June Race News Round-up
It's been a very busy few weeks as the summer racing events come thick and fast. Here's a run down of how we've been getting on recently...
VC Venta Winchester P&R Crits, 29 May
The first crit held at Winchester Park & Ride Circuit where we had a win for Ollie Graham in the U8's and two great rides for a 4th place for William Harley and a 5th for Lucas Mills. In the under 10's we had a 9th for George Connell and in the U10 girls a 5th for Evelyn Mills and a 4th in the U12's for Ella Connell.
Winchester City Criterium, 5 June
In the spectacle that was the Winchester Criterium round the streets of Winchester, what a great days racing was had by our seven young riders. Another win for Ollie Graham in the U8's with a 10th for William and a 12th for Lucas Mills. In the U10's we had an 18th for George and 19th for Samuel Ridgement and a 24th for Evelyn Mills. Again well done guys really good to see a good representation from our youth.
In the 3rd cat race, James Peckham continued his fine run of form with 4th place. James: "A Lone rider got away early. Group of ten chasing, then five by the finish. It was the hardest race - hot and fast, no let up all race. With six laps to go, I attacked hard to split the group, but forgot that I needed to slow down for the corner! I almost decked it into the hay bales, lost speed and nerve a little. I wasn't going to catch the leader but wanted to split up the group a bit so I worked with another rider but got caught. My sprint wasn't perfect, I waited too long and didn't have a clear run to the line."
Phil Godfrey finished 11th in a hard fought 4th cat race. Phil: "I started well in the 4ths but wasn't on my game today. There were three young riders from the Channel Islands who were head and shoulders faster than anyone else and lapped the field. I lost the wheels and was back in 13th most of the race on my own but I kept going and caught a few on the drag to finish 11th."
Southern XC MTB round 5, Crow Hill, 5 June
It was a super hot, tough day last sunday at Crow Hill near Ringwood for round 5 of the Southern XC MTB race series. The course was mostly wooded singletrack with a lot of roots that got slippier as the day went on and a couple of climbs. There were loads of crashes in the rutted ditches but that didn't stop Tom Budden from bagging a third consecutive podium finish in Sport and Tobie Charlton 9th. Jez Hart was 24th out of 54 riders in Open cat.
Henstridge Circuit race series in Dorset, 6 June
On Monday Ben Scott-Munden travelled to Dorset for the 2/3 race at Henstridge picking up 5th place.
Behind the Bikeshed Series, Thruxton, 7 June
Another cracking ride by James Peckham at Thruxton race circuit with 3rd place in the 3rd cat race as he gets ever closer to second cat promotion!
Dunkeswell, Devon
Meanwhile further afield in Devon, Andy MacKay picked up a second place in the 3/4 race at the East Devon Circuit Series at Dunkeswell. Andy also picked up a cool fifth place at Moreton in the TLI race series last week.
Team Axiom Timetrial weekend, 11 June
There were some seriously quick rides from Sotonia in this event on the P881 and P885 courses on the A3. In the '10', James Peckham was 15th with 20:14, Dan Edwards, 27th with a PB of 20:41. In the '25', James was in action again with a super quick 53:03!
Sotonia Summer Criterium 1
It's less than a week now until the next episode at Winchester P&R with Sotonia’s first of two crit race events on Sunday 19th June. Don't miss out - Online pre-entry closes wednesday!
