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Mark Newton managed a very respectable 4th place at Eastway on Saturday 25th February. Denying all allegations of form he is insistent he just ‘got lucky’ before promptly pointing out how he only missed 3rd by a tyre width, was catching the guy all the way to the line, didn’t even stand up for the sprint…… You can draw your own conclusions!!

It was the beginning of a new racing season for 4 members of the club who joined Richard Hallett on yet a bright, but rather cold morning to ride this very sporting event. Richard once again showed his early season form with a 59.49 (4th), Mike Thorogood recorded 1.00.49 (6th), Dave Twin 1.04.18, Ed Rieu 1.08.49 and Graham Ward 1.16.26. As a result the club picked up the team prize. The overall event was won by Tim Mardall of V.C.Etoile in 57.32.

Mark Newton rode the 4th Cats event. Apart for a few small breaks the bunch stayed together and ended in a sprint with Mark finishing 16th.
Ian O’Hara rode the E/1/2 event forcing an early break in the first lap. A group of five stayed away for 15 laps before being caught by the bunch. The race ended in a bunch sprint with Ian finishing 14th.

Ian O’Hara rode this 8 lap (115km) road race in Essex. A 5 mile neutralised section combined with very cold weather resulted in a break in the first few miles. A break of 8 built a lead of around a minute over the next two laps. Ian jumped away from the break with Kevin Chambers (API/Metrow Foods) and built a lead of around 6 minutes on the bunch. A group of 5 riders got across to Ian and Kevin. With limited remaining energy Ian finished 7th. Full report Here!

Ian O’Hara, Luke Evans and Jamie Walker have got their road racing seasons off to an early start riding at Eastway on Saturday 18th Feb. Ian managed 20th in the E/1/2 event full result available Here! Luke got 26th in the 3rds event and Jamie 32nd in the 4/W category.

Crawley CC 14.5 mile sporting time trial held on February 11 at Faygate, Surrey.

1st Simon Smythe PCA Ciclos Uno 33.58 2nd Stewart Jardine 21st Century Airports 34.13 3rd Richard Hallett Sydenham Whls 34.36 4th William Girvan North Hampshire RC 34.42 5th Stephen Emmerson Epsom CC 35.43 6th Lee Chaplin Twickenham CC 35.54 7th Kevin Shaw Crawley CC 36.10 8th Darren Clarke Army CU 36.16

U18 – Lewis Eathrowl-Gould Crawley CC 41.08 lady – Angela Brown 21st Century Airports 40.12 Novice – Jed Rock Redhill CC 38.11 Team – 21st Century Airports(S.Jardine, T.Brown, A.Brown) 1.51.09

Clearly trying to out do Luke in proving who is prepared to ride cyclings most sadistic winter competion Richard Hallet rode to 46th place in Sundays Catford Hill Climb. A spectacle witnessed by a number of club members who tailored the club run route to watch what is becoming Kents answer to the Alpe d’Huez TT.

Unofficial sources have reported that Luke is having a dabble in the London Cyclo Cross League, having apparently not been put off by riding the three peaks earlier in the year. A detailed search of the internet has uncovered at least two good results:
23/10/2005 PORC 27th place.
16/10/2005 Dears Leap Park East Grinstead 23rd place.

According to LondonCycleSport.com Mr Thorogood has achieved 5th place overall in the 2005 Kent Time Trial League full details available through this Link. Another excellent acievement in his first proper season back, the question is what will he manage next year now he’s got his eye in.

We haven’t heard from Luke since he rode the Three Peaks (probably still laid up in bed recovering) but according to LondonCycleSport.com he came in 164th in 04:34:56. Hopefully we’ll have more of the gory details when someone tracks him down.

Mike Thorogoods superb form this season as resulted in him winning the club TT competition with a maximum 80pts. This underlines a consistent season of excellent performances by Mike, a summary of which will be posted on the site in due course.

Final Standings

1. Mike Thorogood		80 points
2. Ian O'Hara			75 points
3. Dave Twin			72 points
4. Mark Newton			60 points
5. Ed Rieu			51 points
6. Andy Fruin			50 points
   Tim Morton			50 points

Both Mike Thorogood and Dave Twin rode this event which incorporated the VTTA National Championship. The conditions were reasonably good for Romney Marsh with only light winds. Both the Sydenham riders were off early in the field and had to get over the early morning chill to get into their stride. Mike came out on top out of the duo with a 2.00.41(5th) and Dave recorded a 2.03.32 (8th). On scratch the event was won by Kevin Tye Poshbikes.Com with 1.54.57. On age standard if was won by John Woodburn.

Six members of the club were entered to ride, but on the day only 3 presented themselves on the start line. Early starters still had a small amount of morning mist to contend with but that was soon burnt off by the sun resulting in good conditions. This enabled both Mike Thorogood and Dave Twin to improve on their personal bests. Mike recorded a 20.43 (-10 second) and Dave 21.21 (-1 second). The third started Tim Morton recorded 23.49. The overall event was won by Sean Yates In-Gear R.T. in 19.29.

Dave Twin and Luke Evans started the 54 mile ABC race. In hot conditions both were copping with the pace until the 3rd lap when an attack happened up the start/finish hill. This splintered the race. Luke pulled out with a lap to go. Dave continued riding for 2 laps on his own. Due to the Large number of people pulling out this eventually resulted in 15 place overall. Dave Fleming rode the DEFG race over 45 miles. After another good ride he finished 10th overall and 3rd in his E age group.

Ian O’Hara rode this event on the G10/42 course in cold weather and relatively busy Saturday morning traffic. Clocking a time of 22:19 Ian finished 6th overall and 1st in the age category (Category B). The event was won by Keith Reed of Epsom CC in 20:57.

Ian O’Hara rode this Surrey League event which included a prologue up Box Hill on Friday evening, a 70 mile road stage on Saturday, an 11.7 mile Time Trial and a 70 mile road stage with a finish at the top of Leith Hill on the Sunday. The Time Trial, in which Ian finished 7th, proved to be the decisive stage. However, after missing the break in the first stage and loosing 30 seconds to the stage winners on Leith Hill Ian finished 8th overall @ 2 minutes down to the GC winner Colin McDermott of Festival CC.

Ian O’Hara and Dave Twin both rode what is the Harrietsham 25 course twice. With a rising tail wind on the way out and against you on the return the final leg certainly took it out of you. Ian finished 3rd with a time of 2.08.09, picking up a KCA bronze medal and Dave finished 6th in 2.09.38. It was a shame there was no third rider as the club would have had a very good chance of picking up bronze medals for the fastest team. The overall event was won by Brian Philips, East Grinstead C.C. in 2.01.18.

On a damp and slightly chilly morning Dave Twin ventured up to Cambridgeshire to ride this fast course. The slight tail wind on the way out got up a little for the return leg and Dave eventually finished in 2.02.12. The conditions once again did not appear to affect the likes of Ian Cammish, Sonic Cycles who won in a time of 1.47.14.

Ian O’Hara rode this 30 mile event on the new P884/30 course made up of stretches of the A3 and B3006 between Liphook and Liss. A strong headwind on the southern leg made the going very hard – especially on the last four mile stretch towards the finish. Ian finished 10th overall with a time of 1:08:13. The event was won by Ben Instone of A3crg in 1:00:44.