2013 Road Race Reports

March 8, 2014

7/8 Lincs Hcap Road race league
The final race of the 2013 series was held at Withern near Alford with 3 club riders taking part but missing out on the prizes as each group fought out its own race within a race.
Simon Cocker took 5th in the sprint from group 2 which caught the remnants of group 1 on the final lap.
Groups 3, 4 and 5 all came together on the second and Peter Cocker led the sprint out but faded to the back of the bunch as the line approached and Martin Milne finished in the bunch.
In the League Peter Cocker finished second overall and Mark Kokocinski fourth – a great result in his first ever season of road racing.

3/8 Staunton
The latest EMEG road race for 2nd and 3rd category riders was over 6½ laps of an 8 mile circuit.
In windy conditions a 3 man break dominated the last half of the race with St Ives rider Felix Baker winning the sprint. As a big bunch contested the sprint for 6th place in a narrow road positioning was critical and Martyn Ludlam used his experience to take an excellent 7th overall while Peter Cocker rolled in mid bunch for 15th.

4/8 National Series, Castle Combe

Karl Baillie finally won his first national at the weekend at Castle Combe – 15 laps of the 3km circuit and exposed to the elements. After rolling with the fast start monitoring attacks accidently ended up gaining a national series point in the first prime lap which then triggered a break of 3 riders to go clear.

With 9 laps to go Karl decided to bridge the gap alone and took half a lap to do it. The break of 4 was quickly whittled down to 3 due to the high pace. In the second prime lap Karl rolled through to take another couple of national series points and then attacked dropping another rider leaving Karl and Alex Braybrooke. With the bunch chasing hard a small group of 7 riders got away trying to close the gap. Due to them closing in fast Karl attacked again and went alone for the final 3 laps with barely a 10 second lead heading into the final lap. Karl dug deep and held on for his first win at the national circuit series elevating him up into 2nd place in the national series standings with one race to go.
(Click on the images to see larger versions)

28/7 Darley Moor
Karl Baillie raced in the 3/4 cat race at Darley Moor but with tired legs from the day before at Heckington he struggled through the 24 laps at a high pace avoiding a few crashes. Having positioned himself well with 5 laps to go he found himself in second wheel heading round the final corner. Karl went early in the slight uphill headwind sprint. Fading towards the line he held onto 4th place against the adults.

27/7 Harby Road Race
Peter Cocker and Martin Ludlam took part in the 75 mile for 2/3 category riders taking in 6 climbs of Harby Hill in very hot conditions on Saturday morning. Two riders attacked on the first lap and held a 2 minute lead for almost the entire race with the main bunch content to keep them just in sight until the last lap when attacks from the bunch closed the gap.
Dean Parkes of Clay Cross RT had enough in hand to hold the bunch off to the finish just over the top of the hill with Peter just getting in the points in 13th place. Martin was pleased to finish a little further back still in the main bunch in the longest race in his come back to racing to round off a good week after taking 5th in the previous weekends race at Witham St Hughs.

14/7 National Junior Road race series, Hatherleigh Devon
Peter Cocker took part in the latest round of the national Junior Road race series in Devon. Held over a hilly 63 mile course with the temperature hovering around 30 deg C the race was full-on from the start. After just 10 miles the 80 rider field had split and only 30 riders were still in contention. Peter was riding confidently at the front of the bunch and as they approached the finishing circuit with 20 miles to go was in a small group chasing the 2 leaders when 2 riders touched wheels and crashed, bringing down Peter. No serious damage but he was unable to continue and could only watch in frustration as his erstwhile companions sprinted it out for second place.

13/7 Circuit Races, Darley Moor
The Egner brothers rode well in the latest circuit races at Darley Moor near Ashbourne.
In the Under 14s race there were constant attacks, with a dangerous move going early which Adam chased down. He then attacked himself but failed to get away and took a creditable 4th on the bunch sprint.
In the under 16s race again there were constant attacks being made with no one gaining a significant gap. Reece tried himself but was brought in so sat in the wheels and took 3rd in the sprint, just behind Ollie Peckover, Nottingham Clarion and Tom Weeds, Derby Mercury.

