Simon's Cyclosportive

3 hours sleep probably not the greatest of pre-ride preparation, and it was raining (although most of my training had been done in the rain, so wasn't too bothered).4.15am & I'm picking up another local rider, then an M25 (surprisingly busy), A2 journey to Greenwich for 6am start. Saw Roger & Mike at the start, who both oozed 'quickness', so didn't make any rash offers & said I'd 'see them later' in a vague sort of way. Worries about the roads not being closed disappeared, as the signage for Le Tour, plus our direction arrows, 4000 riders & the odd Police out-rider all acted to resign virtually all the motorists I came across, to behave (although more than the odd cyclist jumping reds did their best to upset this!) So, off at 6, sitting in the midst of the London Dynamo peleton, which seemed a little bit too urgent for me, & the slippery roads, this early, so I dropped off the back for a bit more comfort. Rightly so, as turning a bend all but a couple were on the deck to the shock of a lone guy in a bus shelter.
The next 20 miles or so I found quite hard, was feeling tired, and seriously wondered whether I would last another 100, but the rain had stopped, & I just concentrated on trying to enjoy the route, chatting to people and taking on food as regularly as possible. The stretch to Tunbridge Wells was into a headwind, so I got into a largish group after a feed station, who steamed along behind a triathlete, who didn't seem too bothered about swapping the lead (must be a triathlete thing!). One thing that didn't bother me was the climbs, and, as it started to rain again, we split on a long climb, and I got into a group of 4 for the next 10 miles or so through quieter roads, no rain & a bit more of a side/tail wind. I started feeling a lot stronger, & met up with the 'Pearsons train' who well & truely 'owned' the road for the next stretch. After the second to last feed (I think it was) - lots of jolly villagers, who plugged the gap when the supply lorry was held up by making stacks of bacon sarnies & fruit cakes, I left Pearsons to fill their faces & caught up with a cyclocross mate & 3 others and we shared the pace until the last big climb of the day, about 12 miles from the finish. We all split completely here and I descended the last fast bit alone (apart from a brief spell through & off with Pearsons again as they rocketed through). Waved through a red light by the Police (nice). The last half mile was on half a coned off dual carriageway, with great delight in flying past the cars jammed in their bit. Over the line to applause & a bleep from the transponder, jump a kerb then the bike pounced on & the transponder removed. Finished.
My only critisism would be the lack of medal for finishing, & that no food, energy bars were available once through the line - apart from a 25ml water bottle (unless you hunted it out & paid). That can't take away from what a good day it was though, and it was good to finish stronger than when I started.
Bikes were put into a lorry, and then (after a bit of a wait), we were bussed back to Greenwich where, at last, I caught up with Mike & Roger (both looking as if they could go round again!) who were claiming their bikes back. 6 hours & 32 mins, not bad all things considered, would have been nice to have been a little quicker early on, but the next day, contrary to how I felt the day before, I did feel as if I could do another stage. Perhaps.

Simon Scarsbrook

British Cyclosportive

At 6.00am on 1st July the first of 4000 riders rolled out of Greenwich Park to make their way through east London and the Kent countryside to cross the finish line in Canterbury, 120 miles later.

Whilst particular details of the ride are unknown, the fastest rider was recorded at 5:22 and

a trio of our very own sportive stars posted these times.

Mike Coyle 05:46:07
Roger Smith 05:46:24
Simon Scarsbrook 06:32:10

Etape Caledonia 24-06-07

Etape Caledonia.

Despite the fog and rain and crummy organization the first riders of the Etape Celedonia rolled across the start line at 8.00am on Sunday.

Amongst the 1300, the red & black were represented by Ian, Peter and banana fuelled newbie David Wilkins.

The 130k route (and around 2000m of climbing) took us from the small town of Pitlochry along the rain soaked, rolling roads on the north shores of Loch Tummel & Loch Rannoch then to the base of Schiehallion to tackle the main climb of the day.

At that point the rains seemed to clear and, after a tough start, we really got to enjoy the Highland views, the car-less roads and a long fast descent which took us down to the River Tay. The final 30 miles back to the finish were relatively flat and what climbs there were seemed to be of the sharp and nasty variety.

Though the terrain was demanding, it was a faster ride than expected with all 3 of us posting good times; first past the post was one Ed Woodhouse in 3:48:15.

