Sotonia Winchester Crit Races report, 20 July
Phew! Well, with 140 riders taking part including 44 juniors aged 8 and up, I think we can safely say that Sotonia's first crit race event at the great little Winchester Park & Ride circuit was a MASSIVE success! Huge thanks go to Penny Cossburn and Phil Connell who kept the constant flow of competitors rolling and to the commissaries Mick Metcalf, Simon Hall and Andy Corkill doing stirling work to process results quickly - a hard but rewarding days work by everyone involved.
It was a hot and sweltering day in Winchester with another big Sotonia turnout of seven riders in the 4th cat race. From what I could see of the action from the sign on, Phil Wilks went straight to the front with Jon Wren and pulled the lead group clear - a sign of things to come as Phil was clearly enjoying himself and seemed to drive the pace for much of the race. The final lap saw the second group get lapped on the finish line to give the judges a headache. But when the dust settled, Dan Edwards emerged with second place and Phil was rewarded for his hard work with 3rd place. Provisional results have Ben Scott-Munden a very smart 4th after some astute tactical riding by the youngster, Paul Ransom 13th, Dave Deady 15th and Ed Wu 17th. Jon Wren after a strong start was forced to retire, still feeling his injuries from the last race.
The third cat race had an even bigger field of 33 and included newly promoted James Peckham. James followed Phil's lead by driving the early action from the front. After several laps, James found himself gapped from the lead group of 11 and a second chase group of five was formed. James continued to do the lions share of the work to bridge the gap and his gutsy riding was rewarded when he made contact again with 3 laps to go. Inevitably, the pace rocketed with 2 laps to go and Andy Picket of VC Venta took a flyer, holding off the bunch to take the win. James rolled in around 13th place - a fine result for his first 3rd cat race.
The womens race, had an impressive turnout of 14 riders and was won by Megan Chard, with Ruby Chappell second and Sophie Jo Wylie-Morris in third.
The main event of the E/1/2/3 was a fast but cagey affair with club member, Brook Elgie, riding for Hansfords, animating the bunch in the early stages with some strong riding. A few late break attempts were made but it came down to the final lap with the victory going to Matt Clark of London Dynamo, Brook finishing a creditable 11th in a top quality field.
Next up is the VC Venta road race next Sunday (27th) for Tim Dawkins, James Peckham and Jez Hart. Onwards and upwards Sotonia - this club is going places!
Full results: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/106688/Sotonia-Criterium#results
Graham Robins' awesome race pics can be found here
Results - Sotonia Summer Road Race, 6 July
Full Results
| Pos | Name | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steven Roach | BC Private Member |
| 2 | Edward Sutton | Wightlink LCM Systems Cycle RT |
| 3 | Rowan Horner | VC St Raphael |
| 4 | Adam Capes | Finchley Racing Team |
| 5 | Ben Carty | Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves RT |
| 6 | James Davey | Mid Devon CC |
| 7 | James Ellmore | Mid Shropshire Wheelers |
| 8 | Cameron Austin | Look Mum No Hands! |
| 9 | Nigel Williams | Python Racing Team |
| 10 | Toby Parnell | Cambridge CC |
| 11 | Robert Ward | Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves RT |
| 12 | Andy Brown | Glasgow Cycle Team |
| 13 | Kris Jasper | Falco Racing |
| 14 | Hugh Knudsen | Team Tor 2000 |
| 15 | James Archibald | G.S. Henley |
| 16 | Ewan Tuohy | Catford CC Equipe/Banks |
| 17 | Gavin Francis | London Dynamo |
| 18 | Charlie Leech | Southampton University RC |
| 19 | Nick Spencer-Vellacott | CC London |
| 20 | Hugo Crabb | Tri UK |
| 21 | Simon Ker | Bath Cycling Club |
| 22 | Brook Elgie | Peter Hansford Racing |
| 23 | Chris Hutchings | Velo Club Venta |
| 24 | Carl Silver | Bournemouth Jubilee Whls |
| 25 | James Peckham | Sotonia CC |
| 26 | Grant Smith | Crest Cycling Club |
| 27 | Douglas Tandy | Fareham Wheelers Cycling Club |
| 28 | James Leach | Imperial Racing Team |
| 29 | Chris Courage | Bournemouth Jubilee Whls |
| 30 | Thomas Key | Southampton University RC |
| 31 | Mark Valentine | Poole Wheelers CC |
| 32 | Henry Nelson | Southampton University RC |
| 33 | Ian Hayden @ 1 lap | Wightlink LCM Systems Cycle RT |
| 34 | Tim Butt @ 1 lap | Banbury Star CC |
| 35 | Timothy Dawkins @ 1 lap | Sotonia CC |
| 36 | Scott Michaels @ 1 lap | Southampton University RC |
| 37 | Paul Ransom @ 1 lap | Sotonia CC |
| 38 | Javier Arias Gonzalez @ 1 lap | Kingston Wheelers CC |
Behind The Bikeshed Summer Series 5 - Thruxton, 1 July
Another cracking summer evening down at Thruxton, with Will Weynberg again flying the flag for Sotonia that saw the 3/4 race set off at quite a steady pace unlike previous races, but things soon speeded up a few laps in. There were a handful of attacks from the bunch but none of these held much promise and all were reeled in within a few minutes.