10/7 Lincs Handicap League Fulstow
The latest round of the Lincs League took place at Fulstow near Louth. Martin Milne and Dave Moulds started in group 2 with Rob Johnson in Group 3 and Peter Cocker in group 5. With groups 1, 2 and 3 joining up early on it took the combined efforts of group 4 and 5 until the start of the last lap to catch the earlier groups. With a couple of kms to the finish Peter Cocker broke away with 2 other riders and was able to outsprint George Thompson of Sleaford for his second win in the League. Martin Milne took an excellent 6th place in the main bunch sprint a few seconds later.
Photos»

26/6 Lincs Handicap Road Race League Skillington
50 riders took part in the latest round of the Lincolnshire handicap road race league held over 3 laps of the Skillington course. Taking advantage of a big handicap a large group 3 worked together well and by the end of lap 2 had caught groups 1 and 2 and still held a two and a half minute lead over groups 4 and 5 which had quickly combined but lacked the numbers of strong riders to close the gap quickly enough.
At the finish there were still some 15 riders in the leading group with Witham Wheeler Mark Kokocinski having the power left to win a great sprint with Gary Rands not far behind in 9th, Reece Egner 13th and Ross Tomblin 16th. Adam Egner 20th and Peter Barnes 21st were dropped from the leading group on the run in to the finish. Groups 4 and 5 were still a minute behind at the finish with Peter Cocker 25th, Neil Sentance 27th and Paul Conneely 30th. Crispin Bridges Webb found the pace a bit quick in his first ever road race but kept going really well for 35th place.
Results» Photos»

23/6 National Youth Series, Hillingdon
Karl Baillie rode in the latest round at Hillingdon. With strong winds it made it difficult for breakaways. Karl bridged the gap to a dangerous move earlier on and went with another later on but both were caught.
On the last lap a breakaway rider was dangling off of the front and after a slow up on the front Karl went for a do or die move on his own passing the breakaway rider but was sadly caught and passed by a lined out bunch with 200m to go and finished in the bunch.

16/6 Tom Simpson Road races
The Tom Simpson memorial Road races took place at Haworth on Sunday on a reduced 3.5 mile course due to the recent building of an Asda on the traditional course. With only a small drag the speed in the races was high throughout making it difficult for any substantial breakaways to develop. In the morning veterans races several club riders took part including Tony Mendham, Rob Johnson and Phil Atherton but only Phil Etches was able to get into the places with a third in his age group in a tight sprint.
In the afternoon Peter Cocker took part in the latest round of the National Junior Road race series over 16 laps of the circuit and with 68 riders taking part the pace rarely dropped below 25 mph as no breakaways could gain more than 30 seconds lead. The bunch was all together on the last lap, however with 2 miles to go two riders escaped building up just enough lead for one rider to stay away to the finish. Peter made an attempt to bridge to the riders but left it too late and in the run in took 16th overall in the sprint to the line.
Photos»

9/6 National Junior Road Race champs
Peter Cocker rode the national Junior Road Race Championships over 7 laps of a rolling 10 mile course just north of Penrith. With 80 of the top 17 and 18 years in the country riding it was always going to be a tough event. An early break of 14 riders established a lead of around 45 seconds over the first 3 laps with Peter preferring to stay on the main bunch expecting the break to be reeled in but when another 8 riders bridged the gap the lead started to grow and with a lap to go it was up to around two minutes. Realising the top placings had gone Peter went clear of the main bunch with another 4 riders over the last lap and finished a respectable 24th overall just over 3 minutes behind the winner Chris Lawless (Kuota-Spinergy) and forty seconds in front of the main bunch as 59 riders finished.

