Barcombe.

An initial break of 4 riders went away on the first lap. I was not concerned about this break and stayed in the bunch for two laps. On the 3^rd lap, on a steep uphill section I went to front and rode hard. This caused a split in the riders. About 4 riders came with me. I rode hard over the crest of the hill. At this point there was not much of a gap. Conall Yates then bridged across and went mental, I just rode hard and kept on his wheel and we rode away from the bunch. We soon caught and rode through the initial break. At this point we were about 7 strong. But we were not working well as the initial break didn’t have much energy to give. I decided to get rid of these riders, so I rode hard up the same climb that split the field initially to get rid of the remaining break. We were now four riders, and it stayed that way till the finish.

We now worked well together, and always managed to maintain over a minutes gap to the chasing field. Approaching the bottom of the long uphill finish the pace slowed and I went to the back of the group, I didn’t want anyone surprising me. Almost reaching a standstill before the climb, as no one wanted to commit, I then went. Catching them by surprise, I immediately got a 30 metre gap. The climb then flattened slightly so I got back in the saddle and powered up the final 250 metres. Elliot Porter put up the best chase, but I gladly held him off to take the win comfortably in the end.

All in all great race, felt good the whole race, had loads more in the tank and didn’t waste much energy, which is probably a first for me….

Cutmill

Like the day before the conditions to race were great. I much prefer the warmer conditions, it makes bike races almost enjoyable which is generally a rare occurrence. Also today I had a some team mates, so we had our team chat in the van, and planned for another successful race.

Early into the race Mike got away and soon after Francis followed with a few others and their groups soon joined forces. There was not much of a reaction in the peleton, which was surprising given how many got away.

The break soon started building up a lead, which topped out at over two minutes. At this point, I thought that the break was safe. However, riders were sent to the front and soon the gap began to tumble down. In the middle of the race, it was down to 30-40 seconds, at this point I thought I could bridge across on my own by attacking on the hill, but it didn’t work. From then on I concentrated on just following attacks and not going through when breaks appeared, hoping that this would stop any riders from persevering their chase.

With one lap to go, the break split. The fractured peloton passed Mike and two other riders who had been in the break the whole day; a great ride my Mike, on a course that doesn’t suit him that well. From this point, the remaining riders, Francis included, were almost always insight, so close. I was amazed how the race didn’t come back together. One rider managed to bridge across to them when the gap came down to 50metres. But amazingly no teams pulled the race back together. I was so glad that the break stayed away and just before the finishing climb that became certain and no riders really pushed it. I was unaware at this point that one of the break away riders had attacked a lap earlier and had comfortably won, I was hoping Francis had got it. Starting the climb up to the finish I found myself boxed in. Fortunately no one had attacked yet, so as we started the hill I manoeuvred my way over to the right of the road and when I had clear road ahead I attacked. I was exhausted by which point, after a race in which I suffered so much more than the day before. I couldn’t stay out of the saddle for long, only long enough to create the initial gap which I kept to the finish. From then I just tried to hold on till the end. Eliot again came close, but I took the sprint ahead of him.

Crossing the line, Francis was in a horrible way, it wasn’t a pretty face. But thanks to him, the break stayed away as he put in some monster turns. He came away with 3^rd that day and I took 6^th. A mention must go to Lawrence, who normally is the coolest cucumber out of all of us, today he had the legs but not his usual brain and so didn’t make the most of his chance, but he has improved a lot this year and it’s great to see. All in all, a good weekend.

By Harry Evans

It was a great start to the day with the weather sunny in places and the event being with a full road closure. The full team came along to the event which included the youth, ladies, juniors and the under 23 team. Jimmy George from VO2 was at the race as well so he could see our preparation before the race. He brought along the team gazebo in a prime spot for us to warm up before the race and get to the line before the other competitors, it was fantastic so thanks to Jimmy and VO2 for the support.

After doing a good warm up and getting on the front line first the racing was going to be a hard with Team Raleigh’s 12 riders and a particular rider from Sigma Sport Jake Hales who is strong at the Milton Keynes Bowl Criteriums. As we all lined up to the start line the officials called out some of the top riders such as Graham Briggs the British National Crit Champion, I knew the field was going to be tough and we as a team needed to stay at the front for as long as possible. As we started the race it started to rain a little making a hard race even harder with the roads being slippery and very tight corners.

The race was very aggressive with the strong guys from Raleigh dominating as they were attacking and setting up their key rider Graham Briggs to ride off the front. The chasing group was in pursuit and as the bunch was split, it was sad to see some team mates Drew and Lawrence crash out on the second corner.

