Downton 2 dayer

Again, not one of ours – although keeping chummy with the TLI is probably a good move right now – but still an excellent race and in need of entries. The race is over 2 days and based out of Downton leisure center on the A338 between Fordingbridge and Salisbury. Saturday sees a short hill climb followed by a short road race. Sunday sees a 25 mile time trial on a course that could probably be described as ‘challenging’. There is a buffet on the Saturday after the race, or at least there was the last time I did it.

Further details are here or email the man himself at rukglenntli@googlemail.com

Richard Horton Wins The Stockbridge Down RR

Congratulations to Wessex League regular Richard Horton, who has hit something of a late season run of form, winning Andover Wheeler’s Stockbridge Down Road Race. Not one of ours, although its near Winchester, which was the capital of the saxon kingdom of wessex, not that that has really much to do with anything. Also notable is that the report is dated the 29th september, which is tomorrow. Because we’re fine ones to talk about typos.

The Commonwealth Games

Keeping with the international flavour, Wessex League competitor Ann Bowditch will be riding at the Commonwealth Games, which start in Dehli this weekend.

Representing Guernsey, Ann was using the Autumn Road Race as part of her build up program. Hopefully, she’ll be giving us the full details of her exploits in a few weeks time.

In the meantime, you can follow her on twitter here: http://twitter.com/Bowditchfit,
Or visit the blog: http://www.blog.bowditchfit.com/

Our man Gale at the TofB

So who was it that our correspondent ran into at the sign on at Minehead for the Minehead-Teignmouth stage of the Tour of Britain?

Yes, it was none other than Graeme, one of our regular NEG motorbike marshals, helping out on the UK’s top bike race.

Its a hard life in the saddle. The rain didn’t let up all day and that burger he’s eating had been bought at 9.30am over 100 miles away at the start line. The Teignmouth finish, five and a half hours later, was the first chance he’d had to eat it.

Anyway, you’ll be pleased to know that the pros occasionally fall off too. But they, just like us, have a team of guys looking out for them.

After 1,821kms it came down to 1mm

So after 20 events, 23 races and 1,821kms it came down to this.

(pic1, Graham’s finish line photo – Roland Tilley – left, Andy Rivett – right)

After gathering all the evidence I could hardly split them. I’ve replayed the video, slowed it down frame by frame and seen Graham’s High Res photo’s, imported them into Photoshop messed around and tried to measure distances and it was so still to close to call, virtually impossible.

As the bunch hurtled towards the line it looked like Roland Tilley (Team Ride) was going to take it but Andy Rivett (VC St Rapheal) was clawing his way back from the opposite side of the road. Andy needed to beat Roly into 5th place to take the overall 2010 WXCRL championship, before the race only 2 points had separated them. This was the tightest of finales.

As this picture shows, taken a moment before they hit the line, the two top riders of the year could hardy be separated.

(pic2, This is how close it was, can you split them? I zoomed right down so I could see the pixels and measured the shortest distances to the line. I’m not kidding but it was something ridiculously close like .3 of a pixel. The two wheels were virtually identically level at this point in time)

The video (normally good enough to split the riders) wasn’t any clearer…

(pic3, This clip is a still frame from the video)

(pic4, This pic shows Andy was travelling slightly faster the Roly, so if he was identically level in pic1, about 30cm before the line then he must have been a fraction further on when the wheel actually hit the line)

On this evidence I have given Andy the verdict. It’s as close as it could ever be and has prompted us to update our rules because both riders ended up finishing level on points in this year’s final WXCRL table (Note: These new rules and removal of non-members have yet to be applied to the entire table).

1st New Rule; If two riders are equal on points the winner will be the rider with the most wins.
2nd New Rule; If both riders have same number of wins, the winner will be the highest number of second places, and so on.

So there you have it. Andy Rivett with 154 points is our new 2010 champion thanks to his wins on stage 2 of the Dorset Tour and the Autumn Road Race last week. Andy’s late season form has seen him pick up 76 WXCRL points in the 3 events an excellent effort brought about from his super ride in the Dorset Tour in late August.

Mr. consistent, Roland Tilley, has to settle for 2nd after his 4th place last year. Roly having not ridden the Dorset Tour this year has amassed even more points than his 2009 tally (124), an impressive achievement, especially after not competing in our flagship 3 day.

So there you have it, Andy wins the Ray Price Memorial Cup for one year – well done Andy!

Rumble On The Heath

The final league race to the year came to an action-packed conclusion, as Thomas Knowlton of organizing club Sotonia took the win in the third of the Heath Road Race events. Two minutes further back, Andy Rivett of VC St Raphael took the final overall points lead from season long rival Roland Tilley by a matter of centimeters.