Ian 4:22:47

David 4:29:57

Peter 5:03:04 and placing 19th in his category.

By some accounts this inaugural, closed road, sportive was nearly pulled before it started and had to be bailed out by the local council due to lack of funds/final entrants but with better (by that I mean COMPLETELY different) organizers this event has the potential to be a worthy annual fixture.

For me, I'm glad I made the effort to get up there, I'm glad I came in ahead to my target time

and I now wish I had entered the London event too.

Giles Ree Memorial Race

Warninglid and its environs thankfully missed the pouring rain which hit the coast and we enjoyed a dry, warm day for this years edition of the Giles Ree Memorial Road Race.

My view of proceedings was, understandably, limited but Messers Smith, Perryman & McNamara were all pushing hard in their various groups as they passed by me firstly by the junction at the HQ and lastly by the flyover at the A23.

But it was that man Coyle though who, despite a minor logistical problem with his bottles, bided his time and got himself up in the front group.

By the last lap at the junction with Slough Green Lane, he was in a group of 3 furiously chasing young Tom Copeland (In Gear Dev) who had broken away to gain 5-6 seconds advantage.

By the finish, though, Tom was caught, Steve Calland (Norwood Paragon) took first place and Mike crossed the line in 7th place.

With 10 seconds covering the first 9 riders it was a close run thing and hats off to Mike for a stellar performance.

Final Result
1 Steve Calland Norwood Paragon
2 Dave Creagan VC Muedon
3 Tom Hemnant London Dynamo/Cyclefit
4 Keith Lilley Team Certani - 1st Veteran
5 Matt Melville AW Cycles
6 Kevin Chambers API
7 Mike Coyle VC Etoile
8 Andy Betts Twickenham CC
9 Tom Copeland Ingear Dev Team - 1st Junior

10 David Kenant Norwood Paragon (1 minute+ back)


King of the Hills
1 Tom Hemnant London Dynamo/Cyclefit
2 Tyrone Walters Sigma Sport
3 Kevin Chambers API

Lewes Crits Report #3

Whilst Shaun Reed of Bayeux made a break on the bell lap and took the lead to finish first it was our very own Driss Jones who crossed the line ahead of the rest of the pack to claim not only second place but was clear leader in the overall for the 3 races.

Again this report comes courtesy of Mark Winton LWCC.

With the damp and slippery roads drying rapidly the riders heading out to the final round of the Lewes Criterium series had dry roads upon which they could battle for final overall honours. With just 2 points separating the overall leaders going into this race and with double points on at the end of the race this was sure to be a competitive race.

At the first prime Driss Jones (VC Etoile) took full points with George Higgs (Brighton Excelsior) taking second place to even up the general classification. On the next the Lewes Wanderers own Stephen Comben crashed when he hit is pedal on the corner, brother Andrew waited and was able to pace Stephen back onto the back of the bunch.
Ian Jones (Bayeux Landscapes) took full points at the second prime, significantly George Higgs took second spot, regaining the overall lead over Driss Jones who finished third.
The next lap, Andrew Comben had recovered from helping his brother and took full points at the final prime. Driss Jones took third place, with George Higgs failing to score, just one point separated the riders for the final showdown.
At the bell lap Shaun Reed (Bayeux Landscapes) who has won these races many times before had a 30 second gap on the main bunch. Despite efforts from many of the clubs including Lewes Wanderers, Brighton Mitre and Brighton Excelsior Shaun was just too strong and with the help of some excellent tactics by his team mates Shaun was able to sit up to take the applause at the finish, even having time to zip up his jersey. With double points, this result gave Shaun enough points for 4th overall.
Just a handful of seconds later the bunch thundered into view. Dan Clark (Brighton Mitre) looked like he had the bunch sprint in the bag, however, you could see the determination on the face of Driss Jones who managed to come round Dan just centimetres before the line and with it take the overall award. Paul Gosling and George Higgs were next across the line with Paul Hudson (Kinesis) taking the final points on offer at the finish.