#teamSotonia
Results – P164 TT, 3 June 2016
| Pos | Name | Club | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Wilks | Sotonia CC | 22:28 |
| 2 | Jonathan Hall | Sotonia CC | 22:45 |
| 3 | Nick Austin | Sotonia CC | 23:09 |
| 4 | Andy Poss | DHC | 23:37 |
| 5 | Paul Lockyer | DHC | 23:55 |
| 6 | Steve Wood | 24:00 | |
| 7 | Alex Dickinson | Sotonia CC | 24:49 |
| 8 | James Dick | Tri Team Wessex | 25:00 |
| 9 | Stuart Grace | GA Cycles | 25:15 |
| 10 | Tony Maschio | VC Venta | 25:35 |
| 11 | Justin Priest | DHC | 25:39 |
| 12 | Angela Burnikell | Sotonia CC | 26:27 |
| 13 | Mark Chamberlain | 27:01 | |
| 14 | Jamie Cole | DHC | 27:02 |
| 15 | Dave England | Crabwood CC | 27:09 |
| 16 | Niels Langhout | Sotonia CC | 27:22 |
| 17 | Mike Round | Bournemouth Jubillee | 27:55 |
| 18 | Craig Foord | Come and Try | 28:49 |
| 19 | Mary Corbett/Geoff Oswald | Sotonia CC | 30:10 |
| 20 | Chris Summers | Sotonia CC | 30:19 |
| 21 | Norman Harvey | Sotonia CC | 31:15 |
| 22 | Gary Charalambous | Come and try | 31:33 |
Sotonia Time Trials are organised by club members – this event could not have taken place without:
Dave Crocker, Martin Napier, Ian Stewart, Jon Dudley, Trevor Gaunt, Mick Bradban, James Peckham, Jan Burnage, Tim Cooke, Gawain Young
Sotonia Success at Venta Criterium
It was a trio of Sotonia wins for Ollie, Red and Ed in the first VC Venta Summer Criterium of the year at the Winchester Park & Ride circuit last weekend. There was plenty of exciting racing and early in the day, six of our youth riders enjoyed themselves with a victory for Ollie Graham in the U8 boys.
Red Walters sprinted to a win in the 4th cats (and 3rd cat promotion), he told us about his race: "I heard that breaks stay away at the PnR so I made sure I was at the front from the get go. There was a break of five in the first lap which I managed to get in. The break lasted only a few laps due to the wind and because some guys kept attacking the break. Despite many attacks, none actually stayed more than half a lap. Coming up to the bell lap, I gave an effort which put me into fourth wheel, halfway down the back straight, a couple of guys attacked and I followed which gave a small gap to the rest of the bunch. I launched my sprint in a good position and was making ground on the others, then one of my feet un-clipped, but I managed to still take the win by a couple of cm."
Russell Speight finished 7th and Joffrey Carlier was 12th. The women's race featured Angela Burnikell, finishing 4th in her first road race.
To follow that, Ed Slot then won the 3rd cat race for Sotonia! Ed: "It was a very fast race from the start, when our group of five formed we were all working really well together. About 40 minutes in, we all eased up a bit (to my relief). I attacked with a lap to go just before the top corner, got a bit of a gap and held it to the finish."
Jonathan Hall was the next finisher for us with 7th place after a puncture cost Andy Mackay another top 10 finish. Jon: "I got caught behind a clip-in crash on the startline so was way down the line as it strung out over first few laps. I could see the head of the race disappearing and thought that was it, but just kept hanging on the wheel in front. With crashes and people popping, we became a group of nine behind the lead five. The lead group came past and we were told not to jump on. Our 8 became 7 after Andy's safety pin incident, then on the last lap the guy behind me tried to bomb me on the top corner, but only ended up crashing and also taking the rider behind out. That left five going down the back straight so I sat in until the last 50 metres and then moved to the front so was first into the bottom corner. Then just pedalled as fast as my little old legs would go and managed to hold on for 7th."
Thanks to VC Venta for putting on another great event!
Sotonia Summer Criterium 1
Just three weeks now until the next episode at Winchester P&R with Sotonia's first of two crit race events on Sunday 19th June. Online entry is available here.
Tom Wins in Wasing Park MTB
The hottest day of the year marked a first Cross Country Mountain Bike win for Sotonia's Tom Budden in the Sport Category at Wasing Park in West Berkshire. A big event turnout of around 350 riders raced round three of the Southern XC MTB park and hilly woodland course in the sunshine. A challenging and technical course with A, B and C lines for some steep, technical drop offs (A-line for the very brave only) were complemented by woodland scenery stuffed full of bluebells, sharp climbs and descents on the flowing and mainly single track course.
