Category: Race Reports

Neil Stanley rode the Finsbury Park CC 25 on F1/25. The outward leg was into a strong headwind with the reverse being true for the return. The less than perfect conditions didn’t hamper Neil’s progress who proceeded to smash his pb for the distance by 51 seconds finishing in 57:18 for 27th. The event was won by Sam Barker Planet X RT in 51:42.

Neil Stanley, Steve Thurgood and Mark Newton rode the De Laune CC 25 on Q25/8 on the 1st August. Steve did what we believe is a pb of 1:01:16 finishing 28th, Neil managed a 59:20 and finished 18th (a pb for him on this course) and Mark came 11th in 57:38. The event was won by dave wheeler from in gear in 55:03.

Three Sydenham riders were down to ride twice round Romney Marsh but on the day Neil Stanley did not start. The conditions were rather overcast but a little muggy with a light breeze early on but this got up as the morning went on. Dave Twin wound up being the only club rider to finish as Bob Loader packed at the end of the first lap. Dave finished with a 2.03.26. At the time of leaving the event was being led by Steve Berry of San Fairy Ann with a 1.50.55.

A mixed bag all the way round for club members on this sporting course. This was another warm morning with the wind mainly behind you on the way out. Steve Thurgood was the first of the trio to finish in a PB time of 1.01.01. Neil Stanley was the second rider home, but unfortunately due to a lack of marshal on the last roundabout managed to go straight on to the following roundabout. He then had to retrace and turn to the finish and recorded a time of 1.01.32. when he looked like he would be under the hour again. Dave Twin was neck to neck with Neil had the far turn but at 20 miles the gears started slipping then totally locked up. Thanks to a kind soul called Richard heading off to his club run Dave got a push all the way back to the hall. The winner of the event was Steve Dennis East Grinstead CC in 52.07.

Another trip over to Hampshire to ride the Bentley bypass proved to be rather good for the Sydenham. The joys of warm weather with a blustery wind which was mainly blowing from the west meant some good time generally amongst the field. This included a new course record for Alex Dowsett, U23 Trek Livestrong/Radioshack of 47.50. Of the Sydenham riders, second claim member Mark Newton was first to finish in 55.47 (7th), Bob Loader was next in with 1.16.50 (86th). Dave Twin followed with his second fastest solo 25 time of 57.58 (17th) and Neil Stanley came in with 58.15 (18th).

Report from Neil Stanley

Saturday started bright and early with a 10 on G57/10, all went very well the weather was near perfect and the traffic was very light which was handy for the roundabouts. I came home 11th in a time of 22:21 and a new pb for a 10, with the event being won by keith coffey of bec cc in 20:55. Mark Newton was also riding and came 2nd in 21:08, a PB for him and his highest place finish in an open event.

Sunday was again another near perfect apart from starting at 06:42…not fun although it was worse for Bob Loader as he was off at 06:09 Bob went round in 2:33:45. I went round in my fastest ever time for a 50 and my first time under 2hours in 1:59:34, just managed to cross the line before bob and the first thing he did when we got back to the hq was congratulate me and shake my hand for breaking the 2 hours.

So that was pretty much the perfect end to the weekend, the less said about the football team the better!!!

Steve Thurgood was the only Sydenham rider to enter this event and was greeted by sunny, yet slightly windy conditions. This was the second time Steve had ridden this particular circuit, and managed to achieve a personal best with a 1.2.16, which was an improvement of 43 seconds over his previous best for that distance. The event winner was David Wheeler of In Gear Quickvit RT, finishing in 54.20.

After the disappointment of driving all the way to Cambridgeshire last year for this event to be cancelled due to thick fog on what would have been an amazing float day, both Dave Twin and Rob Royston were glad to be met by reasonable conditions, although not a good as they would have been the previous year. There was a bit of a breeze out on the course but that didn’t stop both the Sydenham pair from both achieving personal bests. Dave did a 4.17.25 (31st), knocking over 6 minutes off his previous best from 13 years previous. Rob flew recording a very impressive 4.05.23 (18th) knocking about a minute off his previous best from about the 80’s. The winner was Andy Bason of teampedalrevolution.co.uk with 3.37.16.

Romney Marsh experienced a major thunderstorm on the Saturday night before this event, so all riders had very wet roads and some major puddles to contend with as they did their two loops. The wind on the day wasn’t as bad as it can be which assisted Kevin Tye of Data team Allstars set a winning time and new course record or 1.46.42. Four of the five Sydenham riders down to ride started. Both Steve Thurgood and Paul Delicata were riding their first 50 milers. Dave Twin suffered a rear tub puncture while waiting to start and had to race back to the hall borrow a wheel race back and incur a late start of 8.45 minutes. The wheel he borrowed had been used on a turbo so made the many bend rather interesting and then had to wait at level crossing for the train to go through on the second lap. The final times were Steve Thurgood 2.06.23 (12th), Dave Twin 2.16.32 (30th with 8.45 late start), Paul Delicata 2.21.35 (40th) and Bob Loader 2.37.15 (37th).

