Click the links below to see the full report for each race. This page will be updated after each event.
- Sun 22nd Feb, Clayton Velo Spring Classic, Bashall Eves
- Sun 1st March, Lach Dennis Spring RR, Middlewich
- Sat March 7th, Dambuster Duathlon, Leicestershire
- Sun March 8th, Pimbo RR, Skelmersdale
- Sun March 8th, Ormskirk Parkrun, Ormskirk
- Sun March 15th, Oulton Park Duathlon, Oulton
- Sun March 15th, North West Duathlon Championships, Carlisle
- Sun March 22nd, Wilmslow Half Marathon, Wilmslow
- Sun March 22nd, Belle Vue 10K, Ormskirk
- Sat March 28th, TLI Crit., Salt Ayre, Lancaster
- Sun 5th April, Frank Morgan Memorial, Kirkby
- Sun 5th April, Ulverston Triathlon, Ulverston
- Sun 12th April, CSP RR, Bashall Eves
- Sat April 18th, Bickerstaffe RR, Bickerstaffe
- Sun April 19th, The Endurance Store Clitheroe Pool Triathlon
- Sun April 19th, Stone Wheelers RR, Swynnerton
- Tues April 21st, Dave Astle’s Memorial Event 1, Lower Whithington
- Sat April 25th, Derek Smith Memorial RR, Greetland, Halifax
- Tues April 28th, Dave Astle’s Memorial Event 2, Lower Whithington
- Sat May 2nd, Volcano Standard Distance Triathlon, Lanzarote
- Sat May 2nd St Jordi Olympic Distance Triathlon, Majorca
- Sat May 2 – Mon May 4, Tour of the Abberleys, Malvern
- Tues May 5th Dave Astles Memorial Event 3, Lower Whithington
- Sun May 10th West Penine RR, Bashall Eves
- Sun May 10th Steve Gutteridge Memorial RR, Saighton
- Sat May 16th, Slateman Sprint Triathlon, Snowdonia, Wales
- Sat May 16th, Beaver Middle Distance Triathlon, Leicestershire
- Sat May 16, TLI Crit Champs, North Wales
- Sun May 17th, Steve Jones Memorial RR, Saighton
- Sun May 24th, LVRC RR Champs, Malvern
- Sun May 24th, English Riviera Triathlon, Devon
- Mon May 25th, Anfield 100 mile TT, Shawbury
- Tues May 26th, Dave Astles Memorial, Lower Whithington
- Sun May 31st, BC Masters National Road Race Champs, Milton Keynes
- Tues June 2nd, Oulton Park, Oulton Park
- Sun June 7th, Percy Stallard Event 1, Bashall Eves
- Tues June 9th, Oulton Park Race 2, Oulton Park
- Sun June 14th, Swynnerton RR, Swynnerton
- Sun June 21st, Horwich Festival, Horwich
- Tues June 23rd, Oulton Park, Oulton
- Sun June 28th, Ironman, Nice
- Sun June 28th, Castle Triathlon Series, Cholmondely Castle, Cheshire
- Sun July 5th, Percy Stallard Event 2, Greetland, Halifax
- Sun July 12th, Boundary Breeze Triathlon N.W Reg Sprint Champs, Holmes Chapel
- Sun July 18th, IronKids Bolton, Bolton
- Sun July 26th, Triathlon Liverpool, Liverpool
- Sun July 26th, Percy Stallard Event 3, Tipps Cross, Essex
- Sun Aug 2nd, High on Bikes RR, Clieves Hill
- Sun Aug 9th, Bickerstaffe RR
- Sun Aug 16th, Parkinson Memorial RR, Siddington
- Sun 23rd Aug, TLI RR Champs, Siddington
- Sun 30th Aug, Wirral Sprint Triathlon, New Brighton
- Sun 30th Aug, Percy Stallard Event 4, Grimsby
- Sat 5th Sept, Bickerstaffe RR, Bickerstaffe
- Sun 6th Sept, New West Lancs Sprint Triathlon, West Lancs.
- Sun 13th Sept, Manchester 100, Cheshire.
- Sun 20th Sept, Percy Stallard Event 6, Huntingdon.
- Sun 20th Sept, Wilmslow Sprint Triathalon, Wilmslow.
Clayton Velo Spring Classic, Bashall Eves, Sun 22nd Feb
Written By Karl Smith
This was my first event riding for Bott Cycle Team. The Clayton Spring Classic which is the first major event on the calendar in the North West. It attracts a quality field of eighty riders including Pros. from One Pro Cycling, Maddison Genesis and about 15 more elite riders.
The event is run as a handicap with three groups. I was in the second group made up of 2nd, 3rd and 4th Cat. riders. We were nearing the half way point when the 1st Cat. elite and Pro. riders caught us. After several attacks a group of mainly Pros. and elites broke clear and by the end had caught the few Junior riders that had survived up front.
The race was won by Pete Williams of One Pro Cycling and I finished in the main group in about 20th place. As the oldest rider in the race, I was more than pleased with my days effort.
Lach Dennis Spring RR, Middlewich, Sun 1st March
Written By Andy Wright
This was the first race of the season for myself, Roy Holmes and Steve Stoneman.
None of us turned up with any great expectations or ambitions for this race, it was an exercise in finding out exactly how well the winter training had gone and how you were in comparison with the other competitors.
The weather on the day was bright but very windy and a bit cold. The race got underway and as you would expect the attacks started from the flag dropping! A few small groups got small gaps but the winning breakaway of 6 formed on about the 4th lap.
Despite the break getting a good lead, the racing in the bunch was never slow or boring as I think the other riders wanted to test their fitness too…..and keep warm.
The bunch sprint was a pretty well behaved affair with no crashes or incidents and it was a relief at the end to get the first race finished.
Roy finished 10th and I rolled in safely right at the back (as is customary in bunch finishes for me) There were 31 finishers from 50 odd starters.
Congratulations to Andrew Magnier on the win and honourable mentions must go to Steve “Rocky” Fidler who crashed whilst in the breakaway but managed to get back on his bike and finish 7th despite some nasty injuries and Ryan “baby faced assassin” Ashcroft who rode away from the bunch on his own and teamed up with Steve to get 6th.
Thanks to Mike Rothwell and team for putting on such a great event and to Ellen Isherwood for the photographs.
Sat March 7th, Dambuster Duathlon, Leicestershire
Written By Julie Harrison
The Dambuster duathlon turned out to be my first race for the 2015 season, I had cancelled a couple of races as my fitness wasn’t where I want it to be, so I went to Rutland with a race plan of finish in one piece and try not to come last.
The race started with a 10 kilometre run which was just plain hard; I struggled the whole way and desperately wanted to stop.
After 52 minutes and 70th female overall I got to my bike feeling shabby to say the least, hopped on and completed the windiest 40 kilometre ride I can remember doing in the UK before, the gusts were really strong and I nearly came a cropper a few times, I did however manage to overtake a few women and made some places up to 48.
Next came the 5 kilometre run I wasn’t looking forward to it but strangely I began to feel as though I was getting into my stride, looking back at my Garmin I could see that my average pace was 25 seconds per minute faster that my first run so that was good news.
Overall time was 2.54 probably my slowest time for that race ever, I finished 5th in my age group and 48th overall female.
Sun March 8th, Pimbo RR, Skelmersdale
E123 Category
Written By Roy Holmes
Poor show from me yesterday – wrong choice of clothing and just got too cold. Should have fully wrapped up in winter gear and kept a waterproof on to keep warm. Must do better on the next one!
It was a fast race – I was clocking 60Km/hr down the long straight after the finish! Overall it was a miserable morning with rain falling constantly for the whole time. At half distance I was so cold I tried to get a wind proof layer on but my fingers were so cold I could not fasten the zip so called it a day at around 30 miles – just about when Karl was getting himself into the group containing eventual winner Pete Williams – great performance from Karl in such good company.
It took me a good 40 mins to stop shivering when I got back to the changing rooms – 3 cups of hot chocolate were required J
So I put than one behind me and consider myself lucky to have missed the crash on the final lap where Roger not only lost some skin but also wrecked some very expensive equipment on what was his first race outing for a few years – how unlucky can you be!
Role on the sunny days when we can race in the warmth – won’t be long I hope……
E123 Category
Written By Roger Leather
The Curse of the Monster Munch!
Not the best start to the season personally on a cold, wet and windy morning on everyone’s favourite industrial estate. Pimbo by virtue of its wide, one way and generally hazard free “boulevards”, should theoretically be one of the safest circuits on the calendar, but every year it somehow or other manages to claim flesh, bone…..and a dose of expensive plastics and fine metals for good measure.
The start of the E123 race in the morning had us all shivering and pondering our own potential wardrobe malfunctions. There’s a fine line between feeling comfortable in a race, and being uncomfortable either from overheating, or as was most of our cases- freezing. Despite temperatures being almost double figures, the persistent rain coupled with cold wind left most riders suffering and led to a fairly high attrition rate with regards retirees. In hindsight of course, I wish I’d joined them.
The race got underway with the usual flurry of attacks which were contained with ease. I think the desperate cold led a lot of riders to have a go for circulations sake more than anything. The pace was pretty swift so it was going to take a good effort for any rider or group to go clear. At probably just over half distance, a group did indeed manage to go clear and luckily for us, Karl was in that group with a selection of pretty formidable riders for company.. Thankfully, this contained both the strongest Elite riders in the race, one of who was represented with the largest team contingent back in the main group, so their chances of staying away were odds-on.
The main bunch where I was sat was probably down to around 30 riders now so we counted off the laps and settled-in for the sprint for minor places. Unfortunately for me and probably around half dozen other riders, a touching of wheels (I assume), led to a fairly high speed pile-up probably within the last 500-700m. I was unfortunate to get clipped by one of the downed riders to the side/ front of me as they went down, and so also ended up on the floor. Nothing serious physically- road rash and heavy impact to elbow, hip and wrist. Being the wrong side of 40 of course doesn’t help when throwing oneself onto asphalt at +/- 27mph.
So…..after walking about 5 mins towards the finish and my car, I was lucky enough to get a lift from a kind chap. Uncontrollable shaking from the cold (and maybe a bit of shock), had me almost unable to actually get into the car! Damage analysis also revealed a wrecked frame and other assorted bits.
Of course, the sun then decided to make an appearance just to cheer us all up….
Positives to take away from the race? Legs felt good.
Hey-ho.
E123 Category
Written By Karl Smith
Another early season race that was cold and wet ridden by Roy Holmes, Roger Leather and myself. The E,1, 2 & 3 Pimbo road race is a 54 mile race around the industrial estate. A good field of 80 riders including a few pro’s and plenty of elites and 1st cat’s set of on a wet morning at a high rate of knots. Yes this was going to be fast.
At just over 2 miles round the drag up through the finish was going to get hard and the attacks just kept coming.
Eventually 6 riders made a move stick, then 5 including myself got away and bridged the gap. We were not 11 for long, a few attacks had us down to 7 with me just making the group. With 4 pro’s and 2 elites I was in a classic group with 10 miles still to race. Pete Williams (the Eddie Soens winner the day before) attacked with 5 miles left, and showing the great form he’s in soloed to another great win for the One Pro team, I hung on to the group and took 7th which for a vet was a very pleasing result.
Both Roy and Rodger were going well in the bunch till miss fortune struck. Roy had to succumb to the cold and Rodger crashed resulting in a badly damaged bike. Better luck to them next time out.
Congratulations to Pete Williams of the One [pro cycling team on the win.
3rd & 4th Cat. Race
Written By Andy Wright
The weather forecast for Sunday said it would rain until 11am and then the sun would shine………I left home at 12.15 in the rain filled with dread that we would have a repeat of the same race last year when it rained all day and I had to throw a full set of brand new kit away because the diesel wouldn’t come out of it.
I got to the circuit a bit early so that I could watch the women’s race which was very good……it was still raining.
I went to race HQ, signed on, got my numbers and got changed…….it was still raining.
