Reading Cycling Club press report, week ending Sunday 28th February 2010

Reading CC are roller race champions again, plus news round-up.
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Didcot Phoenix Roller Race

Reading CC are again the victors in the Didcot Phoenix roller race. The
format of the competition is that a team of 5 riders rides the
stationary rollers for 15 minutes, each rider taking turns, and with a
computer calculating distance ridden. The team with the greatest
accumulated distance wins. Steve Bale, Steve Millward. Gavin Spiers,
Nick English and Paul Elcock proved too strong for the competition
despite some tricky moments. Liz English and Tom Sugden provided team
backup.

Nick English: "I was confident that even if the other teams copied our
tactics from last year we had a good shot at repeating our win. We stuck
with 30 second changes and most of the other teams followed suit, Didcot
opting for 40 second stints. Things didn't quite run smoothly, with one
of our riders slipping off the rollers necessitating a quick swap to the
other roller. Gavin found his chain unshipped as he was about to start a
stint, so Steve Millward did a heroic turn while someone took Gavin's
place. Then once things were back on track again one of the rollers came
unplugged from the computer and we lost a good bit of distance. Despite
that excitement we managed to retain the title. Liz English called the
changes and Tom Sudgen was a holder - a very useful role as the other
holders were getting tired!"

Steve Millward: "It was touch and go as we had quite a few mishaps. My
legs felt tired after the Newport track day on Wednesday, I couldn't go
any harder but didn't go very hard, so I actually felt ok by end. I
think I need to work on my souplesse and cadence. Bale and Elcock gave
it everything and looked wrecked by the end. Nick English had already
done a 70 mile commute to London and looked as smooth as a sewing
machine."

Steve Bale: "The drama meant we were not even close to our team
potential."

Result:
1. Reading CC 12.43 miles
2. Zapppies 11.59
3. Didcot Phoenix 11.22
4. Oxonian CC 9.41

Nick English becomes the RCC club roller champion based on his average
speed during his stints, with Paul Elcock 2nd and steve Bale 3rd.

Circuit Racing
Wayne Thomas was caught up in a crash at Upavon: "A diabolical wet and
windy morning. I had a good race, and with a field of 50 whittled down
to 27 by the pace and the conditions, I was looking forward to another
strong finish. Unfortunately, two riders just in front of me decided to
lean on each other for no apparent reason. Down they both came, sliding
across the track to wipe me out. I received grazes and bruise to knees,
arm, hip and upper ribcage but nothing was broken."

Joe Harris celebrated his recent elevation to 2nd cat status by riding
his first Upavon this season in the E/1/2 group. Harris was very active
at or off the front in the first 30minutes, and then Wilier team stepped
up the pace to split this race into three groups and taking 1st and 3rd
places. Harris persevered to a creditable 20th place. Harris commented
afterwards that the average pace was 2-4 mph higher than he had been
used to at Hog Hill.

Newport track day

Twenty or so Reading CC riders booked the indoor velodrome at Newport
for a midweek session.
Nick English: "It was a great day with lots of club members learning to
ride the boards for the first time, and a few honing their skills from
previous visits. Everyone picked it up really quickly which meant we
could progress onto some practice races. I tried a pursuit effort
looking forward to a possible entry in the Masters track champs, though
I've a bit of work required before that."

Manchester Velodrome 'Revolution 28'

Fred Hale visited the Revolution 28 professional track meet at the
Manchester Velodrome this weekend: "It was really impressive to see just
how friendly and grounded are Olympic Champions are. There was a young
lad with us who aspires to the track. He met Chris Hoy and was so
overcome by the occasion that he just couldn't think of anything to say.
Chris, Victoria Pendleton and the rest were so approachable and a real
credit to our sport. The racing was just so exciting. The most
thrilling was the scratch sprint final with Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny, a
repeat of the Olympic 2008 final. They were all over the banking at
high speed, real shoulder to shoulder stuff. Looked like Kenny had it,
but Hoy found that extra bit of speed to win by a tire width. Victoria
Pendleton was just amazing. In a class of her own."

Clubrun
This week the clubrun is in the form of the annual Reliability trial in
which riders aim to complete a given course in a stated time. The
starting point is Thames Valley Park. Riders will be setting off from
9:00 am.

Roderick MacFadyen
Reading Cycling Club