As I was hanging in there I was trying to keep up with the racing, the guys were always attacking on the bottom section of the course and a couple of riders got away. I thought I could bridge the gap and I tried my best as soon as I got onto the wheel of the other two riders that got away I saw the bunch was right behind me. I just sat at the back resting waiting to move up on the last lap to sprint out the corner to the finish, but like I said the riders were aggressive and I just couldn’t fight for the wheels as somehow they always managed to get the spot back .

To my surprise after the race I found out I came 11^th it was a great result for me and good confidence booster

We rode so well we then qualified for the invitational A race which was 40mins and 5 laps 20 minutes longer from the first race, thanks to Jimmy’s gazebo for keeping us dry we were able to do our warm downs and warm up before the start of our race.

We had same tactics for the second race, they were to start the race from the line and try stay at the front. It felt like we had more grip on the roads but we also had harder stints when the Raleigh guys stomped their authority and we just stringed out, the National Crit Champion Graham Briggs rode off the front and next thing I know he came pass us as we were back peddling, I was just hanging on in this race as it was difficult to get in good position as it was a dog fight out there.

On the last lap I spent all my pennies in getting into a good position to lose it on the second last corner and I just tried to sprint hard and not let anyone overtake me

It was a great race and such great organization thank you west Suffolk wheelers for the great event will be back next year.

By Mike Brown

This event was run on the Blechingly circuit, for those that know this circuit, you are familiar with its unforgiving profile. I turned up to the event and met up with Francis at the race HQ, rather amusingly he had got the start time wrong, Dan would have been proud through, turning up five hours in advance may become standard practice. We went for a short warm up, along the main road, this was all that i needed as i had done a turbo session a couple of hours earlier. This is the first season i have taken this approach and it’s really working for me.

We rolled out of the race HQ and took a right onto the race circuit and finished off the remaining portion of the hill and when we had crested it, we were racing. Blechingly is one of the few circuits where there is a genuine decent, you can take the corners at full gas and it’s a point in the race that offers a bit of recovery. After a speedy descent, the road kicks up a little as it passes under a motorway, here the group gathered back up together. For the next km the group was hesitant and cautious so i rode through to the front, no-one followed, so i attacked and quickly built up a gap, no team put up chase. Attacking so soon is not my style, i normally have to ride myself into a race, it was more out of frustration from last year where i felt i was one of the strongest riders on this course and i blew my changes with bad tactics. Now however what was i doing!? After telling Francis to bide our time and attack towards the end, what was i doing? Harold, you idiot! Oh well, i’m here now, just ride, i didn’t commit 100% but just kept my heart rate at 180bpm, hoping that a break would come across.

Heading back to final hill on the circuit, i encountered a strong headwind, this hurt. At this point and past the finish line i had build up about a 40 second gap on the peloton, so i just kept it steady and kept on riding. Knowing that Francis stayed away for 50 miles a few weeks ago definitely helped, but he’s a different type of rider to me, we’re evenly matched but he’s better at smashing it along the flat. Unfortunately another legendry solo breakaway was no on the cards today, as i was caught half way around the following lap, mixed emotions really; glad that i could relax a little and frustrated that i had probably wasted some energy. I got that out of my mind though; 10 miles alone that’s nothing. I certainly felt that way as the bunch rode up the climbs that lap, i felt really comfortable.

For the next two laps, the racing settled down, there were attacks but nothing stuck. But in this period i did manage to crash! It was the nicest crash ever (if there is such a thing). I’m not sure exactly what happened up ahead, but i was passing riders to their right, on a small downhill, and suddenly everyone pushed out to the right. I was left with no-where to go and I ran out of road. I slammed on my braces on before riding into a ditch!! I was very very lucky, not a scratch to speak of and more importantly my bike was fine. I picked Bruce up (my bike) and chassed back on, never done that before, phew.

At the end of that lap the racing went up a level, Francis attack with Conall Yates, a super-strong time-trailist, the bunch did not want to let this go, i followed wheels right towards the front of a splintered group, we were going full out, riders were all over the road. Coming to the first of the three hills on the circuit (and the steepest), the bunch has reformed a little, but now after that aggressive riding i could see Francis and Conall up ahead, just starting the climb, 100m ahead, no more. So i went full gas on the climb and bridged the gap, i rode past Conall and me and Francis crested it together. Francis’ recovery is very good, as immediately you have to put it in the big ring and drive on and this exactly what he did. The wind was hurting our progress but buoyed by being in a break together we drove on. Knowing the other rider and their capabilities was a massive boost to my morale and my estimated chances of our success.