I drove back to the circuit, got the bike out and finished getting dressed…….just as I got on my bike to start the race, the rain stopped and the sun came out!
The race had a full field of 80 and a lot of the usual suspects were amongst them. The attacks started from the off but because I had the remnants of a head cold, I couldn’t get involved. I trundled around in the bunch for the whole race which was pretty good training. It was obvious that the race would finish in a sprint so on the last lap I stayed at the back out of trouble.
With about a mile to the finish, there was a big crash in front of me involving about 15 riders. I had to stop with lots of other lads to pick our way through the bikes and bodies. By the time we got going again the riders in front of the crash were long gone. I rolled into the finish relieved not to have been on the deck.
Huge thanks and congrats go to Brian Rigby and St Helens CRC for organising a great day of racing.
Well done to Owen Line on the impressive win
We hope that all involved in the crash are ok.
Sun March 8th, Ormskirk Parkrun, Ormskirk
Written by Steve Stonemason
Raced at the Ormskirk Park Run on Saturday a course at edge hill college. These are free events and open to everyone. So there are women, children, beginners and elite runners. They are accurately timed and are
a race if you wish to.
I ran to mix in cycling the same day. It is a slowish twisty course of 5km so a good test.
My running is doing ok but not amazing. I finished in a time of 19 min 57. Under 20min was my aim. I set off too fast and faded the last km but happy at this time of year as it was a full anaerobic session (very painful!).
So I finished 11th overall of 120 starters and 1st in 45/49 age group. This was washed down by 60 miles on the bike. So a tough training day.
Sun March 15th, Oulton Park Duathlon, Oulton
Written By Julie Harrison
On Sunday I took part in the Oulton park duathlon which was over the distances of 5.34 mile first run 24.2 mile bike and finished with a 2.67 mile run.
It was a chance to wear the teams new running kit which I really love, the cut and fit of the fabric is excellent and it looks so nice with all the team sponsors emblazoned on the front.
The day dawned dry but even though my race only started at 1pm it was bitterly cold.
The race circuit at Oulton as all the lads from the team know is deceptively undulating and we circumnavigated the whole circuit 12 times in total.
I had a decent first half of the run and was keeping up a nice rhythm but then I felt like I was running through treacle for the second half, not sure what happened really but I climbed on the bike. The first two laps were a bit of a struggle then I started to pick up pace again finishing that leg feeling fairly strong. Onto the last run and I was into my stride now I could easily have carried so while my speed is a long way off where it should be at least the endurance is still there.
Fairly happy with my performance and feel like I am actually gaining fitness so its onwards and upwards!
Sun March 15th, North West Duathlon Championships, Carlisle
Written by Steve Stonemason
Sunday was the NW Duathlon Champs in Carlisle. I wasn’t expecting too much as I don’t usually have great fitness at this early time of year and the first race is always a shock to the system. This year especially as I haven’t had the greatest preparation with illness and time to train and also around 4kg overweight!
I have to say that I have strung some decent training together the last 3 weeks or so including some high end threshold work, so I was hoping I wasn’t going to be a complete shambles! My aim of course is ALWAYS to try and win my age group and finish as high up as possible against the younger racers.
The course was great on the west side of Carlisle so nice and flat and quiet roads. It wasn’t a long event hence why I entered really. So race was a 2.5 mile run, 15 mile bike and finish with another 2.5mile run. So was to be a fast race with no wind really either. There were around a 100 racers and set off together on this narrow lane, so there were a few elbows!
I paced well the first km even though people were passing (not many mind!!) and wound it up from there, I finished the run in 16.06 min a pace of 6min 17/mile so a PB for me coming to the bike in 24th place overall. Onto the bike had a good transition this was two laps of 7.5 mile I took it steady first mile or so to transition the legs then pushed on, as I say I wasn’t expecting a great performance but pulled out a 23mph average on a tricky course and came back in a time of 39min moving me up to 7th overall! Onto the 2nd run I am usually terrible on this part as I have usually ridden so hard to gain time back, and this was no exception I just try and hang on! Surprisingly within a km I was running at 6.45/mile pace and as fast as 6.30/mile again is certainly the fastest ive run in the 2nd leg. So I finished win 17.29. However was caught by 3 runners who I caught on the bike. I finished in a time of 1.13.13
The results were a little complicated so will try to explain!
I was 3rd fastest Vet over 40 and 9h overall. However the Championships are in 5 year age groups and the two other vets who beat me are younger than me (40-44) so I took the NW 45-49 AG Title!
So overall I am pretty pleased, not so much with the result but of my physical performance on the day, much better than I thought I would be so bodes well for better form to come. Its always nice to finish on the podium though!
Sun March 22nd, Wilmslow Half Marathon, Wilmslow
Written by Julie Harrison
I took part in the Wilmslow half marathon on Sunday 22/03/2015, I have done this race more times than I care to remember, it’s a lovely run through Cheshire lanes on closed roads. The weather forecast was for sun with just a little breeze and they were right, this made the conditions for running perfect.
This was purely a training run as I have just started to ramp up my training hours for Ironman France and I had done a 4 hour bike ride the day before.
I gave myself a target time of between 1.45 and 1.55 and I set off trying to stick to 8.20 min miling pace. I more or less got the pacing spot on for the whole of the race which I was really pleased about, I was worried about blowing in the last few miles but I never did.
Finished the run in 1.50.23 so was right in the middle of my time target, this was quite a bit slower than last year but my training has been completely different this year so I expected that.
Many congratulations to the women’s winner Perendis Lekapana who broke the course record this year in 1.11.24 wow!
Sunday March 22nd, Belle Vue 10K, Ormskirk
Written by Andy Wright
This event is organised and backed by our co- sponsor, Nick Mussell of o2 Ormskirk. Belle Vue House is an school for Autistic kids which is a brilliant cause. Myself, Steve Stoneman and Karl smith competed in this event. The day was lovely and sunny and there were lots of serious runners representing all of the local clubs.
3 Cyclists shouldn’t have given them much trouble but we gave a pretty good account of ourselves with Karl finishing 20th in 39:17, Steve finishing 36th in 41:08 and me finishing 45th in 42:07 out of the 379 finishers.
Huge thanks to Nick for inviting us again and to the organising team for putting on a great event.
Sat March 28th, TLI Crit., Salt Ayre, Lancaster
Written By Karl Smith
Today’s race was a charity event for Cystic Fibrosis. It was enter on the day with all money going to the charity, unfortunately due to the heavy rain all morning only 15 riders took to the start.
Even so the attacks started straight away with riders coming and going. On only the 5th lap Daniel Stevens of the Liverpool Century opened a good gap and sensing danger I bridged across. We worked hard together and got a half lap lead on the small bunch.
This is how the race continued for the remainder of the hour. In the finishing sprint Daniel with his much younger faster legs took the win from me, with Sam Dobson of 54/11 Cycle Team claiming 3rd spot.
Frank Morgan Memorial, Kirkby, Sun 5th April
Written By Roy Holmes
Easter Sundays outing for me, Andy and Karl was at the annual Frank Morgan Road Race in Knowsley organised by the Liverpool Mercury Club.
An early break of around 10 riders went away after about 5 or 6 laps, but the relentless pace of this race took its toll on the leaders and they were all brought back with about 5 laps to go. Average speed for the race was around 26mph so no wonder they could not stay away! I stayed in the middle of the group for most of the race, having a few goes to get across to small groups but realising it was just too fast for anything to stay away.
So with the race altogether as we came to the final few laps, Karl was very active trying to get away but it was too quick and at the bell for the last lap it was still all together – time to rekindle my bunch sprinting skills from my younger days 🙂
The skill is to hold your place in the first 5 or 6 riders but not to get right to the front too soon. As well as keeping your wits about you in the final miles you need the fitness to keep accelerating to maintain your place and not get overtaken by too many other riders and all the time trying to stay out of the wind to save as much energy as possible for the final 200m. My legs felt good and round the last bend I was still right up there as the final sprint started. I managed 6th, which against the majority of younger riders well under half my age is ok and I was pleased with my form as I continue to prepare for my first “veterans only” race in a few weeks.
The race was won by Tony Greenhalgh – another Wigan lad who lives just down the road from me. Well done Tony, a great finish from you today showing the young ‘uns a clean pair of wheels.
Next week sees the same team on a much hiller course up near Clitheroe – fingers crossed that the legs keep getting stronger through this week ready for the weekend.
Ulverston Triathlon, Ulverston, Sun 5th April
Written By Steve Stoneman
Was an early start today in thick fog as my daughter was entered into the Tri Kidz Aquathlon which was a 25m swim and 600m run. She duly delivered in her first ever event and first ever win!!! Maybe some Stoneman DNA in there somewhere, well done Emily.
My event was a 400m pool swim, followed by a pretty tough 18 mile bike leg along the ulverston coast and a 3.6 mile run. This year attracted a good quality field of NW champ level, so would be hard to get high overall.
I have not been able to train to my desired level due to time so wasn’t expecting too much. However I have been feeling ok on the bike.
I needed to have a very strong bike due to the lack of swim and run training to get a good result, so decided to take the swim at a steady pace so I had more energy to blast the bike from the start as usually a hard swim takes me a mile or so on the bike to get going in full swing. Of course this means you lose time on the swim too!
Exited the pool in 7.30 (slow for me!) then onto the bike, there was less wind today which meant a pretty fast day however the bike course has few hills and drags and also the road surface is not great, so a tough course really.
I felt pretty good and set off really fast and kept the pace so returned off the bike in 42.40 so was a PB for me and 2nd fastest split of the day from a young ex time triallist so was happy!!. Onto the run a pretty straight forward course, set off well off the bike and averaged 6min 39/mile pace which is pretty good for me so finished in a time of 23.55 but is no where fast enough for a top overall placing this year due to the standard of the field.
So still a great result with first race of the year a 1st place age group 45—49 and 9th overall out of 248 competitors .
Next event for me is Clitheroe Triathlon 19th May.
CSP RR, Bashall Eves, Sun 12th April
Written By Karl Smith
Yet another cold, wet and windy day to race, and after such a nice warm week. Four of us
(Andy, Roy, Roger and myself ) entered the Bashall Eves RR, 44 tough racing miles against mainly junior riders. As vets we were in for a hard time, the juniors love attacking the hills. Joe Blogs attacked early and was never seen again, soloing to a great win.
The rest off us had a good race with the pace and cold reducing the bunch down to no more than 16 riders by the last lap. The two strongest riders in the bunch forced a small gap at the top of the longest climb and held it to the finish to take 2nd & 3rd, the rest off us sprinted for 4th. Roy sprinted well against all these younger lads taking 5th place overall and I came over the line for 8th.
Just two weeks now till our first all vets race. With these racing miles against younger riders now in the legs some top results could be coming our way.
Bickerstaffe RR, Bickerstaffe, Sat April 18th
Written By Roy Holmes
Bickerstaff, near Ormskirk was the venue for Roy and Andy’s race on Saturday morning. Sunny and only slightly chilly conditions were a nice contrast to last weekend’s freezing rain so a good race was in prospect. The race stayed together for the majority of the 40 miles total distance but with around 3 laps to go 3 riders managed to go clear, so Roy and Andy were left to make the most of the sprint for 4th place.
Into the last of the short 3 mile laps and everyone was trying to get to the front for the final sprint for the line. 1 mile to go and both Andy and Roy were in a good position close to the front but someone came down right at the front of the group and about 10 more riders also came down – including Roy who ploughed into a pile of bikes and riders directly in front of him.
Luckily, Roy was not too hurt – just a few bruises and sore ribs. His bike however was another story. A smashed front wheel and broken forks meant it was an expensive outing and one he would prefer to forget.
Andy escaped the crash and went on to finish 10th in the sprint.
The Endurance Store Clitheroe Pool Triathlon, Sun April 19th
Written By Steve Stoneman
This is a very popular event in the picturesque Lancashire hills it offers a challenging course for a short distance event, with 340 competitors.
