Category: Race Reports

Only four people turned out to ride this event, two from the 34 Nomads and two from Sydenham (Bob and Pete). Dave and Steve stopped off on their way back from the Catford 10 on Q10/19 to give the lads a shout on Hubbards Hill and can confirm that Pete Mahoney won the event in 33:?? (they think) and whilst they know Bob finished there are no details available of his time as yet. When we get more info we will provide an update.

Some of you, having received emails from Paul Butler, will be aware that this year we plan to run a new Club Road Race Championship competition. It looks really good and culminates with a showdown at Hillingdon in September. Full details of the competition, qualifying events, points and current standings (yes some members of the club have already got a headstart on this) can be found HERE! This link is also available from the Events page of the site.

The first club event of the year was run on Sunday. The great weather surely had an influence on the tremendous turn out. Some good times recorded as well with Sydenham riders grabbing 4 of the top 6 positions. What can you say about young Ben Wimpory…..if any one see’s Brailsford coming give him some duff directions please! The full result is available from the link on the ‘Events’ page.

Report by Paul Butler, Sydenham Road Race Secretary.

In week 2 of the Sydenham Road Racers’ campaign we had 3 riders this time:

Jack Gregorie rode in the Youth A race (Under 16, 10 miles)and after putting in a good turn on the front was a little unlucky in missing the decisive break of the day. Still, Jack’s group battled on and he finished a very credible 8th in his age group, learning some big lessons about tactics along the way! Well done Jack.

In the 2nd/3rd/4ths race (35 miles), Paul Butler drew the short straw and was nominated to work for Rob Thatcher. In a huge field of 120 riders (possibly the largest in Hillingdon history) Paul and Rob worked hard to stay near the front all race, even then Rob was involved in a crash but the field was so big he was up and back on his bike before the last rider had come through! With 5 laps to go Paul did some huge turns into the wind, dragging Rob up to the front only to get swamped time and time again. They persevered though and their efforts were rewarded as Paul led Rob out for 15th, finishing 25th himself.

Considering the quality and the size of the field, that was a fantastic result for the lads.

Driving to the event headquarters the car was registering -4 degrees. The good news was there was no wind and the Sun was trying to breakthrough the cloud. This was the event nominated for the club’s 2-up trophy and two teams were down to start. Andy Fruin and Paul Delicata were off first with Dave Twin and Rob Royston following 6 minutes later. The only problem being that riding to the start Dave’s bike made a large bang and then his seat post started to slide down. On investigation it was found that the seat post clamp had snapped. As a result Rob Royston had to ride on his own, still managing a 1.03.15 and catching Andy and Paul in the process. Andy and Paul finished with a 1.10.45 and as the only pairing left picked up the 2-up trophy. Second claim member Matt Miles riding for In-Gear Quickvit also had to ride alone after his partners forks snapped at the start. Matt finished with a 57.12, only just being beaten by the winning duo of Carl Chapman and Steve Castle, GS Invicta in 57.11.

Report by Paul Butler, Sydenham Road Race Secretary.

On a beautifully sunny March afternoon of racing, we had 4 riders racing this Saturday at the Hillingdon circuit and everybody put in a very respectable performance.

First off was 15 year old Jack Gregorie in the Youth A race (10 miles).
In his first few attempts last year, Jack wasn’t quite able to finish his races with the front group but thanks to some hard work on the bike (mainly in the snow!) this winter, he finished comfortably in the middle of the pack and he should be very proud of himself.

In the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Cats race (33 miles), we were represented by Rob Thatcher, Pete Mahoney and Paul Butler. All 3 riders put in attacks during the race with Pete gaining the biggest gaps, going well with his obvious early season fitness. The pack kept coming quickly back together, as it often does at Hillingdon and Paul and Rob were well positioned with 3 laps to go. Ex-Tour rider Magnus Backstedt kindly brough his team to our race though, Team Uk Youth, who ramped it up to an impossibly high speed, splitting the bunch on the final lap. Paul and Rob had the speed to finish in the front half and Pete’s monster attacks early on meant he finished comfortably in the second bunch, a few seconds back.

