London League CX Stanmer Park Brighton

[Sylv]

George and me rode for ACC yesterday on what started a dull grey day but then turned into a very wet day as we were driving South. We got there with bags of time but it was raining so hard we sat in the van with the heating on rather than go reccie the course. We knew this was going to be good fun, but just couldn't find the motivation to go out. Eventually the rain stopped and with 15min to go we headed out for a practice lap that had to be shortened due to the sheep in the field - great course still.

I was half expecting to be gridded at the start so didn't really place myself towards the front, but having not yet completed a London League round I wasn't, and so another race starting with some 40+ people in front of me (George got himself a little further up). Lots of bottlenecks, people to pass and crashes to avoid on that first lap, George getting a better start than me. It took some effort but I was back onto his wheel by the end of lap 1 and we we could see the lead group of BJ Whenman, Gareth Montgomerie and Matt Holmes in the distance, followed by a Russell Short and a few more riders.

I passed George and those few riders, to find myself now in 4th. Due to the amount of rain the course was super sloppy but still entirely rideable and good fun, apart from one short steep climb. As it often turns out though, during the race it dried out and some parts became much stickier - not so much fun. I was slowly making progress on the lead group, which still had about almost 1min on me. Matt Holmes then started falling off the three, and after another couple laps I had him in sight and wondering what the best tactic would be once I came up to him. He seemed to be getting quite tired so I thought I'd just ride past him and hope he wouldn't be able to follow. As I got on his wheel though he put a good dig on a flat grassy part which sent me in the red. Still we were coming up to a climbing section so I went to the front. After a few hairpins around trees, we came to an off camber climb, that I'd managed to ride till then (struggled a bit the previous time) whilst I'd noticed Matt had been getting off the bike.

I tried to ride it but it was so cloggy I just came to a halt half way up, not quite ready for a dismount so lost some time. Next up after a tricky off camber section was the steeper climb, and by the time I'd realised pushing the bike was not a good idea there anymore with the amount of mud clogging up between wheels and frame/brakes, it was too late as the bike was far too heavy to shoulder. Which is just what Matt had been doing, and now getting away as I was struggling just to get moving. Only a few more minutes to go then so I gave it all, but it wasn't enough and so finished 4th, not sure what the time gap to Montgomerie the winner was but I reckon under 2", and maybe 20s behind Matt.

I think George will have some pics of our bikes after the carnage (he had trouble with mud clogging and fell back to 25th), and Stuart "Spees" as John called him was there filming too. Next time I should be getting a gridded start, so would like to think I'll be able to keep up with the lead group (moreso if it's muddy : )

Photos by John Mullineaux @ cross-crazy.com

[img]http://www.cross-crazy.com/media/jphoto/201011/mosquito-londonse-senior-league-8/lx104-629x420.jpg[/img]
Holmes, Montgomerie, Whenman

[img]http://www.cross-crazy.com/media/jphoto/201011/mosquito-londonse-senior-league-8/lx235-629x420.jpg[/img]
G.Montgomerie

[img]http://www.cross-crazy.com/media/jphoto/201011/mosquito-londonse-senior-league-8/lx206-629x420.jpg[/img]
M.Holmes

[img]http://www.cross-crazy.com/media/jphoto/201011/mosquito-londonse-senior-league-8/lx171-629x420.jpg[/img]
The bike is still very clean at this stage!

[img]http://www.cross-crazy.com/media/jphoto/201011/mosquito-londonse-senior-league-8/lx250-629x420.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.cross-crazy.com/media/jphoto/201011/mosquito-londonse-senior-league-8/lx256-629x420.jpg[/img]
Phil and Anna G