Again this time of year means a pool swim of 400m followed by a challenging 18 mile bike including the challenging 24% ascent of Jeffrey Hill. The run was changed this year and was an undulating road run of 5 mile so longer than usual by a mile or so..
Going to pour my heart out here to our Bott Cycling Team followers!! Making excuses time… I am really struggling for fitness this year and personally feel miles off my best, I have been suffering from a few illnesses with ongoing medical tests! So have been very inconsistent in my performances both racing and training.
But hey, still breathing and as long as I do that I will race!!!
As mentioned I have been inconsistent in performances and my strength has deserted me at the moment!! So by some surprise I did a PB for the swim covering the 400m (16 lengths) in 6.09 feeling pretty good, (However I was delayed by two slower swimmers in my lane!) so I believe I will have don 5min 50 which is a 2.5 mph average speed!!! Onto the bike and a bitingly cold easterly wind on the challenging Bashall Eaves course.
As soon as the road went skywards I started to feel weakness, so just paced and hoped I came round a bit. This didn’t happen but still dug in hard pushing anaerobic effort for 90% of the ride. I finished in a split for the 18 hilly miles in 53.27 which happily was the fastest split of the day but over two minutes slower than my time last year.
Onto the run, with gaining a lot of experience now in triathlon, desperately trying to gain time on the bike I knew the run would suffer, but was worse than normal! Averaging 7 min/mile pace this is poor at this level of event I felt terrible and is my worst performance on a run split since I started triathlon.
Finishing the 5 mile run in 35.20 finishing in an overall time of 1 hr 37.13 with transitions.
However it gained me 9th overall out of 340 and 4th Vet over 40 but I think 45-49 age group Winner. I am happy that even when I don’t fire I can still finish pretty high up overall so hopefully if the form returns and tests are clear its win, win, win….
Sunday April 19th, Stone Wheelers Road Race, Swynnerton
Written by Andy Wright
Swynnerton is a really tough course and I always enjoy racing on it. The day was clear and reasonably warm and the car park and changing room were full of the usual suspects. The race was pretty quick from the very start and riders were trying to form a breakaway constantly.
Very few moves stuck for long and so everything looked like a bunch sprint finish. A few riders including myself tried to get off the front of the race to avoid the inevitable chaos but it wasn’t to be.
What was left of the bunch sprinted it out up the hill to the finish.
Thanks to Stone Wheelers for another great event.
Dave Astle’s Memorial Event 1, Lower Whithington, Tues April 21st,
Written By Steve Stoneman
A good day at the office! As you know I have been up and down in my form, on the Sunday before I was struggling in triathlon, however by the Tuesday nights event I was a different athlete!
The weather was perfect a lovely spring evening, the race is on a flat course so makes for some fast racing, there are around 40 riders in our 45-55 age group race. I now spend around 20-30 minutes prior to races warming up on the static rollers, in preparation of a fast start, especially in the shorter races of 30 miles or so. So was well prepared for a good race.
I know within minutes if my legs are good, so knew right at the start I had good legs, so race on! Within 5 miles I had forced a split going at 34mph this lead to 3 other riders coming with me. The 4 of us broke away and shared the pace well, all 4 of us are seasoned racers and probably the best 4 on the night so I was happy to share the pace and get as much time as possible.
It is a pretty straightforward race so the pace was kept high, and we decided between us it would be a sprint for the finish. 1 rider jumped early with 300m to go I was straight onto the wheel in 2nd and came round him to win the race.
Derek Smith Memorial RR, Greetland, Halifax, Sat April 25th
Written By Roy Holmes
After settled and warm weather through the week, it was back to normal for the weekend’s racing with rain falling steadily in Greenland just outside Huddersfield, W Yorks. It was also a blustery day which was to make the racing hard.
I currently ride in the LVRC 55-59 age category but we always race along with the 50-54 age group so the racing is always of a good quality. Todays race was 10 laps of a 4.4 mile circuit with a tough uphill drag into a headwind through the finish each lap.
After a steady first lap to get everyone warmed up, things kicked off through the finish the second time and a split of around 12 riders got away and if you were not in that group it was game over for the day. I made the front group and along with 3 or 4 other riders we kept forcing the pace each time though the finish to try to reduce the numbers then things settled down to a group of 8 who were all determined not to let anyone get away.
So into the last few miles – all headwind stuff – and we were all positioning to get the best wheel for the finish. With a headwind finish like this its best to leave it late so your effort in the wind is keep to a minimum and you try to stay on a wheel until the final few meters.
200m to go and someone went for a long one – brave man but we were all onto him. Last 100m and the road kicks up again slightly so time to dig deep. 2nd place for me with Mark Hammersley from Wheelguru taking the win by a couple of bike lengths.
So almost there, a win soon I hope. Back to the training for another week or two.
Dave Astle’s Memorial Event 2, Lower Whithington, Tues April 28th,
Written By Steve Stoneman
The weather was certainly different this week! With much colder temperatures with a strong westerly wind. I had raced on Sunday again with dubious legs again so im certainly consistent in not being consistent!.. Again after a good warm up on the rollers I didn’t feel too bad. Not as good as the week before but getting stronger in general.
I was riding my NEW BIKE tonight so was excited about that, I only finished building it that day so was taking a risk of anything coming loose or wrong and not finishing or affecting the race, this did have an impact later (read on!).
There were a couple of extra riders last night that were of a good standard including my team mate Karl Smith, resplendent in his National Champions Jersey.
So again was expecting a fast start, I was not disappointed within 2 miles there was action from who I expected, I followed wheels for a while to let it settle down, but again within 5 miles I was in a breakaway of 7 riders, probably the 7 best riders so I pushed on the pace. At the start of the 2nd lap there is a little dip then it drags up for 500m or so and into this strong headwind. Nigel Simpson pushed the pace with Karl on his wheel, I was in the middle of the 7. Karl lost wheel with the pace of Nigel, no one else when across as it was a tough section so everyone was probably struggling due the super fast first lap. I had the strength to jump across to Nigel and pushed on past him, into the wind and really pushed then for the next mile or so which forced a gap on the rest of the breakaway.
We worked well together as probably the strongest two riders. We shared the pace again averaging 24.7mph! We soon got a large gap, so again would come down to a sprint. I mentioned my new bike, well,, my 15 and 16 sprocket were not working properly on my new chain, so starting the sprint in my 15 was not possible, which meant I had to accelerate in a higher gear, so couldn’t get the speed up quickly enough and Nigel got a little gap so had to settle for 2nd. A tip… Don’t use a new bike to race on its first ride!!!
Happy that my performances are returning and riding away from some of the best riders in the area so not a bad night!
Sat May 2nd, Volcano Standard Distance Triathlon, Lanzarote
Written By Julie Harrison
This was my first triathlon of 2015 which took place on the island of Lanzarote over the standard race distances which are 1500 meter swim 40 kilometre bike and a 10 kilometre run.
The Lanzarote weather is hot and notoriously windy and race morning was no exception I was slightly worried about the run having only arrived in the country the day before with no chance to acclimatise but I set off in the swim with the rest of the female athletes, it was my first open water event of the year but I felt strong and exited in 26.30 on my watch, this was a personal best swim time for me and reflected all the lengths I have done over the winter in the pool.
I have done this race twice before but the bike course had changed this year and basically consisted of 3 long climbs with equally long descents. I biked strongly overtaking a number of other females but had no idea of where I was in my age group. Back to transition and the run was next and it was so hot, the course was over 2 laps and had two short hills in it.
Again I ran strongly but didn’t have much pace in my legs and I was overtaken by a couple of women but did not know which age group they were in.
My finishing time was 2.46 which is the same time I did this race in over 10 years ago so very happy with that. I checked my results and saw that I was first in the female 50-54 age group all in all a good day.
Sat May 2nd St Jordi Olympic Distance Triathlon, Majorca
Written By Steve Stoneman
I entered the event due to its reputation as one of the worlds best standard distance events, not just to the standard of the field but its location, closed roads, and the course in general.
It was based in St Jordi in the far southwest of Majorca the quite end of the island with great beaches and great roads.
It had 600 racers from 20 countries! Including US, Canada and China. We woke to gorgeous blue skies and 30 degree temperatures forecast, couldn’t wait.
The swim was 1500m in the Mediterranean in St Jordi Bay. It was brilliant, crystal clear water and 18 degrees. It was a mass start so total chaos reigned as 600 people go for it. Of course I can push, shove and punch with the best of them so had a great start!
I did 23 min which was a PB for me and exited the water in 70th place. The bike was a draft legal leg as there were pros riding, so didn’t suit me really as I wasn’t able to use my strength fully due to people following and saving energy. Anyway I spent 5 or so miles on my own so caught over 30 riders and eventually ended up in the second group only two minutes behind the top pros so still a super strong leg for me and moved into the top 20 doing 58 mins for the 25 miles without really trying!
Onto the run. This was disappointing again especially as I didn’t waste too much energy on the bike this time. Probably the heat didn’t help, but had weak legs and lost 5 minutes on the run to the top guys. If I held my place would have been top 20 out of 600 and by far first over 40!
Anyway I didn’t!! So finished as 1st Brit 45+, and 3rd overall 45+ and 48th overall in the whole event. A great experience and will be there next year.
Tour of the Abberleys, Malvern, Sat May 2nd – Mon May 4th
Written By Andy Wright
I have heard a lot about this race over the years from lads I know really well, the 2 things that were a reoccurring theme were how well organised and how brutally hard it is! A very hilly 140 miles of racing over 3 days was in front of me.
The race takes place every year over the 1st May bank holiday weekend and consists of 4 stages over the 3 days.
We set off down to Worcestershire at 7am on the Saturday morning with our friends the Greenhalgh family to be ready for the 1st stage which started at 11.30am
Stage 1- 11.30am Saturday
This was a 4 mile hilly individual time trial. Tony Greenhalgh told me that I would need my turbo trainer for this weekend so that I would be able to warm up properly before each race…….it is the one of the best bits of cycling advice I have ever been given!
I really wasn’t sure what to expect in this time trial for 2 reasons…….1. Because I’m not much good at time trialling and 2. Because I’m not much good on hills……. The 1st mile was up hill and I probably went a bit too hard too soon because despite warming up properly, my legs filled up with lactic acid after about 2 miles and I couldn’t get them moving to get on top of the gears to maintain some kind of reasonable speed.
As soon as I finished, I rolled back down the hill to my turbo trainer in an attempt to spin the lactic out of my legs with an easy gear. It didn’t really work. I think I was around 2 minutes slower than the winner.
Stage 2 – 2.30pm Saturday
The afternoon stage set off at a reasonable pace but soon built up speed. The course wasn’t hilly or especially difficult but I really struggled on the rolling bits with dead legs from the time trial. I slipped off the back of the bunch in the last couple of miles and lost more time, about another 2 minutes. I got straight on my turbo again at HQ and downed recovery food and drink in the hope that my legs would be better for stage 3. We ate well in the evening and got an early night.
Stage 3 – 10am Sunday
The course today went up the same climb as the time trial…….5 times! I felt better today and was able to sit comfortably in the group and went up the climb in a good position on every lap except the last one when the big hitters started to attack and things got very fast, very quickly.
I rode the last half lap with 2 other guys each doing turns to limit our time losses. I lost another 6 minutes or so on this stage. I repeated the turbo and protein warm down and felt ok.
In the afternoon we went out for an amazing pub lunch with the Greenhalgh’s where we sat in a beer garden in lovely sunshine relaxing for about 3 hours……..unfortunately, no alcohol was consumed because we still had another stage to ride.
Stage 4 – Monday 9.30am
The organisers and riders who were local had been talking about how difficult this last stage was going to be with rolling roads and a 2 mile climb to be ridden 3 times after a 15 mile flattish loop. I felt ok again today and was fine until we hit a really steep climb where the race exploded! There were riders everywhere and it was difficult to form a working group.
