Ottershaw 3/Hillingdon Winter Series - updated

And the winner is?

Out undercover reporter writes back again from the Ottershaw series:

"On today’s cold but bright morning 40 riders signed on for the final round of the Ottershaw series this week held over 80k on a combination of Staple Hill and Valley End circuits. Included in the field from the Meudon were last week’s winner and overall leader Ashley Holding, Jason Edwards, Ben Marks, Mike Knight and Martin Hulbert.

With such a close margin between the leading three in the series then this was always going to be a tactical race and this was reflected in the early action as the attacks were not getting more than a few seconds gap before the Meudons or the WyndyMillas chased them down in support of Ashley and WMs Alex Higham. Lone riders, and overall contenders, Lewis Atkins and Martin Smith were also in close attendance as the race moved with 30k to go onto the smaller Valley End circuit and its long drag through the finish each lap.

Valley End offers better opportunities for breakaways as a 10 second lead means you are out of sight for most of the lap and this turned out to be the case as two of the most experienced riders in the race Colin McDermott and Paul Holdsworth sneaked away together with under 20k left quickly pursued by 5 others including Martin Hulbert, and then the bunch with the top 4 still watching each other. Unfortunately Ben Marks punctured at this point and despite getting a WyndyMilla wheel he had little chance of regaining the fast moving bunch

It looked like the leading two would be caught by the chasing 5 with 10k left but they kept working doggedly with each other and as they took the bell they still had a good 20 sec lead over the chasers and that is how it finished with Festival RCs Colin McDermott getting the better of Hounslow’s Paul Holdsworth in the sprint. The next 5 came in some 20 secs behind and then all eyes were on the bunch gallop which would decide the overall and it was a close finish that the judges were still pondering over when I left.

So full results to follow via the Surrey League website all though good to report that all 5 Meudoners finished."

Update:

November 7, 2010 - Twickenham CC - Ottershaw Series #3 - E/1/2/3 - 60 miles


Pos Name Club/Team Cat Time
1 Colin McDermott Festival RC 3V 02:18:00
2 Paul Holdsworth Hounslow & District 1V
3 Paul Edwards Lighweight 0:35
4 Andy Davies Fit-For 1
5 James Stuart Norwood Paragon CC 2
6 Martin Hulbert VC Meudon 3V
7 Stephen Dring Team Echelon Spiuk E
8 Jake Martin Onelife Fuga Racing Team
9 Lewis Atkins Orbea-For Goodness Shakes E @ 0:44
10 Alex Higham WyndyMilla E
11 Martin Smith Army CU EV
12 Ashley Holding VC Meudon 2V
13 Allan Ridler Cycle Kingdom RT 2
14 James Jones Beeline Bicycles RT 2
15 Nat Spurling Finchley RC
16 James Wakelin Sigma Sport RT 2
17 Nigel Stephens Finchley Racing Team 2
18 Mark Spindler Twickenham CC 3
19 Chris Batch Redhill CC 3V
20 Bill Butterworth Team Quest 3V
21 Scott Merrilees Wyndymilla 3
22 Alex Pantelides Twickenham CC 3J
23 Robert Cranstone Royal Navy & Royal Marines CA 3V

24 Luke Merrilees Wyndymilla 2
25 Jason Edwards VC Meudon 1V
26 Angus Macaw
27 Simon Henley Team Corley Cycles 2
28 Henry Furniss WyndyMilla 1
29 Neil Edwards Private Member 3

Overall after 3 rounds Pts
1 Lewis Atkins Orbea-For Goodness Shakes E 15
2 Ashley Holding VC Meudon 2V 17
3 Alex Higham WyndyMilla E 22
4 Jake Martin Onelife Fuga Racing Team 24
4 Colin McDermott Festival RC 3V 24
6 Martin Smith Army CU EV 27
7 Allan Ridler Cycle Kingdom RT 2 29
8 James Jones Beeline Bicycles RT 2 36
8 Andy Davies Fit-For 1 36
10 Paul Edwards Lighweight 37
11 Stephen Dring Team Echelon Spiuk E 40
12 Paul Holdsworth Hounslow & District 1V 41
13 Mark Spindler Twickenham CC 3 62
14 Neil Edwards Private Member 3 63
15 Bill Butterworth Team Quest 3V 71
16 Chris Batch Redhill CC 3V 73


Its not the end of the road season….Starting Dec 4th the Hillingdon Winter series starts with races for all categories throughout the winter months. For full details see; http://www.imperialracingteam.com/imperialracingteam/index.htm