Prime 1
Driss Jones
George Higgs
Stuart Nibett

Prime 2
Ian Jones
George Higgs
Driss Jones

Prime 3
Andrew Comben
Paul Gosling
Driss Jones

Race 3 Result
Shaun Reed (Baueux Landscapes)
Driss Jones (VC Etoile)
Dan Clark (Brighton Mitre)
Paul Gosling (Brighton Excelsior)
George Higgs (Brighton Excelsior)
Paul Hudson (Kinesis)

Final Overall Classification
Driss Jones 45
George Higgs 36
Paul Gosling 25
Shaun Reed 24
Dan Clark 14
Merek Siwicki 14
John Powell 12
Ian Jones 11
Andrew Comben 10
Nicholas Jeffrey 9
Stuart Nisbett 9
Doug Baldock 8
Martin Brass 7
Paul Hudson 6
Charlie Sayer 4
Paul Winkley 3
Chris Howard 3
Neil Lewold 1

Stop Press-Driss takes the overall at the Lewes Crits

Details will follow but Driss took 2nd place in the bunch sprint tonight to claim an overall victory in the 41st Lewes Crits.
Chapeau!

Lewes Crits Report #2

Again this comes courtesy of Mark Winton and once again another great performance by Driss who took a first in one of the primes and finished in the top six and now places 2nd in the overall for the series.

This week's first place was taken by young John Powell. Well done to him and I now understand why I suffered so much trying to stay with him in our local chain gang.

Mark reports.

Lewes Wanderers Cycling Club – Evening Criterium Series 41st EditionRound 2 – 7 June 2007

Overall leader from round 1, George Higgs was first to show his colours claiming the points for General Classification at the end of lap 1. Lap 2 saw another bunch sprint for the prime, this prime saw a repeat of the round 1 race result with winner Dris Jones taking full marks, Paul Gosling taking second and George Higgs third. With the overall leaders from round 1 watching each other in the prime sprint a group of riders 5 managed to clip off the front of the main bunch, Marek Siwicki took the sprint for the final prime. As most of the local clubs were represented in the group, the chase never quite got fully organised despite concerted chases by all the entire Brighton Excelsior riders, the Lewes Wanderers own Peter Barling and Dris Jones. The break away was never allowed to gain more than 15 seconds despite the best efforts of Stuart Nisbett (Crawley Wheelers) to break the elastic. With 3 miles to go the breakaway still had just 15 seconds and as they came into the finishing straight they were visibly tiring and the groups were just behind winding up for the sprint. Fortunately the breakaway didn’t play any games, keeping the pressure on right to the line where John Powell emerged the winner with a whoop of delight. Marek Siwicki finished second and Martin Brass third. Powerhouse of the break Stuart Nisbett could only manage 4th just pipping the last of the breakaway Ian Jones.Week 1 winner Dris Jones took the bunch sprint to claim the last available point towards the overall classification. Just for a change the judges managed to place the riders right down to 9th place. Thanks to Sussex Medical Services and the Roebuck Inn (Laughton) for the continued support. Dris Jones closed the gap on overall leader George Higgs to just 2 poins, but with double points on offer for the final week, the overall classification is still very much up for grabs.
Race 2 Result
1st John Powell (In –Gear QuickVit RT)
2nd Marek Siwicki (Mosquito Cycles)
3rd Martin Brass (Pendle Forest)
4th Stuart Nisbett (Crawley Wheelers)
5th Ian Jones (Bayeux Landscapes)
6th Dris Jones (VC Etoile)
7th Nicholas Jeffrey (Ewhurst Controls)
8th Lee Oliver (Ewhurst Controls)9th Mark Paton (Sussex Nomads)
Prime 1 Result
1st George Higgs (Brighton Excelsior)2nd Nicholas Jeffrey (Ewhurst Controls)3rd Neil Lewold
Prime 2 Result
1st Dris Jones (VC Etoile)2nd Paul Gosling (Brighton Excelsior)3rd George Higgs (Brighton Excelsior)
Prime 3 Result
1st Marek Siwicki (Mosquito Cycles)2nd Stuart Nisbett (Crawley Wheelers)3rd Ian Jones(Bayeux Landscapes)
Overall Points after race 2 including primes
George Higgs 22
Dris Jones 20
Merek Siwicki 14
Paul Gosling 12
John Powell 12
Nicholas Jeffrey 9
Doug Baldock 8
Stuart Bisbett 8
Martin Brass 7
Ian Jones 6
Andrew Comben 5
Charlie Sayer 4
Paul Winkley 3
Chris Howard 3
Neil Lewold 1