After a few miles of settling down, I got into a group of 5 riders who were all willing to take a turn to keep some momentum going. The scenery on this stage blew me away with a long hairpin descent looking into wooded valleys and long uphill sections that were tree lined with chocolate box houses dotted around.
The 2 mile climb was beautiful! I was absolutely determined to finish this stage and kept going when some of the others climbed off or got dropped. I finished the stage a very happy man seeing my smiling Wife and the Greenhalgh’s waiting for me and cheering me on. I finished around 10 minutes down on the stage winner.
In the end, I finished the race around 20 minutes down on the overall winner. It was the best cycling experience I’ve ever had. I was totally immersed in cycling for a whole weekend with my wife and close cycling friends. I will go back next year in a totally different frame of mind in the hope that I can be competitive over the 4 stages in my age group.
Sincere thanks to the organisers as the whole weekend ran flawlessly. Congratulations not only to the lads that did well but to the strugglers like me who managed to get round.
Tues May 5th Dave Astles Memorial, Cheshire Series : Event 3, Lower Whithington
Written By Karl Smith
This was the 3rd event in the mid week Dave Astles Mem. series. These races seem to be following a similar format, but different people playing the lead roles.
This time it was Paul Thursfield (the Tli national crit champ) and myself who attacked early from the bunch, but we were beaten to the first attack by John Crook who had gone away straight from the start.
We soon picked up John, and with Paul and myself doing strong turns, we soon open up the gap on the bunch. It was mainly Paul and myself who kept the pace very high and a sprint finish was ominous.
I actually wanted to test my sprint against Paul who is a very fast finisher. In the end Paul won the sprint comfortably, with me 2nd and John 3rd. The 4th placed rider coming in a couple of mins. later.
Sun May 10th West Penine RR, Bashall Eves
Written By Karl Smith
Today’s race was at Bashal Eves and the weather was nice, but a bit on the windy side. A 60 man field of 2/3&4 cat riders took to the start line and almost straight away 8 riders were together and trying their luck.
At the end of the 2nd lap it all came back together and 4 of us attacked Sam Jackson, Chris Southworth, Giles Pidcock and myself. We opened up a min. gap on the bunch, but I was finding it tough (it was going to be a hard day).
With 5 of the 14 laps to go we were joined by another group of 4. The 8 off us stayed together till the attacks started with about 6 miles to go as another group of 4 closed in on us. The group split under the attacks with Pidcock, Southworth and me losing touch.
At the bell 4 miles to go we were 15 sec. behind and with the effort to rejoin I was dropped on a little climb inside the last mile just as we were about to make contact.I was caught by 3 of the chasers in the last 200 yards, finishing 11th at 20secs.
The winner was Nicolas Barnes from Joseph Elwood and Sam Jackson 3rd.
The event was excellently run by the West Pennine RC, many thanks go to them.
(Andy there are some photos on Facebook of me in this race. Andy Martin as used some that he is in on a blog he has written. They were taken by Ellen Isherwood / Lancs Racing Scene but I don’t know how you access them.)
Sun May 10th Steve Gutteridge Memorial RR, Saighton
Written by Roy Holmes
Dry but windy were the conditions on Sunday for this weekends race over 42 miles consisting of 6 laps of this regularly used course.
A fast start meant no one was being allowed to get away even though a few small groups tried to get a gap on the main bunch – time to play the waiting game. 3 laps done and a group of 4 was starting to form and it had all the expected strong riders in it so that was the move to be with. I jumped off the front of the main group and made it across to the leaders before the gap got too big. One more rider made it across after me then that was 6 in the lead and we were away, getting a good gap from the rest very quickly.
Now we settled down to work together to make sure we did not get caught. Despite a few attempts to go solo for the win from one or two, it was going to come down to a sprint for the win. With a couple of miles to go it was cat and mouse time with us all looking at each other, no one wanting to take the lead until the last possible moment.
I had been told Steve Wilkinson from WheelGuru was fast so I made sure I kept a close eye on him as we got to the last 1/2 mile. As it worked out Steve was forced to the front and so he had to lead out the sprint. He went for a long one from about 250 meters but I was on him straight away. I looked down at the gear he was in and saw he was in his biggest gear – oops, big mistake for this finish as its slightly uphill for the last 100m and you really need to be able to keep the pedal revs high to keep your speed up to the line.
So I left it late and got round him to take my first win of 2015 by 1/2 a bike length. I was pleased with the way I felt as I build up for some important races over the next few weeks.
TLI National Circuit Race Champs in Rhyl next Saturday then a couple of weeks later the BC Road Race Champs near Milton Keynes so hopefully the form is coming just at the right time for these important title races.
Sat May 16th, Slateman Sprint Triathlon,
Written by Steve Stoneman
Defending champion! Well lets see if we can repeat??
Ive not had the best preparation for the event which is unfortunate as it was an A race for me. I have been training well but had to travel to America with work that week. I managed to do some running whilst away but had to cope with the travel back the day before and the old jet leg! I didn’t sleep much at all so woke up Saturday morning a little jaded to say the least!!
So this event is pretty short but is very challenging over 800 athletes this year, with a very cold lake to contend with, the climb of pen-y-pass twice on the bike then a mountain run.
The lake was 11 degrees so is the minimum temp for the event. Not sure if anyone has experienced this but this is freezing, but was only 400m, whats worst is that you need to get in early to try and acclimatise !! Within 50m people were stopping as it affects your breathing badly. Anyway I was ok and got out of the water in 6.20 so pretty good in 11 place. Then onto the bike, didn’t feel great with the cold of the swim, it makes you dizzy (but hey this I why I love it its tough!!).
Of course I can perform well on the bike usually in any condition and today was no exception!
There were 3 riders in the 19 yr category and international racers, but still on the bike moved up to 3rd overall.. Onto the run there was some confusion with my time however I was only caught by one runner by the finish and felt I went well but I wasn’t timing myself as forgot to start my watch! But was given a time of 29 mins up the mountain which is 2 min slower than year before so this is not correct.
Anyway a great event, finishing in 5th position overall with over 800 racers this year and first veteran by over 2 minutes. Shame I was not on the best form, with the top 4 being at least 20 years younger than me cant complain!!!
Sat May 16th, Beaver Middle Distance Triathlon, Leicestershire
Written By Julie Harrison
This race was over a 1900 meter swim 75 k bike and a 20.1k run.
We had just arrived home from Lanzarote on the Thursday and travelled down to Leicestershire on the Friday for the race on the Saturday, so all a bit rushed.
The weather dawned dry but very windy which plays a massive part in the outcome especially the cycling bit. I got a pre-race motivational talk from husband Darryl “remember you are a lot heavier than most women so you won’t get blown around as much”
The swim is in a really murky lake in the grounds of Belvoir castle which had a bit of chop on the surface due to the wind, the water was absolutely freezing; it didn’t help having been Lanzarote for 2 weeks. I had to turn my arms quick to keep warm and exited with another swim personal best. Long run up to transition and decided to put on a cycling top as I was so cold. The first 5 miles of the bike were spent trying to get warm but the wind was really blowing, this was the first time I had ridden my time trial bike this year and it took me almost the first lap of three to get the courage to use the tri bars. I finished the first lap and my spotter Darryl told me I was second in my age group with first just up the road. A couple of minutes later I had passed her and found myself in the lead. I rode strongly and kept an even pace for the 3 laps.
Onto the run and I hadn’t been passed by anyone in my age group so I was no being hunted by the faster runners, I hate being in this position and much prefer to being the hunter rather than the hunted.
The course is over 4 laps each one up a hill which was tough to say the least. Again I kept an even pace and managed to hang onto my lead and was first in the age group, I was on a roll !
Total time for the race was 5.06.37, 20 seconds faster than last year.
Sat May 16th, TLI Crit Champs, North Wales
Written By Roy Holmes
The Marsh Tracks purpose built circuit in Rhyl was the location for this years TLI Criterium championships for all age categories. The over 50’s and over 55’s raced together in one event consisting of a timed hour of racing plus a further 5 laps. After taking it easy for 5 or 10 minutes just seeing who was going well, as the paced eased for a moment, I decided to go for it and see if I could get a gap.
The plan worked and I quickly got 10-15 seconds gap and was joined by Mike Twelves from the Jewson Racing Team. This was a repeat of the 2014 LVRC Crit champs when me and Mike did exactly the same thing and escaped early in the race. It was windy but the circuit had so many bends it was a constant change from tail wind to headwind. We worked well together and eventually built up a lead of over 30 seconds which we held steady to the finish.
Mike was still in the over 50’s category so we were not actually racing each other this time so we both ended up winners on the day.
I was pleased with my win and this was my first National title for 2015 and 5th of my racing career. First goal of 2015 achieved and now to focus on the next one – BC National Road Race championship on the 31st May.
Sun May 17th, Steve Jones Memorial RR, Saighton
Written By Roger Leather
Sunday had several members of the team down in Saighton (again), for the Steve Jones Memorial RR hosted by Graham Weigh RT / Deeside Olympic.
Andy, Roy, Karl and myself rode in our respective age category races on a dry but fairly blustery morning. Road works at the main road junction had warranted the introduction of a Monaco style chicane (through a bus stop), which the organisers did well to incorporate safely into the race to avoid having to cancel the race altogether. It was a morning tinged with a bit of sadness really, as this could quite possibly be the last race held on this well renowned circuit due to a bundle of local parish objections which appear to have led to Police interjection.
Anyway…the race got underway to a fairly pedestrian pace, with a small group of riders riding off the front early on. Two of the likeliest candidates for victory in this race seemed content to let them go given the windy conditions would make it hard for such a small group to stay away. It wasn’t until around half-distance that things started to warm-up, with Mike Ashurst of VCUK attacking to try bridge across to the leaders after it came apparent they were still making headway. Mike was bought back on his first attempt, but then he managed to go again with Tony Greenalgh in a move which was to prove more successful.
Having spent the first few laps probably languishing in the back of the field too much, Id decided to move up to the front of the group probably a mile or two early, and missed the decisive move. As the chasers didn’t seem to be gaining too much time on us up the road, we decided to press-on to reel them in- a plan which very nearly succeeded as we came back within probably 10 secs of them. Unfortunately, we probably backed-off the gas a bit in anticipation of the catch and the inevitable counter attack going over the top. This, coupled with probably an injection of determined pace from the riders in front of us led to the gap inexplicably going right out again, and that was pretty much that with about 2 laps to go. The leading four riders held off to contest the win (taken by Owen Line from VCUK), whilst we contested the minor placings.
The run-in to the finish on Saighton can be pretty chaotic and unfortunately a handful of riders came down in the last 100m or so. Thankfully I (just), managed to avoid the fallen riders this time and coasted in towards the front of the bunch.
Great ride by Roy to win his race after his previous days result too!
Lessons Learnt: Be more attentive in the race and make sure your wife has her keys with her before she goes out “with the girls”, the night before! Zzzzzz…………..
Sun May 17th, Steve Jones Memorial RR, Saighton
Written By Roy Holmes
The day after the TLI Crit champs it was back to Saighton for this 40 mile race. Deeside’s Graham Weigh went from then and was joined by two other and the 3 built up a good gap of around 30 seconds over the first of the 5 laps. Next time through the finish I attached to gt across to the 3 leaders and 4 other came with me. Now with 8 of us off the front we worked well together and build up a lead of over 5 minutes as we came into the finish.
I am sprinting quite well at the moment and I know this finish well so it was another win for me today and a nice trophy to keep for 12 months.
Sun May 24th LVRC RR Champs, Malvern
Written By Karl Smith
Today was the LVRC National Road Race for the 45/49 age category. The event being held in the Malvern Hills.
Fifty riders were down for the race all wanting to be the Champion. The pace was high with attack after attack. I was sure a group would get away and was marking every move. Unfortunately for me these attacks never lasted, and with me not being on my best form it was having a big effect on my legs.
