News - May 2008

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Tuesday 13th May - Good times to be had in Club 10s

The popular 10 mile course to the west of Andover was the setting for the last two Andover Wheelers club events and local riders produce some excellent times. The first event saw four Wheelers get inside 24 minutes to beat the 25mph average speed! Simon Hall and Nick Adnitt showed that they both have some good early season form with Adnitt recording a time of 23mins 29secs to beat Hall by just 11secs and finish 3rd Wheeler overall. Ian Knight has done a lot of hard training miles throughout the winter and it seems to be paying off with an excellent time of 22mins 54secs for 2nd placed Wheeler overall but it was Simon Healey who pulled out a great ride to finish 1st Wheeler overall. In only his second ever 10 mile time trial, he recorded a time of 21mins 45secs to take a minute off his previous best and show that he is the rider to beat.

Fine weather conditions the following week saw Ian Knight improve on his previous time by 47secs and take 1st Wheeler overall in a time of 22mins 07secs. Nick Adnitt also improved his previous weeks time to finish in 22mins 53secs for 2nd Wheeler overall followed by Malcolm Morgan in 24mins 06secs. Other notable rides saw runner turned cyclist Hefin Richards, who is improving his times week by week, record an excellent 25mins 57secs and Andover Wheeler stalwart John Foster who is taking the chance to ride in instead of organise all the club events and recorded a fine 32mins 29secs. The two fastest riders on the night were Dafydd Dylan and James Stewart of the KFS Special Vehicles Racing Team who recorded 20mins 04secs and 20mins 12secs respectfully. The team, as the name suggests, are sponsored by local firm KFS Special Vehicles who are based on the East Portway. Elite riders Dafydd and James had spent the week training with KFS boss, Ian Knight, and had used the event as an excellent way to gauge how well they were going!

Words courtesy of Mike Webber.

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Monday 19th May - Latest Club League tables

A league	01/04/2007	08/04/2008	22/04/2008	06/05/2008	13/05/2008	21/05/2008	Totals
S. Healey	20	20	20		20	20	100
I. Knight	12	12	18	20		18	80
N. Adnitt	16	10	16	18	16		76
R. Hartnell		14			18	16	48
A. Slack	18	18					36
Max Webber	14	16					30
S. Hall			14			14	28
R. Ward	10	8					18
S. Thompson			12				12
B League
P. Dennet	20	20	20		20		80
M. Morgan	18		16	20		16	70
H. Richards			12	18	14	20	64
W. Sawyer	14	18	18				50
T.Bolton	16	16				18	50
J. Foster			8	16	12	8	44
M. Skeats	8	14				10	32
T. James			14		16		30
D. Hobson	6	10				12	28
Mike Webber	12					14	26
L. Yates	10	12					22
N. Benham					18		18
A. High			10				10
Mitch Webber		8					8

Sunday 25th May - Omega Castle Coombe Crits

Four Andover Wheelers competed in the Castle Coombe Crits recently, Gregg James and daughter Karla and Stu Thompson and son Cameron.  Karla had a top first race finishing 2nd in her Category of Girls on a Mountain bike and is looking forward to trying out her new go faster road bike next time.  Cameron too had an excellent race finishing 3rd overall but 1st in his Category, putting in plenty of attacks after the tight corners. This now ranks him 7th overall in the UK in the U12's. Gregg did superb, but is starting to feel the pressure of doing his first proper season, just missed out on the sprint due to going to early but hats off for trying, he finished with a top 20 placing.  Stuart attempted attack after attack in the 3rd category race but just kept getting caught, 6 got away so the group was sprinting for 7th place.  Stuart was just out the top 10 with a 11th place but was happy with his form.

Sunday 25th May - Latest Club League tables

A league	01/04/2007	08/04/2008	22/04/2008	06/05/2008	13/05/2008	21/05/2008	27/05/2008	Totals
S. Healey	20	20	20		20	20	20	120
N. Adnitt	16	10	16	18	16		12	88
I. Knight	12	12	18	20		18		80
R. Hartnell		14			18	16		48
S. Hall			14			14	16	44
A. Slack	18	18						36
Max Webber	14	16						30
S. Thompson			12				14	26
R. Ward	10	8						18
H. Lodge							18	18
B League
P. Dennet	20	20	20		20		20	100
M. Morgan	18		16	20		16	18	88
H. Richards			12	18	14	20	16	80
J. Foster			8	16	12	8	14	58
W. Sawyer	14	18	18					50
T.Bolton	16	16				18		50
M. Skeats	8	14				10		32
T. James			14		16			30
D. Hobson	6	10				12		28
Mike Webber	12					14		26
L. Yates	10	12						22
N. Benham					18			18
A. High			10					10
Mitch Webber		8						8

Saturday 31st May - Latest report for the Andover Advertiser

Many of the the Andover Wheelers have started to move up a gear now that the racing season is in full swing. Simon Healey is proving to be the rider to beat when finishing 6th in the clubs 25 mile 'Open' event with a time of 56mins 41secs. He was well supported by Roger Hartnell who finished in a time of 61mins 58secs, and Lizzy Yates in 75mins 02secs who also finished 2nd overall in the Ladies competition.

Stuart Thompson is also showing some good form by already beating his best '10' mile time from the whole of last season. Thompson rode the fast course to the west of Andover in a time of 23mins 36secs and will surely be looking to improve on that before the end of the season! The previous weekend, Thompson put a good marker down in his quest for the club's 'Best All Rounder' competition when he rode in the 'Charlotteville CC' 50 mile time trial on the A31 between Alton and Farnham. His time of 2hrs 15mins 57secs was only just outside his overall average speed last year and there is plenty of time for improvement.

Simon Hall is another rider looking to have a good go at the club's BAR and got it underway recently in the longest counting event, the 100 mile time trial. The event that Hall entered was also on the A31 near Alton and meant that he had to ride a 20 mile 'out and back' course 5 times, which is as much a test mentally as it is physically! The wet and windy conditions didn't help but Hall stuck to his task well and finished in a time of 4hrs 41mins 47secs, good enough for 23rd place overall.

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