LVRC Kirdford UPDATED

Afternoon race for ABC's (under 55s)

The ABC's lined for the South Western Vets race - the 5th in the South East LVRC series. Due to the local village fete the circuit was re-routed to a shorter circuit. After 2 laps it soon became clear that if we were to cover the full 10 laps then we might travel nearly 90 miles - far too much for such a bunch of old men.

After 2 laps the break went with the big hitters including Terry Morgan and (already in his 2nd break of the day) our VCM teammate Gianluca Capello. With 8 up the road including Craig Wilson's and Martin Hulbert's main challengers in the B and C age category it was panic stations in the bunch. Sterling efforts by Tim Costellara doing his best impression of an (old) motorbike (with hayfever) kept the break at under 2 minutes. Thankfully the race was shortened by 2 laps and, with the break well gone, the remainder of the field broke up leaving 5 Vecchi's, Martin Hulbert from VCM and a few others in a chasing group. Into the last 2 laps Martin and Ashley Holding jumped away to take 7th and 8th. The Vecchi team trial squad of Costello, Morgan (having dropped back to help the chase) Addison and Jarrett towed a failing Wilson to the finish where they virtually had to push the miserable mess, resplendent in his all white outfit, across the line to take some points to defend his jersey. With Wilson across the line, Colin Addison led in Keith Jarrett and Terry Morgan.

A big thank you to the team who went well beyond the call of duty to protect the jersey. Hopefully I will return from holiday well rested and able to do the support justice!
(report supplied by CraigW)

Gianluca persevered in the break and crossed the line 4th in the race and 2nd A Cat.


Morning race for DEF's (over 55's)

Sat AM LVRC Kirdford; The cricket at Plaistow hadn’t started so the old boys were able to use the bigger Kirdford circuit which also included the finish hill and the climb up to Plaistow each lap… the blustery wind (was it ever behind us?) and the two drags each lap together with the constant attacking meant that a few of the less fit were soon struggling to stay with the bunch. At times it looked like one of the many attacks would succeed however it wasn’t until just under a lap to go that the real damage occurred.

A fast ascent of the finish hill left some struggling and a counter on the next drag saw a stretched out bunch and a select group of 5 pulled away consolidating the gap with a very quick descent to Kirdford. Seeing the danger 5 more got across forming a group of 10 at the front with just 10k to go and although this group, containing most of the leaders of the series, did not get themselves organised the wind had gone out of the chasers and that was it.

With 7k to go Dave Worsfold and ex Condor pro Barry Jones clipped away with the others looking at each other, 4k to go Tony Woodcock sprinted across to the leading two quickly followed by myself expecting the rest to follow but they hesitated and we were away. On the finishing climb I crept past Dave and Barry and expected Tony to come by but all the work he had done during the race took its toll and he took second and first in his age group. (Leaving KB to cruise over the line for another win and an even bigger lead in the overall series - Ed)

(report supplied by KeithB)

In the overall series we still have leaders in the B & E categories with CraigW and KeithB. MartinH lies 2nd in the C category standings and Gianluca (starting the series part way through) has a good chance of moving up to 2nd in the A's (if he rides well in all the remaining rounds)

Beards, al Qaeda, synchronised sprinting - the h'cap

Doing the handicap for a change I arrived early to find one other car and the police. Expecting some objection to the race we were surprised to be asked why we were parked below tree cover directly under the Heathrow flight path. These were the anti-terrorist squad and they were (really) checking we had bikes in the back and not surface to air missiles. 

Lining up with Ken Prince,  Mark Bremner and Bob Moore we set off 38 minutes behind the 3rd cats and 50 behind the 4ths which would explain why we didn't catch any of them until one and a half laps to go, despite being driven on by Darrell Pembroke and Andy Betts. With no lead car in sight Mark reckoned there were still at least ten away. This led to what seemed a less serious than normal sprint led out by Mark and the Twickenham Beardy bloke. Ken and Bob were smartly through and I (forewarned by Keith that he uses the beard to repel all adversaries) hesitated before squeezing through to make sure we finished all 4 Meudons in a row. Then we found out there were only four away, so we were a neat and tidy 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th. Which was nice.

Muedon's Monday laps field

Last week Jo slipped off to Crystal Palace to ride in the Tuesday night crit series. Despite riding under a pseudonym and with a disguised club name, Keith spotted the result.

Jo lapped the field with Charlotte Blackman, but was edged out by a couple of centimetres in the sprint.

1. Charlotte Blackman, London Dynamo

2. Jo Munday, VC Muedon

3. Jenny Lloyd Jones, London Dynamo

Cycle Kingdom Series - Race 9 Result/Report

Races on Weds 2nd July

3/4
1 Scott Forbes Pedalon.co.uk 4 10
2 Nick Onslow Pedalon.co.uk 3 9
3 Steve Smith Python RT 3 8
4 James Bracey VC Meudon 4 7
5 Andy Hibberd Pedalon.co.uk 4 6
6 David Wilson Charlotteville CC 3 5
7 Nick Evans Beyond/Specialized 3 4
8 Keith Brooks VC Meudon 3V 3
9 Terry Morgan VC Meudon 3V 2
10 Chris Remnant V.S. Narbonnais 3 1

Overall Classification

A fast race again with a sizeable field including a few new faces… however it was dominated by the Pedalon guys who seemed determined to get away and made all the early breaks. Eventually one of them clipped off getting a decent gap and despite a lot of chasing the bunch made little impression until another Pedalon attacked and quickly motored up to his teamate. From then on it was “game over” as although the bunch kept the speed high the Pedalons pedalled away even passing the E/1/2s at one point and continued for a convincing win. Last weeks winner Steve Smith Python RT used his strong sprint to snatch the gallop for third and VC Meudon's fast improving James Bracey just beating another Pedalon for fourth… Well done to Scott Forbes, Nick Onslow and Andy Hibberd the Pedalon trio who were very impressive on the night and help make it a tough race.