In the end the strongest riders forced a move with about 10 miles to go. Unfortunately for me my legs were shot and I could not make the selection. This group open up about a minute gap on what now was a bunch of about 10 to12 riders that had survived this tough race. Up front Giles Pidcock took the win from Mike Jones and Martin Smith taking 3rd, as the 8 riders were still together despite riders trying to go it alone. I came in 16th.
The event was excellently run by Mike Amery and his team of helpers.
Sun May 24th, English Riviera Triathlon, Devon
Written By Steve Stoneman
I entered this event as I was on a family holiday in the area so a day out following the event in Paigton seemed a good idea. This was the first running of the event and consisted of a 400m pool swim, 15km bike on a closed purpose built circuit on the leisure centre site, then a 5km run around the surrounding lake and woods.
The event was full with over 70 entries, not the biggest field in the world but the bike course is too small at 1.5km round to accommodate more cyclists.
It was a great venue as it was a new 33m pool so was only 12 lengths so less turns means a quick time. I duly obliged with a PB of 5min 45,, so lead my wave of racers. Had a great transition and onto the bike, as mentioned was a twisty pan flat, smooth cycle circuit of 1.5km so was 10 laps, as usual the bike leg went well and held a great average even with slowing regularly for the 180 degree bends!
Did the 10 windy miles in 22.27, again a great transition now I’ve learned to dismount the bike and run off the side of the bike! Onto the run, again not my best event but completed the 5km off road run in 19.57 which I was happy with. Completing the event in 50 minutes dead.
The course designer had said that if 50 mins or lower was achieved it would stand as a course record in future years and would take some beating! Of course this meant I won by over 3 minutes from 2nd and of course first veteran! I had a pretty blistering bike split leading by over 3 minutes then with a decent run and swim held on to win pretty easily!
I have to mention, due to this course being closed circuit and pool swim was ideal for children, hence the event saw over 100 kids in 3 age groups competing, with the event being a Devon Inter schools championships, so there were some very good experienced kids kicking around especially in the older age range.
Anyway my daughter was entered into the Tri Star 1 category for 9-10 year old Male & Female, it was her very first event and has no practice at either event but was keen to race.
They swam 150m, 3km bike and 750m run. She was great doing the swim in 4.04 10th fastest split for both boys and girls, then 7.04 for the bike which was 2nd fastest overall, only one faster was a boy who won the event! And a run of 4.58. So she finished on the podium in 2nd place for the girls and 9th overall for both boys and girls. This was a regional championship event so the best in the area in all age groups were there. So very proud!
Mon May 25th Anfield 100 mile TT, Shawbury
Written By Julie Harrison
On Monday 26/05/2015 I took part in the Anfield 100 mile cycling time trial, the event is run by the Anfield cycling club and winners include many stars of the pro cycling scene from years past.
The weather is a very important consideration for time trialling and the wind is not a friend, the day did dawn bright and no rain, there were light winds at when I started at 6.45 am but the speed increased throughout the day.
The last time I did this event was 2008 when I recorded a finishing time of 5 hours 30 so I wanted to improve on this; I set myself a target of 20 miles per hour average to get me a 5 hour finishing time.
The first few miles flew by and my Garmin was showing an average of 20.7 mph well on target. I had a lapse from mile 65 to 80 when I began to lose a bit of concentration and ran out of energy, a snickers and can of coke remedied that and I began to pick up pace again. I could see I was going to be just short of a sub 5 hour time and I buried myself to beat this, I was a little too late and ended up with a finishing time of 5 hours 53 seconds, so near yet so far ! I was however very pleased as I had improved greatly since 2008.
Many congratulations to Hannah Macdonald for the win in the women’s race who finished in 4 hours .28 brilliant !
Tues May 26th Dave Astles Memorial, Lower Whithington
Written By Roy Holmes
A sunny but still rather chilly evening greeted us for the final event of the Cheshire Series on Tuesday evening. It was windy as well which was to make for a good race. I had not done this circuit before so I took it easy for a lap to get to know the course. Second time round and I put in a big effort along the main road and the group split in half. This eft about 12 riders in the front group. Stephen Baille from Manchester Wheelers got away on his own and established a good lead and then another lap later and Nick Giles from Wrexham put in a strong effort to get a gap and he was joined by Keith Jones from Deeside. So that was 3 out front – time to jump across. I made my effort down the main road and got across making 4 out front and we were away. Nick was very strong putting in long turns and on the front and pulling the rest of us along. He was going so well we dropped Stephen so it was just 3 of us left to sprint it out for the win.
Nick led the sprint out into the headwind from about 300 meters and I waited until about 150 meters to go before launching my sprint to take another win!
So I just need to keep the form until the weekend for the BC National champs to see if I can win the one that counts. Watch this space for the race report on how it goes.
Sun May 31st, BC Masters National Road Race Champs, Milton Keynes
Written by Roy Holmes
An overnight stay was needed for this one so it meant a drive down on the Saturday afternoon to a hotel close to the event start. This also gave me time to check out the course which was rolling with no real climbs this year. After checking the course it was food then feet up to rest up for the early (8:30am) start due to there being 3 age related races to cater for on the Sunday.
Sunday was overcast and there was drizzle in the air but it was soon to blow over. The race started fairly steadily but after lap 1 of 7, a few riders went off the front and established a good gap. One more went and I decided to go with him making 4 of us off the front.
We worked well together and establish a lead of over 2 minutes at one point but that’s as far as we got. There were some seriously strong riders in the bunch who wanted us back and they worked hard to close down on the 4 leaders. At half distance we were back in the bunch and I had wasted a lot of energy so had to hide away in the bunch for a while to try to recover – time for a gel and a drink.
2 laps to go and the hammer went down again and a split of 7 riders made the front group and I managed to claw my way into that group but after my earlier efforts I was under pressure. A few efforts from some of the group to try to get away but a the bell with 1 lap to go is was 7 of us still together – 9 miles to go.
No one was going to let anyone sneak away on this last lap so it was into the finishing straight which was a slight uphill drag to the finish line. 200 meters to go and I was in exactly the right position for the win and I opened up my sprint but……..oh no, the dreaded cramp…..both legs, both thighs……I was pedalling squares as we say and got overhauled by two other riders, meaning it was 3rd and a bronze medal for me this year. Jim Moffat took the win – well deserved because he has been second in these championships a few times.
I was disappointed not to get the win and was sure that if I had not gone with the first break of 4 earlier in the race I would have had more left at the end – but who knows its the roll of the dice sometimes and you have to take your chances.
I have a full set of all the medal colours now for this championship in previous years – ah well there’s always next year 🙂
Tues June 2nd, Oulton Park, Oulton Park
Written By Steve Stoneman
This was the first of the TLI series, on a very windy evening and 10 laps so 30 miles a decent workout was in the offing. As it happened the wind was fairly favourable as the real headwind section was down hill.
I keep moaning about juggling training for Triathlon and doing bike races as I have to compromise my cycling to a point regarding specific bike race training which of course mean that when I come across decent cycle racers I sometimes lack the zip especially in the sprints. Plus like last night had a heavy swim session very early that morning, so Im always a little tired trying to train twice a day.
Anyway I am always pretty strong on the bike so cant complain but I hate losing!! Within 1 mile I was in the lead with two other riders, rode very strongly into that wind on the second lap to extend our gap and was averaging 25mph into the wind. We stayed away all race with a large gap on the bunch, trouble was I wasn’t feeling great and was a little cold as well as the weather was cooler than I anticipated. All 3 of us worked well right to the sprint finish. I know my sprint is not great anymore but I didn’t feel confident of attacking early, so sprint started 400m out and went lactic early so couldn’t jump again and had to settle for 2nd. Overall not bad.
Sunday June 7th, Percy Stallard Event 1, Bashall Eves
Written By Roger Leather
Sunday June 7th saw Andy, Karl & myself return to Bashall Eaves for the first round of the LVRC Percy Stallard national series.
Thankfully, conditions were 100% better than the last time we were here a few months back, with no sign of rain and the strong winds of the day before had more-or-less given way to calmer conditions.
Being a national series event of some stature, the usual suspects seen lurking in the car park and beyond into the changing rooms were joined with a smattering of other “un-usual”, suspects from further afield. Some of the lads from Luton and Rutland looked like they were going to go well on this tough, wearing down circuit.
Now…..most of us who race regularly are familiar with the usual routine of lining up outside the HQ behind a lead car, which ushers us to the circuit under neutralized conditions before dropping the flag signalling the start of the race. Andy & I however had made the schoolboy error of not reading the start sheet properly, and suddenly found ourselves ominously alone in the car park. Oh dear. So…….if we weren’t warmed up already, we sure were ten minutes later as we hammered it the few miles over to the circuit to thankfully arrive at the start line with probably 2 minutes to spare.
The race got underway and not surprisingly, a small group of riders went straight off the front and got a gap. It’s a long, hard five laps and Bashall will all too easily wear you down and spit you out if you’re not careful. Although not really a true “hilly”, Bashall’s combination of short, sharp’ish kicks, draggy rises and poor road surface in places really can take its toll, and probably the only flat section of the course tends to get hit with a crosswind. All three of us had a go at some point in the first lap or two with no success before Karl managed to go clear and took a few others with him in an attempt to get across to the leaders.
It wasn’t particularly clear to the rest of us in the main bunch what was going on up the road and whether the chasing group with Karl had made it across to the leaders (they had). It wasn’t until about two laps to go that our group started to see riders coming backwards from the lead group as the circuit and the pace up-front started to take its toll. Unfortunately, Karl was one of them- perhaps feeling a little under the weather before the race had even started by the sounds of it. So, the circuit of attrition was having its way again, and we raced onwards with a bit of renewed vigour as we saw the evidence of the lead group suffering.
The leaders still had a sizeable gap and it was unlikely we would catch them before the finish, but with series points potentially up for grabs for the minor placing’s, we were still racing as what was left of the riders readied themselves for the finish. The finish came just in time for me as I was just about beginning to feel the effects of only taking one bottle with me. I don’t drink much by other riders standards, and I don’t usually need more than one bottle for the majority of the races we do, but maybe the warming conditions of the late morning necessitated that little bit extra. I’ve never quite got some riders who spend £5k on lightweight kit only to go throw an extra 1kg onto the bike for a 50 mile race. Fair enough if you drink two full bottles, but I seem to see a lot of riders finish with one bottle still full! Anyway…….
So the final swooping descent and sharp left hander over the Hodder Bridge and up the short kick before the final few hundred metres or so to the slightly uphill finish line. I’d found myself on the front at this point taking my own line down the descent, but was ok with that as I was hoping Andy was fairly close behind. As Andy is keen to go through the Stallard series (which requires a fair amount of travelling I don’t have the time for), we were hoping he could pick up a point or two in his age category.
Points are awarded for the top 6 riders in each age category. I started my sprint pretty early in a smaller gear (thanks Roy for the tip), on the slight incline before knocking it down the gears. Unsurprisingly, a couple of riders came around me on the line, although I was a bit surprised there weren’t more. Unfortunately, Andy wasn’t one of them, but he was just behind and took a well-earned series point for 6th place in his category, whilst I placed 5th in mine. Maybe my kamikaze lead-out needs fine tuning. The next Stallard event is the Condor Buckstone Flanders event over near Halifax which has a short unsurfaced section in it, and 20% climb each lap. Yay….
A
1 Michael Jackson
2 Andrew Sedgewick
3 Joe LeSage
4 Neil Trowler
5 Roger Leather
6 Robert Fowler
B
1 Ian holbrook
2 John Peters
3 Ian Cooper
4 Paul Bell
5 Craig Moody
6 Andrew Wright
Tues June 9th, Oulton Park Race 2, Oulton Park
The 2nd event of the series was held on a warm sunny evening. The racing was typically fast from the gun which put a lot of riders into the red early on including me. The winning breakaway formed after about half a lap and that was pretty much the end of the race for anyone who missed it……including me.
Do I sound disappointed?!
