Competition News

Tony Marriott and Nick Cramer raced at Hog Hill (Redbridge Cycling Centre) on Saturday 16th in the final event of the East London Vélo "Six days of winter" series. This was a circuit race lasting an hour.

Tony led Alex by 17 seconds in the Out of Season BAR (Rest Gear 72”, Rest Gear 81” and Hill Climb time accumulated) going into the Hill Climb.
As you can see he did a PB and took 19 seconds back to win the Hill Climb and Out of Season BAR.
Good to see a large turn out hope everyone enjoyed it.
Thanks to Lorne you can see a video of your efforts .

Another still but chilly Sunday morning.  81” rest gear for people who have raced and scrubbers for non racers.
Tony managed to take back time from Alex from the first out of season event, so now all will be decided on the hill climb next week.
Valdis won the scrubbers.

This was Nick C's last race of the season and involved four laps of a 70Km circuit around Steeple, Maylandsea and Tillingham in Essex.
With one and a half laps to go he was brought down by a large group of riders crashing - his first crash all season. By the time he had picked myself up and dusted himself down the peloton was way ahead. He worked with an Ipswich rider named Adam Keer and raced on for pride crossing the finish line joint last .

Fantastic!  With a time of 1:16:46 Merv set a time that was 6 seconds faster than the club record he established 59 years ago in 1953.  This also established an East Anglian Group VTTA Age record at 79.  Meanwhile Phil clocked 1:09:12.

For the first time in many years there were two Wheelers competing in the club's "Last Chance Points Grabber" road race.

The break stayed away in the Wheelers' "Last Chance Points Grabber" road race on the Whitwell circuit on Sunday 30th September.

It was very cold on the unfashionable and undulating E1 near Newport when Merv clocked 1:27:20 in this event.  He was further hampered by a strong headwind from the turn.

Another windy afternoon saw the Steve & Paul complete the course in 1:04:16.

Two Wheelers rode in the ECCA 10 last Saturday.   It was a favourable day for a change on the Six Mile Bottom course - cool with a slight cross-wind.  Merv managed to equal his time from three years ago with a 24:26 while Phil Young did a 22:19.  

Tony M rode the Shaftesbury CC road Race. This was a 117 km event based around a 25 km loop near Roxwell. The pace was quick from the start with 8 riders escaping and staying away till the end - 6 of these contested the final sprint.
Tony managed to finish in the second bunch in 32nd place out of 60 starters. This was his first open road race for 22 years! Ironically the 2nd placed rider this year had been racing in that earlier event. Tony was well chuffed to have finished such a long, fast race - the average speed was 25mph!

As we currently do not hold our own 25's, the Revenge Cup is incorporated into the Norlond 25 held on the A1.  On a breezy morning, Merv retained the trophy with 1:06:50.

As this race was rearranged from an earlier date due to an accident on the course, more than half the entrants could not turn out due to other commitments.  However on a pleasant but breezy afternoon Peter and Merv were both able to put in an appearance and recorded 25:00 and 25:53 respectively.

On a windy day, Paul & Steve clocked 30:35

Nick Cramer rode this event . The course was just under 60 miles and involved 5½ laps that took the riders through Newport, Clavering, Rickling Green and back to Newport. Nick was on his best behaviour , "no attacking, chasing, leading or anything else that would waste energy ". He made himself stay at the back for 3½ laps, which was hard - not in effort but in self-discipline! The finish line was along a narrow lane.

An excellent turn-out of club members on a glorious sunny morning - why can't all Sundays be like this?
Tony continued in dominant form and there were solid performances from several newcomers.

Despite it being yet another windy afternoon. Merv rode this event on a new course west of Bedford.  His time was 26:13.

Nick Cramer took part in the Easterley CC " Falling Leaves Road Race " on 2nd September. This is involved a 50 mile, 7 lap circuit, on a course he had ridden earlier in the year. Nick reported " The circuit took us riders past the smashing Audley End House but then terminated into an awful hill that big riders hate! "

On a windy day that made the return much faster than the out, Phil continued his excellent form with 22:13 whilst SteveW did 24:20, Peter did 24:36 and Merv completed the set with 25:15.

The rain stopped but it was cool and breezy at Panshanger. This is a tough course combining some steep hills and tricky surfaces - congratulations to the four riders who braved it!