Road/circuit race reports 2015
Moderators: laurence_cooley, JessRJ, AdeR, Pedlo Mudguardo, StuartWhite, gmac, Tim
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laurence_cooley
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Road/circuit race reports 2015
Tim, Stuart and I have been discussing a few ideas to improve communication between club members who race, and to generally promote a bit of team spirit and interest in what everyone is up to race-wise (more on this to come). One simple idea we had was that there should be a single place for race reports to be posted - hence this thread. So, if anyone is racing this year in either road or circuit races, it would be nice if you could post race reports here. They can be as detailed or as brief as you see fit!
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laurence_cooley
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Woolly Mamil Winter Series 1, Stourport, 17 January 2015
Lots of Beacon members raced at Stourport on 17 January. Jessica Rhodes-Jones got her first BC points in the women's E/1/2/3/4 race, with 7th place. There was a strong field for the men's E/1/2/3 race, including Madison Genesis rider Dom Jelfs. Beacon member Richard Bussell, racing for Aero-Coach/RST Sport this year, was 8th. The 4th-cat race included the largest number of Beacon riders I've known to race together since I joined the club, with John Hunt, Tim Egan, James Tate, Mark Patton, James Graemer and me all taking part, in a field of almost 50. The race split quite early on, with the only one of us making the small front group being John, who took 8th place in his first ever race.
Results here.
Photos here and here.
Woolly Mamil Winter Series 2, Stourport, 24 January 2015
Jess was unlucky to have another rider crash in front of her (photo below), meaning her race was over after 10 minutes. Stuart White was well placed in the men's E/1/2/3 when cramp struck, but he still managed a creditable 12th place. Carl Woodfield joined us for the 4th-cat race, which went more to the usual Stourport script this week, with a much bigger group staying together until the final laps and a fair few crashes. The highlight was John getting into a three-man breakaway with the eventual winner and second-placed rider. Although he ended up dropping back to the main field, he still managed to come 6th thanks to a decent sprint. Tim also had a good go at attacking off the front of the bunch late on, followed by a counter-attack from James Tate.
Results here.
Photos here.
Lots of Beacon members raced at Stourport on 17 January. Jessica Rhodes-Jones got her first BC points in the women's E/1/2/3/4 race, with 7th place. There was a strong field for the men's E/1/2/3 race, including Madison Genesis rider Dom Jelfs. Beacon member Richard Bussell, racing for Aero-Coach/RST Sport this year, was 8th. The 4th-cat race included the largest number of Beacon riders I've known to race together since I joined the club, with John Hunt, Tim Egan, James Tate, Mark Patton, James Graemer and me all taking part, in a field of almost 50. The race split quite early on, with the only one of us making the small front group being John, who took 8th place in his first ever race.
Results here.
Photos here and here.
Woolly Mamil Winter Series 2, Stourport, 24 January 2015
Jess was unlucky to have another rider crash in front of her (photo below), meaning her race was over after 10 minutes. Stuart White was well placed in the men's E/1/2/3 when cramp struck, but he still managed a creditable 12th place. Carl Woodfield joined us for the 4th-cat race, which went more to the usual Stourport script this week, with a much bigger group staying together until the final laps and a fair few crashes. The highlight was John getting into a three-man breakaway with the eventual winner and second-placed rider. Although he ended up dropping back to the main field, he still managed to come 6th thanks to a decent sprint. Tim also had a good go at attacking off the front of the bunch late on, followed by a counter-attack from James Tate.
Results here.
Photos here.
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laurence_cooley
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Woolly Mamil Winter Series 3, Stourport, 31 January 2015
In the E/1/2/3 race, Richard was in the breakaway and finished second, and I think Stuart finished in the bunch. Jess couldn't race as she had to deal with some emergency DIY, as did Mark Patton. That left John Hunt, Tim Egan, James Tate and me in the 4th-cat race. John went off the front with one other rider and they stayed away, with John taking his first win and being promoted to 3rd cat. The rest of us tailed in with the bunch, after Tim had made three good attempts at his own breakaway. There were final-hairpin crashes in both of the men's races, but we all avoided them.
Results here.
Photos here.
Videos here here and here.
In the E/1/2/3 race, Richard was in the breakaway and finished second, and I think Stuart finished in the bunch. Jess couldn't race as she had to deal with some emergency DIY, as did Mark Patton. That left John Hunt, Tim Egan, James Tate and me in the 4th-cat race. John went off the front with one other rider and they stayed away, with John taking his first win and being promoted to 3rd cat. The rest of us tailed in with the bunch, after Tim had made three good attempts at his own breakaway. There were final-hairpin crashes in both of the men's races, but we all avoided them.
Results here.
Photos here.
Videos here here and here.
Last edited by laurence_cooley on 03 Feb 2015 22:20, edited 1 time in total.
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laurence_cooley
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Woolly Mamil Winter Series 4, Stourport, 7 February 2015
In the last round of the series, John stepped up to the E/1/2/3 and finished in the bunch with Stuart. Richard came 5th from a large breakaway. No Tim this week, but Chris Hughes joined the rest of us for the 4th-cat race and came a creditable 16th in what was his first ever race. James T finished 15th after some big turns on the front in the second half of the race. Mark finished safely in the bunch, but I got caught behind a somewhat spectacular solo crash with a few laps to go.
Results here.
Photos here.
In the last round of the series, John stepped up to the E/1/2/3 and finished in the bunch with Stuart. Richard came 5th from a large breakaway. No Tim this week, but Chris Hughes joined the rest of us for the 4th-cat race and came a creditable 16th in what was his first ever race. James T finished 15th after some big turns on the front in the second half of the race. Mark finished safely in the bunch, but I got caught behind a somewhat spectacular solo crash with a few laps to go.
