News - February 2009

Friday 6th February – Andover Advertiser Calshot Track Night report & photos

The Andover Wheelers kicked of their 2009 season with a coaching session down at the cycling track at Calshot.  With the success of the GB cyclists at last years Beijing Olympics still fresh in the minds, many of the clubs riders hadn't experienced this type of cycling before and were looking forward to finding out first hand what it was like.  The Calshot Velodrome is the only indoor banked track in the South of England and, at 140 metres in length, is the shortest and most steeply banked in the country.  Add to that bikes with no brakes and a single fixed gear that means you can't stop pedaling, this can be a daunting prospect for the most experienced of riders.

 

The riders were split into three groups of varying experience - U14 youngsters, novices who had never ridden the track before and the more experienced riders. Under the careful guidance of local coach, Tim Knight, each group was put through their paces with a variety of different training routines. Everyone was soon riding round with confidence and were able to ride at speed with no problems at all. The younger riders in particular showed the rest of the riders the way and were quickly confident enough to ride up high on the steep banking before dropping down to the inside line for a flying lap. Such was the success of this track session that another has already been booked for later this month.

Words courtesy of Mike Webber.

    
Click on a thumbnail image to expand. Photos courtesy of Barrie Austen.

Click here for more photos from the Track Night, courtesy of Barrie Austen.

Sunday 8th February – Southern Region Road Races

The road racing season is fast approaching and there are a lot of local events coming up that are suitable for all ages to enter. Most of these events can be entered on the day and you would be able to get a day license if you are trying it out for the first time and don't have a full racing license yet. All these dates are on (or will be on) the British Cycling website - www.britishcycling.org.uk

 

Sunday 15th February - 10.00am races start

Mountbatten Circuit Races, Portsmouth

4/J4

Women

3/J3

E/1/2/J1/J2

Unfortunately no Youth races at this event

 

Sunday 8th, 15th & 22nd March - 9.30am races start

Thruxton Circuit Races

U16/U14/U12/U10/U8

4/J4

Women

3/J3

E/1/2/J1/J2

 

Saturday 28th March - 10.00am races start

Mountbatten Circuit Races, Portsmouth

U16/U14/U12/U10/U8

4/J4

Women

3/J3

E/1/2/J1/J2

 

Wednesday 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd & 29th April - 6.30pm races start

Mountbatten Circuit Races, Portsmouth

U16/U14/U12/U10/U8

E/1/2/3/4/W/J

 

Wednesday 6th May through to 19th August (not 2nd June) - 6.15pm races start 

Mountbatten Circuit Races, Portsmouth

U16/U14/U12/U10/U8

3/4/W/J

E/1/2/3

 

Saturday 6th June - 10.00am races start

Mountbatten Circuit Races, Portsmouth

U16/U14/U12/U10/U8

4/J4

Women

3/J3

E/1/2/J1/J2

 

Sunday 14th June - 9.30am races start

Thruxton Circuit Races

U16/U14/U12/U10/U8

4/J4

Women

3/J3

E/1/2/J1/J2

 

Sunday 26th July - 9.30am races start

Thruxton Circuit Races

U16/U14/U12/U10/U8

4/J4

Women

3/J3

E/1/2/J1/J2

 

Wednesday 26th August, 2nd & 9th Sept - 6.30pm races start

Mountbatten Circuit Races, Portsmouth

U16/U14/U12/U10/U8

E/1/2/3/4/W/J

 

Sunday 13th September - 9.30am races start

Thruxton Circuit Races

U16/U14/U12/U10/U8

4/J4

Women

3/J3

E/1/2/J1/J2

 

Sunday 27th September - 9.30am races start

Thruxton Circuit Races

U16/U14/U12/U10/U8

4/J4

Women

3/J3

E/1/2/J1/J2

Wednesday 11th February – 2009 Club Events Schedule Released, including a new Championship – the Athletes TT

The 2009 Club events schedule have now been added to the Website, so we can all start planning our summer of racing.

For 2009, the club has decided to add a new Championship to the schedule, The Athletes TT.  This to be held on the Tuesday 2nd June, and will use the Monxton P614c course.  The idea behind the event is to see how quickly we can go without any aerodynamic devices or TT bikes (although if you want to ride the event on your TT bike you can, you just won’t qualify for the Championship).  The rules for the Athletes TT are as follows:

1.      No TT bikes, only normal Road Bikes (e.g. the kind you would use in a Road Race)

2.      No Disk Wheels or Deep Rimmed Aero Wheels.  Rims must not exceed 3cm in depth.

3.      No tri bars or corn horns.  Drop handlebars only.

4.      No Aero Helmets or Aero Fairings, although we do recommend everyone uses a normal Road Helmet.

5.      Skinsuits and Aero Oversocks are OK.

Wednesday 18th February – Andover Advertiser Open Hilly 10.2 TT report & photos

The Andover Wheelers kicked off their 2009 time trial promotions recently with a Hilly 10.2 mile event based on a course at Vernham Dean. This early season event is one of the hardest on the calender with the riders tackling the tough climb of Conholt Hill within the first mile, the long descent into Hatherden and then the deceptively hard drag of a road out of Wildhern towards Upton and the finish at Vernham. The conditions were perfect for the time of year with the roads clear and dry but the recent cold spell made for a picturesque climb up Conholt Hill with snow still covering the surrounding fields and verges. The Wheelers had five riders entered and Simon Healey produced a great ride to finish in 5th place overall in 27mins 51secs and was supported well by junior rider Ollie Pritchard who improved his time from last year by over a minute and a half! Ollie's time of 28mins 58secs was good enough for 9th place overall and earned him the top prize in the Junior competition. U16 rider Tom Bolton also improved on his previous years time with 31mins 55secs followed by fellow Wheelers Stuart Thompson 32mins 40secs, Jamie Shearer 33mins 18secs and fastest Lady rider Lizzy Yates in 37mins 23secs. The winner of the event overall was Chris Birch from East Street Cycles in a course record time of 25mins 12 secs.

Words courtesy of Mike Webber.

 

Click on a thumbnail image to expand. Photos courtesy of Barrie Austen.

Click here for more photos from the event, courtesy of Barrie Austen.

Tuesday 24th February – Andover Advertiser Mountbatten Circuit Races report

A number of Andover Wheelers riders ventured down to Portsmouth in what was, for many, their first circuit races of the year.  With 5 Andover Wheelers in the 4th Cat race, everyone was hopefully of a good result.  After a hard race that saw all of the local riders attacking at least once, it all came down to a final sprint finish.  In the final 150 metres a rider fell at the front of the bunch which caused many the riders to take avoiding action, but through the melee 3 of the Wheelers managed to score their first points of the year, with Daniel Hobson crossing the line in 6th, Mark Skeates 7th and Mike Webber 8th. Jamie Shearer and Junior rider Rob Ward also finished well in 23rd and 20th places respectfully.

 

In the 3rd Cat race Junior rider Ollie Pritchard was the lone Andover Wheeler but had a very aggressive race, spending time off the front in breakaways. These breaks were unsuccessful and it all came together again for a bunch sprint finish for the line with Ollie powerfully holding his own among the older riders to score 7th place.

Words courtesy of Mark Skeates & Mike Webber.


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