Year: 2007

Four members represented the club and were all set off within 6 minutes of one another. In good conditions Mark Newton was the first off and back in 58.11 (6th and fastest vet in his age group). Ed Rieu recorded 1.03.11. Nick Varley pipped Mark by 2 second with 58.09 (5th) and Dave Twin suffered a slow puncture on his front tub. The overall was won by Phil Bull of V.C. Elan in 55.55.

The best weather conditions of the season so far a slight breeze and sun awaited the 70 entrants. MN was the only Sydenham starter however our Treasurer Ian O’Hara was spotted warming up in the car park. The conditions contributed to a fast race which was won by K Coffey in 20.34 1 second better than from C. Yates. Both Ian and MN record respectable times at 21.18 and 22.09, with MN lowering his PB by 19 seconds.

The Ray Jesset Memorial 10 was held on Q10/17 on a windy Saturday morning. This seasons ‘Sydenham Fastman’, Mark Newton, recorded a time of 22.48 for 5th overall and 2nd in the best improvement on previous 3 years PB (with a time 19 seconds outside his previous fastest time). Paul Mill was fastest on the day with a 20.53.

Sunday morning was the Diamond Jubilee 25 on Q25/10, for those cyclists returning from the 10 mile on the previous day the wind had calmed down but the course was wet making the tight turns very slippery. Mark recorded a time of 58.52 for 10th, the event was won by Keith Coffey BEC CC in 55.20. In the competition for the fastest combined time across the two events Mark was second with the full result to be confirmed.

A top quality field of 115 riders including four members of the Plowman Craven/Evans TR massed for the event on a bright but breezy morning. Three Sydenham riders where on the start list unfortunately both Dave Mulford and Graham Ward DNS but Mark Newton recorded 22.53 for 27th place. The event was won by Gordon McCauley 19:43, in case you were wondering what happen to the other Plowman Craven team members – Tony Gibb punctured on the way to the start, their 3rd man Brian Biggs did a 21:41, and their 4th man got a late start penalty and ended up with a time of 27:03.

It seemed like a good idea on paper, but when you ride 100 miles in continuous rain and gusty breezes in June you do spend a lot of time on the way round asking the question why? Bob Loader a regular to the KCA 100 finished with a 5.32.36. Ed Rieu having ridden his first ever 50 only a few weeks earlier, finished with a 4.45.57. Dave Twin finished with 4.37.34. the overall winner on the dismal day was Ian Silvester of San Fairy Ann CC with 4.07.12.

There were three solo entries and a tandem entry from the club on an overcast morning. Of the three solo riders Dave Mulford lead the way coming home in a time of 26.51(53rd), next off was Graham Ward completing the course in 25.34 (42nd) and the final man in the trio Mark Newton completed in a PB time of 22.28(10th). The event was won by Peter Tadross in a time of 20.29. Unfortunately the tandem entry of Rob & Harry Royston punctured and therefore DNF.

Bob Loader and David Twin were the only two entrants from the club in this event for the Singer Trophy. A bright morning with light winds is what greeted them when they arrived down on Romney Marsh. Dave was the first off with Bob 3 minutes behind to go up to Ashford and back twice. At the first and second turns Dave had put quite a bit of time into Bob. However at 28 miles suffered a punctureof his rear tub. As a result Bob wins the trophy with a 2.36.36. The overall event was won by Kevin Tye ODLS.com Racing in 1.52.41

Over the last Bank Holiday weekend in May three club members Jamie Walker, John Rivett and Mark Newton represented the Club on the 4 day Tour of Sussex. A combination of heavy rain, cold temperatures and fast racing worked against many of the 70 starters with only 40 completing the 4 days. A fast time on Friday evening’s opening 4 mile prologue and 2 top 10 finishes over the next 3 days gave Mark Newton a creditable 6th in the overall GC and enough points to move up to 3rd cat. Unfortunately at the moment we do not have details of where Jamie and John finished. Full report is available from the BCF website Read Report.

According to Mark this is the 1st of 3 season targets now achieved. Wonder what the other 2 are?

A humid morning is what greeted both Mark Newton and Dave Twin as they left the start line on their respective rides. The course (G10/89) was down and up the A22 twice. This also included having to ride into and out of heavy showers twice. As a result some riders suffered punctures. Considering the conditions Mark turned in a very respectable 2.02.15. Dave finished with a 2.07.10. The event was won by Mark Winton of Lewes Wanderers in 1.54.??

6 members of the club pre-entered this event. On the day 5 of these appeared at the hall to be greeted to bright, warm conditions and only a light breeze. Ed Rieu, Dave Twin, Mark Newton, Jamie Walker and Robert Robbins were joined on the line by 68 other riders. 8 laps on the undulating circuit then followed. A number of riders attempted to break off the front during the race but to little effect. Dave attacked on the main hill with 2 laps to go taking another rider with him and joining another rider already up the road. The three worked together only for about a quarter of a lap before getting brought back. On the final lap Jamie and Mark attacked on the same climb with a couple of other riders. They gained quite a gap and things were looking good. Unfortunately they were reeled in by the fast finishing bunch on the last corner. The result was a massive bunch sprint. Jamie was the first of the Sydenham riders to cross the line. Dave just pipped Robert and they were shortly followed by Mark after he had been boxed in on the inside. Ed had been dropped with a couple of laps to go and rode in a small group to the finish. The final positions are awaited on the SERRL website.

Apologies that the updates to the website have been a bit slack lately but even website administrators have holidays!

Kent Cycles Open 9.35 (28th April 2007)
Not satisfied with having both the start and finishes in the wrong place, it would seem that they can’t even get the results correct. Ed has a download from his computer/heartrate monitor he did over 22 minutes and was shown as 22.00 on the result board, but according to the result sheet he finished as the fastest Sydenham rider with 21.00 (28th). He was followed home by Dave Twin 21.44 (38th), Nick Varley 23.25 (67th) and Jim Oliver 30.22 (88th) which included a 6m 28s late start due to a puncture.

Medway Velo open 25 (20th May 2007)
On a warm, dry but breezy morning Dave Twin was the sole Sydenham rider to enter this event on the Molash course. With a lot of riders managing to break the hour Dave came away a little disappointed with his 1.01.21. At the time of leaving the likely winner looked like being Kevin Tye ODLS.com racing with 55.17.

Epsom Spring Classic LVRC (29th April 2007)
There were 3 races going round this rather hilly course based around Bletchingly in Surrey. Two members of the club rode. Dave Twin in the A/B category race (5 laps) and Dave Fleming in the E/F/G race (4 laps). Mr Twin riding his first road race for two years managed to hang in with the main bunch until the forth time up the climb. He eventually finished 35th overall and 17th in the A category. Dave Fleming riding his new stead in his first road race of the year eventually finished 19th overall and 18th in the E category.

Club 10 on Cudham (10th May 2007) – Cancelled due to road works.

Catford Interclub (16th May 2007) – Cancelled due to road works.

Catford Open 10 Q10/19 (20th May 2007) – Cancelled due to road works.