Off the back of his highly successful cyclocross season where he finished 4th Senior in the Wessex League, Tom has quickly found his feet in MTB racing. After a good start on the long open field and tarmac sections, Tom settled into a lead group of three riders. By lap three of four, he found himself out front alone and never looked back from there, finishing a minute ahead of Nicholas Try (West Drayton MBC).
Tom told us how the race unfolded:
[quote align="center" color="#999999"]I really enjoyed that today. Great course, very technical in places with some pretty nasty drop offs (which maybe didn't suit me). But then a few tough climbs which did work well for me! I was with a group of three for the first lap, one of them punctured at end of the lap. Then I worked with the other guy for the second lap, he tried to make a move then blew up so left me out by myself for the last two laps... just had to not make any mistakes![/quote]
Red rocks it at Thruxton
It was another good night of racing at Thruxton yesterday for Behind the Bikeshed Summer Series round 1 and Sotonia were out in force! With fourth place for promising junior Red Walters in only his second outing in the 4th cats, Matt Dixon in 7th and Russell Speight rounding off a trio of Sotonia in the top 10 with 9th place.
Red Walters: "It started off a bit slower than last week so I spent some time in the wind and tried to stay near the font. After a couple of laps I burnt out and spent another two recovering at the back. I stayed mid pack until the last lap when Phil Godfrey made a move with one other guy so it was strung out chasing them down. I was around 10th wheel on the back straight which was great and left me around 6th before the sprint, after which I nabbed 4th."
There was also another top five finish for James Peckham, fourth in the 3rd cat race - not bad sprinting on a flat tyre! Great riding guys!
James Peckham: "Another good race with Paul Ransom and Andy McKay active on the front. I did attack half way through, and drew out a good group including Paul and Brook Elgie (Rock n Road). Paul attacked with three to go, Andy bridged to a promising move but were caught with two to go. Last lap a break hung out until just before the chicane, the eventual winner hopping from that into the front five. I was about 6/7th at that point. I left it late to open up the sprint and finished 4th. After the race my tire was flat, so who knows if that was going soft during the finale!"
#teamSotonia
Kicking off Behind The Bikeshed Summer Series in style
It was a fully booked season opener for the Behind the Bikeshed circuit race series this Tuesday at Thruxton with a large contingent for Team Sotonia making the journey to a very cold motor circuit.
In the 4th cat race, Sotonia had five riders - Phil Godfrey, Russell Speight, Matt Dixon and two new juniors - Josh Bakker and Red Walters.
Phil Godfrey reports: "The 4th cat race was pretty hectic from the off really. Lots of dodgy riding and getting caught by women on the left and some E/1/2 riders on the right! Then there was a big crash involving a few DHC and Josh, about 10 riders came down. I was a bit disappointed to miss the break - a Venta guy and Matt went away soon after the crash and noone, except Russ who did a lot of work on the front, seemed interested in chasing. I won the bunch sprint for 5th and Russ just behind 6th."
In his first race, Matt held on for a very impressive 2nd place in the breakaway. Red also looked strong in his first race as a junior and was near the front all race, finishing 25th in the large field.
Josh Bakker described his crash hampered race: "Two guys locked bars right in front of me, I went flying over the top. I tried to catch up but never quite made it back to the bunch."
The 3rd cat race was also pretty 'eventful' where we had James Peckham, Paul Ransom and Andy MacKay riding.
James: "There was some confusion in our race with laps, we had an extra lap, I think it was while commissaires were dealing with the aftermath of the crash in 4ths. On what should have been our bell lap there were questions in our group as to whether it was the last lap. However the pace picked up and there was a sprint on what turned out to be the bell lap. Riders all over the road, slowing and others speeding on etc. Luckily no one attacked and I got into a good position in the top 5, held that onto the hill, as the pace slowed near the chicane I opened up my sprint and held on down the finishing straight for 3rd place with Paul close behind in 9th."