The following lap we were still out front together but we were joined by four other riders. We immediately started working well together. From riding in this group of six i was concerned with just one rider, Nick Wilkinson from Dulwich Paragon. I know him from the chain-gangs i do with that club during the week, he was looking really strong. I pointed this out to Francis and together we worked him over without making it obvious, leaving him to do harder or longer turns, it was working out perfectly.

On the next and final lap we dropped one guy on each of the first two hills of the circuit, our group was down to four, Francis, myself, Nick and a rider from London Dynamo. It was quite annoying that during the whole race we were given no time gaps and based on the fact that the last time i saw the bunch was two laps ago, i thought we were safe. Therefore, nearing the final climb, I left Nick on the front to do the work, i didn’t come through, as it was into the wind, so i chose to save the energy.  Oh my days! I looked over my shoulder and the bunch were only 100m behind. I had not done all this work to be caught, no way. Either Nick didn’t have anything left or he didn’t start riding the climb at 100%, but i knew that if i didn’t attack now we would be caught. It was great, the last climb really suited me, i got out of the saddle and rode full out and immediately started to ride away from our break as they were caught. Needless to say it was a great feeling that even after all the effort that day i still distanced the leading riders from the peloton. With 50 metres to go and a 5o metre gap i knew i had won, i sat up and enjoyed it. First win for the season for me and for team VO2 also. Francis although suffering right at the end still managed 4^th place, a very good effort. It goes without saying that i’m very happy. Me and Francis have been pushing each other in training over the winter and it is paying off. It just goes to show that you don’t need necessarily team numbers to win a race, just strong legs and good tactics, well done Francis, we bossed that.

My first road race.

Sunday 11^th of March, myself along with 4 other team riders travelled to Kent to take part in the Benenden-Sandhurst race which took place over 102kms. The team consisted of myself (Louis Fawke), Drew Holmes, Francis Cade, Michael Brown and Harry Evans.

Being a first year Junior this would be my first taste of racing on the road because as a youth you are only allowed to take part in circuit racing. The week leading up to the race I was really looking forward to it as it would be a lot different to 45 minute circuit racing.

The team were asked to arrive at the race HQ for 7.30am. This meant an early start for all of us, especially Mike who came all the way from Milton Keynes. We all arrived on time and headed out for a lap of what was supposed to be the course at 8am. We were unsure if the circuit would change due to road works. We rode the original circuit just in case it didn’t change for a warm up and just to get a feel of course and so we know all the corners and the potholes. As we rolled out my legs felt excellent which was a good sign. The course was quite lumpy and one that I thought may suit me as well as my team mates.

We arrived back at race HQ and proceeded to the main building to collect our numbers as well as transponders. These are used to determine a riders finishing position. With a total of 16 pins on 2 numbers I was the last one to do this. When we had the numbers on our jerseys and the transponders on our bikes we gathered inside Trevor Holmes’ van to have a talk on our tactics for the race from him and Dan Bennett. The plan for myself was to try and sit in the bunch and see where I finish at the end and if I would feel up to it, try and cause trouble at the head of the bunch if a team mate was up the road in a break away.

After this we headed out for our second warm up. Drew brought along his rollers whilst the rest of us were riding around the nearby roads. We were soon to find out that the course would change and we were not sure what the course would be like. As I saw the riders gathering to begin the race I began to feel quite nervous but more excited. A quick talk from the commissaire and the race was underway.

We started the race with it being neutralised so that we could get onto the circuit without any problems. This lasted a good few kilometres. I felt very comfortable riding in the bunch but I was a bit cautious of the downhill as I did not have the best view in front of me, but when I saw the flag that would mean the end of the neutralization and the start of the race I then realised that this would be the hardest thing I have ever done on two wheels.

A few kilometres later Mike went up the road but as it was still early in the race he didn’t use as much aggression as we know he has and was shortly brought back to the bunch as well as a few other riders who joined him. A counter attack followed from Harry and yet again was shortly bought back to the bunch. Another attack followed bit further into the race from another VO2 rider, this time from Francis Cade. He gathered what seemed to be a very large gap early on as the chasing bunch could not see him up the road. As I sat at around the midway point in the bunch Mike, Harry and Drew were towards the bunch trying to slow it down to allow Francis to get a bigger gap. Sadly nobody followed Francis when he did attack so he was left on his own for a very long time before he was eventually brought back with 2 laps of a 10 lap race still to go after an astonishing 50 miles out in front on his own. By this point I had been off the back of the bunch as I was really struggling with the finishing hill which had a terrible surface. This was also where the feed zone was where we had Trevor, Dan, my brother and former team rider Charlie and my dad Dave. The previously day Charlie and I practised handing up bottles which worked to perfection as I received 2 bottles form him and one from my Dad. Francis took a drink every lap which showed he was keeping hydrated. As I was deeply struggling up the finishing hill approaching the 2 lap to go point I realised I was unable to carry on as on the previous lap I was on my own on what seemed to be a pace around 10mph, maybe a bit more. I was a bit disappointed but I thought I had done well to stay in for as long as I did and received praise from the team managers and the riders which made me feel really good, so thanks for that guys.

