Hillingdon results

[ajay khandelwal]

Congratulations to Mathew Ives who won the Hillingdon 4th cat race in a perfect sprint. That means once his licence is processed he will be a 3rd cat.

That means ACC have won the 4th cat race 2 weeks in a row (last week it was the Shadow).

Mathew sportingly bought all his team mates a cup of tea with his prize money in the club house afterwards. We rather unsportingly tried to drop him on the ride to the train station !

Special mention to Simon in his first race who arrived with all the fanfare of a popstar with his bike in a bag, in a taxi, with a gaggle of fans and supporters. He had a good race riding at the front for a good part and contesting the sprint, maybe place 12. We will see more of him over the coming weeks.

Ray also raced and got a puncture. He was allowed back in with a new wheel, but managed to jump on the E123 race by mistake. He stuck on for a few laps before realising, showing that he has got some real class !

Mathew Day made a reappearance at Hillingdon last night and had a good race, coming in number 4.

Kevin rode strongly in a fast e123 race and got away in a couple of handy looking brakes, especially one 5 laps from the end that was made up of Team Quest, but none of them quite managed to stay away in the end.

Also, Michael Kazimierski (2nd claim ACC) was riding in TSN Sportful colours (after not finding Palace to his liking) and looked very comfortable throughout the race.

[Dr Frigo]

That's wicked. I knew Matthew looked strong on the last clubrun! Well done.

Next week, Kevin Matthew and I go for a winning break in the 3rd Cats and get 1st 2nd and 3rd, and George Matthew(s) and Ray do the same in 4th Cats

[Toks]

Once again fantastic stuff boys!!Well done Mathew. Absolutely brilliant mate!. I bet you're grinning like a cheshire cat today. Its worth remembering that for most of us mere mortals its really hard to win a race. I know a second cat and a first cat who've never won a race. Chapeau Sir

[Paul R]

Well done Matt!

[Dr Frigo]

I saw Polish Andrew last night as I was leaving work from Victoria - he'd missed the train from Paddington to get to Hillingdon.

So instead we raced each other all the way to Croydon.

[Matthew Ives]

Thanks guys

To be honest, I wasn?t feeling too great, what with the heat and a hard day at work lifting and carrying heavy boxes around. However, thanks to the club run training group rides, I knew my form was improving. Riding with riders who are better than you, like Jim, Paul and Sylvain, really helps you improve, even though it hurts a lot.

We had a nice ACC team out , including Matt, Simon (first time racer) , Kevin (E123 race), Ray and the ever present Mr Motivator: Ajay.

Simon, Matt and Ray spent most of the race at or near the front with me and Ajay chatting a bit in the pack. Ray suddenly dissapreaed for a few laps, which was a bit disconcerting, but suddenly reapeared with a shiny new wheel after a puncture. I didn?t see much of what was happening up front, but I did see Simon have a few digs off the front, probably spurred on by a phalanx of supporters who tunred the finish line into a passable impresonation of a TDF stage finish..


With 2 laps to go I was in the top 5 as Ajay let me know he was on my wheel. .
I had one of those Zen moments on the last lap?..it was a bit surreal, but I got totally in the zone. I moved up into position 3 on the back straight and half way down the straight, a guy went for a long one. Obviously he was scared of leaving it till a sprint. No one chased him and he got 20 metres so I put the afterburners on and latched on to him just before the last corner. He was really tanking it and I had a brief look round and the whole field was strung out on my wheel.

Out of the last corner, he was sprinting for all he was worth and I was really comfortable on his wheel. I was just waiting for him to fade a bit but he just kept on going. I remained patient and resisted the urge to go too early. After getting some tips about sprinting from The Shadow a couple of weeks ago, I knew that timing was everything. I wanted to leave it till the last minute to go for it.
It was a prefect lead out and it would have been rude not to have won after that kind of help .

Anyway, half way up the hill, about 100m from the line, I heard the sound of people behind me beginning to kick for home and that?s when I decided to go for it. As I came of his wheel I had a lot of power in the legs and knew I had it in the bag. I just gave it everything in the 53x13 and crossed the line with a lot left in the tank.

I guess I was just lucky to have got on the right wheel and chosen the right moment to kick for home.

What I would say to those who, like me, are not super-fast sprinters is that at Hillingdon, make sure you?re in the top 5 or 6 going into the last corner . You might have to muscle your way there in the back straight. Then on the uphill drag, don?t let anyone come round you. If people start coming round you here, you'll risk getting boxed in or stuck behind a rider as he fades. Up your pace to maintain your position but don?t give it everything. Wait until the road levels out a bit and then go into warp drive. That way, if someone wants to come round you, they have to really start their sprint early, which could play into your favour as you approach the line.

Tea and cake followed and I had a nice relaxing recovery ride home with Matt Day as we discussed mutual friends, the Galibier vs Alpe D?Huez and the superiority of Campag over Shimano.

A great night out.
The only down side is that now I have no excuse not to ride The Palace . I?m not looking forward to getting dropped by Toks and co. Oh dear !!!

[Toks]

Great write up Matt, it felt so life like I was convinced you were gonna get swamped just before the line. Then I snapped out of it and remembered that I already knew the result [quote]The only down side is that now I have no excuse not to ride The Palace . I?m not looking forward to getting dropped by Toks and co. Oh dear !!!

[Matthew Ives]

Just be gentle with me, big boy.

[kieran]

don't worry Matt, a pre race chat with the others will help as will doing a spin around, and no matter how bad you do Toks will always find something positive to congratulate you on, I should know . Anyway I think the reputation may be a bit mythical , Jack did fine transferring from Hillington and I'm doing fine there still a 4th cat with no points.

[Matthew Ives]

Thanks for the encouragement , mate
Hope to see you next Tuesday.

[George]

Nice one

Great result, nice writeup well done Matt.

Everyone's transfering over to Palace now.

[Toks]

4/W/J
1, Matthew Ives, Addiscombe CC
2, Mark Baxter, Palmer Park Velo
3, Milt Warner, Tm Quest
4, Douglas Coleman, Birmingham University CC
5, Dylan Thompson, Twickenham CC/Evans
6, Peter Cornwall, PM
7, N/R (dark jersey)
8, Alexander Bastin, London Dynamo
9, N/R (pale jersey)
10, N/R (orange jersey)

[Steve B]

Fantastic stuff Matthew, you certainly deserve it. Nice to see you timed the sprint perfectly, must have been our little chat last week. I'm well chuffed for you, 3rd cat man!

Now come on Addiscombe, lets make it 3 weeks in a row. Who's up for next week?
I'm in!

[Tim H (liquigas)]

get in - Brilliant

looking forward to seeing you down the Palace!