SERRL Champs 26 Sept

[Sylv]

First let's get the minor details out of the way - a certain Englo/Belgian rider we know of, won the race with some style.

Now onto the much more relevant account of a minor placer .. I'd ridden the Lamberhurst/Frant circuit once before in 2008, reasonably lumpy with 280m ascent per 20.5km circuit, ending with a climb, and some crazy fast descents, of which we'd be doing six and a bit for 125km. Weather not so nice at 9.30am with some rain on the way and chilly temperatures which made kit decision a tough one. 55 starters with strong showing from the Flanders and Onelife boys, Windymilla (even their drink is pink!), Dulwich, and the winner of last week's 2/3/4 race Robert Moore from London Phoenix.

The start was busy as usual with a flurry of attacks, I went with a few but could only watch when Adam's group went away. At some point about five us broke clear on a climb, and got organised into a through and off, which was working well. I was relieved to then see a few more join the action, then it was more and more riders climbing up the double line - oh joy we'd been caught up. From then on it remained reasonably quick, I suffered a bit in places from being too near the front and being left to chase some wheels, the worse was on the part of the course I hated the most, a long straight drag towards the end with a couple bumps, where I killed myself somewhat unnecessarily. Decided after that to recover and not waste energy as the legs were getting heavy after a couple hours.

At the front it was mostly big R.Moore driving the pace diesel-like, on the downhills no-one even bothered to give a hand. We'd got gaps announced at one minute, then 1"30, and the next lap it was almost 3 minutes. That seemed to break everyone's willpower, and on the second to last lap the pace dropped significantly, so much that people started chatting. It was good to recover a bit but not very exciting, so as we approached the climb to the finish for the second to last time I decided to attack right at the bottom, both for surprise and also the fact that the climb was steepest at the bottom, but not all that long and then levelled a bit into a tough headwind, which meant you'd be easily caught if you didn't have good enough a gap by then.

It worked and I was well clear. Next time I looked back I could see one lone rider coming across, he was still quite far but I just knew it could only be one person - my escape companion from the previous week Chas Hollosi, who'd been pretty active in attacks beforehand too. The typical cool rider for me - hairy legs, bike and kit nothing special, no dress sense, forty something man of few words, but super strong especially on the climbs where he's almost always seated - reminds you of anyone?

By the time I'd gotten to the summit we were together and started the through and off. For a second I thought how comfortable it'd been to spend the final 20km hidden in the bunch, getting ready for a big dig on the final climb - but it was too late and we were commited, it was going to be more rewarding too if we'd make it. I was doing ok to start with but the more we went the more I could see that Chas was stronger. When he was coming to the front on the climbs it almost felt like he was attacking at times, and I was having to dig deep to keep up. At some point I dropped my chain at the front, shouted but he didn't hear, and it took some effort to get back once I'd shifted it back in place. We kept looking back but we were well clear, it looked good. I could see a team car back in the distance though, I wasn't sure whether it was following us or preceeding the bunch.

At a junction an old man in a van pulled out from the left slowly in front of us, almost stopped and pulled to the left again, without indicating. I'd gone to his left as it had looked he was about to pull right, so that lost us a few seconds and swear words. We got to the final climb and could see the bunch not far. I wasn't sure we'd make it, with assured attacks from fresher people the bunch, and us carrying on at our normal speed. We could also see a couple riders ahead of us, who'd either been dropped from the break or had also been chasing since earlier. I just knew I had no chance of beating Chas though, so kept pulling my turns, until he attacked within sight of the flag. Crossed the line in 10th with the first followers not even ten seconds behind.

Big props to Adam for his solo win. Sorry they'll never get your name right, even in first place! For me - a 10th place is nothing special, but there's a sense of reward when you've made the effort to break away from the big bad bunch. Oh and our last lap was the fastest of everyone's.


1 Adam Cotterill. Flanders Racing
2 Henry Furniss. Wyndy Milla
3 Nick Hutchings. GS Grupetto
4 Malcolm Davies. Kent Cycles
5 Andrew Hastings. Finchley RT
6 Andrew Dolan. Team Toachim.
7 Matthew Pilkington. Dulwich Paragon
8 Pete Wager. Felt/Colbornes Racing
9 Chaz Hollosi. Gemini BC
10 Sylvain Garde. Addiscombe CC
11 Nathan Russell. PB Science.com
12 James Whatling. Orbea FGS
13 Stewart Martin. One Life Fuga.
14 Simon Lawn. Sigma Sport
15 Martin Miles. In Gear

[img]http://www.londoncyclesport.com/images/stories/serrlfinal2010rep/AdamCotterell001.jpg[/img]



[img]http://www.londoncyclesport.com/images/phocagallery/serrl2010final/thumbs/phoca_thumb_l_P-d_729001.jpg[/img]

[Andy E]

Great write up Sylv. Glad to see you back in the thick of it after all your knee jip this year

Great result Adam, well done

[Sylv]

Just realised this means I'll still be a 2nd cat next year

[Nick W]

Congratulation Sylv all round. Good to see the ACC colours being flown.

