Category: Race Reports

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.

A last minute call from Keith Coffey (BEC) meant Mark Newton got another chance to get on his TT bike for this unusual end of season 15.4 mile 2 up TT event organised by Redmond CC. A still, bright morning greeted the new partnership on Sun 19th October and after 500m of training / warm up they where ready for the start. Mark was feeling nervous with the impending effort, but as the event panned out had nothing to fear and managed to stay comfortably in Keith’s slipstream. In the end it was not one of Keith’s quickest times as the duo only managed 5th place in a time of 36.50. The event was won in a new course record of 33.11 by R Prebble and B Instone.

Three Sydenham members ventured out on Sunday morning to scale the heights of Yorks Hill for the 113th Catford Hill Climb. Mark Newton was first off recording 2.43.1, James Walker followed in a time of 2.49.9 and last of the three Andy Ross recorded a very respectable 2.28.4. The event was won by Jody Crawford 1.54.0. Having clearly enjoyed the morning immensely our guys could be heard spreading the word of what a wonderful variant of our sport hill climbing has become…..

“I am never going to ride that hill again – going down the hill to the start staying on the bike was hard enough !” – Mark Newton

BEC Hill Climb
Only Mark Newton was foolish enough to attempt a second hill climb in one day the BEC event on White Lane, he managed 2.28.03. Event was won by Daniel Lloyd 1.46.44

Mark Newton rounded off a fine season of time trialing with 4th place (00:55:32) in this open event nr Bentley Surrey. The event winner was Steve Dennis of East Grinstead CC in 00:52:24.

Three members of the club turned out for this league opener at Herne Hill on a gloriously sunny and most un-cyclo cross like Sunday. Christopher Mulford competing in the U10’s, David Mulford and Matt Lucas in the seniors. The ‘Best Of The Sydenham’ award went to young Christopher Mulford who got 13th place in his event. Matt suffering from a bout of ‘involuntary dismount syndrome’ for the second time in the space of two weeks came off twice managing eventually to roll in 25th in the senior event. David who apparently hadn’t intended to ride but inspired by his lads performance decided to give it a crack came in a little further back on GC with his exact position TBC.

Two club members faced off for a gladiatorial fight over the Novis Cup on the flat Q50/11 Lydd/Brenzett course. Bob Loader was the first off on what seemed like a windless day in the car park, however once on the coastal course the wind blew hard, Bob still managed a credible 2.37.02. Mark Newton was off seven minutes behind Bob and struggled in the windy conditions recording 2.00.17 but gained enough advantage on handicap to win the battle for the Novis Cup. Andy Meilak won the event with 1.52.48

The last of these pre-season leg stretchers extracted the best performance to date from Matt Lucas. Riding against a stronger field than in Round 1 he managed to repeat his top 10 placing, scraping into single figures for 9th place on GC. Staying upright this week helped considerably! Full results for all three rounds available on VC Londres website.

Riding this event for the second week in a row Matt was hopeful of an improvement on the previous week. However things didn’t quite go to plan. The course was run in the reverse direction eliminating any advantage of having ridden the week before. Despite a better start this week, which placed Matt about 8th at the end of the first lap things went rapidly down hill. Seemingly unable to get to grips with the technical section Matt started to take some risks in order to maintain his position, there were a few close shaves however the fatal error was attempting to bunny hop the board obstacle. His next recollection was being untangled from his machine by a kindly spectator and hearing the words “You alright mate? You going to carry on?”. Deciding that the only thing more embarrassing than the crash would be to abandon in a huff, he resumed the race, slightly battered and bruised, to come in a surprising 13th overall.

Mark Newton was the only Sydenham rider entered for the event down on the Broadbridge Heath multi roundabout course recording a time of 21.48 for 8th place. The event was won by Ben Instone www.scientific-coaching.com in 20.02

Back to back 25 mile TTs was Mark Newton’s Bank Holiday weekend enjoyment as he travelled the South of England chasing a quick end of season time. Saturday afternoon was a trip to Bentley for the H25/8 where he had to contend with a deceptively strong wind but recorded a commendable time of 55.22 (18th place). Ed Rieu also rode in a time of 1.01.48 (83rd place), the event was won by Richard Prebble GS Strada in 51.27. Sunday meant Mark was up early travelling north to Newmarket for Redbridge event on E2/25, the weather was horrid a strong blustery wind and rain. Mark recorded a slower time that the previous day of 55.51 (20th place). Bob Loader also braved the weather recording a time of 1.10.58, the event was won by Richard O’Rourke 51.14

After a year out of any sort of competitive cycling Matt Lucas made a tentative return to competition in the form of this evening cyclo-cross race at Herne Hill on Wed 27th August. Not the gentlest of re-introductions into competition you might think, and you’d be right! Battered, bruised and blistered Matt thrashed his way around, miraculously staying upright for the whole race to come in 9th overall. 1 lap down on the winner Stuart Bowers of Scott UK. Full result available via VCL Website.

Luke has been mixing it up a bit this year combining off road ruff stuff with super smooth track racing. He and Andy Kay rode an MTB race at Fowlmead in June with Luke finishing in the 20’s and Andy coming in 4th (we think). Luke has also ridden the Southdowns way over the summer. Those roadie purists out there who may not be familiar with this 100+ mile MTB epic it’s basically Eastbourne to Winchester off road and up and down every climb the North Downs have to offer. Towards the end of the season Luke has been doing some evening events on the track at Preston Park, Brighton. Riding primarily in the Senior A and Senior B groups. His track season ended in style on Wed 13th Aug in the Senior A and B 8 lap scratch race. Apparently he caught the field napping with a lap and a half to go and solo’d to victory!

Mark Newton and Robert Royston successfully negotiated 45 roundabouts in the Anerley Bicycle Club’s 50-mile event at Broadbridge Heath, Sussex, on Sunday. Mark was one of just five riders to go under two hours recording 01.58.28, good enough for 3rd place. Rob came in a very respectable 12th in 02:06:10. Two good rides on a hard day with strong winds. The event winner was Keith Coffey from the BEC in 1.51.38.

Mark Newton travelled North tempted by the potential fast time on the E2 course. Mark found himself warming up with time trialing legends Michael Hutchinson, Ian Cammish and Chaz Hollosi amongst the 150 riders in the event. The weather conditions were not ideal as there was a strong cross wind, Mark battled hard to complete the course in a time of 21.41 (19th place) and winning the group numbers 2 and 7 competition. Michael Hutchinson won in 19.48

The more social able start times of the Agiskoviner.com 50 on H8/50 drew in four Sydenham riders, Ed Rieu was first off completing the two and half laps of the A31 in 2.03.36, Bob Loader next off in a time of 2.30.31 followed by Robert Royston who completed the course in 2.01.51. Mark Newton last man away and only a minute behind Robert was chasing hard, he had targeted the event for a fast time, the course and weather did not disappoint as Mark recorded a PB of 1.53.08 (6th place). The event was won by Laurence Harding of agiskoviner in 1.47.15.