Brighton Mitre Cycling Club

Brighton Mitre Road Race Update

A few notes on the last few races I've attended.

13th June 2009 - Minet Park Grand Prix (4ths) - Hillingdon

Chasing so far elusive points towards my 4th cat license myself and Mike Leonard headed up to Hillingdon on Saturday.  A hot and sunny afternoon in West London saw a small field of 4ths start the race.  Clif Steele (Brixton Cycles) rode a number of times to break free, but with no luck and similar attacks by others helped reduce the numbers down to 8 for the final sprint.  I came in 5th over the line, the race being won with a well timed sprint from Dulwich Paragon's Matthew Theobalds.

Mike rode in the E/1/2/3 race which saw a number of concerted attempts to break free, but finally a group went away in the final laps and John Spiers (InGear) out sprinted his companions to win.  The final laps were fast and furious as riders covered moves or tried to create something in what was a fast moving race.

14th June 2009 - Susies Circuits (4ths) - Thruxton

The following day I targeted Thruxton in search of another 5 points to secure a 3rd cat license.  In similarly gorgeous weather though this time with little or no wind I lined up for the start alongside Claire.   Early attacks by James Reis (Bristol South CC) and riders from Andover Wheelers set an early fast pace, though both attempts were caught.  Claire riding the Women’s race attacked a number of times trying to shake off Nicola Wheeler (I-Team), along with chasing down attacks from the 4ths.  Coming into the final lap I was positioned well into the short rise and timed my sprint out of the chicane just enough to hold off James Reis and Peter Day (Fareham Wheelers) for the win in a very close finish.  Claire came in about 6th place in the bunch, narrowly missing out on a win in the women’s race to Nicola Wheeler.

Viv represented the Mitre in the 3rd cat race and joined an early move, keeping away for a number of laps but an animated bunch slowly dragged them back. With two laps to go a break of three got a gap but on the back of the circuit they were pulled back and the race was settled in a sprint. 

21st June 2009 - Surrey League RR (3rds) - Goodwood

Another beautiful day for racing saw a good turnout from the Mitre with myself, Mike L, Claire L, Driss, Martin O’B and Morgan in the 4ths.  I arrived just in time to see Morgan ride a great race and clinch 7th place in the sprint and so attaining his 3rd cat license.  For the 3rd cat race a large field set out in the afternoon sun with what I remember to be a fairly slow start.  This was soon changed by Mike L attacking in the first couple of laps.  About a third of the way through a break of around 10 got away including Driss, but once a chase was organised they were pulled back after a couple of laps.  Other attempts were made by riders from Team Mule Bar amongst others, including a last ditch effort from myself 3 laps from the end.  I was joined by 5 others though between us we didn’t have the strength to hold off the chasing bunch.  Once the bunch was back together on the last lap a fast and frenetic dash for position into the chicane saw a near crash, with Driss and many others being forced into some last minute cyclocross.  The ensuing bunch sprint for the line was won by VC Jubilee’s Charlie Heffernan. 

16th & 23rd June 2009 - Dunsfold Park Series #9 & #10 (E/1/2/3/4)

#9 – Morgan, Thatch, Driss, Martyn P and myself were greeted by the customary strong winds of Dunsfold Park.  Tonight’s scratchicap race soon came together and a series of hard early attacks set a fast pace.  A strong breakaway of 25 or so riders including Driss, Martyn P and Thatch formed at the halfway point and looked like they would stay away.  After many laps of harassment, the chasing group finally got organised and caught the lead group with 2 laps to go.   A strong presence of VC Meudon riders swamped Thatch on the final bend, though Martyn and Driss both narrowly missed out on points coming in 14th and 15th place.

#10 - Nathan, Nick S, Thatch and myself represented the Mitre at the 10th instalment of the Dunsfold Park Series.  Strong winds and a small turnout from the E/1/2’s favoured a bunch sprint, though there were a number of escape efforts.  A well organised chase by the 3rds saw the 4ths being caught within a few laps shortly being followed by the arrival of the E/1/2’s.  The Mitre placed well in the final bunch sprint with all riders crossing the line in the front 25 and Paul bagging a point in 10th place.

24th June 2009 – DH Cyclesport Circuits #7/15  (3/4) – Portsmouth

My first outing to Portsmouth was guaranteed to be tough workout with a strong turnout from Fareham Wheelers.  I narrowly missed out on a break which went on the first lap, being chased down by a quickly organised bunch.  As the successful break contained a Fareham rider, they proceeded to distrupt chase, repeatedly breaking the flow of whatever organised attempts were made by a coalition of solo riders.  Attacks were nulified and the bunch speed controlled in a great display of team riding by Fareham Wheelers.  I had a strong attack 3 laps from the end, gaining a gap but soon being reeled in by the chasing Fareham riders.  On the bell lap I had an optimistic all out effort, unfortunately being swallowed up 50m from the line. 