Andy finished in the pack after an active race, riding strongly to chase down attacks and was unlucky not get in a break.
Ben Scott-Munden lined up for Sotonia in the E/1/2/3 race, where there was an early two man break of Ken Buckley (Eden Verenda) and Paul Double (VC Venta). With the race in pieces and seemingly noone willing to chase, Ben waited to the last lap to get away from the main bunch and take 14th.
So plenty of great top 10 results for the team for the Summer series opener. We're looking forward to next week!
Thanks to Steve Oliver of the pics.
Youth coaching update
The spring/summer of 2016 has seen a great start for our youth coaching for Sotonia. This weekend marked our third session back at Southampton University Avenue Campus and we've been seeing bigger groups every week. With 16 kids in attendance this week and a further two new recruits - over 30 kids on our records and an appearance by our very own chairman, the future for Sotonia Youth is looking bright.
This week's sessions consisted of the older group (8+) lead by Jez, learning the art of leading and following and riding together, taught on a circuit of corners where communication and steady pace were the order of the day. A great way to introduce them to group riding and riding close to someone’s wheel... the kids are loving it and we're struggling to get a word in edgeways by the end of a session with their noisy enthusiasm!
The younger ones (under the age of eight) coached by new trainee coach Mel, concentrated on balance and weight shifting, to help them maintain control whilst moving their body about their bike. This was achieved by negotiating narrow channels and then attempting to lower themselves enough to fit under a limbo bar which kept getting lower throughout the session.
We’ll be at Avenue campus car park next Saturday (9.30-11am), if you know of any kids who like riding their bike and would like to come and give our sessions a go, please let them know!
May Family Ride
Coming up too is our monthly Family Ride, departing the Standing Hat car park near Brockenhurst at approximately 10am on Bank Holiday Monday May 2nd. Again please do come along as it’s a great way to enjoy cycling with the family.
Strong team showing at Sandie Radford
The Sandie Radford Road Race was once again held on the Woodfalls circuit in the New Forest last weekend. With three large laps and just one final blast up the steep Pipers Wait climb in Nomansland in this years edition to the finish of the 40 mile race and there was some confident riding from the 10 Sotonia racers taking up the challenge.
Sotonia riders were in the mix throughout the race with James Peckham and Ed Slot active on the front of the bunch and a valiant breakaway effort by Andy McKay at mid point in the race as he bridged over to form a short lived three-man-break with Matt Downie (Eden Veranda) and James Hywel-Davies (Gillingham & District Wheelers).
Nothing stayed away though and it all came down to the final climb with Phil Godfrey and Ben Scott-Munden doing a great job of stretching out the group as they rode to put Ed Slot in position for the last ramp to the line. Ed put in a big dig and was just pipped to third spot on the line by James Horton (Cannondale) to take fourth behind winner, Calum Croft (Primera-TeamJobs). Just behind in 6th place was James Peckham, followed by Phil Wilks (13th) and Jonathan Hall (16th - and winner of his age group) giving Sotonia an excellent four riders in the top 20 of a high quality field.
Ed Slot powers his way to fourth place.
190bpm heartrate = Automatic tongue deployment for Phil Wilks
Racing and TT news roundup - 10 April 2016
Last weekend (9th and 10th April) was a very busy one for the Sotonia racers.
James Peckham and Ben Scott-Munden went to Hillingdon on the Saturday to race on the 0.94 mile closed road cycling circuit. James finished in the bunch in 3/4 Cat race, and Ben took an excellent 12th in the E/1/2 race, continuing a string of good results after moving up to 2nd Cat this year. James said...
"Rolled in with the bunch, couldn't really move up later in the race. I put in a cheeky dig mid way but wasn't going to stay away. Fun circuit!"
