Imogen Buick finished her National Trophy cyclo-cross campaign on a high note when she won the under-16 girl's race in the final round, a result which moved the Wymondham College girl up to third in the overall standings.

The course, on the shores of Rutland Water in the Midlands, featured short grass sprints between off-camber bends – that is to say banked the 'wrong' way.

Buick (Thetford MTB) and Alison Barnes (Palmer Park Velo) opened a gap on the rest, and presently Buick eased away to win by 31 seconds.

The Lion's Mouth was really dirty, I'm told by riders in Saturday's Norfolk Nips Audax ride. That's the name of the country lane descent from the top of Aylmerton Hill towards Felbrigg.

Grit and debris left over from the recent hard weather made it a test of skill, with an element of 'fingers crossed' as regards punctures. Seventy cyclists took part.

They had earlier enjoyed 'a ripping old ride' — according to Martin Badham (CC Breckland) — from Hellesdon to Sea Palling.

Then they had to suffer riding into a stiff wind to West Runton 'Rather hellish' (Brian Mann, CC Sudbury), but at least got a view of the sea which they had missed on the first, somewhat misty, Nips.

The new base in Hellesdon for these rides offers less of a navigational test getting around Norwich than the former HQ at Colney, and was generally welcomed. Many of the riders will be looking to move up to 200 kilometres for the Old Squit Audax on Saturday, February 12.

Next day the VC Barrachi 50 mile reliability trial from Oulton Broad took riders into the wind to Homersfield, they then had a glorious 'flyer' to St Olaves and a tough last few miles.

CC Breckland's Mark Fairhead, who had already completed the Norfolk Nips ride, topped up the VCB trial to 80 miles, including dealing with two punctures, and went home with the satisfying feeling of being well on the way to fitness.

This Sunday the VC Norwich hold their 50 mile reliability trial which starts from the lay-by on the A140 near Norwich Airport.

Progressively faster groups leave at intervals between 8.30am and 9.30am. Organiser is Malcolm Brown 01603 890876.

• The East District Cycling Association has launched a new website which can be found at www.eastdistrictca.org.uk.

The EDCA is the local umbrella organisation for cycling clubs affiliated to Cycling Time Trials (CTT), better known to older readers as the RTTC.

'Local' in this case means Norfolk, Suffolk and part of Cambridgeshire. There's a wide range of information there already, and more is planned. In particular, the list of links to local cycling club websites is probably the best available.