Power to weight ratio doesn't really come in to play at Tockwith, so yeah, probably.
I intend on doing Kirby Misperton and Brandsby, then anything i can get to after exams...
Racing Roundup
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Cyan Skymoos
- Posts: 525
- Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:46 pm
Steve Rigby Memorial RR this morning where Clifton were represented by Paul, Cam, Darren, Martin, Tim and I. Apart from one guy who seemed to disappear without anyone noticing after a couple of laps, it ended up in a bunch sprint for the rest of the placings. There were various attempts to form a break but the wind and lack of a significant hill kept it together. I got nowhere near the front at the sprint (poor positioning, lack of committment and power!) and could not see how everyone else finished. Some hill work needed I think, especially as next weeks race is on the Bulmer-Terrington circuit.
Second BC race and certainly better than the first. Lovely weather in comparison to 'wetandwindywang' and the bike remained in one piece to the end.
Second BC race and certainly better than the first. Lovely weather in comparison to 'wetandwindywang' and the bike remained in one piece to the end.
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Cyan Skymoos
- Posts: 525
- Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:46 pm
I've never seen such a big group come to the finish of a race on the Bulmer/Terrington course. I don't understand it, the race had split - I was off the front with some very good lads, and on the last lap it all came back together. I just don't get 2/3 racing, it's like some bunch engines would rather stop others winning than actually try win the thing themselves. I think Richard and Paul got up there in the sprint, I sat up with legs spent, from my efforts. The Elite race looked like it was a good one with bodies all over the place.
Still enjoyed the race, probably enjoy racing now more than I ever did. It was also nice to see the Howard Amos trophy again, and someone has had my mis-spelt name corrected
Saw a few local club riders helping out..thanks guys.
Still enjoyed the race, probably enjoy racing now more than I ever did. It was also nice to see the Howard Amos trophy again, and someone has had my mis-spelt name corrected
Saw a few local club riders helping out..thanks guys.
Quite an event this morning at the divisional champs. Five laps around the Ganthorpe circuit meant five times up Bulmer and down Terrington banks at full tilt (always chickened out and touched the brakes before this race). Was expecting a split race but in the end a bunch sprint. Paul M was nearly taken out by a water bottle on the first decent and I lost mine on lap 2 (thanks for your spare Paul). Darren got away with three or four riders with about two gone and then I was in a small chasing group which joined them with about one and half to go, but in the end it somehow came back together. At the sprint Paul M timed it to perfection and got third (many congratulations) and I ended up eleventh. Also congratulations to Heather who got third in the ladies race. Two podiums for Clifton!
Never one for the numbers but was shocked to see a 23 mph average on such a hard curcuit, which explains why I felt shattered, and topped 53mph according to my speedo down Terrington. Overall a very enjoyable experience.
However, time for a break after six consecutive weekend races. Hope to make the Saturday club run and a cafe stop next weekend.
Never one for the numbers but was shocked to see a 23 mph average on such a hard curcuit, which explains why I felt shattered, and topped 53mph according to my speedo down Terrington. Overall a very enjoyable experience.
However, time for a break after six consecutive weekend races. Hope to make the Saturday club run and a cafe stop next weekend.
Did I not promise you an adventure, Richard?
Apologies to the road racing purists but as Sean Kelly likes to say "You've got to make the calculation"! I've been feeling rubbish recently - ever since that race at Wetwang 3 weeks back I've had a sour throat and just been real tired. But I have belief in fate, trusting your instincts and your sub conscious. Was going to ride the circuit last Thursday night but could hardly get the pedals round so just had a steady ride. Did an hour yesterday, felt a bit better. Didnt feel that great first thing this morning so I started the race with no ambition - just happy to see what happens. But I've loads of experience on this circuit - up to a bunch finish in a Premier Calender race, a couple of divs, a couple of Cycleworks events, several of our own road races. All you have to do is bang it up Bulmer Bank every lap. So that was what I did. Just stayed near the front up there, kept my powder dry and felt better as the race progressed. When it all came together on the last lap I did nothing. I was sat behind Richard Binks at the back of the bunch on the road up to Sheriff thinking he was probably the wheel to follow. But he nipped round on the right hand gutter which I didnt really fancy so pity really because he really was the wheel to follow! More luck than judgment that I got anything as there were a few bodies in front of me crossing the line but mostly juniors apparently.
Congratulations to Heather - 3rd place in her first proper race despite a shaky start and more points than the rest of us put together and now the chance to enter the womens national champs at Ampleforth in a months time.
