Club Circuit Race - 22nd September

[TonyC]

Well done Benny Boy on organising a great race.

Brilliant win by Brian in the B group and an epic ride and win by Rich in the A group. My legs were severely ripped off by Steve, Ant, Matt, Alex (and can't remember the the other lads name!!)..that last sprint up the finishing straight was torture!!

All good fun and got my old race juices flowing again so think its time I applied for my BC licence!!

TC

[Keith]

Well done Brian, Rich and Ben.

[Nick L]

Cheers Ben, really 'enjoyed' that

Being a racing virgin I couldn't think of a better environment to have a go, looking forward to next year already!

[HSam]

Absolutely, thanks Ben. First race and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for assigning me a chaperone for the last two laps too (didn't catch the name of whoever that was, but thanks!) Might have to revise my 'give 100% from the gun' approach for next year...and put a few more miles in the legs. Looking forward to it though...

Cheers,

Sam

[Antloony]

Massive hats of to Ben for organising the race at a brilliant venue. Lovely circuit with some great hairpins you can really throw your bike into. Please hold it here next year as the facilities are great, be fun to bring the family along.

Great race win by Rich, just an epic win.

Well done to Brian T for a good B race win and Alan M for a great 2nd.

Thanks to all those that took part and made it a good safe race.

More from me later plus some pics.

[Marek]

Cheers Ben, nice circuit, haven't done that one before, good fun.

Went out a bit crazy at the beginning of the race, wanted to make it a lively one. Attacked on pretty much all of the 4 laps that I was with the group, and then Rich attacked, the group went past me and I was shelled. I then realised that my racing form is not up to speed and I should not have been so aggressive, but never mind. Tried to get back on a bit after I saw Ant get dropped and then get back on, but didn't have the legs. Rode around and got picked up by a B group with Andy E and a few others in it. Helped to sit in front of Robyn as she was yo yoing off the back of the group. Once they had finished I carried on and soloed around and watched Rich B finish off his TT. Steve B was off the front chasing for quite some time, but Rich was too strong and he couldn't catch him.

Sprint was impressive with Rogan Jnr pipping Steve B to the line. Impressive uphill sprinting.

Cheers

Marek....

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

sounds like brilliant fun. well done, Ben, and everyone else that worked so hard to make it happen. well done to everyone that supported and took part in the race. what a great club ACC is!

[Antloony]

[quote="Marek"] I saw Ant get dropped and then get back on.

[Alan M]

I enjoyed today's ride - we sensibly rode round neutralised for the first 5 laps and then re started, fast As first then Bs split into 2 groups. In the first B group we had a stuttering start then it ignited with a couple of guys doing fairly long turns on the front. We suggested shorter turns and Brian with me on his wheel powered into the first bend and I looked back to see that we had lost half the group - he then hit the second bend and beyond it we were left as a group of 2! We settled down to share the work and for the first half of the race Brian did about 2/3s on the front but it was more equally shared later as we held off and I believe maybe gained on the chasing group.

We also enjoyed the drama out on the course noting Rich's epic time trial, Steve's in-vain attempt to bridge back to him and a few damaged men on solo rides. Robyn was caught by the chasing B group but then stayed with them for the remainder. Towards the end I realised that I had failed to drink anything and thankfully we cooled it for half a lap to take on water and gel. My plan on the penultimate lap was to test Brian on the hill up to the start/finish but it worked the other way and he gapped me by about 15 metres which he held to his successful conclusion. So no sprint, but a great race and enjoyable escape. Many thanks to Ben and others and to the encouragement we received. Maybe we should think of doing it at the beginning of the season as well to inspire more racing. The venue was perfect, more comfortable than Hillingdon and super smooth road surface and manageable bends. A great morning!

[olderigetbetteriwas]

It was a great day today. Huge tickets to Benji for organising the event. It's a bit of a thankless task getting days like this together and he did a really good job of making it accessible to all level of rider. Well done, Benny. I had a really good time today and I'd like to thank everyone who was on the sidelines cheering all of us along.

[Martin O]

Ben, thanks for organising a really good day, we should do this more often.

Sam I was your chaperone, didn't have it in my legs today but happy to re-join you for the last few laps.

Well done Brian and a great effort off the front and win by Rich. Whether pro or amateur it's always great to see someone stay away and win.

[Ben]

Thanks to all those that raced and helped. I've posted up the provisional results in the results section.

