WXCRL Martyrs Road Race 04/04/10
Easter Sunday saw the second running of the Martyrs Road Race, around the villages of Tolpuddle, Affpuddle and Tincleton and named after the farm workers of Tolpuddle who, in 1834, began the British trade union movement. They were awarded a lifetime’s holiday in Australia for their pains – a far less appealing prospect in the 19th century than today – hence ‘Martyrs’.
For the riders it a slightly less punitive affair, a 100km elite category National B race running around a twisting, rolling course. There was a strong wind from the west and a ‘watersplash’ at one point, thanks to the heavy rains of the past week which were mercifully absent for the course of the race.
Starting at 10.30, the race was neutralised to the start/finish line, then unleashed and quickly getting up to race speed.
‘It was very jumpy in the first few laps.’ Said Simon Mears of Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers. ‘Lots of breakaways attempts, with the field speeding up and slowing down again.’
They were all slowed at one point, as the race was neutralised again, passing a couple of horses on the road.
‘It was the lead car’s call.’ Explained commissaire Graham Hurst. ‘I let them decided whether it was safe of not and the decision was made to neutralise the race until we were past. The field was together at that point so it was all fairly straight forward.’
Gerry Gray in the lead car let the field loose again as soon as the hazard was past and, at the end of the first lap, a group of four riders had got themselves a 30 second lead: Tim Dunford of Torq Performance, Tom Stockdale of Team Qoroz, his brother Ben Stockdale also of Team Qoroz and Blake Pond of Southforkracing.co.uk.
‘There were lots of attacks going.’ Said Hugh Wilson, another rider for Team Qoroz, who were very prominent both in the race and in the feed zone, handing out tea and coffee, showing off their range of products and lending pens to peoples’ posed to be reporting on the race who’s biros had just died. For that at least, they deserve a plug.
‘Nothing stuck and it was a bit of a lottery at first. Then Ben went away so we let that one go!’
By the end of the second lap, Tom Stockdale had been dropped from the breakaway group, which had now stretched its lead to 45 seconds, while between the break and the bunch another five riders had got away on the hill. Ian Rees of the new Wilier/Bigmaggys/Prendas team, Philip Borrett of the also very prominent in this race Team Tor 2000, Hugh Wilson of Team Qoroz, Mark Sussex of Southfork.co.uk and Barry Clewet of CC Weymouth made their attempt but had been swallowed back into the bunch by the beginning of the next lap.
At its greatest, on lap four, the bunch was a whole minute and thirty seconds clear but, with the miles running out, the bunch began to work together to bring them back.
‘I spent a lap chasing’ Said Stu Bowers of Hargreaves cycles, who went on to explain that he’d spent most of the week downhill mountain biking in Wales and that a road race was a bit of a shock to the system. However ‘A lap on the front woke me up’ he said and thanks to his and a number of other rider’s efforts, the gap came down considerably in the closing laps.
‘It got to within 20 seconds at one point.’ Said Hugh Wilson, not actually taking part in the chase but covering for his team mate ahead. ‘But everyone stopped pedalling.’
Crossing the line for the final lap, the three breakaway riders still had a 30 second lead, over James Smith of Teamprobikekit.com, who had pulled out a gap of 8 seconds from the bunch up the hill but who was swallowed back up on the drop down into Affpuddle.
‘I saw that the bunch were catching us on the last lap.’ Said escapee Ben Stockdale. ‘I soft tapped it to the humpbacked bridge and then really smashed it up the climb. Just rode everyone off my wheel, Cancellara style.’
He crossed the line to win a clear 12 seconds ahead of fellow escapees Blake Pond and Ian Rees, leading in the bunch, then came Hugh Wilson of Team Qoroz, followed closely by Gary Chambers of Southfork.co.uk. First local rider was Stu Bowers (about 5 miles from home!) who had been playing tactical in the last few miles.
‘I saw the bunch was catching them so I made sure I stayed near the front and then went on the hill’.
He rolled in 6th, leading a long, straggling line of riders, with Robert Gough of Arctic Premier and Roland Tilley of Ride UK…
‘I really like this race.’ Ben Stockdale beamed afterwards – not surprisingly, as he won it the previous year as well. ‘It was an awesome team effort.’
It was also an awesome team result and their matching ‘apres piste’ retro wool team jerseys are quite enviable as well.