Results here.
Photos here.
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Mark Patton
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laurence_cooley
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I've now written up the Woolly Mamil races for Hub-ub. I'd appreciate it if one of you racing the Two Counties this Saturday could supply a brief report here, which I can use in a future blog post.
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Mark Patton
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Two Counties Road Race, Bridgnorth, 22nd March 2015
Andrew Clayton, John Hunt, James Tate & Myself gathered at Bridgnorth Community Hall on Sunday morning for the 2015 edition of the Two Counties Road Race. Consisting of a field of 80 riders over a 51 mile course.
It was a very skittish group from the start with crashes happening immediately on the 1st rise as the pace slowed down going over the top. James was unfortunate enough to get caught behind some drama on the 1st lap which resulted in him loosing contact with the main group and thus ending the race for himself despite efforts with other riders to get back on. Things seemed to calm down over the 2nd lap of the 17 mile circuit. However on the 3rd lap things seemed to be getting particularly bad again. Despite warnings before the race of fines and dq’s riders seemed to be crossing the solid white lines in order to move their way up the group, sometimes into oncoming traffic and causing problems within the group when re-entering. This all came to a climax when there was a large crash just after the final traffic island on the finishing stretch. Andrew was unfortunately caught up in the crash, with John & Myself avoiding it and finishing in 21st and 22nd positions. Andrew suffered cuts and bruises and a rather large bill for ripped lycra but lives to fight another day.
Tom Swingler from Ystwyth Cycling Club went on to win the race after an impressive solo breakaway and gaining nearly 2 minutes on the bunch.
Andrew Clayton, John Hunt, James Tate & Myself gathered at Bridgnorth Community Hall on Sunday morning for the 2015 edition of the Two Counties Road Race. Consisting of a field of 80 riders over a 51 mile course.
It was a very skittish group from the start with crashes happening immediately on the 1st rise as the pace slowed down going over the top. James was unfortunate enough to get caught behind some drama on the 1st lap which resulted in him loosing contact with the main group and thus ending the race for himself despite efforts with other riders to get back on. Things seemed to calm down over the 2nd lap of the 17 mile circuit. However on the 3rd lap things seemed to be getting particularly bad again. Despite warnings before the race of fines and dq’s riders seemed to be crossing the solid white lines in order to move their way up the group, sometimes into oncoming traffic and causing problems within the group when re-entering. This all came to a climax when there was a large crash just after the final traffic island on the finishing stretch. Andrew was unfortunately caught up in the crash, with John & Myself avoiding it and finishing in 21st and 22nd positions. Andrew suffered cuts and bruises and a rather large bill for ripped lycra but lives to fight another day.
Tom Swingler from Ystwyth Cycling Club went on to win the race after an impressive solo breakaway and gaining nearly 2 minutes on the bunch.
Victoria Park Leamington
http://www.velouk.net/2015/03/28/result ... ark-crits/
Full results here.
I was the sole Beacon representative. 24th out of 40 in race 1, 20th in race 2.
Really enjoyed both races well organised by Kenilworth Wheelers. These cat 4s seem more competitive than ever, guys from Oxford, Warwick and Cambridge universities dominating. Two bad crashes in race one, none in torrential rain in race two. I had one attack attempt in race one but the strong headwind down the home straight meant no-one escaped in either race. Liked the two race format in a morning, would be good if there were more likely this.
Friend of the Beacon Ejay was looking strong in the womens race one in the bit I saw, she won that race and came second in race two to a teammate.
It happens all over again in a couple of weeks. I can't make but Jess is entered.
Full results here.
I was the sole Beacon representative. 24th out of 40 in race 1, 20th in race 2.
Really enjoyed both races well organised by Kenilworth Wheelers. These cat 4s seem more competitive than ever, guys from Oxford, Warwick and Cambridge universities dominating. Two bad crashes in race one, none in torrential rain in race two. I had one attack attempt in race one but the strong headwind down the home straight meant no-one escaped in either race. Liked the two race format in a morning, would be good if there were more likely this.
Friend of the Beacon Ejay was looking strong in the womens race one in the bit I saw, she won that race and came second in race two to a teammate.
It happens all over again in a couple of weeks. I can't make but Jess is entered.
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laurence_cooley
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Thanks for the reports. Here's a write-up for March and April.
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laurence_cooley
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Concorde Road Races, Wishaw, 3, 10 and 17 June 2015
Further to Tim's post on the first race, I did all three of these, Tim and Matt Clegg did the first, and John Hunt the last. Matt finished a strong 15th in the first round (only his second road race), only for the result to be declared void by the commissaire due to too many people crossing the centre line of the road. He then crashed somewhere after the finish, in circumstances that neither Tim nor I could figure out despite Matt explaining it twice! The second week was a lot less eventful. This week, John managed to bridge across to an early breakaway, but it was brought back, in part by the large contingent of Concorde riders. We both finished safely in the bunch.
Photos of race one here and a video filmed by the winner here.
Further to Tim's post on the first race, I did all three of these, Tim and Matt Clegg did the first, and John Hunt the last. Matt finished a strong 15th in the first round (only his second road race), only for the result to be declared void by the commissaire due to too many people crossing the centre line of the road. He then crashed somewhere after the finish, in circumstances that neither Tim nor I could figure out despite Matt explaining it twice! The second week was a lot less eventful. This week, John managed to bridge across to an early breakaway, but it was brought back, in part by the large contingent of Concorde riders. We both finished safely in the bunch.
Photos of race one here and a video filmed by the winner here.
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laurence_cooley
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A report for May and June is now on Hub-ub.
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laurence_cooley
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Report for July and August now online.
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laurence_cooley
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