By Steve.

Sun 3rd May 2014

Sunday was my 1st foray into a race involving 3rd cats, not vets just good old slim, fit, young bastard ones..!!
on arriving at the circuit i immediately bumped into Richard G, skin suited up looking very lean and ready for action, Mmmmm this is going to be fun i thought to myself..!!
again i was at the front on the line, getting good at that bit..;)
race started and found i handled it pretty well, quite a few dropped out over the first half of the race, it did feel quite fast in patches but i was never really in any trouble, mind you i was never really likely to be troubling the points either, moved up a couple of times but the effort used to get there then made it quite hard for me to maintain the position, the bunch was pretty well packed so you could easily find you’d lost only a few places but be near the back, on the plus side you could make a few and be in the top 15,
Rich G certainly lived up to the lean skin suit look, he was away in a few breaks that didn’t stay away, then he made a solo effort off the front and got a decent gap..!!
turns out he had misread the lap board and thought it was 1 to go, it was actually 5 or so,
on the last lap the pace went right up, i was following a train around the outside thinking this is ok, saw rich on the inside moving up,
then came the shouts screams crash and bangs as 4 or so went down in front of me, another went straight on over the verge over the bars and disappeared into the undergrowth, it was very funny…!! lol (he was ok)
i was detached and came home off the back but happy with my efforts,
Richard sprinted in for 10th and to get back in especially after the solo effort was a great result for him,

By Paul

1st May 2015

Barny won the bunch sprint AGAIN for a 3rd place this Friday at Cyclopark.

Clearly on fire, we look forward to that first win 🙂

By Paul.

With 8 disappointed riders due to the SERRL event being cancelled, it was a good time for time-trialling (did you see what I did there?).

Lee rode his first race since his accident on Sunday, clocking a 1:01:30 (on his road bike) in the ESCA 25.  A pretty pleasing bloody effort for his first ride back, well done mate.

Man-of-the-moment Barny was also out ‘testing’ but on the legendary Q10/19 Tonbridge course, in the Catford CC Peter Stubbs Memorial 10. He bagged a cool 9th place overall with a PB of 21 mins 27 secs.  With a 2015 target of sub 22 mins that’s job done and it’s only April!!!

We’re flying!!

Belgium OVWF 63 km Kermesse Sunday 19th April

By Barny.

Went in the first break (from the line). Got caught after half a lap. Paul then stayed at the front whilst Rich and I monitored the mid pack of 120 riders. Here we both found moving backwards a heck of a lot easier than moving forwards. At the 55km point Rich decided it was time for a beer so I moved back up to Paul and got stuck in. We had a good race to finish in the middle of a mental bunch sprint. There were 4 or 5 up the road by then but hey ho. I’ll let Paul tell you about the amazing 3-up break he was in…if he ever stops talking to us about it first that is!

Paul’s version!:

11 laps of a fast 5.8km circuit with some tight 90 degree left handers, very light cobbles, traffic furniture which split the peloton at each passing, a very high roundabout which many riders bunny-hopped onto (not us), plenty of speed ramps, up and down curbs and cycle paths. Police on every corner with yellow flags and whistles. Huge crowds and a fantastic sunny day. 123 starters, most of whom were under 25 years of age.

It was bonkers, it was fast and I loved it. Barny finished 45th and I finished 48th and yes I did get in a bloody break but I’ll corner you all individually to tell you more about it 😉

I have to say that for the first time both Barny and I felt like we went to Belgium and we actually raced the race.

A great ride also by Rich B who lasted 70 mins compared to 45 mins a month earlier!

Steve, for the record, couldn’t find his passport but at least he didn’t get dropped…every cloud…!

Bring it on 🙂

By Stu.

My second event of the weekend was the esca 2up time trial on a sporting 23.9 mile course. Barny and I have had this in our sights for a while and where we knew we couldn’t win it as the cream of the south east tt riders were in it we wanted to put in a good show for PB! I think we did our lil race team proud on the day and finished 9th overall, 1st in our age group with a time of 55:34 and an avg speed of 25.8mph.

By Alex.

Monday SERRL 3/4 at the Cyclopark. What a lovely day for a bike ride! The race started and strait away I was trying to work out what lap I’d get dropped on … “stop being a girl and get to the front” … “oh, I’m at the front again”. Mind over matter.

Every attack was chased down pretty quickly, until the last lap when everyone that was chasing attacks broke off just after I had put in an attack which left me whacked and back in the bunch…not the best timing then.

Finished 12th, one thing I did notice was a lack hair on the top placed riders legs…perhaps it’s time :'(

By Barny and Stu.

Barny’s version looks a bit like this:

“It was a busy line up for the latest Cyclopark Weekday Masters race with 2 representatives from team PB poised for a dry yet windy race.

Chris will be available for book/poster signings in Sevenoaks on the afternoon of 12th April

PB

PS he has a nice face too

In the 3rd Cat race, from 58 starters Stu has managed to find photographic evidence that he was among a handful left in the main bunch on his way to 11th!

And here is Andy’s account of his 234 race:

“The plan for this weekend was a training race. Well I didn’t really know which race to enter. The e123 looked brutal, but was down as a maybe as I need some practice for the national masters in may. 160km :-0. Other options were Hillingdon with Paul or the Cyclo park.

In the morning I did the Tri club TT. It was windy, didn’t have the confidence to ride on the bars, treated it like a threshold test. Went off well but the roundabouts and turns put a dent in the power numbers. Breakfast came back to haunt me and I didn’t know where the finish was. Still came 3rd.

Saw Trevor and Stu race at the Cyclopark was surprised to see the bunch blown apart in both the 3rds and 4ths races. The wind having an effect. Got warmed up properly as I was expecting a break from the off in the 234. Bungled getting clipped in and started near the back. Went with every break, some promising, there was no cooperation so they all failed. With 2 laps to go too many piled into the first of the 90degree lefts at the bottom of the track. The guy in front of me clipped a pedal and “went bronco” a brief safari across the grass and we’d lost contact with the group. Chased back on up the straight and back near the front of the bunch. 3riders had got away. Rounded the last few corners on the front of the bunch and sprinted for the line. Didn’t have the legs after chasing back on, six went by me, came 10th.

Thanks to Barney for the encouragement from the side of the track, and for finding out my place at the end.”