Sun June 14th, Swynnerton RR, Swynnerton
Written By Karl Smith
Sunday 14th June was the Charlie Betteley Mem. RR on the tough Swynnerton circuit. Andy and myself were down to ride the 45 to 55 aged race, and what a cracker it was.
The first attack was straight from the gun, and two riders spent a lap away. When they were caught attack after attack for the next 10 miles with Andy covering most. Up the tough finishing hill which climbs for over a mile the bunch split under the strong riding of Ian Holbrook, we both made the front group. It took over half a lap for the race to come back together and there was a lot of tired legs now.
Again Ian Holbrook attacked and five of us were away, Andy Bennett, Mark Hamersley, another rider, Ian and me. We worked hard together and got a good gap. On the two main climbs Ian kept the attacks coming but we hung on just each time.
It was a sprint between the five of us with only a foot between the first three, with Andy getting a great win from Mark, Ian 3rd and l got 4th.
This was a great run event by Stafford RC and thanks goes to them.
Sunday June 21st, Horwich Festival, Horwich
Written By Karl Smith
Father’s Day saw the family and I at the Horwich Festival of Sport and what a great day we all had.C Firstly we all did the one lap fun run and were cheered on all the way round, the kids loved it.
Next up came my bike race, a one hour street race around Horwich town centre. There was a good crowd and most of the pubs had more people outside watching the event than inside despite the weather. A field of about 30 took to the start line, and these races are always fast. The Mayor started the race and fast it was, after 5 laps came the first sprint prize and the pace lifted even higher.
Tony Greenhalgh took the prize then kept going. Nigel Kershaw, Paul Thurstfeild, the ever green Vinny Smith, myself and two others were straight after him and the 7 of us were away. The strongest 5 worked well together keeping the pace high, it was now a 7 man race going into the last 10 laps. Five to go and another sprint prize taken by Tony, then I attacked. I soon opened up a gap with 4 laps to go. It was to be a long 4 laps and at the bell the gap was small.
I kept pressing on and the gap opened up a bit as they watched each other. I rounded the last corner and 300 yards to the win maybe? With my legs screaming in agony I pressed on up the finishing straight, but with less than 30 yards to go Tony and Paul flashed past. Tony took the win from Paul and I was also passed by Nigel Kershaw on the line by a matter of inches who took the other podium spot, but what a great race and again the kids loved it.
Then not to be out done it was the kids one lap bike race. About 50 boys and girls sped around for their lap getting the biggest cheers of the day. Guess what they loved it.
Thanks to Horwich Cycling Club for a great family day and great racing.
Tues June 23rd, Oulton Park, Oulton
Written By Roy Holmes
A warm and sunny evening greeted everyone for the last in the Oulton Park series of races this week. I missed the first one then messed up the second event by missing the break which never got caught so I was motivated to do well this time. What little wind there was during the race was helping us along through the finish but was in our faces up the long back straight which was also slightly uphill.
My plan was to save myself for the latter part of the race so I hid myself away in the wheels staying out of the wind at all times to save energy. This is really important and many riders underestimate the effect of sitting in slightly the wrong place lap after lap and being out in the wind sapping your energy for later in the race.
5 laps to go and we were still all together so the plan was coming together. 4 to go and still all one group. Then up the back straight a rider attacked and I happened the be right behind him so I went with him – couldn’t resist. We pressed on and up the hill the other rider fell back and I was on my own !!
Through the finish with 3 laps to go – my plan had gone out the window and I had a good gap but would I make it. I settled down to try to control my effort but I was not sure I was going to be able to keep it going for 3 laps. 2 laps to go and I was still away. Up the hill heading for the finish and they were catching me fast so I opted to ease off and wait for the group, the idea being to get a short rest before having a go in the finishing sprint. 1 lap to go…
Back to hiding from the wind but this time staying near the front to be ready for the finish. Up the hill the last time and one or two attacks but nothing got away. Then two riders from the Onimpex Team came passed on my right – they were obviously working together with one leading out the other for the finish so I tagged on and was 3rd in line as we rounded the last bend – perfect position.
200M to go and riders started to come round for their finishing sprint so I launched myself down the slight downhill dip before it rises up for the finish. I putt into my biggest year and gave it everything. I got a big gap and held it to the line for a solid win.
Time for a bit of a break from racing now for a few weeks before ramping up again towards August and the TLI National Road Race champs at the end of the month.
Sun June 28th, Ironman, Nice
Written By Julie Harrison
This was to be my first Ironman of 2015 and I was so looking forward to completing this course set on the cote d’azur where we arrived to scorching temperatures on the Thursday before the race.
I raced first here in 2001 in the world long course championships, on that day the swim was really rough and I ended up not finishing due to sea sickness so I felt I had something extra to prove here.
Race day dawned with relatively calm swim conditions, I set off on the left hand side of the course intending to gradually make may way in to the course to avoid the bashing that take place in Ironman swims, only trouble is everyone else had the same idea so I made my way to the right and had virtually clear water up the turn point where the organisers had placed a rope to the next turn which meant I was trapped on the inside with hundreds of bodies, kicking and punching, I was swum over and there was nothing I could do but try to keep going forward, it was brutal and quite scary.
Finally I finished the swim in 1.20 which I was pleased with.
The bike transition at Nice is very long to accommodate the 2800 bikes so nearly 10 minutes after coming out the water I got on my bike ready to tackle the 112 mile bike course which takes in some long climbs through quaint French villages. It was really hot by this time but there was some nice scenery to take in along the way.
I kept a nice steady pace for the first 50 miles then upped the pace towards the end to finish feeling quite strong, I had taken on lots of fluids and ate all the nutrition I had taken with me so was looking forward to a good marathon.
The run course is over 4 laps and I wanted to each lap in around an hour to get a 4 hour time, the first lap done in 59 minutes I was on course. This is where I stated to feel some discomfort with very step due to an injury I have been nursing for a good 4 months, the discomfort turned to pain and after reaching the turn point of my second lap I was reduced to a walk. I tried countless times to get going but was in a lot of pain and I took the sensible decision to abandon the race, I was making my hip worse and didn’t want to risk any further damage.
It was the right thing to do and I stand by what I did with no regrets, well almost!
“They” whoever “they” are say that it’s the bad races that define you as a person and I do believe I will come back a stronger person and athlete so watch this space.
Sun June 28th, Castle Triathlon Series, Cholmondely Castle, Cheshire
Written By Steve Stoneman
Sunday was the first round of this famous series of tri events. They are very popular and have tv coverage due to the events taking place in the grounds of castles around the country.
I entered what was called the Sprint Plus event, consisting of a 800m lake swim, 27 mile bike and a 5 mile run leg. It was a distance that potentially suited me due to the relatively short swim and run and a longer than usual bike leg.
I have been working hard in my swim to try and improve my times, so recently I have been showing some improvement, so this was a good test.
There were around 150 starters so the swim start was chaotic as usual, smashed the first 200m and settled into a good pace in around 5th place pacing well and keeping good technique exited in 5th place in 14 mins very happy! But around 2 mins behind the Elite Lewis Eccleston (he is a top 3 European Champs 20-25 age group athlete and 3rd recently in the iconic Slateman Tri) The work paid off.
Onto the bike, I know the roads well around here so knew it was a pretty demanding route, not too hard but heavy with some little stingers!
I felt pretty good from the off so with being a distance of over an hour I had plenty of time to hopefully get near the front. I paced well and set a great average and by half way I saw Lewis and I passed him and took the lead.
I set a blistering pace by anyone’s standards haha on those roads! And entered transition in the fastest time of 1hr 8 mins (6 minutes quicker than anyone else! But of course had 2 mins to make up! Onto the run in the grounds around the castle.
Again felt ok so pushed on (for me!) average a good pace of 6min 50/mile pace. However Lewis is an elite runner too so way faster than me (but way younger too!) so unfortunately caught me back again at half way! So I kept my pace and crossed the line in 1.58.33.
Finishing 2nd overall in an elite field and of course 1st male 40 age group, some 11 minutes quicker than the next 40+ male! Now moving up the elite ranks not just vets. This is mad!
So probably for the first time was consistently quick in all 3 disciplines hence really helps for a good overall placing. I am working on the running in the next couple of months, in sunnier climes spending time in Athens, Southern France for 3 weeks and majorca for a weeks training. Ready for a good end of season hopefully!
Percy Stallard Event 2, Greetland, Halifax, Sun July 5th
Written By Karl Smith
The 5th July saw Andy and me lining up for the 2nd race in the Percy Stallard series. The race was on a course near Greetland, Halifax. The course was just over 8miles round, going up for 3 miles and down for 3 miles, and 1mile of the flat on an unsurfaced road. This to be covered 5 times.
The race set off up the long climb at a steady pace. But as the lap neared completion the pace hotted up as riders wanted to be at the front for the rough road followed by the 1 in 4 steep climb at the end of it. I used all my past racing experience and hit this section 2nd in line and the speed was high. We hit the 1 in 4 hill and Mike Jackson CC Luton the rider in front of me went up like this was the finish.
The road leveled for a few hundred yards, through the finish then up steep again onto the long, long climb. I hung in the first six places and mile or two later we took stock of the situation. Nine of us had kept pace with the flying Jackson. They were Andy Sedgwick, Andy Prince, Joe le Sage, John Peters, Steve Gibson, Robert Fowler, Simon Appleton and me. The pace was high for the next two laps as we distanced the remainder of the race. Simon punctured leaving 8 going up the long climb for the 3rd time.
At one point 3 broke away from us, but after a hard chase down the long down hill road we came back together with 2 to go. Then a lone attempt by Rob Fowler which lasted 5 miles before we were back together with 7miles to go.
Attacks were tried but no one was letting anything go, poor Rob payed for is effort and was dropped near the top of the climb. This left 7 for the brutal finish which went to Mike Jackson. I rolled over the line 6th rider but 3rd B Cat.
1st M Jackson, 2nd A Sedgwick, 3rd A Prince.
Our Andy Wright battled on hard behind the lead group taking a well deserved 6th in category picking up points to add to his tally.
Thanks to the organizers for a fantastic event.
Boundary Breeze Triathlon England North West Regional Sprint Championship, Holmes Chapel, Sun July 12th
Written By Julie Harrison
I took part in this event on Sunday 12/07/2015 it was run by Manchester triathlon club at the boundary water park in Holmes chapel.
I was set off in a wave along with all the women over 40 and there were about 30 starters, the other female racers had set off 20 minutes beforehand. I got myself at the end of a line of 4 other swimmers and had a nice tow for about 500 meters or so when 2 of the women started to tire so I went round the outside of them to exit 3 rd woman with a 750 meter sprint swim pb of 13.15 by my watch.
I had a mare in the transition park and couldn’t find my bike where I thought it should be, after going up and down the rows of bikes twice (schoolboy error) I finally located it and changed out of my wetsuit, due to my faffing 2 other women had overtaken me but undeterred I set off cycling. 40 mins later I had completed the 14 miles in 40 minutes by my own timing.
As I have recounted in my Ironman France report I am carrying an injury at the moment so wasn’t sure how I was going go running but I felt good and had relatively no pain, I finished the 3.1 mile run in 23.15 with a total time of 1.21.
I was the first finisher in the female super vet wave which is everyone over 50 and this was a regional championship event meaning Bott have another champion in the team, me !
IronKids Bolton, Bolton, Sun July 18th
Written by Finley Thomas Hughes aged 3and a half.
On the 18th July I took part in the Bolton ironkids, it was a very long run of 500 meters finishing under the same arch that the mad people doing the ironman would be finishing at the next day, those people are proper nutters.
I went to Bolton with my Gran and Granddad Darryl who took me straight to the muffin café AKA costas to carbo load with a blueberry muffin, I didn’t really want to do that so I was a little bit naughty in there so they would hurry up drinking their coffee.
I lined up with about 15 other boys and girls with their parents, I was running with my gran who was the fastest, apart from me that is.
