Reading Cycling Club press report, week ending 17 August 2008

Despite a lack of summer weather Reading CC members have been riding a
wide variety of events.

Time Trialling

Reading CC promoted its open 25-mile time-trial on the A4 at
Aldermaston. The event attracted a good quality field and winner Danny
Axford recorded an excellent time on a cool and breezy morning.
Organiser David Ridge commented: "I was pleased to see strong
performances from the Reading CC riders in securing the prizes for
fastest team, fastest veteran and fastest lady. The event was a success
with good support from club members."
The fast-improving Lucinda Seymour was first lady, setting a new
personal best for the distance: "the head wind became a mental and
physical battle after the second turn but the thought of the tailwind to
the finish kept me going." Steve Bale: "I was happy with my ride and
paced myself steadily but the wind thwarted any chance of a hoped-for
PB."

Selected results:
1 Danny Axford Artic - Premier RT 52:35
2 Paul Mill Team Edwardes / Elite Cycling 53:34
3 Ray Hughes Clarence Wheelers 53:38
4 Richard Simmonds London Dynamo / Cyclefit 53:40
5 Andrew Girling www.agiskoviner.com 54:26
6 William Girvan North Hampshire RC 54:54
Reading CC results:
19 Steven Bale 58:26
22 Ian Richardson 59:42
34 Rod MacFadyen 1:02:03
42 Lucinda Seymour 1:04:17
54 Steve Fleming 1:08:50

Bournemouth & District 10-mile 2-up TT
Jimmy Rutherford and Lucinda Seymour rode the Bournemouth & District 10
mile 2-up TT on a course near Ringwood in the New Forest. Seymour
noted:"The event had a very friendly feel to despite the conditions
being on the wet and windy side. We were 6th overall and 2nd composite
couple with 25:22."

Shaftsbury 25
Dave Gaida rode the Shaftsbury 25 mile middlemarkers event at Newmarket.
Winner James Whatling of PCA recorded a far from slow time of 51-56 in
very windy conditions. Gaida finished with 1-10-22. "Just 5 seconds
outside my best this year", he commented.

Circuit and Road Racing

Robert King reports on the Wednesday night Eelmoor circuit race. "I was
surprised to find professional rider Magnus Backsted on the start line.
I tried to go with Backsted when he attacked but the pace was so high I
had to drop back to the main field. I finished 2nd in the sprint and
15th overall. Backsted coasted home in the break away group and did not
contest the sprint, which was won by elite rider Justin Hoy of Felt
Racing."

Mike Wilson Memorial
Fred Hale competed in a veterans event, the Mike Wilson Memorial at
Fareham. "An attack went as soon as the race began, I went with it and
three other riders bridged across. Clive Pinfold won the race jumping
clear on the finish climb. I went after him but just couldn't close the
gap. John Pilgrim-Morris, of Reading CC, got 4th in his age category
race. "

Triathlon

Reading riders did well at the TVT Concorde Triathlon. Nigel Crowther
won the male Vets (40+) race while Thea Warwick was 5th in the Women's
veteran category. Crowther noted: "I know the bike route well and
managed to pull off the fastest bike split of the day. The run was 5km
along the Pang valley and somwhat slippery underfoot. I was pleased
with my final time of 1:02:54, only 49 seconds adrift of the overall
winner which gave me 3rd place overall. I hope to start cross-county
running in the autumn."

Nick Babington competed in the Ironman Austria triathlon, an endurance
event including a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle and 26.2 mile run. "I
completed the race in 11 hours 45 minutes. With over 2,500 competitors,
the mass start swim was very busy resulting in punches and kicks from
other swimmers as we all competed for the same space in the water. On to
the bike and the heavens opened giving 5 hours 43 minutes of very wet
riding. The rain continued during the run until just as I really started
to feel fatigued the sun came out, raising the temperature to over 30 C.
I dragged myself around for a 4 hour 46 minute marathon which was far
from a personal best. The race proved to be quite a challenge but I'm
glad I took part."

Paul Elcock took on a windy London triathlon: "The swim start was
chaotic but settled down in the last 1000 metres, 750m of which were in
choppy water. The bike course was tough in blustery conditions. My bike
time was 1hr 2mins, 4 mins slower than last year. Onto the run and
suprisingly I managed a surprising 39 minutes. Total time was 2 hours 12
minutes and I was very happy with the time. I may have even learnt
something about pacing from it all."

Woodcote Sunday Sportive

Martin Cairns, Barry Quick, Paul Marshall, Kevin Marshall and Greg
Woodford were among those who rode the Sunday Sportive starting and
finishing in Woodcote. The event followed a 122km route round the
smaller lanes in the Chilterns. Barry Quick: "Heavy overnight rain had
washed a covering of flint and grit over all of the lanes resulting in
perfect conditions for punctures. I can honestly say I have never
experienced or seen so many punctures in such a short space of time.
Both Greg and Kevin ran out of spare tubes and retired and Paul also
punctured but carried on to record a creditable 4hr 40 min elapsed time.
I punctured three times. I passed dozens of other riders repairing
punctures at the side of the roads. My elapsed time at the finish was a
lamentable 6hr 4min but my computer recorded only 4hr 30min of ride
time. The event was well organised by Southern Sportives and the signage
was excellent due in no small part to the efforts of our own Adrian
Lawson who checked and modified them the previous day. Everyone retained
their sense of humour - there was little option really - and all had
their own horror story to recount at the finish. Martin Cairns had a
more positive experience: "The worst place was the foot of the climb
from Fawley to Middle Assendon. I have never seen so many riders tending
to punctures on any sportive I have ridden! Thankfully, I managed to
get around the route without puncture or incident, allowing me to claim
a gold time of 4h22m."

Roderick MacFadyen
Reading Cycling Club

Photo caption: Danny Axford, winner of Reading CCs Open 25-mile time
trial
Photo credit: Dave Ridge
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