Thanks to everyone involved in the event and for the support from the roadside!
Apologies to the road racing purists but as Sean Kelly likes to say "You've got to make the calculation"! I've been feeling rubbish recently - ever since that race at Wetwang 3 weeks back I've had a sour throat and just been real tired. But I have belief in fate, trusting your instincts and your sub conscious. Was going to ride the circuit last Thursday night but could hardly get the pedals round so just had a steady ride. Did an hour yesterday, felt a bit better. Didnt feel that great first thing this morning so I started the race with no ambition - just happy to see what happens. But I've loads of experience on this circuit - up to a bunch finish in a Premier Calender race, a couple of divs, a couple of Cycleworks events, several of our own road races. All you have to do is bang it up Bulmer Bank every lap. So that was what I did. Just stayed near the front up there, kept my powder dry and felt better as the race progressed. When it all came together on the last lap I did nothing. I was sat behind Richard Binks at the back of the bunch on the road up to Sheriff thinking he was probably the wheel to follow. But he nipped round on the right hand gutter which I didnt really fancy so pity really because he really was the wheel to follow! More luck than judgment that I got anything as there were a few bodies in front of me crossing the line but mostly juniors apparently.
Congratulations to Heather - 3rd place in her first proper race despite a shaky start and more points than the rest of us put together and now the chance to enter the womens national champs at Ampleforth in a months time.
Thanks to everyone involved in the event and for the support from the roadside!
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Cyan Skymoos
- Posts: 525
- Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:46 pm
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like my bike
- Posts: 697
- Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:19 pm
- Location: The East
Regional Champs Well done Clifton
Masters
1. Richard Binks Clay Cross Road Team 2nd 55 miles in 2:34:02
2. Richard Moore Squadra RT 2nd
3. Paul Musgrave Clifton CC York 3rd
4. Tristan Emptage Crosstrax 3rd
5. Stephen Bottomley Crosstrax 3rd
6. Paul Bell Peak Road Club 2nd
7. Paul Dixon V S Cycles, Brighouse 3rd
8. Sean Smith Halifax Imperial Wheelers CC 3rd
9. Stephen Gibson Peak Road Club 2nd
10. Antony Goundry Active/CPCycles RT 4th
11. Barry Mordue Crosstrax 3rd
12. Richard Douthwaite Clifton CC 4th
13. Andrew Whitehead Stocksbridge CC 3rd
14. Andrew Richardson V S Cycles, Brighouse
15. John Askew Active/CPCycles RT 3rd
16. James Cullen Otley CC 3rd
17. Tim Howcroft Otley CC 4th
18. Mark Jacobi Peak Road Club 3rd
19. Darren Bendelow Clifton CC 3rd
20. Tony Grassby Peak Road Club 3rd
Women
1. Iona Sewell GB Cycles 34 miles in 1:44:22
2. Charlotte Walton (VS Cycles)
3. Heather Tuffs Clifton CC
4. Nikola Butler Vivelo Bikes
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/a ... ionships-0
Masters
1. Richard Binks Clay Cross Road Team 2nd 55 miles in 2:34:02
2. Richard Moore Squadra RT 2nd
3. Paul Musgrave Clifton CC York 3rd
4. Tristan Emptage Crosstrax 3rd
5. Stephen Bottomley Crosstrax 3rd
6. Paul Bell Peak Road Club 2nd
7. Paul Dixon V S Cycles, Brighouse 3rd
8. Sean Smith Halifax Imperial Wheelers CC 3rd
9. Stephen Gibson Peak Road Club 2nd
10. Antony Goundry Active/CPCycles RT 4th
11. Barry Mordue Crosstrax 3rd
12. Richard Douthwaite Clifton CC 4th
13. Andrew Whitehead Stocksbridge CC 3rd
14. Andrew Richardson V S Cycles, Brighouse
15. John Askew Active/CPCycles RT 3rd
16. James Cullen Otley CC 3rd
17. Tim Howcroft Otley CC 4th
18. Mark Jacobi Peak Road Club 3rd
19. Darren Bendelow Clifton CC 3rd
20. Tony Grassby Peak Road Club 3rd
Women
1. Iona Sewell GB Cycles 34 miles in 1:44:22
2. Charlotte Walton (VS Cycles)
3. Heather Tuffs Clifton CC
4. Nikola Butler Vivelo Bikes
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/a ... ionships-0
A J
In the link above there’s pictures of Darren and Richard in action and Paul and Heather with medals at the end.
Makes the rest of us proud to wear the club jersey.