[Steve B]

Ben, many thanks to you for organising todays racing, well done mate

Ok, I have to start here... Rich, that was a seriously special ride you put in today. A fabulous fabulous win You totally deserve it.

Marek and Rich's plan to 'do me over' showed itself early on with Marek's repeated attacks followed by Rich's little tests. Me and Ant had all moves covered early on but for some reason we missed, or decided not to follow, the decisive break by Rich down the back section on about lap 5 or 6. He gained 30m or so but I wasn't concerened at the time as we'd just close him down as a group over the next few laps, or maybe even leave him out there for a while to tire himself out. But it all went wrong. The group seemed not to gel well, there wasn't much cohesion and more importantly not enough speed as a whole to even keep the gap constant. It was decision time...infact it was past decision time. I decided to chase after Rich myself, not something I'm used to saying, or doing
So off I went. But I couldn't close the gap. Lap after lap of the 1.5 mile circuit went by with Rich cresting the hill coming out of the hairpin just as I was about to descend down to it. The gap was roughly 20 seconds and I'm sure I saw Rich wave at me on one of the laps . I then began to tire and Rich's superior time trialling abilities started to show their mettle. 25 seconds, then 30, it was over! I didn't give up though and kept plowing on. I have no idea how many laps I stayed out there, but it seemed like forever. With the gap at 40 seconds or so, I gave in to the inevitable and eased my way back into the now slightly depleted bunch...my legs were shot!
The 6 of us tried again to thru&off but in vain. Some were more tired than others, some slightly stronger than others in certain sections. Then ptsssssssh... oh bugger I've got a flat. In 3 years of racing on the Surrey potholed roads I've not had a single puncture, and now today on the nicest smoothest racing surface ever, I get one, unbelievable (I think there were others too?).
I rolled carefully around to the start finish area, where Ant had called ahead for a spare wheel. A quick change and a cut through brought me out about 250m behind the bunch. I had to chase again . My legs were full with lactate and the effort to get back on put me way in the red again. There were only 3 laps left now. Rich was way out of sight and our small bunch started to ease right back knowing we were fighting for second and third spots on the podium (and there was a podium ). Ant and Alex seemed the strongest, but everyone had as much chance as the others to take the places. Unfortunately for Ant, he ended up being at the front leading in to the last 300m. He tried an early sprint to create a gap but I saw the move. Then Jonathan moved up the outside drawing Alex with him, then Alex took off and no one could respond. I tried to but the legs had nowt.
A really enjoyable race. A really good circuit and a more than worthy winner. Well done to Alex for his 2nd place (17 years old... a future Addiscombe star I'm sure). Well to Ant, Matt, Jonathan, Tony, Marek, Paul. Even though it was a small field it was still a good race.
Congratulations to Brian for winning the Bs...you just promoted yourself And to Alan for a brilliant 2nd place. And also to everyone else who took part or helped out today. Spread the positive word and lets get more involved next year. Yes I think an early season race is a good idea.

Steve

[Andy E]

I'd echo all of the above. A truly great venue and some great racing. Thanks so much Ben for putting that on

Was great to be back racing again, and i'm very very glad Ben put me in the B group! the B race was handicapped and myself and 4 others set off 2:30 behind the first B group and decided to chase straight away, however with either a headwind, corners or uphill it was difficult to get a smooth through and off going. We were gaining about 10secs per lap on Alan and Brian which was clearly not enough and we never had them in sight. I did as many turns as i could before blowing towards the end when Ashley rode away from me to take 3rd behind Brian and Alan (chapeau guys for staying clear, v strong ride).

Think i ended up 4th or 5th and was totally spent and had a great time. Definitely motivation to get out on the bike more, and an early season race would be a great incentive to work over winter, although that is no doubt a monumental effort and i'm sure shouldn't be suggested lightly.

Great ride by Rich in the A race, and great to see Marek's lost none of his kamikazee attacking style

[ColinM]

A great intro to racing - it was a great learning experience and loved the venue - I never knew I could lean my bike that far over in the hairpin! Thank goodness for those 5 neutralised laps. Eager to give a few races a proper go next season - if that was the point of the exercise - you succeeded!

Thanks Ben, Paul and everyone in the B race for making it such fun - next time I'll try to take a few more turns up front - promise!

Also some great photos on the FB page - thanks Ed.