29/5 Lincs league – Ingham
The latest round of the Lincs handicap league was promoted by VC Lincoln over 8 laps of the Ingham circuit, including the short but steep climb up the Lincoln edge. The heavy rain for most of the day had almost stopped when the race started but only 2 Grantham riders were in the 50 man field. Simon Cocker started in group 2 which rode well until the 6th lap when the scratch group came through from back and Simon lost contact on the hill before pulling out with a lap to go to watch the finish. Peter Cocker was in the scratch group which pulled away from the rest of the field on the penultimate climb and then on the final climb he accelerated over the hill to open a good gap which he held to the finish line for a comfortable win. Photo album»

27/5 Witham Wheelers Annual Road Races
Witham Wheelers promoted their 2 annual road races, with support from Pedal Pushers lightweight cycle shop of Grantham.
The morning GT Ellingworth race for 3/4 categories saw a big field of 70 riders contest 4 laps of a rolling course in warm dry conditions. Significant breaks were limited with 4 riders Jonathan Wolf (Sheffrec CC) Andrew Shaw (Out of the Saddle) Paul Allen (Dinnington CC) and Ivan Boyes (team Cystic Fibrosis) gaining a maximum lead of 22 seconds on the second lap before being brought back to the bunch. It wasn’t until the last lap before Robin McKinnon (Harworth and District) and John Hall (PM) got a gap before the exposed section towards Saltby and with the bunch reluctant to commit to the chase into the head wind, they pulled out a 30 seconds lead which was held to the finish hill where McKinnon opened up a gap over Hall which he held to the finish. Chris Hayes (Bolsover and District won the bunch gallop for third place with Corey Ashley best Junior in 12th overall. Best local rider was Harry Browning in 17th with Paul Conneely 23rd, Chris Carter 36th and Martin Ludlam 49th. Photos»

Place	Name	Club
1	Robin McKinnon	Harworth & District
2	Jonathan Hall	Private Member
3	Chris Hayes	Bolsover & District
4	James Stewart	Bonito Squadra
5	Jonathan Wolff	Sheffrec CC
6	John Ellis	Welland Valley
7	Steve Young	Royal Navy & Royal Marines
8	Paul Allen	Dinnington RC
9	Jason Kierman	Wisbech Wheelers
10	Michael Jones	Nottingham Clarion
11	Andy Hayton	Squadra RT
12 (1st J)	Corey Ashley	Beeston RC
13	Anthony Richardson	Royal Air Force CC
14	James Hedley-Smith	Clay Cross RT
15	Luke Bonnett	Royal Air Force
16	David Warriner	York Cycleworks
17	Harry Browning	Clay Cross RT
18	David Beachill	Stocksbridge CC
19	Vincent Johnson
20	Jonathan Wells	VC Lincoln

For the afternoon GA Bennett race over 120 kms a good quality field of E123s assembled to tackle 6 laps with conditions still warm and dry but now with a strong westerly breeze to contend with.
At the end of first lap Tom Stewart (Team Sportscover) Michael Smith (Corley Cycles) Kit Gilham (Metaltek) had a 22 second lead over the bunch with the chase being led by Graham Briggs (Team Raleigh) but this was shortlived and they were all back together at the end of the second lap. With lap 3 over 2 minutes slower than the previous lap activity off the front increased, with Kit Kilham attacking again with Graham Briggs and second cats, Lee Allen (Beeston RC) and Edward Pickard (Beeston RC) holding a 27 second lead over 8 chasing riders with 4 riders a further 10 seconds back as James Shaw (Forme Bikes) attempted to bridge from the bunch at another 10 seconds.
A lap later Lee Allen had been dropped and the other 3 had stretched the gap out to 40 seconds over a chasing group of 11 riders with the bunch at another 30 seconds and 3 riders in the gap. Lap time had picked up again by 2 minutes. A regrouping from behind on lap 5 saw Matt Holmes (Team Raleigh) George Atkins (100% ME) and Giles Drake (Herbalife) another second cat join the leading 3 riders to establish a lead of 55 seconds over a main bunch now all back together as the bell was rung.
On the last lap the main bunch started to chase in earnest and Matt Holmes was the latest puncture victim caused by the high number and of large potholes on the circuit, the local council having ignored all requests for repairs. With the neutral service stranded behind the main bunch Holmes was never to see the break again, but his team mate Briggs upheld the Pro teams honour by breaking clear on the run in to win by 4 seconds from Atkins with Kit Gilham just holding of Giles Drake for third a further 4 seconds back. The rest of the break just hung on to take the major placings as Sam Lowe (100%ME) led the bunch over the line now only 18 seconds behind the winner.
First Junior prize went to Jacob Scott Team Sportscover in 10th place overall. Peter Cocker was the only local rider taking part and looked to be going well but lost contact with the main bunch on lap 4 after some mechanical issues but managed to regain the bunch, although he then lost contact again on the final lap as the pace picked up to finish around 45th overall. Kim Paxton of event sponsor Pedal Pushers presented the prizes later on back at the HQ.Photos»

