Round and round in circles

Proving that he can climb the podium steps as a solo rider too, Richard Edge took 3rd place in the Vets 12hr at Bontrager 24/12 down in Plymouth this weekend

Gurning is scientifically proven to aid cornering!

Richard managed to put away 16 laps, clocking up 191km of riding during the period.

"I'm really pleased to get my first solo podium in the bag for the team. I really enjoy 24/12 as a race, and this year was another great one. The course seemed a little easier than in previous years, but after 16 times around it, most of it got tough! I spent a lot of the race in 4th, and only realised I was in 3rd just before my final lap when my pit team mentioned that I should probably go hard on the last lap to consolidate my third place. Hilariously I managed to take 10 minutes off the previous lap time, so worried was I that I was going to get caught!"

Rich nearly cracks a smile!

Also in action this weekend were Paul and Andy, who were riding in the FNSS relay event, putting in a sterling performance to claim 4th.

Here's Andy's thoughts on the action (from what sounds like a confusing but enjoyable race!)

"It was a change to the normal FNSS proceedings this week being replaced by the annual 2 hour team relay event held at St Andrew RFC in Rugby. With only myself and the head honcho Paul representing Nakes Bikes there was a need to scout for a couple of ringers to make up the team of 4. FNSS regulars Mark Proudman and Rob Taylor were in a similar predicament so we decided to join forces. A quick reccie of the course before the start (very quick in fact - only 5 minutes for the lap including an impromptu toilet break) - 1.5 miles around a field then back via some cycling proficiency zig zags along the rugby pitch. Not your normal FNSS course but actually worked well for this type of event. We'd decided to race for 30 minutes straight, then change rider to get as much of a session in as you could in the time allocated. A strategy that was to last about 10 minutes as every other team was swapping riders almost every lap. I started us off and was 3rd into the first lap but soon lost a few places over the next couple of laps as new riders (keen to give it big guns) flew past. Next up Paul who maintained the pace for the next 2 or 3 laps (4 or 5 minutes a lap it's easy to lose track), then Rob (ringer #1) for a few more. Then time for Mark (ringer #2) to do a couple (or 6 as it turned out). With such a short course and different riders out all the time you never knew if you were first or last. However, after a bit of investigating we found that we were in 4th (only 1:30 behind 3rd). Mark was enjoying himself and was getting quicker each lap (so much so that he cut the gap to 3rd to less than 30 seconds. That's how it stayed for the final lap so 4th for the night. Enjoyable racing doing something a little different."