It was the final lap before the decisive moves were made - up the penultimate climb there was a dangerous looking escape that Will was able to counter before sitting on and being reeled back, only for a trio to counter over the top and gain a 10 second advantage that they held on to all the way into the final hill ascent. It was at this point that another stinging attack was launched by William Harper of Dulwich Paragon which Will was again able to counter and hold onto all the way into the sprint. Coming into the final straight there were about five riders with a small gap over the field and Will managed to sprint into second place behind the winner, Daniel Mcquillan of Tri UK.
This result boosted Will's already increasing lead in the series overall rankings. Will who started the year as a new fourth cat rider, is now heading impressively towards second cat status in current form - chapeau!
Next up, the focus turns to this Sunday and the Sotonia Road Race at Owslebury which will no doubt provide a worthy test for the seven Sotonia riders scheduled to ride it - good luck to all!
Thruxton results here
Sotonia Family Fun Ride, 29 June 2014
Fine weather today and a fine turnout for the latest Sotonia Family Fun ride. 18 riders in total with 10 kids and some impressive riding by the youngsters - some of whom had bearly been on a bike until recently. Certificates of achievement were duly awarded by Phil to the proud (and somewhat ice cream wearing) winners Libby, George and Finley!
The next family ride is early August so watch this space!
Velo Club Venta Summer Crit 1, 29 June
Another race another Sotonia win - saying that is never going to get boring! Congratulations to Tim Dawkins who won the 4th cat race today at Winchester and 3rd cat promotion - lapping most of the field on his way to an impressive win.
Tim soon got away and the only rider to get close to him was Oliver Leach (UCLU CC) who was at one point 22 seconds behind with a further eight riders 10 seconds behind him. James Peckham bagged another podium spot in third, Ben Scott-Munden 8th and Paul Ransom in his second race finishing around 20th in the bunch.
Great work guys!
Graham Robins' report: here
Behind The Bikeshed Summer Series 5 - Thruxton, 24 June
It was yet another sunny evening at Thruxton for the fifth round of the Behind The Bikeshed Summer Series. This week saw a diminished number of Sotonia riders in the 3/4 cat race, just Will Weynberg in fact, but still a healthy field of 65 riders lining up for the nine lap race.
The race got off to a furious first three laps with attack after attack trying to slip away from the field. Will tried his hand to get away in an early break but the wind and the large field size made this near on impossible especially when everyone had fresh legs.
Throughout the race there were attacks from ones and twos but with limited success. Nobody gained any great margin and it looked increasingly likely that the race was going to end in a sprint finish.
In the final lap Will moved himself up into the top 15 riders and advanced even further up the field up the final hill and coming out of the final chicane was in a perfect position to launch a strong sprint. He came past the five riders ahead of him and surged for the line to take the victory by over a bike length.
That's two race wins and three top fives for Will this year already who is flying right now! Hopefully we will get some similar results at the Winchester Park & Ride on Sunday, and a few more in the team for Thruxton next week.