1	Graham Briggs	Raleigh
2	George Atkins	100% ME
3	Kit Gilham	Metaltek
4	Giles Drake	Herbalife
5	Ed Pickard	Beeston RC
6	Sam Lowe	100% ME
7	Thomas Stewart	Team Sportcover
8	Tom Neale	Spalding CC
9	Conor Ryan	Equipe CMI
10	Jacob Scott	Team Sportcover
11	Matt Holmes	Raleigh

Report by Simon Cocker. Photographs by Alan East

14/5 Mallory Park
Conditions were terrible at Mallory Park with heavy rain for the latest round of circuit races.
In the Juvenile race the bunch stayed together for the first couple of laps before Karl Baillie launched an attack taking Reece Egner and Josh Snodin with him. They stayed away to the finish where in the final sprint Josh got the better of the two Witham Wheelers with Karl 2nd and Reece 3rd

28/4 Velo 99 Norwell RR
“After last years event when the weather was the worst I have known, 2013 had to be better, but only just as it turned out. At least it did not rain, temperature was a cool 4c at the finish line, with a gale force North wind straight into the riders faces up the hill to the finish.” Chris Hobby, Promoter
Download the full report and results list»

4/5 Andy Morrison Memorial RR
Peter Cocker rode the 65km race held over 18 laps of a 2.5 mile circuit near Cranfield University. A strong wind and exposed roads made for a hard race but Peter attacked from the start and riders were being dropped from the 70 rider bunch from the first lap. After 3 laps on his own he was joined by 3 riders and pulled out a 1 minute lead before 9 more riders bridged the gap leaving the main bunch out of contention over 2 minutes behind. William Colbourne (Team V Sprint) had continued on his own opening up a 30 second lead for 4 laps before with 3 laps to go Peter attacked from the break and bridged the gap to the leader with one other rider. On the final climb Peter tried to distance the other 2 but couldn’t open up a significant gap and in the sprint for the line took an excellent 2nd 2 lengths behind Colbourne.

30/4 National Junior Road Race
Loughborough University organised the latest round of the National Junior series over 5 laps (106km) of the Harby Belvoir Castle circuit. The effects of a strong westerly wind and the long climb up Harby Hill could be seen on the first lap as the 80 rider bunch started to split on the hill on the first lap.
Peter Cocker made sure he got in the first break of 11 strong riders which pulled out a gap of 2 minutes on the second lap. Eventually another 20 riders bridged the gap leaving the rest of the bunch out of the race. Approaching the hill for the penultimate time the leading group was starting to split and 10 riders forged clear but unfortunately Peter although still feeling strong felt unwell and had to retire. On the last climb of Harby to the finish line it was a matter of survival of the fittest as Tao Geoghan Hart eased clear for the win. His recent 3rd place in the Junior Paris Roubaix and stage race win in Croatia having made him the pre-race favourite.