A solid start for the team.

Ben Wimpory did his first time trial of 2011 as a private member in a Catford TT event on the Polhill Q10/18 course. Rain greeted the 10 starters on a damp surface which made cornering difficult. Being 7th off it came somewhat as a surprise to catch everyone in front of him to win in a time of 23.19 which was a PB on this course.

Although the roads were damp the riders in the event got away without having to actually face any rain. There was however a bit of a wind to contend with on the return leg. The one Sydenham trio riding of Robert Royston, Dave Twin and Pete Mahoney rode pretty well together finishing 9th out of the 33teams that started in a time of 59.37. The winners were Kevin Tye, Andy Meilak and Seth Kay of Data Team Allstars in a time of 53.44.

Six Sydenham riders were down to start the 47th edition of this event. For some it would be their first event of the year, with others already having one or two events under their belt. On the day both Ed Rieu and Neil Stanley did not start. The remaining four were greeted by freezing conditions with a brisk breeze. They also had to contend with an alteration to the course due to road works involving some rolling technical lanes. The times recorded were as follows; Richard Hallett 1.18.23 (28th), Pete Mahoney 1.19.22 (33rd), Dave Twin 1.20.02 (34th) and Robert Royston 1.20.04 (35th). The winning time was 1.06.01 by Wouter Sybrandy of Sigma Sport.

On the 27th February the good weather that had eluded last year’s event seemed to be with us with a brisk but bright day. Jamie Walker, Howard Wimpory and Ben Wimpory set off before 9 with 900 starters on the day. The Cudham ‘test hill’ certainly got everyone’s heart pumping within the first few miles before a brief respite before the descent of Houghstrough Hill and then up the easier side of Toys Hill. Luckily thanks to some good pacing on the flat by Howard Wimpory we managed to catch up to a fast group near Hever which took us to Dormansland before they tailed off on the hill. It was straight past the ‘tea stop’ with Jamie Walker on the front into the Ashdown Forest and up Kidds Hill and then the fast decent to Groombridge. A new Groombridge Hill met us and at this point we had been overtaking people all day without anyone overtaking us which pushed us on to Baileys Hill at quite a tempo where the group fragmented slightly. It was all together straight through the other ‘tea stop’ at Ide Hill where there were many potholes to negotiate on the way down. From Sundridge it seemed to be youth before experience with Ben Wimpory driving a group of around 10 riders along to the foot of Star hill before loosing them after the roundabout. Everyone was glad to see the end of Star Hill as it represented the last major climb of the day. It just left a ‘short’ stretch to Biggin Hill which seemed to last for ages before finally pulling into Jail Lane in 3 hours 48 mins for the 66 mile route which feature 6,000ft of climbing. We were all very pleased with our work on the day and finished 14-16th overall.

This Sunday see’s the running of one of the big season openers for those in the TT scene – The East Surrey Hardriders. We have surely the best representation from the club in living memory with 6 names down on the start sheet. The club members down to ride are – Ed Rieu, Dave Twin, Richard Hallett, Pete Mahoney, Rob Royston and Neil Stanley. They start in the order listed with Ed the first off at 08:13 and Neil the last club member to start at 09:02. So if you’re in the area around those times give the guys a shout of encouragement.

Despite the horrible conditions on Sunday 5 club members mustered the enthusiasm to ride the annual Club Hill Climb and Downhill Competitions. Mr Consistency – Richard Hallet won the downhill again, however the ‘real race’ was won in style by one of our younger members, Ben Wimpory. Despite pulling his foot from the pedal at the start he still managed to put 9 seconds of daylight between himself and his closest rival Pete Mahoney. Great ride!

In fact the day was all about the clubs young riders with our youngest member Christopher Mulford also turning out a sterling effort and putting in a ride that was not too far adrift from some of the clubs fastest riders. Impressive stuff!

See the events page for full result.

Check out these photo’s on Flickr from the Bec Hill climb, some interesting expressions and shows why this aspect of the sport isn’t for the vain – Flickr Gallery.