After yesterday’s hot sunshine, the weather returned to its more usual autumnal fare, with overcast skies and a strong wind whipping over the open heathland. Rivals Andy Rivett of Velo Club St Raphael and Roland Tilley of Ride Team were eyeballing each other, as both went into the event separated by a total of two points. Andy had the advantage of numbers, with his club turning out in force but Roland was a hard rider and not likely to give up without a fight.

(photo Gordon Skillen)

A further 46 riders signed on – none too impressive for this time of year and before the race, Don issued a stern warning to the riders to stick to the correct side of the road at all times. The Police had been… shall we say not wholly helpful in the run up to this event and any riders riding like idiots might well have scuppered any future runnings of this event. However we are pleased to say that the race went smoothly, so WELL DONE to all off you. Seriously.

As the first lap got under way, the bunch seemed happy to sit and wait for something to happen. A few digs were made. Rob Edgell of Somer Valley CC made his first of many attacks up the rise to the start/finish line but the strong headwind along that road was not of a friend of the solo breakaway. Another attempt was made out of the final turn on the same lap, as Stephen Bradbury (AW Cycles.co.uk), Tom Knowlton (Sotonia) and Richard Rumbleow (GA Cycles) broke away. A few lengths back, David Curtiss and Philip Peters (Cannondale Racing) chased and, behind them the bunch was being blown apart. Tom Knowlton continued driving on, shedding his co-escapees. Others followed in the shape of Jay Eastwood (VC St Raphael), Michael Leech (Tor 2000) Rob Edgell (Somer Valley CC) and the sole survivor of the previous gap’s break Stephen Bradbury. They had by now a gap big enough to have the rest of the race worried but the bunch was either unwilling or unable to mount too much of a chase.

Soon enough, Tom Knowlton had been joined by the breakaway and together they pushed their advantage out to a minute. Stephen Bradbury fell off the back of the leading group while Richard Horton of Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers and Philip Peters of Cannondale attempted to bridge across. They, too, suffered in the headwind on the long drag and the now 4 man breakaway went into the final lap well clear of the chasers. Tom Knowlton made his final move on the hill to the automobile museum. He was on his own for the last half of the lap and soloed to the win 45 seconds clear of the rest of the break. Of the remaining three riders, Jay Eastwood (VC St Raphael) sprinted to second place with Michael Leech (Tor 2000) third and Rob Edgell fourth.

All eyes now turned up the road to where, two minutes behind Tom Knowlton, Roland Tilley (Ride Team) went for a long sprint up the rise to the finish line.

“I could see someone coming to my left.” He said afterwards. “I had no idea that it was Andy. They say he won by a wheel but it was a lot closer than that.”

It was. Andy Rivett (VC St Raphael) had chased hard after Roland who had looked most likely to take the sprint until Andy threw his bike at the line Mark Cavendish style.

“I tried to get in a few early moves to make Roly work for it.” Andy said. “With the wind it would’ve been quite easy to get on the wrong side of a break in the bunch. A few guys were trying to make a go and I’d let them get a bit of a gap and then bridge it but Roly pegged me every time. By the end I thought I was finished but obviously I had half a wheel left in me.”

Or, as we mentioned earlier, even less than that. With their placings (fifth and sixth), they moved to an equal points total but Andy’s two wins gave him the edge on count back. Full listings are here. Full race results are here, or will be soon. In all the excitement no one was really looking at who came seventh. But don’t worry its all on video so all your hard work will not have been in vain.

And that, we are afraid to say, concludes the 2010 Wessex League. We’ll be back in 2011, bigger, better and with a few surprises for you lucky, lucky people. Meanwhile, this website will be trundling on over the winter, finding stuff to write about.

So… see you all soon.

All photos Graham Robins except where indicated.

Bournemouth Arrow Road Race 18/09/10

Richard Horton managed one better than his second place last week with a solo breakaway win in this Saturday’s Bournemouth Arrow Road Race.

Organising club Bournemouth Arrow had done well mustering a full quota of marshals and were rewarded with some wonderful late summer weather. Entries were disappointing, with only 24 riders signing on but then a race on the same course in the wind and rain in March will be fully subscribed while a race on a bright, sunny day in September will struggle for entries.

Even those that turned up were complaining of burnout. Roland Tilley (Ride UK), who is fighting for the league overall with Andy Rivett (VC Raphael) was still suffering from the mountain bike championships last weekend. Many others were suffering stiff legs and took a while to get going, as the field rolled out for the first lap.

Eamonn Deane (Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers) was not one of them. He attacked on the hill out of Horton village along with Robert Cranstone (Royal Navy and Royal Marines CA). However the field had other ideas and they were soon caught. An attack by Roland Tilley (Ride) on the next lap received the same treatment – there was no way Andy Rivett was letting him out of his sight.