23/4 Mallory Park
Karl Baillie rode the latest Tuesday evening Mallory Park race. In the youth race he rode around with the leading group of 3 but with a lap and a half to go upped the pace and rode the others off his wheel to take the win by a comfortable distance.
In the senior 2/3/4 category race a fast pace throughout limited any attacking opportunities and it came down to a big sprint finish, where Peter Cocker led out his two Forme team mates who were able to take the first two places over the line. Karl Baillie also rode the senior race and finished in the bunch but was outside the placings, along with Harry Browning.

20/4 Giant Rutland Cicle Sportive.
On Saturday 9 club riders were some of the 931 riders taking part on hilly routes around the Vale of Belvoir, Launde Abbey and Wakeley in ideal warm and dry weather conditions.
Riders finishing times were: 100 miles Steve Cropper 6.25, Ian Galpin 6.07, Gerry Hyde 6.28, Steve Pullinger 7.13, Peter Watson 6.07, Mark Wilson 6.27.
75 miles John Clifton 4.50, Brain Martin 4.33, Peter Pain 4.40.

16/4 Mallory Park Round 2
Mixed fortunes for club riders in the second Mallory Park Tuesday evening Road Race Series. Karl Baillie and Reece Egner rode the in the Youth race. Karl was a marked man after some recent good results and was unable to break away on his own. Following the others he went a bit early on the final lap but managed to win the final sprint, with Reece just missing out on the top 3 in 4th place.
After 2 recent wins Harry Browning’s luck ran out when he was taken out by a crash in the first lap in the 2/3 cat race. Riding this race as well Karl managed to avoid the crash but punctured half way through. After having a lap out he got back in and put in a good sprint in a tailwind finish on Juvenile gear restrictions to finish just outside the top 10.

14/4 Velo 99 at Skillington
Warmer weather than of late coupled with a very strong southerly wind made the going very difficult on the tough undulating course at Skillington.
The groups started splitting on the first lap as the stronger riders in each group managed to get away and, more impressively, stay away despite some concerted efforts to chase them down. Chris Carter (group 6) soloed over the line to win the overall race with Martin Milne (group 4) and Darren Busby (group 5) winning their respective groups in claiming 2nd and 3rd overall respectively. Witham Wheelers bagged 6 places out of the top 10 and Kim Paxton won group 3 while claiming 15th overall in her first race of the season. Seamless organisation too. Thanks to Phil, Tony and the Wobblies Support team. Photo album»

Pos	Race No.			Group	Points
1	101	Chris Carter	WW	6	60
2	64	Martin Milne	WW	4	59
3	74	Darren Busby		5	58
4	48	Stephen Bunn		6	57
5	89	Chris Samler	WW	5	56
6	6	Dave Moulds	WW	4	55
7	46	Gary Ison		4	54
8	73	Ross Tomblin	WW	5	53
9	47	Brad Palmer		5	52
10	71	Rob Johnson	WW	5	51
11	69	Mark Johnson		6	50
12	59	Neil Sentence	WW	6	49
13	68	Rob Blackburn		6	48
14	90	Paul Sleaford		6	47
15	5	Kim Paxton	WW	3	46
16	102	Paul Hutchinson		6	45
17	94	Robert Ramsdale		6	44
18	34	Alf Davies		5	43
19	60	John Farmer	WW	4	42
20	18	Annabel Sill		3	41

