Glenn Taylor beats the cold to finish top in Plomesgate CC 10

The quiet roads in the Suffolk Sandlings were clear, though there was slush and puddles about and there was snow in the air.

Lowestoft rider Chris Womack (VC Baracchi) noticed his car thermometer at minus two with freezing cold gale force winds waiting for the competitors as they ventured out. Unfortunately, the headwind leg was the final one and Womack described the consequences:

'My legs gave up through the cold and I finished up with a poor 28.45 nearly three minutes slower than the Breckland 10 three weeks ago.' Just fourteen riders faced the timekeepers, all but two of them veterans.

The other major cycling events in the region – including the Tricycle Association and Diss 25s, the Ipswich Spring Scramble and the Hethersett 30/60 all succumbed to the weather forecast.

• If a leisurely ride in hopefully warm weather is more your cup of tea, this year's Beccles Cycle for Life is on Sunday, May 12.

Distance options start at just seven miles and frequent 'pit-stops' for refreshments are available. Details are at www.becclescycleforlife.org

In the final Winter in the Park races at the Cyclopark, Gravesend, Sophie Holmes (Inverse RT) from Diss was Under 14 girls winner ahead of Weybourne girl Isla Rush (Windymilla), while Chris Jackson (Strada Sport) took the Under 16 boys.

• Dennis Horn is one of the most famous names associated with the Norwich Amateur Bicycle Club and Norwich publisher Mousehold Press has brought out a welcome book about his life and times.

A great strength of 'Dennis Horn – Racing for an English Rose' by Peter Underwood is the careful, evocative and sometimes humorous explanation of the track-racing scene between the wars in which Dennis and his brother Cyril were such important figures.

After these chapters Underwood covers the highlights of Horn's career year-by year, and ends with some training articles by Horn published in the cycling press. Throughout his racing days Horn lived at Upwell in the Fens and he first raced for Cambridge Town & County CC before joining the Norwich Amateurs in time for the 1932 season. He won the Meredith Memorial Track Trophy for season-long competition every year 1931-1938 and frequently raced on European tracks He retired in 1939, leased a farm and threw himself into food production. He never returned to racing and died in 1974. 'Dennis Horn – Racing for an English Rose' 84pp costs £8.95. For details see www.mousehold-press.co.uk

wars in which Dennis Horn and his brother Cyril were such important figures.

After these chapters Underwood covers the highlights of Horn's career year-by year, and ends with some training articles by Horn published in the cycling press. Throughout his racing days Horn lived at Upwell in the Fens and he first raced for Cambridge Town & County CC before joining the Norwich Amateurs in time for the 1932 season. He won the Meredith Memorial Track Trophy for season-long competition every year 1931-1938 and frequently raced on European tracks He retired in 1939, leased a farm and threw himself into food production. He never returned to racing and died in 1974. 'Dennis Horn – Racing for an English Rose' 84pp costs £8.95. For details see www.mousehold-press.co.uk

• Not many cities have cafes especially catering for cyclists, though the idea is catching on. Now Norwich has one. The Dandy Horse has just opened at 27 Magdalen Street, Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 6pm. Presided over by Matthew Lawford, the Dandy Horse combines a cafe with a bike repair workshop. There is bike parking at the rear – the form is to wheel your bike through – and there are sofas and other extra seating upstairs. Put in some miles first and you can enjoy the cakes, guilt-free.

• In the final Winter in the Park races at the Cyclopark, Gravesend, Sophie Holmes (Inverse RT) from Diss was Under 14 girls winner ahead of Weybourne girl Isla Rush (Windymilla), while Chris Jackson (Strada Sport) took the Under 16 boys.