Dan Edwards had a chance to catch up with James and Ben whilst going through roadworks on the M3, but was instead heading up to Newmarket for an early season blast on the fast E2/25 time trial course, and getting a 25 mile PB of 53:56 with hopes of going even faster in the next couple of weeks.
"I made the journey up to ride the fast E2/25 (or 25.2!!) course. Conditions were good with a circa 10mph headwind for the run out to the turn which meant a lovely tailwind assisted return. I didn't have much in mind for the race, I mainly wanted to get a fast 25 in the bag and test the legs a bit. I decided that I would press on hard up to the turn, knowing the return leg would be much easier, sadly I got a bit carried away and went out way too hard. I was in a pretty bad way by about 8 miles but managed to hang on and reach the turn at an average of about 26mph. The return leg was a blast, and I averaged 30.1mph for 12.5 miles back to the finish - provisional result is 53:56 which is a bittersweet PB - I lost about 5 seconds at the turn stopping for a couple of cars but mainly my terrible pacing meant that I really could/should have done better. Will I ever learn to keep a lid on it in the first few miles?! Next race is another 25 on another fast course (and one I know from last year) so hopefully all going well I'll be able to shave a bit off that time."
Jez Hart and Tobie Charlton both journeyed up to Surrey to enter the Gorrick MTB race at Frimley Green, both racing in the Open category and finishing inside the top 10. Jez reports...
"Tobie and me rocked up at the race with 10 minutes to spare. So no pre-ride but a really good course full of peaty twists in the woods, climbs and sketchy descents. Tobie got 6th, I was 9th."
Matteo Charlie Ichino hopped across to the Isle of Wight to ride the third and final round of the SpyVelo Cyclocross Cup. Matteo finished 4th in Round 1 and 5th in Round 2.
"On the island it was tough! Wight Mountain and Spy Velo were in contention for the teams classification, so they were ganging up hard, getting me in the crossfire (this is me trying to find excuses). I got 4th senior, 5th overall after a disappointing sprint against the first of the V40s. I think I still got third overall, but the official standings are not out yet. Overall it was a good series, and there is words going around that they might host a Wessex league event next season."
Ed Slot was on holiday in Devon and decided to make the most of the trip by entering a local road race...
"I managed to get into the Plymouth Corinthians RR at Modbury (after being 10th reserve). Great course that really suited me but very windy conditions. The race was going well for me until someone crashed in front of me around 15 miles into the race, luckily I avoided crashing myself but I had to stop and then after chasing back on, was held up by another crash. I did my best to get back into the bunch but wasn't gaining any ground so pulled out after an unplanned 10 mile TT a minute behind the race. Winner was James Hywel-Davies, Andrew Lockwood (from So'ton Uni) came 2nd - both riders finished around 30 seconds ahead of a very whittled-down bunch. Not the result I hoped for but happy I raced and that I didn't crash."
For Phil Wilks, Sunday morning was the Sotonia Hill Climb. The sunny weather helped attract a great turnout of 22 riders, with about a further 20 gathered at the top of Dean Hill strategically positioned to see the maximum amount of pain...
"One of my goals for the year was be beat my PB of 2:10, and I'd done 2:13 in training the previous week so everything was going to plan, but there was a pretty strong headwind so I decided that this probably would have to wait until the Autumn event. Gemma (my wife) was also riding the event, which was lucky as 5 minutes before my start I realised my back tyre was flat and informed her that I'd be borrowing her wheel which would be promptly returned. Somehow I managed to pull a 2:04 out of the bag which I was very pleased with to say the least, and I believe equals the course record set by Paul Double (VC Venta) in 2015."