The Syd’s had a great turn out for these two crazy events at the weekend, with 5 first claimers and 1 second claim rider across the two competitions. One potty individual (Derek Taylor) even did the infamous ‘double’. Some of the times were not too shabby either:

Catford – Yorks Hill
29th – Iain Akhurst 2.13.9
71st – Derek ‘The Double’ Taylor 2.44.5
The event winner was Robert Gough (Arctic Premier RT) in 1.49.2.

Bec – White Lane
56th – Andy Ross 2.28.1
60th – Mark Newton 2.33.2 (Second Claim Member)
72nd – Paul Butler 2.41.3
77th – Derek ‘The Double’ Taylor 2.49.3
88th – Robert Robbins 3.21.6
The event winner was a Junior who rides for Team de Ver by the name of Germain Burton, he flew up the hill faster than all the favourites to win in a course record time of 1.45.3.

The full results are available from the links below::
Full Catford Result
Full Bec Result

Robert Thatcher came 4th in this Cat3 event run by South Western RC for Surrey League at Alfold Crossways. Winning the bunch sprint for fourth in what was reportedly a tough end of season event. Paul Butler also represented the club in this event and was in the mix at the end coming in 11th. The full result is Here!.

With the weather conditions as they were it type of makes you glad it‘s the end of the season. Cold with a strong north wind was what greeted the riders in this well organised event. Dave Twin was the first Sydenham rider off finishing with a 1.00.58 (29th) and didn’t get caught this week by Mark Newton who started 3 minutes after him. Mark finished with a 59.25 (20th). Neil Stanley just crept under the hour with 59.57 (=24th). 17 year old Ben Wimpory rode his first ever 25 and finished with a very impressive 1.03.20 (46th), in the process winning the club’s junior time trial trophy for the fastest 10 and 25 of the season. He also managed to pick up £10 for his troubles in his age category. The overall winner was Steve Dennis, East Grinstead CC in 51.36.

Three first claim and one second claim member were back over in Hampshire to ride the Bentley bypass and yet again got the delights of another windy day. Matt Preston was the first of the quartet to start and had reasonably fresh legs compared to the others who had all raced the previous day. Matt finished with a 1.04.15 which was nearly a minute faster than the same event last year. Neil Stanley was next in with a 58.39. Dave Twin had the delight of Mark Newton off 2 minutes after him and got caught on the second lap. Dave recorded a 59.49 and Mark with a 56.19. the overall event was won by R. Legge of London Dynamo in 53.59.

The first year of the new inter-club competition between GS Avanti, 7 Oaks Tri and ourselves has come to an end, and if this were our school report card it would say something like ‘Could Do Better’. It’s been a great opening year for the competition with excellent turnouts and some really close racing we’ve just lagged behind the other two clubs when it comes to getting numbers of riders on the start line. The final points totals and placings are as follows:

1) 7 Oaks Tri – 331 pts
2) GS Avanti – 306 pts
3) Sydenham Wh – 214 pts

Steve Thurgood, Dave Twin and second claim member Mark Newton all made there way to Hampshire Saturday afternoon to ride on the Bentley by pass. Although the day was muggy warm there was a really strong wind and on top of this a fine but strong drizzle appeared. Dave managed to part company wit his bike before the start on a the damp roads, reaching the start with a rather sore hip and bleeding elbow. Steve was the first club rider off finishing with a 58.11 and achieving his aim of a sub hour personal (2.50 better than his previous). Mark finished with 55.12 (13th) and Dave achieved a 59.02. the overall was won by Jerone Walters, sigma Sport in 51.03.

With Ed Rieu just getting back into the swing of racing and Dave Twin coming back from holiday, the duo entered this event with the idea of getting some hard racing miles in their legs to assist them with the remaining events in the season. Twice up and down Harrietsham is hard enough, but the wind on the day played havoc with the field. At 28 miles Ed decided he had had enough and packed. Dave carried on finishing with a very slow 2.14.39. Second claim member Mark Newton finished with 2.03.12. The winner was Jason White, Cycle Premier who finished in an incredible 1.55.54.