And big respect to Adam too!

[Andrew G]

Top work Sylv, but get rid of those white shorts . A great second half of the year for you with the MTB results as well.

Congratulations Adam.

[Keith]

&

[Toks]

Great report as always Sylv and well done on retaining 2nd cat. Fantastic win Adam, well done mate!

[-Adam-]

Thanks everyone, it was definitiely nice to add a win to this years results. I've definitely spent enough time getting my head kicked in this year to feel like I deserved it!

Here's a write up I just wrote for my old team OneLife Development Squad's website...

SERRL Championships 2010 – 26th September

At 9.30am on a distinctly autumnal morning, 55 riders lined up to contest the final race of the SERRL summer calendar for 2010. Josh, Jay and I of Flanders Racing were accompanied by Will, Drew and Charlie from the Development Squad. Six and a bit of the testing Lamberhurst/Frant circuit would total 125km, and with six riders riding as two separate teams, we were bound to make the race hard for the others!

The opening 20km were marked by the usual flurry of attacks, almost all of us covered the early moves, and with Jay getting himself into what was the first serious escape of the race, things were looking good. Second time past the finish area and the veteran Malcolm Davies eased himself off the front without seeming to draw too much attention to himself. I was one of a handful of riders to follow, and as we hit the descent it was clear that we had a purposeful gap. This was the last time I would see the peloton.

The group of five riders settled down and began to rotate well, though with several strong riders still in the bunch, this would not be the winning break. As the peloton began to come back up to us, I took the initiative and attacked the break shortly before beginning the climb up to the finish area. Malcolm came with me, and over the top of the climb we both knew we only needed to ride tempo until more riders came across. Before long, they did. After three laps, the situation was as follows: Malcolm Davies (Kent Cycles), Henry Furniss and Scott Merrilees (WyndyMilla), Andy Hastings (Finchley RT), Nic Hutchings (GS Grupetto), Andrew Dolan (Team Toachim), and one other who I’m not sure of, and myself, were clear of the peloton by around a minute.

In the break we were never given time gaps, but I was assured by the time the bell rang for the last lap, that we were well clear. In the intervening time we had settled into a strong rhythm, which took its toll as Scott Merrilees and the other rider who escapes my memory (sorry!), as they dropped off the break. On the last lap the long draggy road that leads to the finishing climb saw a couple of attempts at going solo, by Malcolm and Henry, but this only served to thin the group further as Andrew Dolan and Andy Hastings were both distanced.

On the final climb, with a kilometer remaining Henry feigned another attack, which was closely followed by a more serious bid from Malcolm. I reacted immediately and by the time I came up to his wheel, opted to launch it straight past him. I looked back maybe five seconds later to see the three remaining riders; heads drooped, and in the saddle. I clicked up a gear and really went for it for a few more seconds until I could see the 200m to go flags. I looked around again to see no one there at all. Time to savor the moment, I dropped back into the little ring, and once the line was in sight rode the final 100m sitting up to salute the crowd… well, my girlfriend, teammates’ families and other randoms at least! My first win in two years had to be milked for all it was worth!

Thanks must go to Dan Bennett and the other OneLife guys who assisted the SERRL organisation, the SERRL organisation, and Jay’s dad for ensuring I was never without a drink! 2010 is not quite over for me; I returned to Belgium the next day and have a handful of races until the season will definitely be finished on the 12th October, at Heist-op-den-Berg. So maybe, just maybe, I can carry some form through and sneak one last result against the Belgian big guns…

Adam

[quote="-Adam-"]Thanks everyone, it was definitiely nice to add a win to this years results. I've definitely spent enough time getting my head kicked in this year to feel like I deserved it!

[Sylv]

[quote="-Adam-"]Here's a write up I just wrote for my old team OneLife Development Squad's website...

[-Adam-]

Essentially I stole your whole first paragraph mate!

[Sylv]

[quote="Andrew G"]Top work Sylv, but get rid of those white shorts .