13/4 Darley Moor
Two wins in a week for 2 young Witham Wheeler riders. Junior Harry Browning repeated his win from last Sunday with a great sprint into a strong headwind from a field of over 90 riders in the 3/4 category race.
Triathlete Patrick Cutmore showed he is starting to get the hang of bunch racing with a top 20 finish and Sean Culpin finished safely in the bunch.
In the Youth A (under 16) race Karl Baillie repeated his tactic from Tuesday night at Mallory and rode away on his own from a big field of over 40 riders for another solo victory. Reece Egner, Jennifer McAndrew and Adam Egner also rode but were out of the placings.
In the Elite/1/2/3 category race professional rider Dean Downing broke away on the first lap with another rider and was then joined around half distance by another 5 to form the race winning break. Peter Cocker although active at the front of the race missed the break but was in the right place as the chasing bunch split with 5 laps to go and was able to drive off the front of the group on the last lap to secure 10th overall. The race was won by Dean Downing in a comfortable sprint. Schoolboy Karl Baillie also rode for experience, in his second race of the day and did well to finish in one of the chasing groups.
Photos»

9/4 Mallory Park Round 1
Karl Baillie raced in the first round of the Mallory Park road race series. Karl went for it from the gun and after less than a lap was clear of the rest of the field.
Pushing on in cold and windy conditions he pulled out over half a lap on the rest of the field to take a well deserved win in the 7 lap race.

7/4 Darley Moor
Junior Harry Browning (Witham Wheelers) came out on top in a bunch sprint finish to Matlock CC’s 37-mile event on the Darley Moor circuit for his first open road race win.
A field of 61 riders stayed largely together in the sunshine with Browning, third at an earlier meeting at the Derbyshire venue this season, prevailing over veteran track specialist Adrian Adgar (Moda RT) and Paul Allen (Dinnington RC).

31/3 Velo 99 Car Colston
The first Velo 99 race of 2013 took place at Car Colston in dry but cold conditions.
A lot of Wheelers took part and Martin Milne just missed out in the sprint in the front group but Chris Sammler won the second bunch sprint and Chris Carter the third. Photos»

16/3 Darley Moor Round 2
Good club turnout for the second round of races at Darley Moor near Ashbourne. The 3rd category saw a big field of around 100 riders and in heavy rain some crashes were inevitable, luckily club riders avoided any serious problems with junior Harry Browning taking his best result so far with an excellent 3rd place in the big sprint with Paul Conneely not far behind in a top 10 position and Chris Carter, held up by a crash in the last chicane, was just outside the top 20.
In the Under 16s there was another big field of 37 riders from across the East and West Midlands and the race again came down to a bunch sprint with Reece Egner, Karl Baillie and James Carter holding good positions in the front group but just missing out on the top 10 places.
Adam Egner rode well in the under 14s but finished out of top places.
The Elite field also saw a big field of over 60 riders with several semi-professional riders, Peter Cocker again worked in a team role once his team mate James Shaw got into the early break of 4 riders, which built up a lead of over a minute by the finish, with Peter finishing around 20th overall in the final sprint.
Photos»

9/3 Darley Moor Road Races
The first road race of the year in the East Midlands took place at Darley Moor near Ashbourne on Saturday in bitterly cold conditions although the rain mercifully didn’t turn to snow as forecast earlier.
In the third/fourth category event Paul Conneely and Chris Carter both finished in the top 20 happy to avoid any of the crashes which are often a feature of these early season races.
A good turn out of Juvenile riders in the Under 16s with Reece Egner and James Carter featuring prominently in the chasing group as Tom Weeds from Derby split the race apart from the start. In the final sprint Reece finished just outside the points in 5th with James close behind in 6th. Jennifer McAndrew rode really well in another of the chasing groups to finish first girl.
The Under 14s were sent off just after the Under 16s with Adam Egner riding strongly but out of the placings and Robert McAndrew gaining good experience in his first outing in this age group.
In the E/1/2/3 race Peter Cocker, now riding first claim for new Junior team Forme Racing, feeling under the weather rode a defensive race for his team mates but still managed to bridge across to the main chasing bunch in the closing stages to take 7th overall in the final sprint. The race was won by top Time Triallist Matt Bottrill by the simple tactic of going hard from the start and riding everyone off his wheel by half distance.
Photos»

2013 Road Race Reports

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