September is where the end of the road season meets the start of the cyclocross season and our team has been busy both on and off-road. It’s been an incredibly successful year for our road team, standing 7th in the Southern region rankings on 295 points (up from 11th in 2015) with an impressive 10 rider promotions. Our youth team is also growing fast so the future is bright for team Sotonia…
VC Venta Summer Criterium 4
In the last Winchester Criterium of the year, Josh Bakker added his name to the strong club results on the Park & Ride circuit this season with a fine win and promotion in the 4th cat race with George Karta coming 5th.
Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers Road Race
The 56 mile 2/3/4 road race on the tough 5.7 mile Lulworth Castle circuit saw James Peckham finish 14th place in the bunch sprint, and Ben Scott-Munden 25th.
Wessex Cyclocross round 1, Newbury
The cross season kicked off on September 18th with hosts Newbury Road Club at Mary Hare School and its usual mix of a big hill, woods and fast grassland. Previous years have brought ever increasing rider numbers and this was no different with a whopping 445 across all categories.
Sotonia had 7 young riders in the U12 race who all thoroughly enjoyed the racing. The combined v40 and junior race topped out with 110 starters including Phil Connell, Jez Hart and newcomer Jon Hall for Sotonia. Jon quickly showed his potential by storming to 15th place from the back of the grid. Jez and Phil finishing 31st and 32nd. In the v50 race (61 starters) John Phillips was 30th and Simon FitzJohn 50th.
Tom Budden started where he left off last season, finishing a strong 9th in the seniors (85 starters), Tobie Charlton 17th, Craig Hay (28), Phil Godfrey (31), Ben Darnton (48).
Wessex Cyclocross round 2, Swindon
There were top rides by our seniors at Swindon last weekend – Tom Budden had a great start and was lying 3rd before a heavy fall on an off-camber corner led to an eventual 6th place finish. Tobie Charlton also had a great race only slightly marred by a clash on the penultimate corner that put an end to his rear mech to get 13th. There were good rides also by Craig Hay (27th), Phil Godfrey (36th), and Ben Darnton (44th).
Another stormer also from cross newcomer, Jon Hall in the V40 race who made the most of good gridding this week after round 1 to finish 7th in his category and Phil Connell (21st v40) – we can see Tobie and Jon cracking the top 10s in the near future! 🙂
