Eelmore Race 3

A chilly and blustery evening and a tailwind to the finish line set the scene for a potential break.  Again this week there were enough incidents to keep the first aiders busy.  A brace of riders attacked from the start and were able to hold to the finish.  A solo effort for third was also successful, whilst a fourth solo effort was reeled in by the main bunch.  Scott Oatridge showed a quality of spirit and pedalled himself to a fine seventh, meanwhile Jon Harris who achieved fifth last week also had a brave race but this time was just outside the points.  Karl Smith DNF Jamie Fry retired (crashed).

Race Planning Meeting

The CCB race planning meeting is being held at the Basingstoke & North Hants Cricket Club http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=RG213DR on Friday 13 May at 19:00.  Those wishing to race and prospective new members are welcome.

Surrey League RR (promoted by The CCB)

Hi Everybody

Firstly thanks to everyone who helped on Saturday and also to those of you who brought along cakes to sell, which has resulted in £74.00 going into club funds.

The races went off without any major incidents just the usual few irate public, loose horses, etc.

Next year I have asked for a date of 22nd April, which is not Easter!! This may be possible if there is no 3 Day race held.

Thanks

Berni

Castle Combe

4 members of the CCB travelled Good Friday to race at Castle Combe.  Unbelievably there were around 175 riders in the Cat 3 race!  The weather was glorious and the wind light.  We all had a go near the front, but the sheer number of riders made it very difficult to maintain a top 20 position.  There was a sprint finish of sorts with the usual pretenders having a go and basically getting in the way, which led to a few crashes; our positions were not good enough to be contenders so we finished safely within the main field.

Earmarked CCB Rider Races

Below is a list of races that CCB riders will be attending:  If you want to hook up with us drop us a note so that if appropriate we could organise car share etc.

Eelmore - Wednesday evenings until 20th July - no event on the 6th of July

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/48722/Cycle-Kingdom-Circuit-Series-3

Ludgershall Summer Series - Monday evenings from 30 May to end of August

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/62992/Ludgershall-Summer-Series-1

Castle Coombe 3rds only (22/04):

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/37122/Castle-Combe-Easter-Classic

Goodwood 3rds only (08/05) £15 on day:

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/51672/Surrey-League-Road-Race-Dulwich-Paragon-CC

Thruxton 3rds only (15/05) £15 on day:

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/36742/Omega-Circuits-incorporating-Omega-Youth-Circuits-NATIONAL-YOUTH-CIRCUIT-SERIES

Thorney Island (12/06) £15 postal only:

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/36772/Omega-Thorney-Island-Circuits

Goodwood (24/07) 3rds only 11.46am:

http://www.surreyleague.co.uk/calendar.htm

Goodwood (28/08) 3rds only 11.46am:

http://www.surreyleague.co.uk/calendar.htm

Goodwood (04/09) 3rds only 11.46am:

http://www.surreyleague.co.uk/calendar.htm

Hillingdon & Eelmore Race 2

From the BC website: The new classification, of the Reg C, 3rd/4th category event, saw 30 riders start with 4 riders making a decisive break at about half distance. They were Ralph DeKanter , Ben Moores, Jason Humphries all from Norwood Paragon and Gareth Thomas (Kingston Wheelers). They all worked very well together and once they had a gap never looked like getting caught. The Norwood Paragon trio took the first 3 places with Ralph De Kanter running out the winner, the break finishing 1 minute ahead of the rest of the field led home by Karl Smith (Cycle Club Basingstoke).

 

 Four CCB riders lined up for the 2nd round of the Eelmore Series; they were Scott Oatridge, Jon Harris, Karl Smith and Jamie Fry.  Jamie had to serve a one match ban for dangerous riding the week before (see Andrew McCombe's report; so we were 3.

Another very large field and Scott attacked early to try and establish a break, Karl got on the front to try and slow things down, but Eelmore isn't slow, so that didn't last long.  Anyhow, Scott and his renegades were reeled back and most of the race went without incident.  Karl was feeling tired from the previous night’s endeavour but was still feeling strong for the sprint finish, when, presto! with 3 laps to go, a rider came down in front of him finishing his chances of any points.  Penultimate lap, Jon was getting his position and looked very good indeed, round the hairpin for the final gallop home and Jon carved out a deserved 5^th place – well done Jon! 


Pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/108507510398559469646/EelmoreCircuits20april2011?feat=embedwebsite#

Eelmore Race 1

Eelmore got underway last week with 3 riders from the CCB taking part.  Here is a description of the nights events and other race reports by an in form Andrew McCombe:

So, went to Eelmore on Wednesday night for the first of the Cycle Kingdom Wednesday night series. Met both John and Jamie there. We were all entered in the 3rd/4th cat race. John explained that this was his first race and so expectations were not high. Jamie was clearly up for it having just won the youth race!

Off we went - decent sized peleton - with the usual sprint out of the corners - particularly the bottom corner. A typical Eelmore interval session. John and I sat in the bunch to conserve our aging energy. Jamie did a great job - always near the front - and chased down a couple of attempted breaks. He was looking very good until in the home straight on the penultimate lap, with the usual bunch sprint looming, there was an enormous crash. At least 2 riders went down and one of them was Jamie who went head over heels! Amazing and a bit scary to watch but fortunately he was fine, just a flat tyre. In fact this was the second crash of the evening with an earlier crash on the bottom corner taking out a couple of riders.

I managed to avoid this crash, just, and then sat on the back of the front group until the home straight, when I went for my best sprint and placed 6th! John finished somewhere in the pack.

Today I went to Hillingdon for another 3rd/4th cat race organised by Westerley CC. This was also the usual bunch ride for 25 laps but no crashes. Once again stuck with the race plan that seems to be serving me so well. Sat at front end of the bunch until coming into the home straight, and then blasting it. Not quite in the perfect position for this today, sat a little too far back so had a fair bit of work to do but still managed to get 7th. So, very happy to be keeping a 100% scoring record but didn't see any familiar faces. 

pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/108507510398559469646/EelmoreCircuits13april2011#

Magnificat Preview Ride

Jeff Triner (group leader) Scott Oatridge, Ralph Colegate and Karl Smith help lead a group of cycling enthusiasts with the Mayor of Newbury in tow around the 81 Mile InterCat route.  Below are comments from event organiser Ken Robson; there are still places available should you wish to ride this Sportive:

It was good that you could take part in the Wiggle Magnificat Preview ride on Thursday.  I was particularly pleased that the rain held off, so you could fully appreciate the 81mile InterCat ride.  This intermediate route of the overall Wiggle Magnificat event, is a demonstration of the quality of our ride design, as it has the right combination of good climbs, rolling sections  and lovely countryside to cycle through. There are challenges for all cyclists, and of course some interesting testers at appropriate points on the course!

Another advantage is the inter-linkage between the three main ride courses:  all cyclists depart and cycle over Walbury Hill [the Wiggle Magnificat signature climb],  and then all the routes combine on the drag-climb up to Hannington so we can support all our riders at their last water and top-up station before they head back to the finish at  Newbury Racecourse.

Finally, on the support side: the food you have enjoyed is what the cyclists can look forward to on the day.  And  the energy drinks will be sponsored by Torq, with their whole range being available over the event weekend. Banjo Cycles will also be there, providing neutral assistance. In addition our three rapid response  vehicles will be equipped with GPS Trackers, and any incidents will be co-ordinated from HQ.

It was great to hear that some of you intend to bring your families to the event to take part in the cycling activities within the racecourse grounds. We are looking forward to seeing all families enjoy the day with the fun elements, as well as the opportunity to learn and test new skills from GoRide Racing to bike agility.

 

Phil O’Connor has taken a superb portfolio of  photos of the day. These photos can be accessed and downloaded free of charge from this link http://sportivephoto.thirdlight.com/a.tlx?k=3jmzgnb

Look forward to seeing you on Sunday 12^th June

Kind regards

Ken Robson

LVRC Road Race

Andrew McCombe was the only representative of the CCB following Karl Smith's withdrawal.  A couplpe of riders from North Hants, Richie Bremner and Billy Girvan raced also.  It was a tough circuit with a nasty hill out of North Waltham and a long drag up to the start finish line, which proved to be the key factor; 5 laps of just over 10 miles each, saw a large number of DNF's.  Richie got blown out in lap 3 and Andrew said "I also got blown out on Lap 3!! Bugger me it was hard! I suspect Billy was 10th because that was all that was left!!? (He did look good though)"

Pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/108507510398559469646/LVRC10april2011#