|
|
After last year's heavy rain, conditions were almost ideal for racing - dry, bright & warm but a breeze to make things a little harder in places. All breaks came to nothing however include a late lone effort that swallowed up on the finishing hill and it came to down to Dan Scott (Shaftesbury CC) to sprint home the winner at the head of the bunch.
| Pos | No | Rider | Club | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Daniel Scott | Shaftesbury CC | 2 hours 8 mins 47 secs |
| 2 | 11 | Owen Lake | Cambridge CC | |
| 3 | 39 | Jonathan Marchini | Oxford University CC | |
| 4= | 25 | Jeffrey Orrey | Essex Roads CC | |
| 4= | 18 | David Farrow | Eagle RC | |
| 6 | 26 | Nick Calverey | Finchley Racing Team | |
| 7 | 28 | Oliver Mehmet | Finchley Racing Team | 1st 4th cat |
| 8 | 60 | Mike Mooney | BC Private Member | |
| 9 | 31 | Brad Lamb | Glade CC | |
| 10 | 23 | David Brown | Essex Roads CC | |
| 11 | 14 | Russell Ford | Colchester Rovers CC | |
| 12 | 27 | Dermot Kealey | Finchley Racing Team | |
| 13 | 9 | Rob Jackson | Cambridge CC | |
| 14 | 64 | Lubomir Belak | BC Private Member | |
| 15 | 10 | Ralph Keeler | Cambridge CC | |
| 16 | 56 | Benjamin Brown | Whitewebbs CC | |
| 17 | 43 | Ralph Mullan | Shaftesbury CC | |
| 18 | 6 | Eric Gowland | Cambridge CC | |
| 19 | 55 | Ben Wright | VC Revolution | |
| 20 | 32 | Richard Whitehorn | Glade CC | @ 11 secs |
| 21 | 35 | Stoyko Bussarov | Imperial Racing Team | |
| 22 | 67 | Darryl Gannon | Finchley RT | |
| 23 | 50 | Kristian Mobbs | Stowmarket & District CC | |
| 24 | 63 | John Archer | BC Private Member | |
| 25 | 47 | Peter Humphreys | Southend Wheelers | @ 22 secs |
| 26 | 54 | Alan Lawrence | VC Revolution | |
| 27 | 38 | James Wylie | Lotto Olympia Team Interbike | |
| 28 | 34 | Philip Thomerson | Glendene CC / Bike Trax | |
| 29 | 16 | James Samuel | Crest CC - Ilford | |
| 30 | 45 | Adrian Ward | Shaftesbury CC | |
| 31 | 49 | Alan Moules | St Ives CC | |
| 32 | 19 | Harry Davies | East London Velo | |
| 33 | 61 | David Giles | Century RC | |
| 34 | 5 | Tyler Denmead | Cambridge CC | |
| 35 | 17 | Grant Smith | Crest CC - Ilford | |
| 36 | 37 | Tom Starmer | Lotto Olympia Team Interbike | |
| 37 | 30 | Tony Couchman | Glade CC | |
| 38 | 20 | Terry Garlinge | East London Velo | @ 1 min |
| 39 | 2 | Matthew Cook | API - Metrow | |
| 40 | 29 | Tom Neill | Finchley Racing Team | |
| 41 | 68 | Sheridan Bridal | Glade CC | |
| 42 | 1 | Mark Porter | Glade CC | |
| 43 | 21 | Hugo Robins | East London Velo | |
| DSQ | 22 | Gonzalo Rodriguez | East London Velo | |
| DSQ | 62 | Neil Fraser | Hitchen Nomads | |
| DNF | 3 | Tomasz Klimkowski | Bedfordshire Roads Cycling Club | |
| DNF | 4 | Steve Cotton | Cambridge CC | |
| DNF | 7 | Nigel Hobday | Cambridge CC | |
| DNF | 8 | Chris Hughes | Cambridge CC | |
| DNF | 15 | Robert Samuel | Crest CC - Ilford | |
| DNF | 24 | Sandra Mackay | Essex Roads CC | |
| DNF | 33 | Colin Mannakee | Glendene CC / Bike Trax | |
| DNF | 36 | Peter Constable | Lotto Olympia Team Interbike | |
| DNF | 40 | Matthew Gallagher | PCA Ciclos Uno | |
| DNF | 41 | Dominic Berner | Shaftesbury CC | |
| DNF | 42 | Mark Howard | Shaftesbury CC | |
| DNF | 51 | Andrew Brown | Gregarios Superclub Ciclista | |
| DNF | 53 | Paul Dewberry | VC Revolution | |
| DNF | 58 | Patrick Lee | BC Private Member | |
| DNS | 12 | Glen Vinnicome | Cambridge CC | |
| DNS | 13 | Anthony Goodwin | CC Luton | |
| DNS | 46 | Mark Wakeling | Sherwood CC | |
