Category: Race Reports

With a massive low pressure over the country and forecasts of high wind and possible heavy rain, four mad members of the club still ventured up to Ugley in Essex for the start of this event. With early start times and heavy cloud it was still only semi light when the members set off. Dave Twin was off at 5.09am and was greeted to light rain and a very damp road surface, thankfully a few miles up the road conditions became dry. Once he had passed the slower riders off in front of him he had a very lonely ride, but was keeping a gauge on Ed Rieu at each turn who was gaining fast until near the end when the wheels came off. The wind got up during the morning a took it’s toll on the final section back to the finish with everyone commenting on how hard it was. The final result was Dave Twin 4.34.50, Ed Rieu 4.33.55, Rob Royston 4.31.40 and Bob Loader 5.23.07. The overall winner was Ken Platts, Cambridge CC in 3.44.34.

Three club members rode this evening event on Tuesday 1st July. Matt Miles won the event in 00:21:03, Rob Royston did a 00:23:02 and Luke Evans recorded 00:25:03. The style prize however has to go to Luke for turning up in an Astana Team car chauffeur driven by a certain Sean yates.

Matt Miles and Robert Robbins rode the 2/3/4 SERRL event on the Edenbridge circuit on Sunday 29th June. Details of the race are sketchy with the exception of the fact that Matt came out on top of the bunch sprint despite being at the back of the bunch with 500m to go. Robert finished further back in the bunch (40th).

There is a cracking photo of Matt crossing the line in victory on the SERRL home page at the moment. Check it out HERE!

The club was well represented with 4 riders out of the 122 on the start sheet for the SCCU 50 event on G50/53. The weather was warm but a south-easterly wind blew hindering the journey back from the turn. Mark Newton coped best with the conditions recording 1.54.54 (PB) (7th), Nick Varley breaking the 2 hour barrier 1.59.03 (14th), Bob Loader 2.39.42 and Robert Royston unfortunately DNF. the event was won by Laurence Harding www.agiskoviner.com in 1.49.45

The full result is available Here!

Another PB for Mark who recorded a very quick 54.37 (8th) on this course which takes in sections of the A31 around Bentley, Surrey. A notable name on the results list is Ian O’Hara who recorded 55.10 (10th) with the event winner being Richard Prebble – GS Strada in 51.24.

When its cut short due to road works and ends up approximately 11.4 miles. This is what happened to the GS Invicta 25 which was due to be held on the Q25/8 course on Sunday 15th June. Three club riders made the journey down to this event recording the following times – Mark Newton 25:18 (9th), Robert Royston 26:51 (25th) and Bob Loader 32:52.

Six members of the club drove down to Romney Marsh on what was forecast to be the hottest day of the year so far, to compete for the club’s Singer Trophy. Once down there they were meet with overcast sky’s and rather windy conditions. The times recorded were as follows:-

Bob Loader 2.40.08, Dave Twin 2.10.06, Robert Royston 2.07.22,Ed Rieu 2.05.40 (PB), Nick Varley 2.01.47 and Mark Newton 1.58.30 (4th overall and trophy winner). The overall winner was Kevin Tye ODLS.com Racing in 1.52.06.

Mark Newton and Dave Twin decided to brave driving down to the start at Handcross in the torrential rain. Thankfully by the time of the start it was down to a light drizzle and once out on the course it stopped. There was quite a lot of surface water to contend with at the beginning but by half distance the wind was already starting to dry the roads out. Mark riding the course for the first time finished with a very quick 1.42.01 (3rd), which included un-shipping his chain at the start. Dave finished with a 1.50.07. The event was won by Steve Dennis, East Grinstead CC in 1.37.43.

Mark Newton was up early again looking for a quick time on the course that three weeks ago put him close to a PB. As an early starter of the 110 riders he faced light rain, quite a bit of surface water but little wind, and was advised to take care on the many roundabouts of the G25/53 course. Mark took advantage of the early start, thundering around the course smashing his PB by 38 secs to record an incredible 55.48 (9th place). The event was won by Laurence Harding of Agiskoviner in 51.42.

Matt Miles was the only club member participating in this event of 4 stages spread over the 3 days of the May Bank Holiday weekend. Consitent finishing in and around the top ten in the road race stages combined with a win in the TT resulted in very fine 3rd place in the overall. Having raced 336km over the course of the weekend Matt succinctly describes himself as “chuffed but knackered”.

Breakdown of placings:-
Stage 1 – Betteshanger 120km (RR) – 12th.
Stage 2 – Chilham 16km (TT) – 1st.
Stage 3 – Chilham 80km (RR) – 6th.
Stage 4 – Tenderden 120km (RR) – 8th.