“Young Mark Cavendish from Team Persil had won a stage of the Girvan (a defunct Scottish 3-day race) earlier in the year, but he was suffering more than me and wasn’t to see the finish.”
Guess Cav was already making a name for himself 8 years ago.
Makes the rest of us proud to wear the club jersey.
Speaking of Cav, in the 2004 Autumn Cliftonite Paul M wrote about his experience of a Premier Calendar race on that same Bulmer/Terrington circuit and mentioned:Cyan Skymoos wrote:Toby doing a Cav
“Young Mark Cavendish from Team Persil had won a stage of the Girvan (a defunct Scottish 3-day race) earlier in the year, but he was suffering more than me and wasn’t to see the finish.”
Guess Cav was already making a name for himself 8 years ago.
Yeah - 9 laps round Bulmer - just short of 100 miles in just over 4 hours that day, Karl - happy days and the kind of brief crescendo of form I dont really see myself reproducing!
I've checked the photos on the BC website from yesterday and I definitely dont appear on any of them not even a shoulder or piece of helmet - I was that well hidden! The jerseys look good on the photos and that is definately as close as I'm going to get to the Howard Amos trophy and we had to give the medals back - for the time being at least - BC only have 1 set!
I've checked the photos on the BC website from yesterday and I definitely dont appear on any of them not even a shoulder or piece of helmet - I was that well hidden! The jerseys look good on the photos and that is definately as close as I'm going to get to the Howard Amos trophy and we had to give the medals back - for the time being at least - BC only have 1 set!
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Chris Clark
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:44 pm
- Location: York
Clifton well represented at the Condor RR for the "more mature individuals" this morning with myself, Phil, Nigel and Andy. Had a touch of the man flu this week and still felt a little ropey this morning but had gone reasonably well on the chain gang on Tuesday and kept repeating to myself that I had "good (albeit very hairy) legs" like a mantra...Mind over matter and all that! Anyway, legs felt ok but my prospects were not helped by getting lost on the drive to HQ and getting there later than I would have wanted. Just had time to do the essentials but sadly no time to apply the sunscreen and now sporting proper cylist tan lines on my arms! Good tough little circuit this one...same one as used for the Derek Smith a few weeks ago except just 8 laps this time. After a bad patch on the first lap(!) I settled into the race and thought I was reasonably competitive, staying near the front. Tried to get into 2-3 breaks that did not stay away. Went well up the climbs. Nearly brought down early on by some bloke who looked like he clipped his peddle on a tight corner and crashed out.. I spotted Sean Smith from Halifax Imperial who I know is good rider and thought I would follow his wheel. Managed 5th on the sprint up the hill for the last time (probably went a little early). I was genuinely suprised when Phil told me that two groups of 4 had gotten away which made me 13th....So hard to keep track on what is going on up the road but not sure how I missed 8 riders 
. The good riders seem to time their efforts at just the right time and my timing is abyssmal at the moment 
....Anyway...just great to be racing in proper sunshine for a change and makes a pleasant change to get a race in on a saturday morning....Phil did warn me but curiosity got the better of me and I opted for the now legendary pie and peas that was on offer at HQ. Well, it went down and stayed down but I am still unable to state with any certainty what the meat was (if indeed it was meat) inside the pie 
. The good riders seem to time their efforts at just the right time and my timing is abyssmal at the moment ....Anyway...just great to be racing in proper sunshine for a change and makes a pleasant change to get a race in on a saturday morning....Phil did warn me but curiosity got the better of me and I opted for the now legendary pie and peas that was on offer at HQ. Well, it went down and stayed down but I am still unable to state with any certainty what the meat was (if indeed it was meat) inside the pie You mad fool Cam!
Andy and I off in the C/D group this morning, slightly wide-eyed about the sunshine after our last experience of this circuit only a few weeks back. The pace yo-yoed up and down through the first lap and while for most of it I was comfortable up near the front of the bunch I got dealt one of those "even after all these years" lessons about the danger lurking in downwind sections of races. A couple of gaps opened up in front and some real speed was required (and Andy's back wheel in the case of the second one) to bridge them, so as we hit the climb up past the finish line my legs just didn't quite manage to do the job and I was off the back. A couple of laps later I found I wasn't the only one and hooked up with a Clayton Velos fella for a swift two-up for the ride to the bell, skipping the last lap to watch the fast lads finish. Good rides by Cam and Andy and another step forward for Nigel, who's soon going to be comfortable in the bunch and joining the hunt for envelopes with fivers.
I really should learn not to race hilly circuits, but this circuit's a fabulous place to ride round on a day like today. And yes, wooooo! Tan lines!
