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Lee Valley Winter Series #2 - circuit races
CC Ashwell had riders in the U8, U10, U12 and U14 circuit races on Saturday at Redbridge Cycling Centre. This was the second event in a series of three. The weather was cold but the circuit was dry and there was little wind. There are always lots of riders at these events anyway, but the numbers were bigger than usual because no other youth races were being run anywhere else in the south of England. So, we had plenty of riders on Saturday from the south coast, the Midlands, Kent, and the South West.
Sam Quiggan represented the club in the Under 8 race. I didn't see that race and the results haven't been published yet, so hopefully Jamie will fill the gap and give us a report of Sam's race.
Joseph Hadsley rode well in a strong Under 10 field. A two-man break formed early in the race and was never caught, despite a hard chase which ripped apart the bunch. Joseph finished in an admirable 10th place from 36 finishers. I hope David can give a report of Joseph's race here too.
The Under 12 race had more than 60 (!) starters including several riders with 2013 national circuit series wins to their name. Harley Pell and James Fraser were the riders in CCA colours, both hoping to add to the points that they picked up in the first round of the Winter Series at the end of January. The start was as frantic as usual for Under 12 races, but Harley and James both started very well (all that Thursday night summer grass track start practice pays off!) and they held places at the front of the bunch. There were constant attacks, and after five minutes the bunch split into two large groups of 25 riders each. James was in the first group but Harley found herself caught between the two groups for a while, before wisely waiting for the second group to come up to her rather than chasing alone. With two laps to go five riders clipped off the front of the lead group and established a 15 second lead. Routed onto the big hill up to the top finishing circuit on the final lap, it was every man and woman for themselves, and James worked his way through the group to cross the line in 12th position. Harley came in near the front of the large second group a little later.
Noah Field made his Hog Hill debut in the Under 14 race after testing the water at the Elveden circuit last year. There were so many riders that the start of the race was moved down to the bottom circuit for safety reasons. The race was also being used as a "qualifier" for nominations for the Regional School of Racing, so riders were particularly motivated to get a good result. The full circuit was used so there was a lot of climbing to be done. The race split on the hill of the first lap into two main groups plus many smaller groups off the back. Noah rode with the lead group for a couple of laps but he knew he was going into the red on each lap's climb when riders used it to attack, so he dropped back to the second group in order to pace himself to the finish better. He rode strongly for the whole race and finished about halfway down the results - an excellent first experience of Hog Hill considering the quality of the U14 field and the tough circuit.
Well done all youth riders. The final event in the series is on 22nd March.
Sam Quiggan represented the club in the Under 8 race. I didn't see that race and the results haven't been published yet, so hopefully Jamie will fill the gap and give us a report of Sam's race.
Joseph Hadsley rode well in a strong Under 10 field. A two-man break formed early in the race and was never caught, despite a hard chase which ripped apart the bunch. Joseph finished in an admirable 10th place from 36 finishers. I hope David can give a report of Joseph's race here too.
The Under 12 race had more than 60 (!) starters including several riders with 2013 national circuit series wins to their name. Harley Pell and James Fraser were the riders in CCA colours, both hoping to add to the points that they picked up in the first round of the Winter Series at the end of January. The start was as frantic as usual for Under 12 races, but Harley and James both started very well (all that Thursday night summer grass track start practice pays off!) and they held places at the front of the bunch. There were constant attacks, and after five minutes the bunch split into two large groups of 25 riders each. James was in the first group but Harley found herself caught between the two groups for a while, before wisely waiting for the second group to come up to her rather than chasing alone. With two laps to go five riders clipped off the front of the lead group and established a 15 second lead. Routed onto the big hill up to the top finishing circuit on the final lap, it was every man and woman for themselves, and James worked his way through the group to cross the line in 12th position. Harley came in near the front of the large second group a little later.
Noah Field made his Hog Hill debut in the Under 14 race after testing the water at the Elveden circuit last year. There were so many riders that the start of the race was moved down to the bottom circuit for safety reasons. The race was also being used as a "qualifier" for nominations for the Regional School of Racing, so riders were particularly motivated to get a good result. The full circuit was used so there was a lot of climbing to be done. The race split on the hill of the first lap into two main groups plus many smaller groups off the back. Noah rode with the lead group for a couple of laps but he knew he was going into the red on each lap's climb when riders used it to attack, so he dropped back to the second group in order to pace himself to the finish better. He rode strongly for the whole race and finished about halfway down the results - an excellent first experience of Hog Hill considering the quality of the U14 field and the tough circuit.
Well done all youth riders. The final event in the series is on 22nd March.
Comments
Waiting for the Under 12 race to start
Harley & James start fast
60 riders on the rivet from the gun
After the bunch split into two
And across the line...
Noah in the Under 14 at the top of the climb
Stuart
In the U8's race Samuel was 1st boy from a field of about 20 riders, although there was an U8 girl ahead of him. The race was very competitive and contested between the top 3 riders. Obviously we have had words about being beaten by a girl ;-)
There were 248 youth riders in total apparently...
Shelton
As Mark said the U10s field was large and very strong. There were kids from clubs all over the Eastern, Central and South East regions and even last years U8 National Series Champion who had traveled from Wales. Despite getting a good front row position Joseph got a poor start and was playing catch up for the rest of the race. After the initial spurt a sizeable group formed at the front and Joseph was working hard to bridge to it through heavy traffic. As he got close it exploded again with two strong riders breaking off the front. Joseph continued to pick up places, forming little groups that picked riders off and dropped them. He eventually settled in to a group that was fourth on the road and continued to make progress on the groups in front. He did a lot of the work in the group and had to consistently defend attacks. Joseph had decided beforehand he would wait until the hill to attack and managed to get 10 metres on the two others in his group, which he held to the line. He was very pleased with a top ten in such a strong race. Despite racing a few times here last year this was his first race up the hill and was pleased with his effort.
These are not results just a list of everyone that finished in alphabetical order after the top 10. I feel most sorry for Thomas Zygo.
I guess we have just been spoilt with the CX results service which is normally posted the same evening with lap time and positions.
Stuart
I'm afraid it has always been that way and is actually improving. It's not that they don't bother, it's extremely difficult to do. The attitude in senior road racing has always been if you are positioned in the bunch then that's where you finished - think of equal time gaps awarded in the Tour de France. You need to get out front to be noticed and to warrant a placing.
My judging team at Alconbury at August managed to place everyone but I then had 2 weeks of emails from parents complaining that I had positioned their child wrongly. It would have been far easier to just award the top 10. It's far harder to judge a road race because the riders are moving that much faster in large groups so you can't get the numbers. Even worse when riders get lapped. The answer of course is a transponder system which would put entry fees up to £20-£25 a race. We will get there eventually when the systems become reliable and cheap enough.
I had a bit of a preview of the new Velopark road circuit at Stratford last week which looks fantastic. It has a state of the art judging box with cabling laid in the tarmac for a transponder system. They are waiting to see what the standard will become before purchasing the transponders.
Mark.