On a rather damp and muggy morning Dave Twin traveled up to Blackmore in Essex to venture back into the world of road racing. The joy of not having to get up at a ridiculous hour was soon put into context as the 70 strong pack swept through sweeping bends covered in surface water at 25mph+. Thankfully as the 7 and half laps passed the conditions began to improve. Andy Meilak went away on the first lap and was not seen for the next 3, helped by the pack not really wanting to work together to close the gap, however he eventually ran out of steam and was caught. There was a lot of attacking, but due to the relatively flat circuit nobody was able to get off the front for long. However eventually 4 riders did manage it with just over a lap to go and stayed away. Dave finished in the first half of the bunch sprint.

The general discussion back at the hall was how hard the first 5 miles and the final section was due to the wind. Times generally were down on previous recent events held on the same course. This has got to be good news for Ed Rieu who, despite the tougher conditions, did a slightly quicker time than a couple of weeks ago with a 1.01.19. Dave Twin recorded a 1.01.03. The event was won by Guy Powdrill of London Dynamo in 54.35.

The wind played a big factor blowing the competitors from Canterbury to Ashford, but the home leg from Ashford to the finish was brutal against the strong blustery wind. However this did not stop the two competing Sydenham riders gaining top ten finishes, Mark Newton 57.40 (6th place) and Nick Varley 58.22 (9th place). The event was won by K Tye of ODLS.com racing 55.15.

Mark Newton was given a special pass by Ed to race instead of marshalling the Frant road race, this opportunity was taken with relish by Mark who recorded a seasons best time 56.31 on only 4 seconds outside his PB0. If only the two lorries had not slowed Mark to a stop on one of the courses many roundabouts his PB would have been smashed ! The event was won by Laurence Harding of www.agiskoviner.com in 51:17 who apparently had no issues with lorries.

On a beautiful morning with a slight rising wind that was against you on the way back, two out of three Sydenham riders down to ride actually made the most of the conditions. So whilst Bob was off sorting out the marquee for his 75th birthday family celebrations Dave Twin recorded 24.08 and Mark Newton a very impressive 22.08. The event was won by Pete Tadros of InGear Quickvit RT in 21.16 and that’s with a bad knee!

Matt Miles and Bob Loader rode the VTTA 10 on Wednesday 7th May. The event was held on the Q10/38 course which sees the riders race through some small country lanes on the outskirts of Ashford. The club duo recorded times of 00:22:52 and “approx 30 minutes”. The faster of these two was good enough to win the event and smash the course/event record by 35 seconds. Clearly Bob was having an off day as you may be surprise to learn that the faster of these two times was actually Matts!!

Expanding the boundries of his current road campaign Robert Robbins swapped the closed circuit of Hillingdon for the open roads of Kent riding this 3/4/W/J event. A full field of 60 riders and good weather meant this 100km event was run off in brisk 2hrs 40min. The race saw a breakaway group form on the first lap which triggered a flurry of activity from the pack with riders going up the road in pursuit with many being clawed back making the situation on the road difficult to read. Unaware that there were remnants of that opening break still up the road Rob contested the sprint up the drag to the finish coming in a creditable 9th overall and securing 2 points on his new 3rd Cat licence.

Three Sydenham riders left the relatively slow courses of Kent and headed west to Bentley in Hampshire for the H50/8 in search of a fast 50 miles. Richard Hallett led the way scrapping under 2 hours 1:59:12 (21st), Mark Newton was next off chasing hard and recorded a PB at 1:55:10 for 10th place and Robert Royston last man off recorded 2:02:26 (25th). The event was won by Nik Bowdler in a course record time of 01:46:20 ! riding a 71 !

The sun was out there wasn’t a lot wind and as a result the times were very respectable for this rolling course. There should have been three Sydenham riders in the event but both Matt Miles (Apologies) and Nick Varley (went to wrong hall), this left Dave Twin who finished with a 23.53 to finish 17th. Phil Bull V.C.Elan won, beating his nearest rival by a minute with a 21.01.

Full result sheet Here!

On a weekend when the whether was pretty non-descript, not windy, not wet but not great either there was a fair amount of activity on the racing front and some good performances.

Catford 10 Q10/22 – 26/04/2008
Three riders rode this event, Matt Miles recorded 00:21:12 (2nd), Mark Newton 00:22:36 (15th), Nick Varley 00:23:01 (22nd). The event winner was Phill Bull of VC Elan in 00:21:09. The sydenham trio won the team prize.

Addiscombe 25 G25/53 – 27/04/2008
The club also had three entrants for this event which was won by Paul Mill in an time of 00:53:37. Fastest of the Sydenham guys was Mark Newton in 00:57:09 (15th) then came Ed Rieu in 01:01:31 (46th) and then Bob Loader, probably still recovering from those hedonistic birthday celebrations in the Bricklayers Arms on the previous Thursday, “carbo loading” he claims, came in 01:15:49 (108th).