Sotonia Summer Road Race Start list, July 6 2014
| Name | Club / Team | Cat |
|---|---|---|
| Javier Arias Gonzalez | Kingston Whls CC | 3rd |
| Cameron Austin | Look Mum No Hands! | 3rd |
| Sam Baker | Wightlink LCM Systems Cycle RT | 3rd |
| Ruan Bester | Bath Cycling Club | 3rd |
| Ben Bradley | Southdown Velo | 3rd |
| Andy Brown | Glasgow Cycle Team | 2nd - Junior |
| Adam Capes | Finchley Racing Team | 2nd |
| Ben Carty | Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves RT | 2nd |
| James Cooper | Rock N Road Cycles | 2nd |
| Chris Courage | Bournemouth Jubilee Whls | 3rd |
| Hugo Crabb | Tri UK | 3rd |
| Timothy Dawkins | Sotonia CC | 4th |
| Brendan Drewett | Fareham Wheelers Cycling Club | 2nd - Junior |
| Daniel Edwards | Sotonia CC | 4th |
| Brook Elgie | Peter Hansford Racing | 2nd |
| James Ellmore | Mid Shropshire Wheelers | 2nd - Junior |
| Gavin Francis | London Dynamo | 3rd |
| Thomas Goodyer | Portsmouth North End CC | 3rd |
| Thomas Grigson | Bynea CC | 2nd |
| Ian Hayden | Wightlink LCM Systems Cycle RT | 4th |
| Rowan Horner | VC St Raphael | 2nd |
| Chris Hutchings | Velo Club Venta | 3rd |
| Simon Ker | Bath Cycling Club | 3rd |
| Thomas Key | Peter Hansford Racing | 2nd |
| Frank Kilsby | VC St Raphael | 2nd |
| George Kirkin | Imperial Racing Team | 3rd |
| Hugh Knudsen | Team Tor 2000 | 2nd |
| James Leach | Imperial Racing Team | 3rd |
| James Local | London Dynamo | 2nd |
| Ben Macland | VC Meudon | 2nd |
| Mo Mansoori | Twickenham CC | 3rd |
| Scott Michaels | Southampton University RC | 4th |
| Christopher Morrison | Cadence Cycling Performance | 2nd |
| Henry Nelson | Southampton University RC | 4th |
| Toby Parnell | Cambridge CC | 2nd |
| James Peckham | Sotonia CC | 4th |
| Paul Ransom | Sotonia CC | 4th - Junior |
| Harry Ribbons | VC Meudon | 2nd |
| Bob Richardson | Bournemouth Jubilee Whls | 3rd |
| Steven Roach | 2nd | |
| Edward Rowe | Sotonia CC | 4th - Junior |
| Martin Sanders | Wightlink LCM Systems Cycle RT | 4th |
| Gary Sheppard | Bath Cycling Club | 2nd |
| Carl Silver | Bournemouth Jubilee Whls | 3rd |
| Shaun Smart | Southdown Velo | 3rd |
| Grant Smith | Crest Cycling Club | 3rd |
| Trevor Smith | Cotswold Veldrijden | 3rd |
| Edward Sutton | Wightlink LCM Systems Cycle RT | 3rd - Junior |
| Douglas Tandy | Fareham Wheelers Cycling Club | 3rd - Junior |
| Benjamin Timberlake | Bournemouth Arrow CC | 4th |
| Tony Toynton | Southdown Velo | 4th |
| Ewan Tuohy | Catford CC Equipe/Banks | 3rd |
| Mark Valentine | Poole Whls CC | 3rd |
| Robert Ward | Felt-Colbornes-Hargroves RT | 2nd |
| Tim Warner | Blazing Saddles Cycles | 3rd |
| Tim Wiggins | Team Wiggle | 2nd |
| Jonathan Wren | Sotonia CC | 4th |
| James Davey | Mid Devon CC | 2nd |
| James Archibald | G.S. Henley | 3rd |
| Tom Burnley | Thames Velo | 3rd |
| Kris Jasper | Falco Racing | 2nd |
| Charlie Leech | Southampton University RC | 2nd |
Newbury Summer CX race, 19 June 2014
First impressions were that warm, sunny evening weather felt very odd in contrast to the last cross race six whole months ago. A field of 58 lined up for round 3 of this summer series, including four Sotonia riders dusting off the team bus and their cross bikes: Phil Wilks (who finished a fine 11th place last week), Phil Connell, Jon Dudley and Jez Hart, with a updated course from last week that was still pretty brutal. Using most of Goldwell park in Newbury, the fast course snaked its way round the lower grass sections before climbing the hill into a wooded section, then an all too brief, descent full of fast corners and the occasional molehill.
As the dust settled on the usual mental first lap, Jez found himself in 10th position, closely followed by Phil Wilks and Phil Connell. after a couple more frenetic laps, the gap between them seemed to be stretching before Phil C fell off the pace after a spill. Several groups formed and it was a good idea to keep in touch with riders ahead as there was always one behind trying to bridge across. Jez managed to swap positions a few times with his group and eventually finished in 15th place. Phil W next across the line in 20th, followed by Phil C (25th) with Jon, regretting his earlier weights session at the gym in 46th!
UK champ, Steve James of Hargroves Cycles, rocked up at the back of the grid on his mountain bike just before the start and swiftly tore through the field to win.
This is a great event by Banjo Cycles - looking forward to next week!
Pics courtesy of Kinesis.t2
Super cool F1 style live tracker and results here:
http://www.newburysummercx.org.uk/2014/2014-06-19-BanjoCycles_Summe...
There's even a race video! http://vimeo.com/98710069
More pics: http://photocart.sports-alive.com/index.php?do=photocart&viewGa...
