News - March 2008

Tuesday 11th March - Youngsters race at Hillingdon

Another trip to the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit and another successful set of races for the Andover Wheelers youngsters. In the U16 race, Max Webber and Tom Bolton worked well together and good teamwork allowed Max to initiate the winning break of 3 riders. The small group leading riders were all doing their bit to stay away while Tom was marking any moves to bridge the gap. The 3 leaders managed to stay away and contest a close sprint for the line in which Max just missed out to finish an excellent 2nd place. Tom's hard work also paid off when he finished just behind the leaders in 6th place. 12 year old Mitchell Webber has only just moved up to U14 level and was competing against riders almost 2 years older than himself. A fast start to his race didn't help but he battled away bravely to finish in a satisfactory 8th place. 11 year old Cameron Thompson and 10 year old Jed Webber were competing in their first U12 race of the year but didn't disgrace themselves. Cameron finished well in 5th place with Jed not too far behind in 9th. The U18 junior race was included in the main 4th Cat race and saw local riders Ollie Pritchard and Rob Ward compete in a huge bunch of over 50 riders! The tight and twisting Hillingdon circuit isn't ideal for a large group of riders and you have to have all your wits about you just to stay in the bunch. But they both stuck to their task well with Ollie finishing in an excellent top 20 position and Rob safely in the main pack!

Words courtesy of Mike Webber.

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Tuesday 11th March - MTB racing by Nick Adnitt

I’ve raced the Gorrick MTB series (www.gorrick.com) for about 6 years now, competing in the Veteran category for the over 40’s. It is one of the most hotly contested classes and the top 10 vets would perform well in any of the other races when comparing lap times. Last season I saw my finishing position fall as I became one of the oldest vets and found the “young” 40 year olds a bit too quick

But this is the year of my 50th birthday so now I’m a Grand Vet. Looking back over the past few seasons, my lap times showed I would be competitive and in the previous events only 6 to 8 Grand Vets turned up, so I was looking forward to an easier ride.

I missed the annual Salisbury Plain challenge but trained regularly on the turbo and was optimistic, especially as I had a new Felt bike.

Round 1 of the Gorrick Exodus Spring Series was on 27th January . The venue was changed at the last minute due to army manoeuvres on the original site. The practice lap showed two very steep hills which were impossible to ride. You could get about half way up and then had to dismount and push.

“Unfortunately” the weather turned out nice sunny and I was on the start line with a field of 22.

The first lap was the usual chaos with riders fighting for track position to avoid being held up in the single track section. There was also the added problem of catching the slower vets who had started 3 minutes earlier. Just under 25 minutes later at the end of the lap, I was in 11th place hanging on to the top 10, with the next rider already 2 minutes behind. There I would stay loosing 1 minute on the second lap and 1½ minutes on the third.

11th meant not scoring any series points as they are only awarded to 10th place, plus I was over 17 minutes behind the winner.

   © copyright Guy Swarbrick

The next round was in 3 weeks time on 17th February, time to concentrate on off-road skills and bike handling. I setup a 25 minute circuit around Smanell woods and did two laps about three times a week plus some more turbo, that should do the trick.

17 riders turned up this time and the start was straight up a steep climb. I got a good start but I was hanging on to 9th place and going faster than I really wanted in the single track as I was conscious I was holding up a couple of faster riders who were cursing me as there was no where to overtake until the open sections and those are the bits I’m good at.

Inevitably they overtook and I paid for the fast first lap and suffered big time on laps 2 and 3 ending up 11th again and point-less.

   © copyright Guy Swarbrick

   © copyright Guy Swarbrick

OK, so stamina is the problem, another three weeks until the next one on 9th March 2008. During that time I rode to work in Wokingham (80 mile round trip) every week and got some 40 mile rides in over the weekends.

18 riders took to the start at Crowthorne Woods, a circuit I’ve ridden often, though they do make a few changes to catch riders out. One special feature is the “cork screw” which is a tight series of rolling peaks and troughs. It’s a fantastic sensation if you can use the descents to roll up the ascents similar to a roller-coaster, as long as a slower rider doesn’t hold you up or you come a cropper on the many exposed roots.

13th place after lap 1. Two riders had clearly “over cooked it” and at the end of lap 2 I was in the familiar 11th spot AGAIN!

   © copyright Guy Swarbrick

   © copyright Guy Swarbrick

The next event is in three weeks time on 30th March at Frith Hill, Deepcut, Surrey and the last on 20th April at Porridgepot Hill, Deepcut.

The time trial season has started and I’ve got two open 10 events with Dave Dinsdale on the tandem, maybe that will do the trick and I’ll get the illusive 10th place and into the points.

If anyone has some good, effective training advice, please let me know.

Race lap analysis.