Inter-club 10 mile time trial - 23rd June 2009

Brighton Mitre won the inter-club 10 mile TT against the Brighton Excelsior, held on the Steyning course (G10/97).) Quite an achievement given that we were seriously outnumbered - just half a dozen Mitre riders against a large contingent of Excel.

On a balmy, but breezy evening, the three winning qualifying times were:

Tristan Court 22:35
Sholto Haggart 22:52
Mark Mergler 24:21

(Fastest time of the evening was a 21:38 - but not from a Excel rider)

The combined time gave us over a minute to spare on the Excel team. A great effort from all that put in a ride. And bottles of wine all round (Mark - I've got yours in my celler, maturing nicely.)

19th June – Brighton Mitre Hove Park Circuit Race 3

Thankfully the good weather had returned for the third round in the series on what was a surprisingly low turnout.  With only 13 starters in the Cat 4 race it was a great opportunity for ranking points to be had.  Quite unusually the group stayed together for most of the race despite some attacking riding.  The final sprint out went to Tony Reeves (GS Stella) followed home by Henry Bird (LWCC) and Ed Clark (Redmon).

The Cat 2/3’s was far more tenacious, with attacks from the start by Roger Smith amongst others.  It was Mitres own Charlie Sayer who made the first significant move riding away solo for a good chunk of the race, however he was steadily pegged back.  Driss Jones (Brighton Mitre) soon counter attacked but his move was closely marked by others.  This in turn signalled the winning move of the night with Roger Smith (Wildside 707 RT) and Simon Bird (Dulwich Paragon) working hard together to secure a sizable gap.  Simon Bird attacked his partner on the last lap but Roger Smith proved too strong coming up the rise to the secure the win.

Results

Cat 4 Race

1. Tony Reeves (GS Stella)
2. Henry Bird (LWCC)
3. Ed Clark (Redmon)
4. Derek Mollison (Brighton Mitre)
5. Stuart Kirkham (LWCC)
6. Mark Warrington (Southdown Velo)
7. Frazer Clifford (Morvelo)
8. Nick Wheeler (Private member)
9. Simon Turner (Freeborn.co.uk)
10. Alex Stephenson (Private member)

Cat 2/3 Race

1. Roger Smith (Wildside 707 RT)
2. Simon Bird (Dulwich Paragon)
3. Philip Glowinski (VC Londres)
4. Steve Atkinson (Southdown Bikes)
5. Charlie Sayer (Brighton Mitre)
6. David Streule (London Dynamo)
7. Driss Jones (Brighton Mitre)
8. Rob Pelham ( VC In-Gear)
9. Dan Henchy (Hastings & St Leonards)
10. Nigel Foskett (Brighton Mitre)

 Cat 2/3 Overall Standings (after race 3)
      1. Felix English – 26 pts
      2. Joshua Cunningham – 11 pts
      3. Roger Smith -10 pts
      4. James Lowden – 7 pts
      4. Simon Bird – 7 pts
      6. Jaco Ehlers – 5 pts
      6. Philip Glowinski – 5 pts
      6. Andy Waterman – 5 pts
      9. Daniel Clark – 3 pts
      9. Sebastian Ottley – 3 pts
      9. Steve Atkinson – 3 pts
      12. Jason Salter – 2 pts
      13. David Streule – 1 pt
      14. Nick Sky – 1 pt

Next race 17th July
Cat 4 – 6.45pm Start
Cat 2/3 – 7.25pm Start

18th June – Lewes Crits Series 3

So it was down to the last race of the series and with Nathan holding onto a slender 6 point lead coupled with double points it was always going to be a high pressure evening for the mitre.

Surprisingly the race got off to a slow and cagey beginning with all the main players keeping a close eye on each other.  The pace soon accelerated as the pack approached the first primes with Martyn P doing a great job leading Nathan out for 2nd across the line.  This pretty much set the pattern for the next two laps, with the Mitre boys fighting hard to control the race and set our leader up for prime points which he achieved again on lap two.  Unfortunately he missed out on the third prime points.  Onto the final lap when the pace steadily accelerated down the broyle and round the round about for the final time two riders attacked and were hotly pursued by the Mitre led pack.  Regrettably Nathan was unable to ride himself into a high finish and slipped back to third place overall behind the winner on the night Will Kemp.

Congratulations must go to Nathan for both his win and his placing overall of third.  Also great riding by the Mitre as a team and we can only hope for better next year.