Full results should be appearing here, just as soon as Mark has been through the video of the finish frame by frame [They’re now up! – Mark]. Meanwhile, the Wessex League has a couple of ‘easy’ weeks, with no more events until mid May and all concerned taking a very well earned break.
Previews will be appearing in due course, either here or on Entryweb or our Facebook Fan page.
All pics Graham Robins, except the last by Gordon Skillen. For the full gallery of Graham Robins pics, including the ‘watersplash’ click here.
WXCRL QinetiQ Saturday Circuit 2010 (2/5) 20/03/2010
After last week’s unseasonably warm opener, normal March weather made its return on Saturday, with a cold, steady, rain and 15mph wind lingering through both races. A total of 58 riders braved the weather, obviously needing the miles in their legs, with 42 starting the regional B event for 3rds, 4ths and Juniors. Running over 90 minutes on a course that cut back into the center of the circuit, the route turned up a sharp little hill that proved perfect for breakaways. Four eventually succeeded, with Philip Adkins of Strada Cycles, Iain Stanton of Bath CC and junior riders Steven James of Pedalon.co.uk and Gregg Shrosbee of Merida UK pulling a gap of over 3o seconds on the bunch. Notable in the breakaway was Ian Stanton, riding only his second ever road race after having only been riding for three months. After getting himself a bike throught the Cycle To Work scheme, he joined Bath Cycle Club and will, there is little doubt, go on to greater things.
As concerns this race, he was beaten into fourth place on the line, with junior rider Steve James of Pedalon.co.uk winning ahead of Philip Atkins and Greg Shrosbree. 32 seconds later, the bunch came in, led by Jason Duckworth of Tor 2000 ahead of Stuart Morton of Hargroves Cycles, James Cotty of Wheelbase.co.uk/cannondale and first ‘local’ rider, Steve Groome of Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers. Full results here.
The rain poured on relentlessy as 16 elite riders rode out for their National B race, also running over 90 minutes and also fought out at a ferocious pace despite – or perhaps because of – the weather. With 2 laps to go, four riders succesfully broke from the group, before the wind wrought havoc on the bunch with most of the top 10 crossing the line alone.
Harry Bulstrode of DH Cyclesport took the win, six seconds ahead of Steve Dring of Team Echelon-Spuik, followed into third by James Smith of Probikekit.com with Stu Bowers of Hargroves Cycles rolling in fourth, eight seconds later. Full results are here.
Now, with everybody up to race speed, next Sunday the 28th sees the first ‘proper’ race of the season, the Verwood Road Race, all 80km of it kicking off at 10.30 from The Hub in the center of Verwood. Enter here, read the very imformative preview here. Sadly, we can’t make any guarentees about the weather but we’re all grown ups here and a little weather never hurt anybody. And if the race looks a little hot, feel free to volenteer as a race marshal and receive league points as well as the heart warming feeling of doing something for the good of others.
Don’t forget that after the race there is a prize giving presentation for the 2009 season, though you should already have worked out whether this effects you or not.
*all photos by Graham Robins
WXCRL Bournemouth Arrow Road Race 12-09-09
Ross Adams takes a four-man group to win.
The sun made a very welcome return to the penultimate round of the Wessex League 2009 series, with blue skies, cornfields and crickets chirruping in the hedgerows making for a quite continental atmosphere. There was even a tractor cutting hedgerows within the first km of the race that the field of over 40 riders negotiated without suffering a single puncture, which has to stand as some sort of record.
Safely around, the field settled into a jumpy first couple of laps, with a strong tailwind on the main road making for lots of attempted breakaways. None succeeded until the end of the second lap, at the turning off the main road by the Horton Inn and the short, shallow climb towards Horton village. Ross Adams of Red Kite/Torq went first and was soon joined by Jamie Howard of Exeter Wheelers and between them they opened a gap. Roland Tilley of Ride Team jumped across, followed by Richard Eastham of Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers.
“I knew Ross was a strong rider, and remembered Jamie from the Dorset Tour.” Said Roland Tilley. Richard Eastham agreed: “I saw the two riders go and knew they were both very strong, then when Rolly got across I knew this was a break I had to be in. As soon as I went, the bunch seemed to stop chasing, so I got across to the break and shouted at them to keep it going.” They did, working together and pulling out a two minute gap. All agreed that, up till the last lap, each rider worked as a team, sharing the load equally. “The weirdest thing was that we seemed to be doing our little stint in the same place each lap.” Ross Adams and Jamie Howard joked afterwards. “You’d do your turn on the front and pull off at the same bit of roadkill as last lap.” With a four minute gap by the half way point, their lead seemed secure and the bunch seemed content for them to get away.
