FIVE members from Gravesend CC took part in the annual gathering of French cycle touring clubs, the Semaine Federale.

More than 13,000 cyclists from France and neighbouring countries took part in a series of organised rides during the week over a range of distances from 40 to 100 miles in St Omer.

The proximity to Dover provided an opportunity for Gravesend Cycling Club members to take part and the five rode on two of the days.

They experienced excellent hospitality on the routes, which included Montreuil to the west of St Omer and the hills around Ypres and Cassel to the west.

Back on home soil, the fastest rider in the latest Evening 10 Series event was Neil Harrigan, making a return to competitive cycling after a break of several years with a very respectable time of 24m14s.

Other GCC times were: Jason Tibbs 24m37s (PB), Graeme Moir 26m00s, Keith Ward 26m17s and Richard Ward (in his first time trial) 29m41s.

Mike Coulter and Andy Sangster rode in the VC Elan 10-mile event on the Thanet Way, where Coulter was timed at 24m00s and Sangster crossed the line in 28m12s in his first event for a number of years.

Coulter also rode in the KCA 50-mile time trial and recorded a time of 2hr15m21s, which gave him third place in the veteran’s age related competition.

He also took part in the VTTA 25-mile event, where his time of 1hr03m40s gave him fifth place in the veteran’s competition.

Andy Gibson was timed at 1hr5m28s in the VTTA event.