Category: News

Oh the joys of British weather, one again the e representatives from the Sydenham were met with really blustery conditions with the headwind appearing to be against every time you got on the long drags. Dave Twin was the first off and had just crossed the finishing line in 1.03.27 when the rain started. He was very shortly followed by a fast gaining Mark Newton who finished in 57.31 (5th). Last club rider off Ed, was unfortunate enough to be in the rain for over 20 minutes and finished looking rather damp in 1.02.50. The winner was Laurence Harding, Shorter Rochford RT in 53.55.

Club member Barry Robinson is planning on competing in both the London Marathon and the UK Ironman this year in order to raise funds for the Macmillan Cancer Support charity.

The first of these challenges, the Marathon, he has already completed in a PB time of 03:35:19 which was 20 minutes faster than his previous best effort and resulted in £900 being notched up on the charity fund. His focus shifting to the UK Ironman in August, Barry recently competed in his first Triathlon of the Season, the New Forest Tri. He completed the course in 2hrs 13 mins made up of a 1.1km swim, 36km bike and 10km cross country run. The bike split, including the transition was 01:02:59.

Those interested in sponsoring Barry for a very worthwhile cause can visit his fundraising page – www.justgiving.com.

Having been excused marshalling duties Mark Newton and Robert Royston took advantage and joined a full field of riders for their first 50 Tt of the season. Mark was first off in the now blustery conditions recording a FANASTIC time of 1.53.43 for 7th place. Robert recorded 2.09.16 and the event was won in 1.47.50 by Lawrence Harding.Top ten listed below:-

1 Lawrence HARDING Shorter Rochford RT 01:47:50 V 32:18

2 Adam TOPHAM High Wycombe Cycling Club 01:50:02 V 26:59

3 Rob GRIFFITHS www.agiskoviner.com 01:50:10 S

4 Aran STANTON VC St Raphael 01:50:37 V 26:24

5 David POLLARD In-Gear Quickvit R.T. 01:51:25 V 38:26

6 Tristan DAVENNE PCA Ciclos Uno 01:53:35 S

7 Mark NEWTON Sydenham Wheelers 01:53:43 V 25:22

8 David JOHNSON High Wycombe Cycling Club 01:53:50 V 34:55

9 Paul HOLDSWORTH Hounslow & Dist Wheelers 01:54:00 V 28:14

10Phil EMBER Kingston Wheelers 01:55:57 S

Mark and Andy both rode in this event which was the 3rd in the series. Mark Newton kept his powder dry riding the event purely for training purposes, Andy Ross however was riding with more intent and the bit between his teeth and out sprinted the bunch for 5th place in the 3 & 4 event. Full result HERE!

After testing his nerve and legs in a Yorkshire RR event over the Easter period Tester Mark Newton felt more at home in the Kent countryside at the SERRL 100km CAT 3/4 event Benenden – Cranbrook. Mark was joined by fellow Sydenham team mates Ed Rieu, Andy Ross and Rob Robbins. The race started well with all four Sydenham riders making their presence felt at the head of the bunch, however Ed was the first to suffer as the pace quicken and the very poor road surface took it’s toll on the field. Andy Ross was unfortunate to punctured mid race, Rob very gallantly gave his wheel however the change over was not the slickest and Andy lost valuable time on the bunch and after a hard chase sat up to rejoin the bunch a lap down. Mark Newton stayed out of trouble at the head of the bunch and may be too much time pulling the bunch along, he finished a respectable 11th just outside of the points.

It looked like it was going to be a nice morning if a little breezy on the way down to the event, but by the time you reached the start line it had clouded up and the breeze had got even stronger there was then rain for the later riders in the field. Ed Rieu was first of the three Sydenham riders, finishing with a 23.39 (53rd), Dave Twin was second off on a 5. After being caught by both his one minute and two minute men Dave sat up and coasted to the finish in 24.22 (67th) wondering why he had bothered. Mark Newton was the last man off and yet again put in a very good ride of 21.46 (12th). The winner was second claim member Matt Miles, Wildside 707 RT in 20.22.

New club member Paul Butler has kicked off his road racing season as a
4th Cat at the Hillingdon circuit. In his first race for 18 years he
finished in the bunch and in his second race on Tuesday 21st April he
finished 4th out of 35 riders in the bunch sprint. 6 points towards a
3rd Cat licence already in the bag then for Paul, only 4 points to go!

Another still but cold March morning met Sydenham rider Mark Newton and the other participates for this very undulating sporting course. The hills did not seem to bother Ben Instone who raced round in a course record 49.17, Mark was some way behind in 55.02 and 7th place.

It was a bright but rather chilly morning on the rolling Harriestham course. Many riders kept leg/knee warmers on and used gloves. As usual happens on this course there was a nice tail wind out to the first turn at Orchard Heights but then you had to battle into the headwind on the long leg to Leeds Castle roundabout. This was made harder with some of the road feeling dead and having to avoid some potholes as you approached the railway bridge in Harrietsham itself. It was nice to make the most of the tail wind on the final section back to the finish. Dave Twin finished his first event of the year in 1.04.58 (21st) and Mark Newton finished with a very respectable 59.47 (6th). The event was won by Paul Burrows of VC Elan in 57.20. Second claim members Matt Miles and Graeme Rose won the tandem event in 53.39.

Richard Prebble (Pinarello RT) may have won this 29.9 mile event after a very close battle with Pete Tadros (In Gear-Quickvit RT), coming within 9 seconds of breaking the course record on a far from perfect day, however there were some sterling performances from our guys as well. Sydenham were represented by 3 riders all of whom finished in the top half of a quality field and their combined times were good enough for second in the team competition. Mark Newton was top of the Sydenham trio in 01:14:16 (10th), Richard Hallett was next in 01:18:47 (24th) with Ed Rieu hot on his heels at 01:19:33 (28th). Richard Prebbles winning time was 01:07:34.

The first results of the new season are now in!

Redhill CC Hilly 18
Mark Newton was the only Sydenham rider to contend this sporting time trial on the 22nd Feb. He recorded a time of 00:44:46 good enough for eleventh place, the event being won by Pete Tadros (In Gear Quickvit RT) who flew round the course in 00:40:58 smashing the course record by over a minute in the process.

Sussex CA 22.8 miles
The Sydenham were represented by two riders, Mark Newton and Robert Royston, in this event on the GS/194 course on 1st March. Mark was one of only four riders to come in under the hour with a time of 00:58:37 which was good enough for 4th place. Rob recorded a very respectable 01:04:11 for 16th place. The event was won by Ben Instone (Scientific-Coaching.com) in 00:53:42.