Race Result
1st Will Kemp – One Life Fuga RT
2nd Michael Blann – Sigma Sport
3rd Dan Henchy – Hastings and St Leonards
4th Nathan Boschma – VC In Gear
5th Nathan Russell – Bayeux Landscapes
6th Steve Atkinson – South Downs Bikes
7th Martin Markowski – Bayeux Landscapes
8th Marc Clothier – South Downs Bikes
9th Nathan Dye – Brighton Mitre
10th - James Bowtell - In-Gear development
11th - Drew Holmes - In-Gear development
12th - Graeme Hadlow - Bayeux Lanscapes

Final Overall General Classification
1st Will Kemp – 40
2nd Marc Clothier – 39
3rd Nathan Dye – 32
4th Michael Blann – 30
5th Nathan Boschma -18
6th Dan Henchy - 14
= Steve Atkinson – 14
8th Martin Markowski – 10
= Graeme Hadlow – 10
= Rob Pelham - 10
11th Kevin Lea – 9
12th Nathan Russell - 8
13th George Higgs – 7
14th James Bowtell – 6
15th Martyn Potter – 5
= Andy Comben – 5
17th Driss Jones – 4
18th Paul Gosling – 3
19th Alan Butler – 3
20th Steve Ferguson - 1

15th May - Brighton Mitre Hove Park Circuit Race 2

If the first race in the series was blessed with a warm spring evening, the second race definitely was not. Still 33 hardy riders entered on what can only be described as a cold, windy & rainy evening.

The cat 4 race opened up at a brisk pace, quickly splitting into three groups as a result of some early attacking by Chris Watson (Hastings & St Leonards CC). An effective lead group formed as he was quickly joined by the Ingear duo of Will Kemp & Rob Pelham. They in turn were chased by the trio of Patrick Scarboro (Fit For), Mark Mergler (Brighton Mitre) & Ed Clark (Redmon CC) with another group of five further back.

This set the pattern for the remainder of the battle with the front three coming to finish together with the resulting sprint won by Chris Watson (Hastings & St Leonards CC) followed by Will Kemp (Ingear) 2nd & Rob Pelham (Ingear) for 3rd.

The Cat 2/3 race turned out to be a carbon copy of race one with Felix English (Team Corridori Specialized), first riding away from & then lapping the rest of the field. While Felix went on his merry way a good battle for second place was fought out by the pack with a series of strong assaults by Dan Clarke, Jason Salter among others but it was James Lowden (Lewes Wanders) who finally broke away in the latter stages to take second behind Felix English with Jaco Ehlers (Derosa Décor RT) taking third.

Cat. 4 Race
1. Chris Watson (Hastings & St Leonards CC)
2. Will Kemp (Ingear)
3. Rob Pelham (Ingear)
4. Patrick Scarboro (Fit For)
5. Mark Mergler (Brighton Mitre)
6. Ed Clarke (Redmon)
7. James Prescott (Lewes Wanders CC)
8. Dominic Lowden (Lewes Wanderers CC)
9. Cesidio Quintiliani (Private Member)
10. Zak Emerson (Fire Flies)
11. Morgan Lewis (Brighton Mitre)
12. Alan Buttler (Brighton Mitre)
13. Thomas Rhoden (Worthing Excelsior)
14. Daniel Hyndman (Sussex Nomads)
15. Peter Free (Heavor)
16. Ian Craig (Lewes Wanderers CC)
17. Bruce English (Lewes Wanderers CC)
18. Alex Stephenson (Private Member)
DNF = Brock Duncon-Rogers (Preston Park Youth)
DNF = Peter Hooper (Bayeux Landscape)
DNF = Phil Allen (Brighton Mitre)

Cat. 2/3 Race
1. Felix English (Team Corridori Specialized)
2. James Lowden (Lewes Wanderers CC)
3. Jaco Ehlers (Derosa Décor RT)
4. Daniel Clark (Private Member)
5. Jason Salter (Ingear Development Squad)
6. Daniel Henchy (Hastings & St Leonards CC)
7. Paul Thatcher (Brighton Mitre)
8. Malcolm Dixon (Dulwich Paragon)
9. Mark Ottaway (VC Meudon)
10. Niall Pugin (Norwood Paragon)
11. Alan Lester (Lewes Wanderers)
12. Nigel Foskett (Brighton Mitre)

Cat 2/3 Overall Standings (after race 2)
1. Felix English – 26 pts
2. Joshua Cunningham – 11 pts
3. James Lowden – 7 pts
4. Jaco Ehlers – 5 pts
4. Andy Waterman – 5 pts
5. Daniel Clark – 3 pts
5. Sebastian Ottley – 3 pts
6. Jason Salter – 2 pts
7. David Streule – 1 pt
7. Nick Sky – 1 pt

Next race 19th June
Cat 4 – 6.45pm Start
Cat 2/3 – 7.25pm Start

Club Kit Update

All

Our kit is now in production and the order should be completed by 12 July.

Obviously this date has slipped from the mid June I had originally planned for. The main reason for this was that the artwork took much longer to sign off than I had expected. However, as I'm sure you all appreciate, it is better to have the kit delivered late with the correct design than to have it delivered on time with the wrong design. For future orders the process should be much quicker as I will not have to go through this step again.

Harry will be visiting the manufacturer in Italy at the end of June and he will bring back any kit that has been produced with him so we may have some of the order early.

Thanks for being so patient.

Viv