On lap three, Eamonn tried again, attacking on the hill and taking Matthew Connor of Banjo Cycles with him. For a while it looked like they were away, pulling out a minutes gap but a concerted effort by a group of six riders riding through-and-off on the front of the bunch slowly dragged them back over the course of the next two laps. A third group, meanwhile, was happily sitting in at this stage in proceedings but more on them later.

If there were prizes awarded for attacking then Eamonn Deane would have been the easy winner for, no sooner had he and Matthew Connor been caught then he went away again, spending a further lap riding about 5 seconds ahead of the bunch.

He was caught on the penultimate lap and at this moment his clubmate Richard Horton made his move. The 18yr old Bournemouth Jubilee rider had been quietly hiding in the bunch, experimenting with his new tactic of not attacking repeatedly. He made his move with a lap and a half to go and had pulled out a full minutes lead.

Behind him, the bunch were more concerned with each other. Roland Tilley did a lot of chasing. Eamonn Deane, understandably, didn’t and Richard remained over a minute up as he turned into the finishing straight. He was delighted to take the win, having found some good form in the late season and was suddenly confronted with the question of how to get to tomorrow’s race in the New Forest to continue his winning streak.

A minute later, Tom Marshall of Chippenham and District Wheelers took second place a few lengths ahead of the chasing pack, with James Jones of Beeline leading in the bunch sprint in third. Andy Rivett (VC St Raphael) came in fourth with Jon Marchini of OUCC splittling Andy from his arch rival Roland Tilley of Ride UK. Chris Roxburugh of Tor 2000 was seventh, inspired by his ride to Glastonbury to see the Tour of Britain, while Shane Pope of Swindon RC was eighth. Grant Grant (were assuming that’s not a typo, its how it was written on his licence) was ninth and Neil Wass of Anders TMG Horizon was tenth.

Full results are here.

Now the series move on to Appelmore in the New Forest for tomorrow’s third WXCRL Sotonia Heath Road Race, where Roland Tilley and Andy Rivett will have their final battle for the overall. Its tight and there has already been a lot of trash-talking, so it should be a belter. Entry details are here but it closes at midnight so you ought really to get a shuffty on if you’re going to enter.

WXCRL Autumn Road Race 12/09/10

Andy Rivett of VC St Raphael continued his late season run of form this Sunday, winning from a two man breakaway with Richard Horton of organising club Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers. The club’s Autumn Road Race suffered a fairly low turnout (29 riders) and a last minute change of venue – the original route had been due to run across the heathland from higher row to the cross keys pub but after the installation of cattle grids in the spring, the heath now had ponies and cattle roaming across it, which was considered an unnessacary hazard. A new route was hastily drawn up, running through Gaunts Common and dropping down past the Horton tower and through a sweeping series of bends into Horton village. The HQ had also shifted, to Witchampton, which caught a few people out, not least somebody (cough) who’d posted the venue change onto this very website – cutting and pasting without actually bothering to check the content.

But it all came good in the end, with the field rolling out for the 10.30 start, lacking a few heavy hitters, who were riding either at a cyclocross event up the road or an MTB race up north. However, there was some international flavour in the shape of Ann Bowditch of Science In Sport, who was getting some race miles in in preparation for the commonwealth games in Dehli next month. Men’s 2nd cat racing, you will be flattered to know, is about as fast as international level women’s racing. Ann, who will be riding for Guernsey, was getting acclimatized to the pace, although sadly not the heat.

The pace was fairly high on the first couple of laps, with plenty of breakaways . Philip Peters of Cannondale Racing and James Cartridge of Inverse Racing made a go of it on the first lap, getting about 10 seconds up before getting pulled back again. On the second lap, Micheal Leech of Tor 2000 went away on his own. Jason Flooks of ProBikeKit.com, who had been getting jumpy in the bunch, went after him.

Turning into the junction by the Horton Inn, it all went horribly wrong for him as he went wide on the exit of the corner, lost the back end trying to get back over and slid into a 4×4. He suffered some nasty road rash, as well as snapping his back wheel and frame and was a little surprised to discover that the car immediately behind the 4×4 that he had hit was a Police armed response unit. They helped clear up the mess, while the bunch came round the corner about 40s later, squeezed through and set off after Leech.

By the next lap, Micheal Leech had been joined by Junior Hefferman of Revo Racing and James Cartridge, making in his second breakaway of the morning. They were drawn back largely by the work of Charles Rees of Raleigh RT, who was doing some huge turns on the front but lacking enough of a kick to drop the riders behind him.

Next to try to get away was Eamonn Deane of Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers, which caused some amusement as he had organized this race. However there is nothing in the rules against winning a race that you set up and Eamonn certainly wasn’t ashamed to be doing so. Despite a 30s lead at one point, he was chased down by Charles Rees of Raleigh RT, who was starting to get a little fed up with doing all the work.