Of the seven Sydenham riders down to start Ed Rieu was the only one that didn’t. The remaining six had the delights of blue skies and light winds to enjoy on this challenging course. Richard Hallett turned in a very impressive 1.43.38 (11th), Robert Royston 1.47.45 (19th), Dave Twin 1.49.18 (24th), Neil Stanley 1.50.14 (27th), Steve Thurgood 1.50.51 (29th) and Bob Loader 2.21.55 (49th). In the process Richard and Rob won the vet team prize picking up £10 each. The overall winner was Steve Dennis, East Grinstead CC 1.33.39 which was a new course record.

Another bright but chilly morning with a bit of a breeze was what greeted Neil Stanley and Dave Twin when they arrived in Surrey. There was a general consensus amongst the riders taking part that it had been a strange, slower day for this course. Neil just came out on top of the two Sydenham riders with a 1.00.49. Dave finished only 11 seconds behind with a 1.01.00. The overall winner was David Wheeler of Rye Wheelers with a 52.13.

On 25th April Neil and Ed rode the Addsicombe CC 25. The weather wasn’t great with a lot of rain for the first half of the race. Ed finished 44th in 1:01:20 Neil 34th in 1:00:35 and second claim member Mark Newton finished 21st in 59:05. The race was won by Steve Dennis of East Grinstead CC in 52:14.

On Saturday 8th May Neil rode the Shaftesbury CC event on E2/25, the weather for which was absolutely awful! Very wet,very windy and very cold…struggling to get warm Neil pulled a PB out of the bag finishing 9th in 58:42, faster than his previous best by 1 whole second. The event was won in 55:00 by Chris Rines.

A rather chilly morning, with blue skies and not much wind was what welcomed the riders of this event. 7 first claim members and 4 second claim were down to ride. Unfortunately there were a couple of non-starters. There was some confusion at the end of the event as the last twenty or so riders all had times a minute quicker than expected. This now appears to have been resolved. The first claim members times in order of starting were; Steve Thurgood 24.09 (67th), Matt Preston 25.10 (76th), Neil Stanley DNS, Rob Royston 23.36 (55th), Bob Loader 29.36 (89th), Dave Twin 22.30 (35th) and Ed Rieu 23.24 (53rd). The second claim members times in order of starting were; Simon Stromberg 26.16 (85th), Mark Newton 22.06 (26th), Matt Miles DNS (stuck in Spain) and Andy Beswetherick 23.17 (50th). The overall winner was Pete Tadros In Gear Quickvit RT in 19.23.

The sun and some warmth made it a pleasant welcome back to Hampshire to ride on this rolling course. Three Sydenham riders were down to ride but unfortunately Neil Stanley was a none starter. Rob Royston was first of the remaining two to start and finished with a 1.01.05. Dave Twin recorded a 59.18. Second claim member Mark Newton was getting some form back with a 56.52. The overall event winner was S. Walkling of VC Raphael with a 51.19.

Neil Stanley’s DNS at the Farnborough & Camberley 25 on Saturday afternoon was explained after a browse through the results on the CTT website. Turns out he rode the West Kent RC/DCB Demelza RT 10 in the morning instead. This was held on the Q10/22 Harrietsham course. Neil finished 17th with 24.39. Mike Piper of San Fairy Ann won with 21.30.

Big thank you to all those that turned out to assist with the running of this event! Full result HERE.

What a fantastic turnout for the first club time trial of the year which bodes really well for the new Inter-Club setup! There were also some less than shabby times given the awful weather we’ve had to contend with that has put many peoples training back. Apologies it took a few days to get the result onto the website, thats the price you pay for a big turnout…lots of typing. The full result can be found on the ‘Events’ page.

The first SERRL road event of the year was contested by a full field of 60 with Matt & Dan Lucas providing the Sydenham representation. The weather was dry, there was little wind on the day and with Biddenden being a flattish (read fast) course there was always the possibility of the race staying together for a bunch gallop. True to form this was the way it panned out, the few attempts to get way including one by Matt accompanied by Richard Friend (Gemini BC) came to nothing with the majority of riders seemingly content to keep things together. The final lap was a treacherous affair with at least 3 crashes and kerb to kerb chaos from 1.5km to go. A London Phoenix rider did clip off the front with about half a lap to go and its not clear whether he was hauled back, however with the winner being Chris Dick (London Phoenix) is possible he wasn’t. Matt and Dan finished ‘safely’ in the bunch around the mid teens.

The East Surrey Hardriders always lived up to its name and this years version was run in freezing conditions with ice, wind and potholes adding to the excitment. There were three sydenham riders in the field and if there was a prize for ‘closest grouping of riders from the same team’ we would have won it! The times on the board were:
28th Richard Hallett 01:21:16
31st Robert Royston 01:22:18
33rd Ed Rieu 01:23:16

The event was won by Sigma’s Wouter Sybrandy in 01:07:44.

Andy Ross has taken the honours this year in a very respectable 00:06:30, coming out top of the 7 starters. The slightly less prestigious downhill competition, although a win is a win, was won by Richard Hallett. All the times for the climbers are accessible via the Events page.