Sandie Radford Road Race, Start List
| No. | Name | Club | Cat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bob Tyrrell | Dursley R.C. | |
| 2 | Garry Squires | Bournemouth Jubilee | |
| 3 | Roland Tilley | Ridebike.co.uk | |
| 4 | Julian Lockwood | Hub C.C. 11634 | C |
| 5 | Rich Stephens | Sotonia C.C. 15045 | C |
| 6 | Faye Faber | I.O.W. Cycling Club 15227 | L |
| 7 | Richard Burch | Sotonia C.C. 11065 | B |
| 8 | Jay Eastwood | Primera/Teamjobs 11165 | B |
| 9 | Stuart Peckham | New Forest C.C. 11623 | B |
| 10 | Lizzy Campbell | Bournemouth Jubilee 13821 | L |
| 11 | Tim Cooke | Sotonia C.C. 13912 | B |
| 12 | Jonathan Hall | Sotonia C.C. 14704 | B |
| 13 | Rick Garman | Unattached 15003 | B |
| 14 | Gary Hill | DHC Racing 15081 | B |
| 15 | Jason Gault | Primera/TeamJobs 14206 | A |
| 16 | Simon Merritt | UK-Biking/Copyrite 15088 | A |
| 17 | Rowan Horner | V.C.St. Raphael 15161 | A |
| 18 | Kim Little | Merida Factory Racing 10777 | M |
| 19 | David Pusey | Primera/Team Jobs 11041 | M |
| 20 | Rupert Silman | Bournemouth Jubilee 11042 | M |
| 21 | James Horton | UK-Biking/Copyrite 11408 | M |
| 22 | Simon Rogers | Royal Navy & Royal Marines CA 12862 | M |
| 23 | James Ash | Rock N Road 13217 | M |
| 24 | Phil Wilks | Sotonia C.C. 13720 | M |
| 25 | Andrew MacKay | Sotonia C.C. 14266 | M |
| 26 | Michael Ford | V.C.St. Raphael 14622 | M |
| 27 | Stewart Ward | New Forest C.C. 14671 | M |
| 28 | Brook Elgie | Rock N Road 14720 | M |
| 29 | Matthew Rollinnson | Bournemouth Jubilee 14941 | M |
| 30 | Philip Godfrey | Sotonia C.C. 15085 | M |
| 31 | James Cotty | Unattached 15124 | M |
| 32 | Daniel Stephens | Rock N Road 15144 | M |
| 33 | Liam Somerville | I.O.W. Cycling Club 15234 | M |
| 34 | Edward Usher | Unattached 15237 | M |
| 35 | Samuel Wadsley | Poole Wheelers 12612 | S |
| 36 | Calum Croft | Primera/Team Jobs 14124 | S |
| 37 | Cole Pearce | Vectis Roads C.C. 14566 | S |
| 38 | James Peckham | Sotonia C.C. 14572 | S |
| 39 | Ben Scott-Munden | Sotonia C.C. 14717 | S |
| 40 | James Meakin | UK-Biking/Copyrite 14722 | S |
| 41 | Tom Stocker | Bournemouth Jubilee Whls 15105 | S |
| 42 | Ed Slot | Sotonia C.C. 15119 | S |
| 43 | Jack Bailey | Mud Sweat N Gears 15133 | S |
| 44 | Oscar Hutchings | Primera/Team Jobs 15214 | S |
| 45 | Robert Williams | Army Cycling Union 15216 | S |
| 46 | Joshua Hooper | Primera/TeamJobs 12317 | J |
| 47 | Edward Hatfield | Primera/TeamJobs 12525 | J |
| 48 | James Hywel-Davies | Gillingham & District Whlrs 13202 | J |
| 49 | Jacob Aries | Primera/Teamjobs | |
| 50 | Alex Collins | Unattached 14990 | J |
| 51 | Charlie Cooper | Eden Verandas Racing 15194 | J |
| 52 | Tom Temple | Primera/TeamJobs 15213 | U16 |
| 53 | Freddie Broadmead | Frome & District Wheelers 15009 | M |
| 54 | Neil Adlem | Andover Wheelers 15248 | M |