I did some warm up exercises and my gran really embarrassed me by dancing to the music that was playing, I just went along with it to keep her happy.
The starters gun went off and I sprinted off leaving my gran puffing and panting to keep up with me, I ran the whole 500 meters by myself unlike the other boys and girls in my wave. I crossed the finish line and I did a star jump just like my gran had been practising with me, I got a really nice medal which I didn’t want to take off but my mum and dad made me, it’s now hanging on Keith the dog in my bedroom and has pride of place there.
I’ll be back next year to go even faster, that’s if my gran can keep up.
Triathlon Liverpool, Liverpool, Sun July 26th
Written by Julie Harrison
This race was run over the standard distance format of 1500 metre swim 40 kilometre bike and 10 k run to finish.
Traditionally this has never been a distance I have excelled in but I really enjoy pushing myself as hard as I can, the women’s 50-54 age group was really strong so I was up against it. Last year the weather was epic with torrential rain and strong winds, the forecast this year was more of the same, deep joy. The day did however dawn fairly bright but the wind was blowing.
I finished the swim in 27.24 so not a bad start, the docks were full of jelly fish as usual and I did catch a few of them as I made way through the water, yuechh.
You had to take your wetsuit off prior to going inside the arena where the bike transitions were set up, so wetsuit off I made way through the long transition, 4 minutes later I was on my bike and overtaking lots of other cyclists, I rode really well and finished in 1 hour 12 minutes, I was really pleased with that time, I was at this point 2nd in my age group.
Another trek through transition and onto the run for 10 k of pain not surprisingly I was overtaken by 2 other women and finished in 4th place, 2 places higher than last year and a total pb of 6 minutes for this race, all in all I was very happy.
Percy Stallard Event 3, Tipps Cross, Essex, Sun July 26th
Written By Andy Wright
This was the 3rd event of the series of 6. I travelled down to Essex on Saturday with our good friends and team kit suppliers Bioracer.
The journey was a long one with lots of holiday traffic along the way. 5 hours after setting off, we arrived at the hotel. We went out to ride the course with Essex boy Russell “Boycie” Hampton who is a current Pro cyclist with the Polypipe team, a coaching guru and rep for Bioracer kit in the South. The course was beautiful and went through forests and lovely countryside.
The problem I had with it was that it was pretty flat which meant that there would be a lot more finishers than I’m used to in these events and a bunch sprint was very likely…….I hate bunch sprints.
Rain was forecast for race day and the forecasters didn’t get it wrong! The heavy rain started after about 2 miles of racing and didn’t stop for the whole day. Things were a bit sketchy in the bunch as riders were over shooting corners and approaching bends etc too quickly which caused a few crashes. The wet weather also caused a good number of punctures. For some reason, my legs just wouldn’t work.
I felt fine on the Saturday ride and in the pre-race warm up but as the temperatures dropped and the rain got heavier my legs just seized up. The bunch was diminishing constantly and I was hopeful that by the end of the race, we would only be left with a few riders and that my legs would feel better. A breakaway group of about 6 riders had formed and I was fairly certain that there were only 2 of them from the B category. Therefore, there were still points to be won. Over the last 3 or 4 laps, the bunch continued to get smaller but my legs weren’t getting any better! As we approached the finish, I had absolutely nothing in my legs to even think about sprinting.
I rolled in around 15th place with the horrible feeling that we’d travelled a long way to be going home with not even a single point.
I have to hope that my performances in the last 3 races of the series are much better than this one.
Thanks very much to the race organisers and very well done to the category winners…….the wins were very well deserved on such a grim “summers” day.
High on Bikes RR, Clieves Hill, Sun Aug 2nd
Written by Karl Smith
The High on Bikes Road Race was my first race for a few weeks, so I was looking forward to it. This is a excellently run race on a great course that really encourages good racing. A full field started the event and it was flat out from the off.
Attack after attack was the pattern of the race for the first few laps with Andy (the other Bott rider in the race ) or myself covering them. Then as we decided to take it easier in the wheels for a bit the move went. Nine riders were gone and in no time had 30 seconds on us.
Attacks were still the order of the day in the bunch, but by the time another group of nine got clear the gap was 2 mins. The front group was racing for the prizes, we just for the minor places. Up front 3 riders broke clear with Declan Hudson Liverpool Century winning from C. Quin and K. Zentek taking 3rd.
My group came in 1min. 30sec down with me rolling over the line 18th. Andy came in with the bunch 30sec after my group. On to Bickerstaffe next week, let’s not miss the winning break.
Bickerstaffe RR, Sun Aug 9th
Written By Roy Holmes
Bickerstaff was the venue for the Ken Hill Memorial Road Race on Sunday 9th August and the weather was kind to us for once and a nice dry day was in order.
The course is 90% flat with only a small rise each lap making for a fast race and one where its difficult establish any breakaway group. But that did not stop people trying – including myself – but with 2 laps to go it was all together and I was confident of a fast finish to go for the win.
But it wasn’t to be with a sneaky move going off the front with just over a lap to go, just two riders, Keith Jones the eventual winner and John Cosgrove, both very experienced and they managed to keep a tiny 5 second lead to the line and I got out manoeuvred for 3rd place so it was 4th for me – alright I suppose but I was a bit disappointed.
Just one more race for me this year – the TLI National RR Champs on the Siddington Circuit in Cheshire on Sunday 23rd August – last bit of training this week to prepare so fingers crossed I can do a good ride – watch this space.
Parkinson Memorial RR, Siddington, Sun Aug 16th
Written By Andy Wright
The Parkinson Memorial RR is always a cracker. Because of its central location in Cheshire, you get lads from Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire and Merseyside all turning up to get a result. The usual suspects were milling around the HQ with banter all around. Karl Smith and me were riding from our team and both of us were eager to do well. As I’ve said in lots of race reports this season, the winning moves seem to go very early in the races and if you miss them, you are consigned to being in the bunch for the whole race.
With this in mind, I warmed up really well on my turbo trainer and felt ready for the race to start quickly. My plan was to make sure that I stayed very close to the 6 or 7 lads that have been winning all season so that when they attacked, I could go with them. Sure enough, the attacks started from the favourites as soon as the neutralised flag went down and I followed all of them.
The big guns were all marking each other very closely. After about 3 miles, Ron Plumbley, one of the lads I regularly train with on chaingangs attacked alone and got a pretty good gap immediately. I decided to try to get across to Ron so that I was already at the front when the big guns started firing properly. Ron and I were working well together and when we looked back, another of our training pals, Steve Green had nearly made it across to us with a big gap between him and the bunch.
When Steve got up to us, the 3 of us all worked really hard to gain the biggest advantage we could until the favourites started to come across to us on the hardest part of the course. All 3 of us were absolutely of the mind that we would be joined by at least some of them at some point in the race which we were happy with.
I want to try to explain one of bike racings biggest mysteries at this point……..There is a bizarre reoccurring situation in almost every race you ride whereby a small group of riders will escape off the front of the bunch working together to gain an advantage and a gap.
Some of the riders in the bunch will attempt to get across to the leaders but other riders in the bunch will chase them down until they catch them……..this is the point at which it gets bizarre.
Instead of the bunch continuing the chase to try to catch the leaders, they all sit up and allow the leaders to continue building a bigger gap! If you are unlucky enough to miss the breakaway leaders group, this is a process that is repeated throughout the race…… So, the leaders maintain a stable speed and work uniformly whilst the bunch speeds up and slows down to a near standstill continually all the while losing time………Bizarre!
The 3 of us leaders kept working hard taking turns on the front and making sure that each of us had food and water……..and energy. We didn’t get any time gaps from race officials but gauged the size of our lead on not being able to see any riders behind us on the long straight bits of the course.
It was obvious when we took the bell for the last lap that we wouldn’t be caught and therefore it would be a 3 way sprint for the win. The finish is uphill which put me at a disadvantage straight away because Steve had been stronger on the climbs all race. In the end, I had nothing left in the legs to challenge for the win and Steve won easily with me in second and Ron 3rd. Karl finished 16th
We won with a gap of around 2mins 30 secs from the bunch which is pretty considerable knowing how many really good riders were in there.
Congratulations to Steve Green on the win and huge thanks to him and Ron for the great company for 50 odd miles!
Thanks to Paul Best for the photo’s.
TLI RR Champs, Siddington, Sun 23rd Aug
Written By Karl Smith
Andy and I were entered for the TLI National Road Race and racing in the 45 to 50 age group, which I am the defending champion.
We set off on the hot sticky 70 mile race with high hopes, Andy second last week and I was coming in to form having done a PB in recent weeks. I decided to be aggressive and was quickly in the first move of the day, this lasted a full lap (11 mile). We were not all together long, before 6 of us were away again and soon had a good gap.
Andy was busy policing the bunch and was soon in a chase group. Up front the pace and distance was beginning to tell and riders had stopped working and sitting on. This was a shame for Andy and me, because as the two groups merged no one was willing to work and help drive the break and so with 15 miles to go we ended up all back as a biggish group.
The attacks began, Andy covered most and kept riding near the front, I decided to sit in the wheels, as I was starting to cramp. It became a nervous last lap with the attacks and the title up for grabs, but as we came into the last mile we were all together for our race and it was to be a sprint for the title. As the group swooped down and hit the drag up to the finish Nigel Kershaw lunched himself into an early sprint, it proved a great move as he held his gap to the line for a great win and I got edged out by Andy Bennett for 2nd and myself 3rd.
It was a great race and I was really happy with my bronze medal to go with last year’s gold but want gold again so I’ll be back.
Thanks to Keith Jones and all the helpers who put on a great Championship for us.
Wirral Sprint Triathlon, New Brighton, Sun 30th Aug
Written By Steve Stoneman
Raced at the Wirral Sprint Triathlon on Sunday. Consisting of a swim of 750m in West Kirby Marina, a 13 mile bike around the Wirral area and then a 5km around the lake again and over 400 competitors.
I have decided following several weeks of holidays and working away with no real training put in, to try and target the National Duathlon Championships on October 4th. So means I can hopefully string 4-5 weeks of good training upto this event.
I have entered a race every weekend up to this so should have a few race reports coming! The plan is To use them for training so not really expecting at this stage to cause fireworks!
I went into this race with a couple of hard days training so was a little tired. The swim was mad as usual with over 100 in my wave. I came out of the water in 12 minutes, not too bad in around 15th place, onto the bike, I didn’t feel great on the bike which was expected but is still frustrating, struggled to get a big gear round, any way still did a solid bike in a time of 35 mins (4 fastest of the day) My transition into the run was very poor as I forgot my race trainers so had to use my leisure ones! So found it difficult to get them on and then I know they rub terrible. I lost 30 seconds here.
So went into the run in 10th position. With not gaining lots of time or places on the bike I of course was expecting to be caught on the run by a few, which did happen! I did the run in 18.58 however I believe the run was slightly shorter than 5km so not a bad time for me considering I have not done much with an achillies issue recently.
So finished in 14th place and 4th veteran over 40. So fairly happy really with my performance as the race had a high quality field. So hopefully with each event I plan to improve my splits and finish higher overall. Watch this space.
This weekend 6th September I have the West Lancs Triathlon at Edge Hill University Campus
Percy Stallard Event 4, Grimsby, Sun 30th Aug
Written By Andy Wright
This was the 4th race of the 6 in the series. I had never ridden the course but was told that it wasn’t overly difficult.
The original plan was to travel up on Saturday to reccy the course and to be fresh on Sunday Morning. That plan was shelved and we ended up travelling there on race day which meant getting up at 5.15am.
Me & tony Greenhalgh from the Bioracer team jumped in the van at 6.30 and off we trotted. The HQ was in a beautiful spot and the sun was shining when we arrived. I warmed up well again on the turbo and felt ready to get going. There were some really strong riders in this race and I knew it would be tough from the gun. The 1st attacks came within 200yards of starting! The initial moves were brought back quickly but as one particular move came back on a really narrow part of the course, another one formed with most of the strongest riders in it and because of bad positioning in the bunch, I missed it.