Omega Circuit Crit, Winchester, 15 June
In a field of 26 starters including six Sotonia riders, the 4th cat race saw a fast start on the Park & Ride circuit, with Andrew Pickett and Paul Double of VC Venta going up the road straight away. After three laps the bunch split up and a small chasing group was established, including James Peckham and Tim Dawkins - animating the chase for Sotonia and four other riders. They pulled back Paul Double and shortly after, Tim put in a big attack. He was away for a long time, then as he was pulled back, James played the perfect 1-2 and attacked himself. James was then caught just before the half hour mark.
With three laps to go, instead of waiting for the sprint, James launched another attack, taking second before Tim won the bunch kick for third place. The two other groups behind that contained Ben Scott-Munden (9th), Jonathan Wren (11th), Jez Hart (14th) and Ben Hames in his first ever race (18th).
It was really good to see so many Sotonia racers again. Bring on the next one!
Some great pics by Graham Robins: https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/99077595@N00/sets/72157644777264308/
4th Cat Results
| Pos | Name | Club | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Pickett | Velo Club Venta | 10 |
| 2 | James Peckham | Sotonia CC | 8 |
| 3 | Timothy Dawkins | Sotonia CC | 7 |
| 4 | Christian Hatton | VC St Raphael | 6 |
| 5 | Ian Hayden | Wightlink LCM Systems Cycle RT | 5 |
| 6 | Darren Orchard | Portsmouth North End CC | 4 |
| 7 | Paul Double | Velo Club Venta | 3 |
| 8 | Steven Williams | Army Cycling Union | 0 |
| 9 | Ben Scott-Munden | Sotonia CC | 1 |
| 10 | Michael Gallagher | Uni of Bristol Cycling Club | 1 |
| 11 | Jonathan Wren | Sotonia CC | 0 |
| 12 | Andrew Banks | Salisbury Road and Mountain CC | 0 |
| 13 | David Scott | Behind The Bikeshed | 0 |
| 14 | Jez Hart | Sotonia CC | 0 |
| 15 | Phil Butchers | New Forest CC | 0 |
| 16 | Graham Lenton | New Forest CC | 0 |
| 17 | Julian Sheppard | New Forest CC | 0 |
| 18 | Benjamin Hames | Sotonia CC | 0 |
| 19 | Ben Baxter | VCGH | 0 |
Results – Club 10 Mile TT on P140, 12 June 2014
| Position | Rider | Club | Cat | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy Bryson | Peter Hansford | 23.10 | |
| 2 | Gawain Young | Sotonia CC | Vet | 23.30 |
| 3 | Adrian Jenkins | GA Cycles | Vet | 23.48 |
| 4 | Andy Pickett | VC Venta | Junior | 23.48 |
| 5 | Phil Connell | Sotonia CC | Vet | 23.53 |
| 6 | Jahan Hunter | Sotonia CC | 24.02 | |
| 7 | Paul Double | VC Venta | Junior | 24.12 |
| 8 | Matt MacDonald | Hargroves | 24.15 | |
| 9 | James Peckham | Sotonia CC | 24.32 | |
| 10 | Jamie Franklin | VC Venta | 24.53 | |
| 11 | Jon Legg | Sotonia CC | 24.56 | |
| 12 | Jonathan Eggett | C&T | Vet | 25.50 |
| 13 | Angela Burnikell | Sotonia CC | Lady Vet | 25.52 |
| 14 | Nick Wisby/Jon Radford | Sotonia CC | Vet | 25.53 |
| 15 | Simon Greenway | Sotonia CC | Vet | 26.11 |
| 16 | Rob Tomlinson | Sotonia CC | Vet | 26.16 |
| 17 | Ian Boshier | Southampton Tri | Vet | 26.17 |
| 18 | Ed Rowe | Sotonia CC | Junior | 26.52 |
| 19 | Jez Hart | Sotonia CC | Vet | 26.54 |
| 20 | Richard Burch | Sotonia CC | Vet | 27.16 |
| 21 | Tim Banks | C&T | 27.47 | |
| 22 | Paul Ransom | Sotonia CC | Junior | 28.19 |
| 23 | Ian MacDonald | Hargroves | Vet | 28.23 |
| 24 | Andrew MacDonald | GA Cycles | Vet | 29.01 |
| 25 | Greg Vint | Sotonia CC | Vet | 29.35 |
| 26 | Neil Catchlove | C&T | 29.46 | |
| 27 | Sandy Bell | Sotonia CC | Lady | 29.47 |
| 28 | Julian Gee | Sotonia CC | Vet | 30.03 |
| 29 | Martin Napier | Sotonia CC | Vet | 30.31 |
| 30 | Brian Grierson | Sotonia CC | Vet | 33.36 |
Event pics can be viewed here