Andy and I off in the C/D group this morning, slightly wide-eyed about the sunshine after our last experience of this circuit only a few weeks back. The pace yo-yoed up and down through the first lap and while for most of it I was comfortable up near the front of the bunch I got dealt one of those "even after all these years" lessons about the danger lurking in downwind sections of races. A couple of gaps opened up in front and some real speed was required (and Andy's back wheel in the case of the second one) to bridge them, so as we hit the climb up past the finish line my legs just didn't quite manage to do the job and I was off the back. A couple of laps later I found I wasn't the only one and hooked up with a Clayton Velos fella for a swift two-up for the ride to the bell, skipping the last lap to watch the fast lads finish. Good rides by Cam and Andy and another step forward for Nigel, who's soon going to be comfortable in the bunch and joining the hunt for envelopes with fivers.
I really should learn not to race hilly circuits, but this circuit's a fabulous place to ride round on a day like today. And yes, wooooo! Tan lines!
Abit of a different weekend for me where Clifton was represented by myself at the British National XC race series - round 3 of 5 to count. The venue this month was down southwest at Hopton Castle woods in Shropshire under the 30degree heat of the sun while dodging trees & skating over treacherous flint & rock gardens.
4laps of a 6km loop was reduced to 3 because of the intense heat to prevent injurys and bad dehydration of what was an old skool loop that consisted of a killer 20minute climb out in the open exposed to the sun to the top of the woods followed by a very quick 6minute decent under the cover of the trees, winding round and down a series of technical decents & fast flowing sections full of lovely berms back to the bottom to start the climb to top once again.
Drove down early saturday morning to arrive intime for the 2hour practice slot which went down ok to learn what the track had instore for us in preperation for the race at 12am on sunday & spent the rest of saturday afternoon and evening enjoying the wonderful views to be seen & soaking up the hot sun before retreating to the tent where I was slowly baked overnight.
Wasn't expecting much of myself on raceday after being off the bikes for the good part of 3 weeks after an ankle ligament injury. With not much training leading upto a venue I'd never raced at before or been in this intense sort of heat on a bike before this year I managed to succeed my low expectations by taking 15th place of 32 finishing riders in the Mens Sport catagory. Managed to close down the gap to the top ten pack several times on the decents but couldn't make it stick when it came to the first steep strained out part of the hill climb at the start of the next lap which I wasn't used to. Really enjoyed the racing & the track & just in general the whole weekend and hope the next race will be just as good.
Having raced at the previous 2 rounds representing Clifton at dalby forest & sherwood pines forest which were thoroughly enjoyed too I'm more than looking forward to the last 2 rounds now at Kiroughtree by galloway forest in scotland & Langdon Hills in Essex.
Now it's time to get back into regular training rides with the rest of you cliftoners in the road groups & wednesday mtb rides in prep for the next round to hopefully improve results for next time!
4laps of a 6km loop was reduced to 3 because of the intense heat to prevent injurys and bad dehydration of what was an old skool loop that consisted of a killer 20minute climb out in the open exposed to the sun to the top of the woods followed by a very quick 6minute decent under the cover of the trees, winding round and down a series of technical decents & fast flowing sections full of lovely berms back to the bottom to start the climb to top once again.
Drove down early saturday morning to arrive intime for the 2hour practice slot which went down ok to learn what the track had instore for us in preperation for the race at 12am on sunday & spent the rest of saturday afternoon and evening enjoying the wonderful views to be seen & soaking up the hot sun before retreating to the tent where I was slowly baked overnight.
Wasn't expecting much of myself on raceday after being off the bikes for the good part of 3 weeks after an ankle ligament injury. With not much training leading upto a venue I'd never raced at before or been in this intense sort of heat on a bike before this year I managed to succeed my low expectations by taking 15th place of 32 finishing riders in the Mens Sport catagory. Managed to close down the gap to the top ten pack several times on the decents but couldn't make it stick when it came to the first steep strained out part of the hill climb at the start of the next lap which I wasn't used to. Really enjoyed the racing & the track & just in general the whole weekend and hope the next race will be just as good.
Having raced at the previous 2 rounds representing Clifton at dalby forest & sherwood pines forest which were thoroughly enjoyed too I'm more than looking forward to the last 2 rounds now at Kiroughtree by galloway forest in scotland & Langdon Hills in Essex.
Now it's time to get back into regular training rides with the rest of you cliftoners in the road groups & wednesday mtb rides in prep for the next round to hopefully improve results for next time!