Jim rode the 4th Cat race (even though he's still only a Youth) and finished in 2nd place while Paul managed 21st in the E/1/2/3 event.
Full ResultThe riders turned out in force for 3/4ths event at the Eastway finale meeting to mark the closure of the circuit to make way for the 2012 Olympics. Paul Martin and Justin Browne both rode and Paul came an excellent 7th overall (4th in the bunch sprint). Steve Nunn, Steven Craig and James Jackson had slipped away from the field to open up a gap on on the field. Full result at London Cycle Sport
Thanks to Will Heddon for this write up:-
Whitewebbs RR winner Matthew Palmer (Verulam CC) triumphed at this year's surprisingly warm but blustery Falling Leaves Road Race.
Run as a 3rd cat race this year over 7 laps of the Littebury course, a block headwind up the main climb actually helped keep the
race more together than other races on this course this year. After many early lone flurries, five riders emerged at the head of
proceedings at around half distance. Jason Pidd (unattached), Tim Williams (Cambridge CC), Rob Dyke (St Ives CC), Paul Fielding
(Haverhill Whls) and eventual winner Palmer had a stable lead of around half a minute for much of the race, reaching 50 seconds after
the penultimate climb of the finish. On the final lap, a solo attempt to ride across by Daniel Patten (unattached) resulted in a 3
man chase group when James Whatling (Victoria CC) and Will Hedden (unattached) bridged across. The 3 almost succeeded in crossing to
the leaders and were within arms length at the bottom of the finish hill, but never managed to make it across. The break disintegrated
on the climb with Palmer coming out on top solo ahead of Pidd in 2nd and Williams beating Dyke to 3rd. The top 10 was rounded out by
James Coleman (Whitham Whs) and George Crammond (Cambridge CC), who had caught the 3 man chase group on the climb, and Junior Peter
Hargreaves (VC Norwich) winning the bunch sprint for 10th.
| Pos. | Rider | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2.17 | Matthew Palmer | (Verulam CC) |
| 2nd | @ 13s | Jason Pidd | (unattached) |
| 3rd | @ 22s | Tim Williams | (Cambridge CC) |
| 4th | st | Rob Dyke | (St Ives CC) |
| 5th | @ 25s | James Whatling | (Victoria CC) |
| 6th | st | Daniel Patten | (unattached) |
| 7th | @ 32s | Will Hedden | (unattached) |
| 8th | st | James Coleman | (Witham Wheelers) |
| 9th | @ 50s | George Crammond | (Cambridge CC) |
| 10th | @ 1.13 | Peter Hargreaves | (VC Norwich) |
| 11th | st | Trevor Burke | (North Road CC) |
| 12th | st | Steve Cotton | (Cambridge CC) |
| 13th | st | Mark Gibbs | (VC Mevdon) |
| 14th | st | Paul Bennett | (Melton Olympic CC) |
| 15th | st | Tim Stubley | (Victoria CC) |
| 16th | st | Alan Lovegrove | (North Road CC) |
| 17th | st | Ian Franklin | (Crest CC Ilford) |
| 18th | st | Carl Prewer | (Velo Club Barachi) |
| 19th | st | Paul Martin | (Easterley RC) |
| 20th | st | Damien Foy | (Eagle RC) |
In the LVRC race, Paul Martin was 3rd 'A' cat and 4th overall.
Jim Lewis rode with an Interbike team in the International Youth Tour of Assen in Holland. Jim's Dad, Paul writes:-
Jim did really well, better than he expected. He was 10th in the 200M prologue, then finished in the lead bunch on the criterium on
day 1.
Day 2 was a 5k loop around a village with 800m of cobbles in the wet. Jim got away on is own and was joined after a lap by the yellow
jersey on 4 others. They stayed away and gained 35 secs on the rest with Jim coming 4th in the sprint.
The next day was a wet criterium around the canal in the centre of Assen where he finished in the bunch. Then there was a proper stage
type race from one town to another, with a full rolling road closure with motor cycles and cars, they could even go the wrong way
around roundabouts. As they came into the finish area Jim was 5th but unfortunately came down along with 5 or 6 others when the
person in front of him came down on a wet corner. They were all given the same time as the leading group.
Friday was a wet 9km TT, Jim did very well coming 2nd and averaging 37km/h. That moved him up to 3rd overall which he retained by
finishing in the bunch on the last day's criterium.
It was a very well organised event with 700 youth riders from 18 countries taking part. Hopefully next year will be a little drier.
Michael Humphries has done a good write-up on London Cycle Sport
Matt Seaton and Ron Hewes were away but Paul Martin was 3rd in the Bunch Sprint and 2nd A Cat
Full Result (London Cycle Sport)Paul Martin was second in the A Cat group.
Full Result (London Cycle Sport)Paul Martin road the SERRL road race at Rolvenden at the weekend. It was dry but blustery for the 1st hour but then the heavens opened and it poured for the rest of the race. The finish was on a long hill and he was well placed at the bottom and kept up with the leaders as they went up. About 100m from the line he changed up to go past the guy in 6th but unfortuantely the chain slipped on to the ring. As a result 2 people went by just before the line and he ended up in 9th.
Full Result (London Cycle Sport)A group of 5 riders got away early on in the race but Paul Martin started chasing with Terry Devine with 10 laps to go. Although they couldn't catch the leaders they did stay away from the bunch. Paul was outsprinted by Terry for 6th place but had the consolation of being 3rd in the 'A' category.
Full Result (London Cycle Sport)Andy Ellis has started his road racing carrer with a few races at Eastway. The last few times he had finished in a chase group
a couple of laps back, but it started to come right on Saturday in the Essex Roads 4th Cat event where he was 17th,
finishing safely in the bunch after a crash in the final 100m.
Full Result (London Cycle Sport)
Paul Martin rode the St George's day races at Eastway and came 8th in the bunch sprint. The race was wet from start to finish
and he also managed to win a prime.
Full Result (London Cycle Sport)
Paul's son Jim rode the ESL rumble at Eastway and won the U14 race.
Full Result (London Cycle Sport)
The break went after the first couple of laps in the Masters races but Andy Ballentyne, riding his first road race of the year wasn't among them. He initiated a chase with 11 laps to go but was pulled back with 5 left and then didn't have the legs in the sprint.
Full Result (London Cycle Sport)Paul Martin Yesterday went a couple of places better than the prdevious week with 5th place in a Surrey League event. The course was very lumpy and not surprisingly the bunch split up on many of the climbs. There were several breaks some of which Paul was in, but none of them managed to establish a real gap. In the end the lead group was down to 14 riders and the finish was on a hill and he managed 5th.
ResultPaul Martin scored his first points of the season with 7th place in the Essex Roads ERRL event at East Hanningfield but unfortunately cramp on the final climb spoiled what could have been a higher placing. Winner was Mark Beattie (Maldon and District CC)
Result