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/56736870

[size=85]1 33 Gareth Mongomerie Sigma Sport S (1) 6
2 1 Billy Whenman Whyte Racing S (2) 6
3 12 Matt Holmes Arctic RT S (3) 6
4 4 Sylvain Garde Addiscombe CC S (4) 6
5 18 Jason Green London Dynamo S (5) 6
6 17 Russell Short London Dynamo S (6) 6
7 19 Matt Spurgin Evans Cycles RT S (7) 6
8 36 Ian Paine London Dynamo S (8) 6
9 160 Jon Lyons GS Invicta V (1) 6
10 51 Ed Clark Redmon CC S (10) 6
11 45 Philip Glowinski VC Londres S (11) 6
12 157 Martin O'Grady Team Toachim V (2) 6
13 5 James Wilson Sigma Sport S (13) 6
14 22 Christopher Dick London Phoenix S (14) 6
15 46 Dan Braid Sigma Sport S (15) 6
16 25 Stuart Nisbett Crawley Wheelers S (16) 6
17 10 David Klemjam Singular S (17) 6
18 131 Nicholas Smith VC Jubilee J (1) 6
19 174 Andy Seltzer In-Gear Quickvit Trainsharp RT V (3) 6
20 23 Jeremy Bishop Bigfoot CC S (20) 6
21 183 George Higgs Crawley Wheelers V (4) 6
22 6 Ciaran O'Grady VC Deal S (22) 6
23 195 Jo Burt Kona V (5) 6
24 188 Nigel Langridge Unattached V (6) 6
25 3 George Brent Addiscombe CC S (25) 6
26 14 Chris Dobson Gegred Bikes S (26) 5
27 161 Richard Kennison Medway Velo V (7) 5
28 30 James Connell Brixton Cycles S (28) 5
29 9 James Drain Gemini BC S (29) 5
30 158 Simon Scarsbrook Mosquito Bikes V (8) 5
31 11 Mark Schmude 0 S (31) 5
32 200 Stephen Blackmore SEEDS V (9) 5
33 20 Mark Russell Hot Pursuit Cycles S (33) 5
34 32 Mike Causer Lewes Wanderers CC S (34) 5
35 26 George Thomas Crawley Wheelers S (35) 5
36 44 Rupert Robinson Crawley Wheelers S (36) 5
37 164 Kevin Perkins SEEDS V (10) 5
38 52 Andrew Snowsall VC Londres S (38) 5
39 172 Phillip Burnett Mosquito Bikes V (11) 5
40 135 Wilf Sinclair Pearson Cycles J (2) 5
41 31 Vojiech Blazejovsky Unattached S (41) 5
42 203 Andy Parle Brighton Mitre V (12) 5
43 103 Jo McRae BT Racing W (1) 5
44 205 Bharvei Blazing Saddles V (13) 5
45 163 Neil McCann Team Darenth V (14) 5
46 16 Paul Mulley Cycle Pathix S (46) 5
47 29 Nigel Foskett Brighton Mitre S (47) 5
48 185 Tony Bartlett Team Corridori V (15) 5
49 40 Oliver Townsend Cloud 9 Trails S (49) 5
50 191 Thomas Rampulla Liphook V (16) 5
51 162 A Matthews South Downs Bikes V (17) 5
52 190 Tim Unstead Unattached V (18) 5
53 192 Stephen Burgess Lewes Wanderers CC V (19) 5
54 159 Paul Atkinson SEEDS V (20) 5
55 53 Andy Warren Unattached S (55) 5
56 204 Marek Glowinski VC Londres V (21) 5
57 198 Roy Page Brighton Excelsior V (22) 5
58 168 Samuel Ramsey Lewes Wanderers CC V (23) 5
59 41 Conrad Calitz Condor Cycles S (59) 5
60 173 Brian Scarboro Unattached V (24) 5
61 197 John Allen Redmon CC V (25) 5
62 199 Matthew Levett Unattached V (26) 5
63 15 Duncan Haste Brighton Excelsior S (63) 5
64 50 Toby Blackman VC Londres S (64) 5
65 2 Dick Smith Freedom Bikes S (65) 5
66 27 Bahint Hamras Evans Cycles S (66) 4
67 176 Ian Cleverly Mosquito Bikes V (27) 4
68 100 Astrid Wingler London Phoenix W (2) 4
69 34 Mark Perryman VC Etoile S (69) 4
70 49 Anthony Lockyer Rollapaluza CC S (70) 4
71 182 Ian Craig VC Etoile V (28) 4
72 38 Matt Zeitz Pearson Cycles S (72) 4
73 170 Paul Neville Sutton Cycling Club V (29) 4
74 179 P Mason Velosite Gentil V (30) 4
75 171 Greg Blackwell Hastings & St. Leanards V (31) 4
76 136 Eddie Allen Redmon CC J (3) 4
77 107 Tabitha Rendall Team Larkfield Cycles W (3) 4
78 169 Paul Markland Evans Cycles V (32) 4
79 54 Anthony Salmon Zuffle S (79) 4
80 206 Paul O'Donnel Kingston Wheelers CC V (33) 4
81 151 M Tucker Unattached V (34) 4
82 201 Warren Ring Unattached V (35) 4
83 178 Andrew Hoyle Preston Park Youth CC V (36) 4
84 165 David Clark Cheeky Trails V (37) 4
85 189 Andy Murray Norwood Paragon CC V (38) 4
86 48 Chris Abbott Rollapaluza CC S (86) 4
87 47 David Smith South Eastern Road Club S (87) 4
88 155 Alan Brunsden South Western RC Evans Cycles V (39) 4
89 180 R Robson Here come the Belgium V (40) 4
90 108 Helen Bullimore Crawley Wheelers W (4) 4
91 35 Matt Pilkington Dulwich Paragon CC S (91) 4 DNF
91 37 Robert howden Beauvale S (91) 4 DNF
91 133 Matthew Gater VC Deal J (4) 4 DNF
91 186 S Wood Pearson Cycles V (41) 4 DNF
95 196 David Barnard VC Etoile V (42) 3 DNF
95 207 Anthony Rogers Brighton Excelsior V (43) 3 DNF
97 8 James Booth Unattached S (97) 2 DNF
97 43 Thomas Petit Condor Cycles S (97) 2 DNF
97 109 Anna Glowinski Team Mule Bar W (5) 2 DNF
97 184 John Lemonius Unattached V (44) 2 DNF
101 42 Sammy Smithson Condor Cycles S (101) 1 DNF
101 140 Brock Duncomb Rogers Preston Park Youth CC J (5) 1 DNF
101 202 Richard Keyes Crawley Wheelers V (45) 1 DNF
104 24 Dean Taylor VC Moulin S (104) 0 DNF
104 39 Daniel Rudd Arctic Premier RT S (104) 0 DNF
104 104 Nicky Allison Unattached W (6) 0 DNF
104 167 Stuart Lockyear London Phoenix V (46) 0 DNF[/size]