When I was sitting down at the top of the hill I saw 2 team riders Josh Simpson and Tom Moore had come out to support the guys. I was sitting in a chair sipping a recovery drink feeling I was about to fall asleep. As the riders came past and entered the last lap Harry and a few others had pulled off a slight gap with Drew, Francis and Mike soon to follow. We saw the motorbikes coming up the hill which outlined that the riders would be finishing very soon. After a trio of riders came up the hill first it was not long before we say Harry who finished the race in 7^th place. Soon followed Drew, Francis and Mike on what would be a very strong team performance. They rode back to race HQ whilst I was in the car.

We then got into the van and had a de-brief and talked about how we think our race went individually and as a team as well as what we could do to improve. After this chat we got changed and gave in our numbers and transponders.

Overall I think each rider had a good performance during the race which shows if we all work hard we will have a very good season ahead of us. I would like to say a big well done to Harry for his 7^th place as well as Francis for his solo breakaway. Also a big thank you goes to Trevor, Dan, Dave and Charlie for handing out bottles and giving us advice for the race. Another thank you goes to Josh and Tom who came to support the team.

Louis Fawke

Revolution 35

Haven’t been on the track and racing for about 3 months so was pretty nervous about getting back on the boards; especially mid-way through winter training when my fitness levels are low!

Points race was first, never my best tactical race however I finished in the bunch sprint (18^th overall)

Scratch race next and as usual the girls didn’t let any attack get more than five metres away, so the pace was kept high until the last few laps when everyone was waiting for each other to go. Was in the perfect place with four laps to go but with everyone backing up I was soon boxed in. However I finished 16^th having come the long way around.

Devil – my best race when my head’s screwed on! Tucked in at the bottom and held my ground for the first half of the race worked brilliantly until the bunch got much smaller and then I narrowly missed out on eliminations a few times time, unfortunately I finished 8^th a few millimetres was all that separated me from my opponent in that sprint!

By Sara Gent

This is the third account of the three track sessions that the team has attended throughout December and January. Team members that attended this session were: Francis Cade, Drew Holmes, Josh Simpson, Louis Fawke, Seb Finch, as well as 5 friends and customers brought along by Dan, Jimmy and myself.

On Wednesday morning at 11am Drew and I were collected by Dan and began the journey to the track. Despite time spent collecting Josh, a few necessary pit stops and the bombardment of wind, rain and several accidents we eventually arrived at Newport Velodrome only half an hour late for our 3pm track session. With excitement and expectation in the air we ferried our bikes and kit into the track and prepared to ride.

We were a little late arriving at the track so by the time we had all made it in with all of our kit the rest of the riders were already warming up around the track. Scott is our fantastic track coach and he does an amazing job; he wanted us all up on the track at the same time so we waited until the other riders had come off and had recovered. I’m not a regular track rider and this session was my third time on the track so it often takes me a little time to get used to the track and the bike. However, Scott does a great job of easing you back into track riding so I got the swing of it again very quickly.

We all went onto the track together as we were a fairly small group but this meant that we barely got any rest and had to work very hard. For our first session we were asked to keep two bike lengths apart and to weave in and out of the other riders. This seems like an easy task on the flatter sections of the track but when it came to the steeply banked corners the task becomes ten times as daunting. We did this for around twenty minutes, a tough twenty minutes for me as I had completed a challenging ride to Beachy Head on new years eve.

We had many short sessions throughout the afternoon; Scott had us singly sprinting out of the bunch to catch up with them as they carried on slowly around the track, he also had us in pairs racing out of the bunch and taking half laps and whole laps. After the session had finished we packed up our things, had a quick chat and jumped in the car off to find the closest Maccy Dees for a well earned refuel and some rest.

I found this a very hard session but it was thoroughly enjoyable to be able to ride with the guys in the team and even on occasion beating them (ay Francis??)

It really is a fantastic day, hard work but extremely well run and enjoyable. It is such a shame that more of the team wasn’t there. I would like to say what a great day we all had and a big thank you to Scott Bugden for his professional coaching skills and to Dan for organizing it and for driving us. Great day and I’m looking forward to the next one!

