Horses for courses is a phrase James Dear hopes never to hear again.

The Friston rider looked set to repeat last year's win in the Kingston Wheelers 14-mile hilly time trial at Ripley, near Guildford contested by a star-studded field of 80 riders.

But he had to slow down to pass some horses on the course.

He said: "The horses were a bit frisky so I had to slow down and take care when I went past.

"I only lost about ten seconds or so but when I finished I found I would have won had I been just six seconds faster. If it hadn't been for the hold-up I'm sure I would have won again."

Dear (In Gear) clocked 34min.3sec to finish runner-up behind Leon Wright (Sigma Sport), one of the fastest short-distance riders in the UK. Wright's time of 33min.58sec was just one second outside Dear's 2002 course record.

Dear gets plenty of hill-climbing practice just getting to his home in Friston. It will come in useful when he faces another crack field in the North Road CC 25-mile hilly time trial on Sunday.

Sussex Nomads celebrated their 25th anniversay at the recent annual dinner held at Hassocks. Veteran rider Geoff Smith, 52, won most of the senior time trial prizes, including the Tidbury Trophy for the club's fastest 25-mile time of the year (58min.16sec). Junior rider Adam Gent also did well, winning the Jo Shafer Memorial Plate as the club's top road racer.

The doyen of the club is Alan Limbrey who rode for the original Prestonville Nomads in the Fifties.

A great all-rounder, Limbrey was a Sussex road race champion, track racing star and one of the first Sussex riders to beat the hour for 25 miles. Limbrey passes on his cycling expertise to other members but claims his own sporting activities nowadays are confined to captaining the bowls club.

The Sussex road season gets into top gear next month starting with the East Sussex CA's annual Hardriders time trial at Bodle Street Green on March 2. Other county events in March include the Sussex CA's circuit time trial at Ashurst on March 8, a road race at Loxwood on March 16 and the Sussex CA two-up team time trial at Storrington on March 23.