NEWS & RACE REPORT PAGE
RACE REPORT EVENT No 11 “Velo 99”
This Event was held at North Kelsey in Lincolnshire over 35 miles.
Four Newark Castle riders competed, Chris Hobby, Jim Horner, James Churcher & Steve Lord. A windy day & a hard course in prospect. The 2 H`s (Hobby & Horner) strugged to make any impression on the limit riders. Though in theory they were weaker, they had numerical advantage on their side, to sure an extent that with 2 laps to go they had 4 minutes lead over the 2 Newark riders.
The groups with 10 or more riders in them have an easier race, as there are more to share the burden of racing flat out; the 2 Newark riders were caught by group 3 at the worst possible moment, just as they climbed the big hill on the circuit. It was then a teeth gritting exercise as they tried to hang on & to recover, before the really fast group caught up.
With 3 miles to go, a quick look behind & a large mass of riders were bearing down on us at a rapid pace. Time to bury yourself & give it everything you have got to try & stay clear. Into the finishing straight & there just in front were the limit riders, just too late. As group 2 & 3 finished their sprint, the rest of the field came flying past. Another 200 yards & the finish order would have been completely different it was that close.
Chris Hobby was 8th, James Churcher 11th, Steve Lord 15th and Jim Horner was 30th.
The Good news Hobby won group 2, Churcher won group 4 & Steve Lord won group 5.
Chris Hobby has moved into 3rd place, (overall points) with 2 races to go.
RACE REPORT EVENT No 7 "Velo 99"
Race No 7 of 13 in the “VELO 99” race series was held on the rolling country side of the Leicestershire wolds, very scenic if you are sat in a car, but a bit of a challenge if you are involved in a bike race.
The usual protagonists from Newark lined up, Chris Hobby, Jim Horner & Clive Booth in group 2 & Jim Churcher in group 4. With 35 miles of hard racing in front of you all the riders have mixed feeling about the race. Is the course easy (NO) is the course flat, definitely not, nothing to be gained by worrying about the out come, just get on with it.
The circuit was just over 5 miles round, but this involved 3 long climbs on each lap. One was a bit of a beast with stretch of 1 in 10 to be tackled on each of the 7 laps. By the end of the 3rd lap all limit riders had been mopped up & group 2 were race leaders on the road, but we have all been here before just as you think the win is to be disputed by group 2, when its swish, swish, swish as the fast guys thunder past. As the race wore on group 2 started losing riders, some to fatigue some to the heat, a very warm 22c. With 3 laps remaining just 3 riders were still in the lead, with Chris Hobby the only Newark Castle rider, doing the lions share of the work trying to keep the group clear. With the sound of the bell signifying the last lap, still the group 2 trio were in the lead. Three more climbs to go & none of the chasing groups were in sight. Could this be the first win of the season for the Newark Castle riders with 100 yards to go Chris Hobby made his effort in the sprint to try & win when calamity struck, & he pulled his foot out of his clipless pedals, & on a 1 in 10 gradient riding with one leg is quite a handicap, so it was a disappointing 3rd place, how ever next time.
Jim Churcher won his group coming 9th, 3 minutes down. Jim Horner was 36th & Clive Booth was 39th.
On the overall leaders board Chris Hobby is in 5th place out of 80 riders with 6 events to go. The next race is at Alford Lincs.
Churcher is king of the Castle riders
The fourth race in the 34-mile Velo 99 Series proved to be a step too far for the team from Newark Castle Cycling Club. Each event is run on a handicap basis, with 6 groups separated by 2 minutes, with the fastest going off in last place.
There were 4 Newark riders in the event at serlby in Yorkshire, with Jim Horner, Clive Booth & Chris Hobby in group 2, & James Churcher in group 4.
The race proved hard & exacting for all competitors because of the windy conditions, but the group 2 riders worked well together. Having caught the leading riders, there was a real possibility that they would hold on to the finish, but it wasn`t to be.
With just 1 mile to go, they were caught & overhauled by the rest of the field & with a tail-wind finish; it was 35mph all the way to the finish line.
Churcher was the leading Newark Castle rider in seventh place, but Hobby, Horner & Booth were placed at the wrong end of the field, left wondering what might have been had the race been 1 mile shorter.
Martin Young
All in all pleased with the start of the season, beat previous PB`s (10 & 25tt) by 2 mins.
Still to come City RC Hull 10 tt (21-5-11) & VC Long Eaton 25tt (22-5-11)
7-5-11
Newmarket VTTA East Anglia 25tt
Headwind all the way & still managed a 56-50, Winner was Ian Camish with a 50-07.
30-4-11
Headwind from Long Bennington to Carlton on Trent, no help on the way back, still under the hour with a 59-25. Winner was Matt Botrill 50-00, 2nd place local rider Jim Coleman with a 53-44.
23-4-11
Sleaford Wheelers Charity 10tt, No wind & a really Hot day, No fun like riding through treacle. Finish 19th out of 95 riders (so quite pleased) with a time of 23-52. Winner time Anthony Nash with21-15, 2nd place Jim Coleman with21-16.
16-4-11
VTTA Notts 10tt. Very sunny day with slight headwind on the way back. Managed a PB with a 22-07. The winner was Julian Ramsbottom with 19-37, 2nd place was Jim Coleman with 19-42.