I was really hopeful that it would be brought back but it wasn’t. Tony managed to make a massive effort to ride across to it on his own but I hesitated and was consigned to the whole race in the bunch. We worked well in the bunch and never really stopped trying to bring the leaders back. We got within 20 seconds a couple of times but the mysterious sitting up syndrome took over again! The course was pretty tough in parts, not hilly but very draggy.
One particular incline lasted about 4 miles and riders struggled to stay with the group. In the end, there weren’t many of us left and the sprint for the minor places was a bit of a non-event.
I’ve been going well for the last few weeks and really wanted to do well today. I was 7th in my age group which was an extra kick in the knackers because points for the series are only awarded to the first 6 finishers in each age group.
Tony was 2nd in his age group so the day wasn’t all bad
Congratulations to all of the age group winners and thanks to the organisers for the great facilities and course. Thanks also to Tony for driving for 4.5 hours
Bickerstaffe RR, Bickerstaffe,Sat 5th Sept
Written By Andy Wright
Me and Steve Stoneman rode this race. When I woke up, it was raining which filled me with dread. The circuit is right in the middle of farmed land and is pretty dodgy when wet.
Luckily, the rain subsided and the course was dry by about the 2nd lap. I knew that this would be a fast race as there were a good number of 2nd cat riders in there some of whom were chasing points at the end of the season either to retain their current licence or to move up a category.
Attacks started immediately and either me or Steve went with them. Steve got in a really good move with 2 other riders which stayed away for a good few laps. There were a few teams with multiple riders who worked hard to bring them back and inevitably, the race finished in a bunch sprint. Both me and Steve finished safely in the bunch.
Congratulations to our mate Andy Martin on the win and thanks to Southport CC for putting on another great event
Written By Steve Stoneman
A 40 mile event around the Bickerstaffe Circuit. I entered as I have planned a hard month of training overload upto the Duathlon Championships, as I was also racing Sunday in a triathlon.
I entered last minute as I wanted some speed training with even the possibility of winning! I got 1 of my two aims anyway! As expected being a flat fast course there were plenty of attacks but none were sticking, then at around 5 laps to go around 18 miles I made a big attack as the started to warm up, and followed Dave Williams another old stager.
We got the first significant gap of the race and at one point was looking good to the finish. But I knew is was probably a lap or two too early. The 3 of us including a young lad from Liverpool Century worked well, and I was happy with my strength and speed considering a lack of real hard stuff.
Anyway the bunch kept chasing and we never got more than 30 seconds, in the end the max gear team had to give chase and they caught us with 2 mile to go! So finished in the bunch. But a good workout and the old fellas nearly taking the honours again from the kids!!
New West Lancs Sprint Triathlon, West Lancs, Sun 6th Sept
Written By Steve Stoneman
Managed a good sleep after Saturday and woke feeling pretty fresh considering a tough ride yesterday. The race was at the new pool at Edge Hill College of 400m then 12 mile bike and 5km run. So a short hard hit out due!
I did my swim in 6min 12 a decent time for me, then a long 300m run to the bikes. It was a pretty straight forward course and rode well, I am feeling better on the bike every day but still not at my best but a great day as my recovery was excellent from Saturday. Completed the bike in 28 mins the fastest split of the day again with over 350 competitors, on to the run, 5km around the campus. Again felt pretty good and got into a good pace straightaway. Finishing the run in a triathlon PB of 19min 31. So very happy
I was solid in all three events. Meaning I finshed 3rd overall from 2 other much younger GB age groupers and 1st Vet 40+ by over 5 minutes, in a time of 57 min 49. It is slightly shorted than an official sprint distanced due to the swim being 300m short but meaning I would have got around and hour for a sprint event which is up there Nationally at any age!!
A good productive weekend.
Manchester 100, Cheshire, Sun 13th Sept
Written By Bott and Co Communications Dept.
Bott and Co staff were joined by Wilmslow based companies S&G and Qdos, as well as the Bott Cycle Team to ride the 100km route around Manchester/Cheshire on 13th September 2015. Staff have so far raised £1,475.00 for the Christie Charitable Fund.
More than 15 employees from Bott and Co Solicitors, including Qdos and S&G employees, were joined by the official Bott Cycle Team, which includes experienced riders such as Roy Holmes, the current British Cycling and LVRC 50+ Road Race Champion, to take on the Manchester 100km cycle.
Team Bott set off at 8:30am from the start line at Wythenshawe Park, cycling 62 miles through Altrincham, Knutsford, Northwich, Norley, Tattenhall, Nantwich, Middlewich and through Wilmlsow towards the finish line back at Wythenshawe Park.
The weather on the day presented the perfect combination of dryness with sunny spells, though the cycle remained far from an easy ride. Ribia Nisa, a Bott and Co Client First Response Team Member, took part in the 62 mile challenge having only got on a bike for the first time four months ago. She managed to cover the whole distance despite her appointed guide Andrew Wright of the Bott Cycle Team taking her 12 miles off course onto the hilliest part of the 100 mile, (not 100 km!) circuit. Speaking after the race he commented, “To think that 4 months ago she hadn’t even sat on a bike makes the achievement even bigger. An unbelievable effort”
The Bott Cycle Team supported the riders throughout the course of the event and applauded the determination and commitment of all those that took part.
The day was, unfortunately, not without problems. Ann Walter, Operations Manager at Bott and Co was taken to hospital shortly after setting off from the first stopping point at the The Moorings, through suffering a nasty fall. Significant bruising and a damaged tooth ended her cycle – though there were thankfully no broken bones. A mention at this point should go to the other cyclists who were passing through when the accident occurred, who stopped to lend their help directing traffic and show support to Ann following on from the crash. True caring from the cycling community, for which all those at Bott are grateful.
The rest of the team completed the 100km in less than 7 hours, with the majority crossing the finishing line at approximately 2:45pm.
Craig Hamilton, a Fee Earner at Bott and Co said, “For an introduction to organised cycling events it was definitely a baptism of fire with remarks exchanged between motorists and cyclists throughout. Ultimately it was a great route and well supported by both Bott colleagues and the Bott Cycle Team!”
Tony Tierney, riding for Bott and Co added: “A team effort from start to finish, great contribution from all involved”.
You can still donate to this worthy cause and to give our Bott and Co cyclists a pat on the back by following this link
Head to the Bott and Co youtube site for videos from the day.
Wilmslow Sprint Triathalon, Wilmslow, Sun 20th Sept
Written By Steve Stoneman
This again is an event I entered in preparation for the duathlon champs early October so was going into the event deliberately tired due to a heavy training block. However secretly always trying for a good result. And to beat our great sponsor Paul Hinchliffe who also was competing haha! Don’t mean it Paul, need to practice those transitions though!
This year saw a particularly high quality field certainly 10-15 top UK age groupers so was going to be a challenge to be top 10.
It’s the third time I’ve done this event so know the course well.
It’s a 400m pool swim, 15 mile bike and 3.8 mile run.
Had a decent swim in 6 mins but pushed the run to transition to improve my times out onto the bike. I felt good on the bike and pushed really hard on quite a nice day and covered the 15 mile in a 26 mph average so was very happy, again blasted transition in and out onto the run in 44 seconds.
It’s a pretty hard run over two foot bridges and 2 tough draggy sections. I really felt like I was going well however the legs were starting to show signs of all the training but pushed hard. Covering the 4 mile or so in 25.48 which was slower than last year by over a minute. I was very surprised and disappointed at that a rethink is needed on the run training I think. This lost me over 3 minutes to most of the top 10.
Anyway with a quicker bike and nearly a minute quicker in transition than last year finished in a time of 1.10.31 for 6th place overall out around 500 competitors and 1st in 45-49 age group so a very good time but was beat by 2 younger vets 40-44 so not a bad day but not great for me!
Now into a big week of training with no races this weekend then taper for the duathlon champs. Lots of higher end turbo work and straight into run sprints. Fingers crossed for Oulton Park!
Percy Stallard Event 6, Huntingdon, Sun 20th Sept
Written By Andy wright
This was the last race in the 2015 series. I couldn’t ride the one on Sunday 13th September due to taking part in the Manchester 100 sportive with members of Bott and Co staff so I missed out on any points available in the overall competition.
I went into this race only thinking about a good finishing position on the day and was determined not to miss the breakaway for the umpteenth time this year!
I rode this course last year and remembered that it was tough so I did a couple of laps on the Saturday just to remind myself of where the likely attacks would take place. I’m glad I did this because the attacks came exactly where I thought they would which meant I was prepared for them and was able to react and go with them. After less than 1 lap, a big attack went in from some of the favourites and the race was blown apart! I managed to go with the move which had 10 riders in total.
As I have said in previous reports, when a move is successful, everyone normally settles down to a good pace to maintain the time gap gained on the bunch. Because there were so many of us in this group and because a lot of the lads were keen for a good result, the attacks kept coming thick and fast for the whole 5 laps. The course is right in the middle of farmed land and I had forgotten to take my anti-histamine tablet before the race which made it really difficult to breathe properly when following the attacks. I managed to keep doing it though and was growing in confidence for a good B group finish.
By the time we took the bell for the last lap, there were only 8 of us left from the original breakaway group. One guy was on his own up the road leaving 4 A group & 3 B group riders together. 3 of the A group riders clipped off the front leaving the 3 B groupers to contest the sprint to win that category.
The finishing straight was pretty long and I really am useless at sprinting so I had to wait as long as I could before starting my sprint. One of the other guys went first but the other 2 of us went past him in the final meters where I was beaten into 2nd by less than half a wheel!
When all of the results were sorted out, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had finished 4th overall in my age group for the series…….I missed out on 3rd overall and a nice bronze medal by 1 point…..after the pleasant surprise came lots of “what ifs” and self-bollockings for missing out on points I should have scored.
I’ve really enjoyed this series and would love to improve on my 4th place overall in 2016.
Oulton Park Autumn Duathlon, Oulton Park,Sun Oct 4th
Written By Steve Stoneman
It was the Tri England National Dualthlon Championships yesterday. It took place at Oulton Park race circuit in Cheshire. A course all of the Bott Cycle Team are very familiar with, maybe not running around though!
It had the best in the country at this event with competitors honing their form for the World Championships in Adelaide next month. Most of the top guys are duathlon specialists and don’t compete in Triathlon so it was full on. And with 500 competitors was pretty manic.
It is a mass start consisting of a 2 lap run of 5.4 miles then 9 laps on the bike 24.5 miles then another lap run of 2.7 miles. Ive not been sparkling this week for some reason but ok. I have trained hard and had a good rest the week before so was ready.
The key to duathlon is to stay at your own run pace and not get carried away as it really affects the bike. Anyway I ran pretty well, Ive gone better but was ok averaging 6.10 mile pace, I paced well and completed the 5 or so miles in 33.55, but still way off the pace really coming into transition in around 60th place.
Had a quick transition and out onto the bike for 9 laps, the weather was really good with a nice tailwind up the two hills which really helps the speed. I felt pretty good on the bike took it easier on the first lap then went flat out. With it being 24 miles is a long way so needed to take advantage of this distance whether the next run suffered or not!
I flew round in a time of 55.38 which was 4th fastest of the day and moved me upto 18th place from 60th!
The last run is just horrendous for me but with running better now managed to manage the pain and exhaustion and completed the 4km in 17.04 again a 6.25 min/mile pace. However I was passed by better runners again.
So crossed the line in 28th place overall and 6th in the 45-49 age group. Pretty good considering our age group is one of the most competitive. With both Gethin Butler and Chris Nicol both ex elite cyclists and now elite runners! They have been targetting this all year and both finished in the top 5 overall. So overall a pretty good result considering I just turn up and go!
So was happy really, I finished in a time of 1.48.40 this was 8 minutes quicker than last year!! This winter I will be targeting the running to aim to gain time next year to target all of the National qualifier events. I will probably race less triathlons to target the bigger events and more road racing in between