vcnorwich

newsletter-Sep13

The VCN Evening Rides on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays have now come to an end, due to the nights drawing in so quickly and it not being possible to ensure that everyone gets back and home before dark.

This does not prevent people still meeting up to do their own evening rides, just that they won’t be run by the club.

Many thanks to all VCN members and our numerous friends from other clubs (plus the weather of course) for making these rides so enjoyable this year.   They will start up again in April next year, and we will advertise the dates nearer the time.

VCN would like to thank all those who participated our open “10” and would particularly like to thank the helpers who ensured the event ran smoothly and safely. Even the weather was kind (although late starters complained about the freshening first half headwind).

Fastest on the day with 20:12 was Team Velovelocity’s Jason Boutrell who also, with help from Scott Davidson and Geoff Frost, took the team prize. Tricia Goulden of West Suffolk Wheelers took the ladies prize in 23:49, and Declan Davis rode to an excellent 21:43 as fastest junior.

RESULTS

PRIZES

newsletter-Aug13

VCN’s next club TT is on Thursday 1st Aug on the Wicklewood “sporting course”, i.e. a circuit with hills plus a variety of corners and road surfaces. On this basis the route is ideal for road bikes. Sign on will be from 6.30pm at Kimberley green, More details on the website calendar page… PLEASE BE AWARE THERE IS NO PARKING AT KIMBERLEY GREEN…  we encourage competitors to ride to the start.

A great evening with a more than full roster of riders… who else can claim 40+ entries for an evening “10”. Keep your diaries free for the next one on the 1st Aug, and well done to everyone… there is more than one PB in the list below…

A complete contrast to last year’s event weatherwise we were blessed with sunshine and roads that weren’tunder 2 foot of water. A full field, supported by Norfolk’s first use of the accredited marshal “super lollipop” and our friends at the National Escort Group delivered an exciting race that was animated from the start. Well done to Joe skipper who escaped for the win! A full report here and final results here . Photos courtesy of Mark Cozens mphotography.co.uk

newsletter-Jul13

It was during lap 4 of 7 when the winning break went. A group of 6 riders getting clear. Owen missed the break and with the bunch refusing to chase he bided his time before bridging across to the lead group at the start of lap 6. The pressure was on in the front group and on the final lap this pressure told as 3 riders went clear including Owen. Cheered home by the watching ladies team Owen came across the line in 3rd place gaining sufficient points to obtain his 3rd Cat licence.

James Anderson was one of a number of riders unfortunate to puncture and Mark Smart who continues to improve and learn about racing had his best Elveden performance to date.

It was lap 3 before the first action happened with the bunch splitting on the small climb. Beth and Erica were the right side of the split with Lou and Jen in the second group. Despite a big effort from Lou to get across to the front group that was the way it was to remain for the rest of the race.

Once the two groups had formed the gap grew as Lou and Jen disrupted any chase to ensure Beth and Erica’s group of eight stayed away. The front group remained together until 2 laps to go when Tanya Griffiths (Ipswich) who has been racing the womens tour series attacked and went clear to take a solo victory. Behind her the remaining riders sprinted for second place. Beth and Erica worked together and positioned themselves well with Beth opening up the sprint. In a very tight and exciting finish Beth held on by about 10cm to beat the Cat 2 Wyndymilla rider to take 2nd place. Erica came in 7th.

With the top 8 places taken the second group were fighting for the last two remaining points positions. Both Lou and Jen put in good sprints but unfortunately were just outside the points in 11th and 12th.

The results for Beth and Erica both mean they have achieved one of their seasons goals and have been promoted to 3rd Cat.

The 12 lap race started typically enough with some cagey riding on the first lap – riders mostly watching each other to see who would try to make a break happen. A couple of attempts were made, but nothing came of them.

On the back straight of the second lap Glyn successfully attempted a chip off the front of the group and created a gap of a hundred yards before being joined by Hugo Robinson of Ipswich. The pair kept a reasonable gap off the front of the bunch for the next couple of laps without ever looking like they would really get away.

But when 2 additional riders bridged across, the fresh impetus from the additional riders meant that the gap back to the main bunch now grew to something more significant. This group of 4 worked well together as they sought to increase their advantage.

With about 4 laps to go, a further 4 riders joined the group of escapees swelling the numbers to 8. Now the dynamic changed with 2 riders from Ipswich and 2 from St. Ives. The pace was kept high, but work wasn’t being shared out as evenly. This was exacerbated the closer the finish line got and in the final lap, the breakaway riders were confident that the gap back to the bunch was sufficient to start missing turns.

Despite a couple of failed attacks to separate the group on the last lap, the group of 8 turned the last corner onto the finishing drag as one group. Ipswich rider Phil Hetzel started to wind the sprint up for his team-mate Hugo; but with 150m to go Tom Neale and Jamie Caldwell got the jump on the rest of the bunch and slipped up the right hand side of the track to bag 1^st and 2^nd place respectively. Meanwhile, Glyn had cannily (his choice of word) followed Jamie’s wheel and managed to outsprint the rest of the breakaway bunch for a creditable 3^rd place.

Overall an excellent day for the red and black in particular well done to the 3 members attaining their 3rd Cat licence.