Trevor Holmes

The first of the hillier team training rides We met for our fourth team training ride of the winter training program at the Dolphin Leisure Centre in Hayward’s Heath. This was ride was to be the first of the hillier routes which Dan and Trevor had in mind for us, myself and a few others were looking forward to getting stuck in to the hills that awaited us further on along the ride.

Us youths set off from the Leisure Centre for a prompt start as usual, we set off at 11am for a 2 hour ride. We hoped we would get about 3 laps of the course in our legs before we finished our ride and had some well deserved lunch. The one junior for the day, Louis Fawke and the under 23’s set off at the earlier time of 9am for a 4 hour ride hoping to arrive back at the same as us youths for the seminar we had later on that day. The ride I was out on turned out to be a really good one with the pace being good and the team staying together almost all the time when going up the hills.

We had a new arrival to the team, Amy, who coped with the ride really well, holding her own throughout the ride despite having not been on the bike for some time and hurting her finger when she went into the back of me when a car suddenly braked directly in front of us unfortunately…

We arrived back to the leisure centre in Hayward’s Heath for 1pm as planned and had some lunch. Before we knew it, it was time for the seminar on team and personal goals for next year explained well by Dan. Dan gave us all a copy of our race programs for next year which we all scanned through carefully picking out what races we want to peak for next season. I personally liked the look of both the Isle of Man youth tour and also the North West Stage Race so they are the races I’m hoping to peak for next season. Dan also helped us to get a better understanding of our strengths and weaknesses, one weakness I’ve now certainly highlighted will be my poor race nutrition which I will be working on over the winter. I benefited greatly from this seminar session and team training ride and can’t wait for a successful race season with the team next year.

I would like to say a big thank you to Dan Bennett, Trevor Holmes and Dave Fawke for helping with the team’s progression on Sunday. I would also like to say a big thank you to Hazel for giving the team a well deserved massage which we all enjoyed greatly.

Josh Simpson.

Third Team Ride 27/11/11
Sunday was the third team get together and ride. I was looking forward to the ride even with 5 hours in my legs the day before. I was ready for it to hurt!
A couple of new faces showed up, Lawrence who I know well and Sebastian, who’d come up all the way from Devon! Dan introduced us all, gave us some gels for the ride and sent us on our way.
We were aiming for a solid 4 hours of riding, a chance to get to know each other better and get some serious miles in our legs. We rode for 2 hours with the Juniors who then later split to finish their ride with Dan, leaving a smaller group of us to finish the last 2 hours of the circuit. Trevor Holmes of Holmes Couriers would be our support in his van, ready with track pumps and supplies but the ride went perfectly without any issues.
Trevor highlighted the amount of water myself and other riders were carrying with us, we definitely all need 2 bottles next week!
We met up with the rest of the team back at the Triangle Leisure centre and had a well deserved lunch followed by the day’s seminar ‘Team and personal Sponsorship’. Some great advice and examples of helping our sponsors were given and lots of information regarding how the team goes about gaining sponsors and what lies ahead in the future. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the ideas and looking forward to a great year of racing.
Francis

The first team ride started on a cold Sunday morning, at the Haywards Heath leisure centre. The team was asked to arrive at 9am and most of us didn’t really know who was going to turn up as there were lots of new riders coming into the team, so it was very exciting to see the new faces. We gathered in the leisure centre and Dan Bennett gave a small talk just explaining about what to expect from the ride and telling us the route.

For some of us this was our first ride back, including me, so the pace wasn’t going to be fast. We also had a mixed group going out with under 23’s and juniors. We all set off together at a reasonable pace, and it stayed like this throughout the ride. On the first lap we gained a puncture from Tom Moore, so Charlie and I stopped and waited for him. For a rider who has raced for a season, you would expect them to know how to change a tube…. but Charlie being a team player changed it for him. As I knew we were wasting valuable time I called Trevor Holmes who was driving in the van keeping the team together, he came and picked us all up and drove us back onto the rest of the group.

I don’t think many of the riders struggled on the ride, most of the people I talked to said they felt fine, so we just kept it the same on the second lap. There were a few digs from riders up the hills and some sprints and yet another puncture from Tom Moore. Brock won the usual team sprint we have, good effort! And I won the first training ride coming into Haywards Heath getting the town sign, after the classy riding from Harry towing us from Burgess Hill all the way to Haywards Heath.

After the ride we got showered and freshened up for the team seminar. The team had a special room so we can have our own private team talk from Dan and all the riders could get to know each other.

 Just like to say thank you to Dan Bennett, Trevor Holmes, Jimmy George, Dave Fawke and Paul Holmes for giving up their Sunday to help us with our riding development.

Drew