setting a new race record of 3 hours 42 minutes 59 seconds in Eastern England.

Ian Cammish (Bob Jackson Cycles) nine times the winner of the BBAR championship and still regarded as one of the best 100 milers in the country, was favourite to win this Norwich CA promotion, but though he tried desperately hard to match the speed of his southern rival he tired a little during the final quarter to finish over a minute in arrears by the finish.

Rogers' clubmate Rowan Horner, of Sarisbury Green, also improved his prospects of holding fifth spot in the BBAR by reducing his 50-mile time to 1. 44.48 in Essex on the same day.

The club's short distance specialist, Chris Birch, who is now planning a major assault to take the place of Hedge End's Malcolm Cox, still suffering from a painful knee following the national 12-hour championship on August 8 in the race for BBAR team honours, produced a high speed performance to win the Old Portlians 25 near Crawley by five seconds, in 53.15.

Birch, yet to race unpaced beyond 50 miles, will take heart from Green's 12-hour debut.

Starting less than an hour after dawn broke over the Wiltshire countryside, Green was very much the underdog against the local star, Andy Cook (Chippenham Wheelers) the bronze medallist in this year's 24-hour championship, and Ian Dow (Oxford City RC) one of only three ex-24 hour champions who have topped 500 miles.

The former failed to last the day this time and the latter, race "rusty" after working abroad in recent years, had to settle for second place as Green con-verted his lead, measured in minutes during the morning to miles in the afternoon to finish near Swindon after covering an impressive 256 miles.

Another ex-24 hour champion, John Woodburn (Northovers RT) from Twyford, Berkshire, showed once again that at 62 he can still outpace time trial-ists less than half his age. He was the double winner of the Wessex Veterans TTA 25-mile group championship, held for the first time on a Sussex course east of Chichester, produc-ing a sparkling 54.17 for a two-second advantage on John Limpus (GS Stella) which, allied to his age, gave him a massive 23.28 gain on his standard.

By contrast, Graeme Stirzaker (Anglia Sport Condor) from Droxford put the leading veteran, Eamonn Deane (Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers) firmly in his place by gaining a minute's lead to win the Bournemouth Women's CA 10 between Ringwood and Christchurch in 21.43 while another veteran, Glenn Longland (Radford Accountants) partnered a company colleague Alan Jackson on a tandem at a re-scheduled track meet-ing in Southampton Sports Centre to raise over £100 for Mencap after covering 4kms in 5.39.25.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.