“It was quite a negative race.” Said Adrian Kirby of Chippenham and District Wheelers who, amongst others, did attempt to get some sort of a chase going. “The break went up the road and everyone just rode round and waited for the race to finish.” This they did, with eight laps of the 11km circuit and under a hot sun.
With a lap to go, the break now had a five minute lead and some were suffering more than others:
“I was bluffing for the last lap.” Said Richard Eastham. “And was just holding on but Ross put a dig in up the hill and I just couldn’t follow.” He was dropped while the remaining three started racing for themselves. Tilley tried to get away on the main road just before the final turn but was brought back just before the three slowed down for the tight final corner. “I wasn’t confidant of my sprint.” Said Ross Adams. “I’d had a crash about a month ago and this was only my second race back since then.” Not that seemed to slow him, for he crossed the line just ahead of Jamie Howard. “I’d got a gap out of the last corner but Ross got round me.” Said Howard. “It was a well deserved win, though, he was clearly the strongest rider.” Roland Tilley was a little further back: “I was third in line at the start of the sprint, which was a good place to be but I just didn’t have it the legs.” Richard Eastham came in fourth, a minute down, with the bunch a further four minutes behind him.
The sprint for fifth was hotly contested: David Young of Fareham Wheelers broke away in the final lap but was dragged back within sight of the line, with James Jones of Didcot Phoenix getting fifth place and Barry Clewett of Bournemouth Arrow getting sixth in his own club’s road race. Full results here. Aching legs and salt-caked faces pointed to a hard-fought race over several hours, with praise given to the flowing course – not to mention the weather, although that’s nothing to do with us!
Next Sunday sees the autumn road race, based out of Holt a few miles to the south and run over similar roads but with added hills, and finishing off the Wessex League 2009 program of events. Obviously, we can’t guarantee good weather for this one but we can provide good racing.
All photos Graham Robins for LOADS more just click on the link.
Preview: The WXCRL Cove Road Race
There are some things you just can’t get enough of, and one of those really has to be racing on the Isle of Purbeck – barely a fortnight after the Dorset Tour, we’re back in the d’Urberville hall in Wool, having found yet another way to race around it! Even better, this time we’ve let the elites and first cats come along and play.
So, making use of another two climbs that the DT somehow missed, the racing begins just before the level crossing on the A352 road from Wareham to Weymouth and continues west along a main road that can be best described in the context of this course as ‘the flat bit’. However, we can guarantee that their will be wind of some sort on this section, though whether a tail, head or side wind we cannot confirm at present. Then, crossing the roundabout by where Dorset Police used to be based, then passing the now decommissioned nuclear power station (that’ll be the enormous turquoise cuboid thing), the route takes a sharp left just past the Red Lion pub (lucky the marshal that gets stationed at this corner) and into the village of Winfrith Newburgh. At this point, the road stops being pan-flat and rises in fits and starts. This fairly gentle climb, not that ‘fairly gentle’ is something that you usually associate with E/1/2/3 National B level races, tops out at Durdle Door, then drops down into West Lulworth village. And we do mean drop, it’s steep. Then, sticking to Newton’s law that what goes down must come back up again, a left turn in the village sees you climbing the short, steep clamber up to Lulworth army camp and back down to Wool. Remember that long, gruelling climb on the DT’s Sunday stage? Well, this time it’s a long, downhill hurtle with a sharp left off the nice, wide, straight road and onto a narrow, lumpy little one. They even stuck another climb in the middle of it but its very soon downhill again and then back out onto the main road.
You do that seven times, over 114km with the finish at the top of the final climb out of Winfrith Newburgh. The first one over the line wins, though you probably already worked that bit out. The entries are piling in fast, including some fairly serious riders getting some racing in their legs before the Tour of Britain. And, if that worries you, then you can always help out, either marshaling or joining the fleet of lead and chase cars. Did we mention that you get league points for that?
Entries close at midnight this Friday 4th September. Enter here.
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