| DNS | 48 | Thomas Caldwell | St Ives CC | |
| DNS | 52 | Nick Esser | Velo Club Baracchi | |
| DNS | 57 | Michael Briars | BC Private Member | |
| DNS | 59 | John McVey | BC Private Member | |
| DNS | 65 | Andrew Stevenson | TatraFitness | |
| DNS | 66 | Paul Cackett | Verulam CC |
Using the full anti-clockwise circuit, Andy sat in the bunch to conserve his energy for the hill and only made a move with two to go but couldn't get across to the C/D grouop who started with a half lap advantage. He was re-caught by his group however and finished in the bunch.
After an eventful trip over to Hog Hill (involving a broken saddle and a detour to Richard's for a quick replacement!) Andy Ballentyne rode the LVRC event at the Thursday league but missed the crucial break when Dave Farrow and a couple of others jumped across from the A/B's to join the C/D's. The A/B group gradually dwindled away to leave just Andy and one other to chase, and in the windy conditions they could not make contact with the C/Ds.
Chris Burley decided to try his hand at Vet's racing now that he's 'turned of age' and rode the LVRC Thursday evening series at Hog Hill. He tried for one prime but was beaten in the sprint unfortunately and eventually finished 12th overall.
Good weather meant a large turn out for the first of the summer series. Organiser Trevor Maddern took pity on the Vets and decided to run the race around the lower (and flat!) bottom circuit, although with a tighter turn at the bottom of the 'Hoggenberg' to help split things up a bit.
As there were only 10 C/D cats, they were given a half lap start on the A/Bs, with the E+ starting just behind the A/Bs. The pace was quite high with Dave Farrow (Eagle RC) active at the front trying several breakways - Andy Ballentyne joining him on a couple. With the C/Ds working well together, they managed to stay clear of the A/Bs (who had by now caught the E+s) for most of the race, and it wasn't until front group were whittled down to four that the damage was really done. With 8 laps to go, the gap was down to 10 seconds and two of the lead group sat up to wait for the A/Bs. The other two carried on however and passed the lapped E+s group again. With 4 laps to go, Andy sprinted off the front of the group in pursuit - eager to get past the E+s before the finish to avoid any confusion. He soon passed them and then caught the two leaders, but by then had three others from the A/Bs for company. With lap to go the race was virtually all together and in the sprint for the finish it was Dominic Gabellini (Rapha Condor) who came home the winner with Andy getting 5th (2nd 'A' cat behind Dave Farrow)
All breakaway attempts came to nothing - including a promising effort by Basil Moss who was only caught on the run in to the line - and so it all came down to a hectic bunch sprint. Andy Ballentyne had positioned himself out of trouble near to the front on the run in to Fyfield allowing the East London riders to chase down the lone breakway. The pace hotted up through Bird's Green and then after the left turn to the finish at Berners Roding, a crash took out a large part of the bunch. Andy was OK however as he was ahead of it. The sprint opened up with Andy taking 10th place behind winner Richard Norris (VC Revolution) who managed to lose control doing a two handed salute and ended up on the grass verge with a broken collar bone! Chris Burley was a non finisher due to a pulled hamstring from playing football the previous week!
Full Result (ERRL)|
|
|