[EdO]

Great result Sylv.

Ed

[George]

Fantastic course but very very wet and mussy conditions like Sylv mentioned as soon as it stopped raining the mud really started sticking as you can see from my bike.

I had a good start and managed to make up loads of places into the first corner although I did have a few people swearing at me, I can't think why though

I think I startled Phil Glowinski as I passed him earlier with a big YeeeHaaar, he was not amused

Then my bike started to grind slowly to a halt and with all the muyd clogging everything up I was having to push out over 400w just to keep going

I was struggling just to keep the wheels turning and on the last couple of laps had to frequently stop to clear out all the muck to keep riding.

Big up to Sylv who had a fantastic race and a really well earned top result, I think cross is just right for ya Sylvain, well done!

Sylvs spotless bike
[img]http://i53.tinypic.com/1601qvn.jpg[/img]
I really dont know how my gears kept working
[img]http://i52.tinypic.com/pvhn8.jpg[/img]
I wish I had disc brakes instead of mud/ilevers
[img]http://i56.tinypic.com/149clrt.jpg[/img]

[Jamie AP]

Thats a weighty looking bike you got their George.

[Marcus]

Great result Sylv, what will you do when you start at the front

George you must have made it easier for everyone else by clearing the track of mud with you mud collecting machine

[Toks]

Nice one Sylv, its gotta be the podium next time. [quote="George"]I had a good start and managed to make up loads of places into the first corner although I did have a few people swearing at me, I can't think why though

I think I startled Phil Glowinski as I passed him earlier with a big YeeeHaaar, he was not amused

[EdO]

George well done.

Just get a second cross bike and change over mid race

[Sylv]

[quote="EdO"]Just get a second cross bike and change over mid race

[Antloony]

Great stuff guys, I enjoy reading about your dirty racing habits

[Sylv]

Screengrab of my bike from Stuart's great movie of the race (you know where to find it):

[img]http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1407/5183817373_6c75551333.jpg[/img]

Thanks to George for letting me use his bike-wash facilities!

Let's do it all over again next time ..

[quote="Sylv"][quote="EdO"]Just get a second cross bike and change over mid race