E/1/2
1 Justin Hoy Felt Racing E 15
2 Lewis Atkins www.agiskovinor.com 2 14
3 Jamie Newall VC Meudon 2 13
4 Anders Christensen Cycle Kingdom RT 1 12
5 Lee Smith www.agiskovinor.com 1 11
6 Martin Smith AW Cycles E 10
7 Chris Minter Pedalon.co.uk 2 9
8 Tim Elverson Felt Racing E 8
9 John Wager Felt Racing 1 7
10 Tom Smith AW Cycles E 6
11 Sam Allen I - Team 2J 5
12 Darrell Pembroke www.agiskovinor.com 2 4
13 Ken Prince VC Meudon 2 3
14 Adrian Goatley www.agiskovinor.com 2 2
15 Rob King Reading C C 2 1

Overall Classification

New Pattern @Dunsfold

The established pattern of racing at Dunsfold was turned on it's head last night as a new scenario unfolded and VCM riders were taught a lesson in tactics by the WildSiders.

Unusually, the customery coming together of all riders followed by a select breakaway of series contenders breaking away after a prime did not happen. In fact a break of around 10 able riders made up of 2nd and 3rd Cats like Dave Kennett and Phil Watkins went clear before the elites could move to the front. Of course that suited the Wildsiders down to the ground as Jamie was then unable to hoover up his weekly crop of prime points. Wildside were content to leave the break hanging out front until near the end, while the VCM riders failed to organise a powerful chase as soon as possible. Jamie made several lone attempts to stir things up but working alone was unlikely to succeed. Also when he decided to hitch a ride on the Richard Prebble "Last Lap Express", valuable energy for the final sprint was expended.

There was still a chance for Jamie as all that was required was a watching brief on series challenger Jason Edwards, but it all went wrong in the finale and even though 3 VCM riders featured in the top 10, Jamie was not one of them and Edwards took his second consecutive win to close the gap on Jamie in the series.
Strong riding by Nick, Craig and Ken in the finish for high placings.

Do we need to be more tactically astute or do we just need to talk to each other ?!

1 Jason Edwards Wildside RT 1 1:22:50
2 Tom Copeland In Gear Development 1 2
3 Ashley Holding Wildside RT 2V 4
4 Nick Allen VC Meudon 3
5 Simon McNamara Wildside RT 1
6 Toby Neave Southdown Velo E
7 Craig Wilson VC Meudon 2V
8 Philip Watkins Old Portlians CC 2V 5
9 Daniel Clark Brighton Mitre 2
10 Ken Prince VC Meudon 2 3
11 Paul Gosling Bayeux Landscapes 2V 4
12 Chris Remnant VS Narbonnats 3
13 Nathan Dye Brighton Mitre 3
14 Mark Sussex Wildside RT 2
15 Mark Trevis Southdown Velo 2
16 Martyn Potter Brighton Mitre 2 1
17 Lee Smith agiskoviner.com 1
18 David Kennett Norwood Paragon CC 2V 8
19 Doug Baldock Beyond Mountain Bikes 3
20 Andy Bristow AD Cycles RT 3V
21 Jamie Newall VC Meudon 2 3

Roundup inc. CK Classic

The Cycle Kingdom Classic was again a race for the hardriders, splitting on the first lap with Steve Richards in the front group, but with plenty of quality remaining in the bunch - including Warren, Justin Hoy, and Gary Dodd - they couldn't relax with lots of climbing to come. However the gap was never bridged and Chris McNamara escaped with two others and then finished a lone and worthy winner. Steve finished a fine 7th, just in front of Tim and John, with Pete Wager also putting in a solid ride just outside the top 20.

At Dunsfold the Meudons showed some teamwork in support of Jamie's effort to win the series. With Jamie getting in the winning break, myself and then Nick Allen got across in support. While main competitor Jason Edwards picked up the win, Jamie picked up plenty of prime points and Nick was third in the gallop.

Eelmore was less productive than normal with midweek leaders Jamie (resting) and Dave Creeggan (injured) not riding, leaving Pete Wager and Ken Prince to pick up our only placings. The race was won in a fearsome sprint by John Wager, just holding off Tim and Lewis Atkins.

In the 3rds consistent Andy Dilkes put in another good performance to come home in 3rd.

On Thursday our man at the handicaps Mark Bremner managed to miss the break much to his annoyance, but rescued the evening by winning the bunch sprint for 7th.

At Chertsey on Saturday Gaz Buttery curbed his hardworking instincts in the 4ths and grabbed 6th in the inevitable bunch sprint in his efforts to get his 3rd cat licence. In the E12 Keith Jarrett was best of the Meudons in 10th, with Ken and myself picking up the very minor placings.

Meanwhile on Sunday Martin Hulbert was busy at the LVRC at Wareham, attacking on the hill to get a break of six going then whittling it down to four. Martin got second in the four up sprint and first C, with Rob Cranstone 4th overall and 1st B.

And finally having won the 3rds at Chertsey with his usual convincing style Nick Allen can no longer claim to be "still a 3rd cat". He's won 5 races, one third, and he's packed and braked in points paying positions, but the inevitable has happened.