Position	Race time	Behind winner	Lap 1	Lap 2	Lap 3
11	01:17:23	12:32	24:56	26:01 +65 secs	26:26 +25 secs
11	01:22:37	14:56	25:49	27:42 +113 secs	29:06 +84 secs
11	01:16:44	13:29	24:42	25:49 + 67 secs	26:13 +24 secs

Monday 17th March - Two Wheelers finish in the Top 10 of the South DC BAR competition

A solid season of time trials in 2007 saw two Andover Wheelers finish in the Top 10 of the South Best All Rounder Competition. The season long competition is based on the riders fastest times over 25, 50 and 100 mile time trials ridden on local courses in the south of England. Stuart Thompson recorded 63mins 52secs for 25 miles, 2hrs 6mins 2secs for 50 miles and 4hrs 33mins 58secs for 100 miles to gain 9th place with an average speed of 23.063mph. Nick Adnitt just had the edge over Thompson with times of 62mins 59secs for 25 miles, 2hrs 6mins 12secs for 50 miles and 4hrs 29mins 40secs for 100 miles with an average overall speed of 24.429mph and an excellent 7th place overall.

Words courtesy of Mike Webber.

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Wednesday 19th March - Simon Foster takes 6th place in Calshot Winter Track League

From Simon Foster:

Here are my results from the Calshot winter track league. The league starts in November and runs until the 2nd week of Feb. Each meeting consists of 5 various races. A 28 lap warm up race, 5 lap sprint (including heats, semi's and final) an unknown distande race, a points race and a distance race to finish with. The distance race varies each week depending on how much time there is left. Despite being indoors it is always cold and was quite a shock to the system when I turned up for the 1st meet in November. Having not raced on the track for over 5 years I'd forgotten how hard and intense the racing was. After getting over the taste of blood in the lungs and the frantic pace I started to settle into the racing and remembering the tactical intricacies of track racing. As my results improved I started picking up places and points and eventually went on to finish 6th overall in the league. I had a brief interuption to the league early December when I competed in the South Of England cyclo cross champs in Devon, finishing in wet and blustery conditions in a respectable 19th. After the New Year I was back on the track and picked up a few more points to keep my 6th place. Track is a great way to improve bike handling and increase your speed. I've added a couple of links from Guy Swarbrick for photo's. Simon https://www.theimagefile.com/?skin=6899&Action=VF&id=238608440&pcp=21&ppwd=mr3768vt https://www.theimagefile.com/?skin=6899&Action=VF&id=238613240&pcp=61&ppwd=mr3768vt https://www.theimagefile.com/?skin=6899&Action=VF&id=266223240&pcp=81&ppwd=vb7227rv Calshot Winter League 12
Road & Track - B League - Overall	6	OVER 23		5
Road & Track - Senior B League - 28 lap Scratch	3	OVER 23		0

Calshot Winter League 11			27.01.2008
Road & Track - Senior B League - Unknown Distance	3	OVER 23		0
Road & Track - Senior B League - 28 lap Scratch	3	OVER 23		0

Calshot Winter League 10			20.01.2008
Road & Track - Senior B - Distance Race	2	OVER 23		0

Calshot Winter League 8			06.01.2008
Road & Track - Senior - Sprint	3	OVER 23		0

Calshot Winter League 4			25.11.2007
Road & Track - Senior - B League Unknown Distance	2	OVER 23		0
Road & Track - Senior - B League Sprint	3	OVER 23		0

Calshot Winter League 3			18.11.2007
Road & Track - Senior - B Distance Race	3	OVER 23		0
Road & Track - Senior - B League Unknown Distance	3	OVER 23		0
Road & Track - Senior - B League 28 lap Scratch	3	OVER 23		0
Road & Track - Senior - B League Sprint	3	OVER 23		0
Road & Track - Senior - B League Points Race	3	OVER 23		0

Thursday 27th March - Wheelers road racing at Thruxton

Another two weekends of cycling at the local Thruxton Racing Circuit produced some more good results the Andover Wheelers riders. Windy conditions in the first event made it extremely tough for all the riders but it was the youngsters who produced some impressive results. Steffen Burgess and Emily Foster were having their first ever races and pulled out excellent rides with Steffen finishing third in the U10's race and Emily second in the U12 Girls race. Mitchell Webber scored his first point of the season with a solid performance and third place in the U14's and Max Webber was unlucky to miss out after just being caught on the line after being away on his own for the whole of the last lap. In the main adult race, Ian Knight and Gregg James rode well in the 70 strong bunch but the constant headwind up to the finish took its toll on James but Knight battled away well to gain a solid Top 20 position.

The following week saw the windy conditions replaced by extremely wet conditions but this didn't deter the youngsters. Jed Webber produced his best ride so far with a hard fought third place in the U12's race and Emily Foster gaining another excellent second place in her race. 16 year old Max Webber sprinted well in his race to finish third and 14 year old Tom Bolton, who has only just moved up from U14 to U16 level showed plenty of determination to finish in ninth place against boys who are up to 2 years older than himself. The adult races again saw Ian Knight finish well in his race but Simon Foster produced a great ride in the 3rd Cat race to finish in 14th position and was supported well by junior rider Ollie Pritchard who finished inside the Top 20 but took third overall in the junior race.
Words courtesy of Mike Webber.

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