Still, his efforts, plus those of few others, split the bunch, with nine riders breaking away. Richard Horton (Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers), Phillip Peters (Cannondale Racing), Tom Marshall (Chippenham and District Wheelers) and Andy Rivett (VC St Raphael) put some hurt on up the hill to Horton getting some distance between themselves and the pack and then, coming up through Furzehill for the last time, Andy Rivett made his move.

“After the split, everyone had sat up a bit.” He said. “So I just went really hard on the hill.” Richard Horton of Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers made it across to him.

“I didn’t want to initiate an attack on the first three laps.” He said. “I don’t like holding back. But after the third lap Eamonn got away, so obviously I didn’t want to attack him. Then a couple bridged across to him and that was the winning break formed. I knew Andy was strong so when he went I went after him.” They put some fast miles in, with thirty seconds over their co-escapees as the turned onto the Cranborne road for the final time.

At the final turn, into Hinton Martell, Andy Rivett cramped up, taking most of the finishing straight to get his sprint going. However he did and beat Richard Horton to the win. Richard got second, very much upholding club honour after some good tactical riding split between him and his club mate. 25 seconds back, Thomas Marshall of Chippenham and District Wheelers, the last of the escapees came in third, three seconds ahead of Philip Gough of Red Kite Cycles. Behind them came the rest of the breakaway group: Ian Cullen of Le Col came in fifth, Eamonn Deane (Jubilee) sixth, Philip Peters (Cannondale) seventh, Junior Hefferman (Revo Raving) eighth. A very knackered Charles Rees (Raleigh RT) was ninth, at the back of the group, and then Stephen Locke (Plan B Racing) led the rest of the field home three minutes back.

Full results are here. No photos we’re afraid, our photographer was busy shooting people with knobbly tyres riding round a field. Apparently they pay better. Anyway, don’t forget the final two rounds of the league next weekend, the Bournemouth Arrow Road Race and the Heath Road Race. Then that’s IT for the rest of the year.

Autumn Road Race Venue Change

HQ and Circuit change for this Sunday’s WXCRL Autumn Road Race – New HQ will be at the Witchampton Village Hall, Witchampton (on the S bends in the village). Unfortunately Holt Football Club have a game on and they double booked with us, seeing as it’s their Football Club we’ve had to change, luckily we’ve found somewhere just up the road.

We are also going to use a variation of the Gaunts Common circuit. We won’t be racing across the Heath from now on due to the new cattle grids, grazing cattle and now the grazing horses.

Click this link to see the new Course Map

Entries will close Saturday night, so still time to book your place there is plenty of space…

Races In September pt 2

So where were we? Well we’ve had the Cove Road Race and the Autumn Road Race is on this Sunday 12th, starting at 10.30 and based at Holt football club in… um… Holt. Actually, Holt football club is on the way to Gaunts Common, rather than in Holt itself – HQ is now at Witchampton Village Hall [Mark]. But anyway, once you’ve found the place then its a 90km event on a ‘sporting’ course (don’t bring your deep-section rims) and organised by the Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers.

Not to be outdone, a week later, on Saturday 18th September the Joob’s arch rivals Bournemouth Arrow run their own event, called, imaginatively, the Bournemouth Arrow Road Race. Where do they get these crazy names from? This is a 90km event, based at Woodlands and using the popular Horton village course, which is a good deal flatter than the one around Holt and doesn’t have any cattle grids or ponys on the course. More details and entry can be found here plus a course map here although its exactly the same as the one we used three times this season already. The race starts at 10.30.

We’re hoping that both of these great clubs have mustered an armada of marshals for their events but that doesn’t mean that we’ll turn any volenteers away.

And come the Sunday 19th September – thats the next day – there’s another race for you over at Applemore in the New Forest. This is run by Sotonia and is the third of their ‘Heath Road Race’ events, running over the beautiful and pretty much pan-flat circuit across a windswept heathland. A chance to practive your ‘spring classics’ style echelons. The event is run over 70km, open to riders up to 2nd cat and starts at 10.30 am. Entry details are here and, sadly, we do not have a course map available but it runs in an anti-clockwise oblong around Beaulieu Heath railway station towards the Motor Museum, taking a sharp left about half a mile short of the museum and running back towards Applemore [We do have a Map actually that'll be here, Mark]. It’ll make more sense when you’re there. Signing on is at the leisure center, in a room just to the side of the main entrance.

And after that… that’s it. There’s Glenn Longlands 2 dayer in October which is nothing to do with us but still a good race (see the TLI website for details). Then its all hill climbing, track and cyclocross till next spring.