Farnborough & Camberley Races (Seale)

Race Report (week ending 7/04/19)

Farnborough and Camberley 3rd cat Road Race (Seale)

Apologies for the lateness of this race report, but I have been away in Girona cycling with work colleagues leaving a few days after the events returning late Sunday evening (14th April).

Last year’s weather was pretty bad with riders racing in rain coupled with a chilly wind. This year, the weather was much kinder with dry and overcast conditions greeting the riders throughout the day. A slight chill was also present which forced many deciding to wear arm warmers and long-fingered gloves to start with.

Hampton Court estate was the location for both events that were hosted by Farnborough and Camberley just over a week ago on 7th April. Once the various debriefs were given, the riders and convoy vehicles lined up just outside of race HQ waiting for the ‘all-clear’ from the chief comm. to proceed down the narrow lane leading out of the estate.

Once on the open road, the chief comm decided to neutralise the race until all the riders had passed the lapboard for the first time, which displayed 12 laps (47 miles) to go, as to make sure nobody had the misfortune of being dropped before the race properly got started.

Once past the lap board, the race was on. After the finish climb the road levels out somewhat before the fast descent into the village of Seale. The race at this point was still all together and once through the village, the bunch was strung out in a long line taking in the only flat part of the course.

The next noticeable climb starts as the riders exit the village called ‘The Sands’. At this point, the race was still all together, but once the race passed the lap board, which showed 11 laps to go, Jim Hamilton (MB Cyclery RT), had gained a slender gap of around 10 seconds. The bunch rolled by the finish line comfortably but unfortunately, one rider pulled over with a mechanical problem. After sorting out this problem he then jumped back onto his bike hoping to chase and rejoin the race.

In the meantime, 4 riders had managed to slip off the front with 10 laps to go but with the bunch in hot pursuit, it wasn’t too long before they got reeled in. During this high-speed chase, some riders found the pace too much and got dropped off the back. These riders quickly got together and formed a small group that carried on racing and in the end finished 1 lap down.

The next 5 laps saw various riders trying their luck but to no avail. Shaun King (Kingston Wheelers) was one of these riders and attacked coming over the climb out of The Sands, but eventually got caught coming up the finish climb. Then with 2 laps to go, Brighton Mitre’s Mike Coyle, ex 1st cat rider and race promoter (Kirdford races the week before), attacked. He went clear fairly quickly then used his TT skills, to full use, to increase his gap further.

As Mike approached the bell lap his lead still hovered around the 30-second mark and it didn’t look good if he would complete the last lap on his own. This was because once the bunch heard the bell, they were attacking each other forcing the group to splinter. So for the next 15 minutes or so, everybody waited and wondered if Mike would see the line first or the head of the bunch.

With the lead cars parked up after the finish, everybody then witnessed Mike riding to the finish on his own. As he approached, he cruised across the finish line accepting the applause from everybody at the finish. 40 seconds later the bunch began their sprint and 2nd place was taken by Jake Roe (BC PM) with Richard Freeman (Hargroves Montezuma RT) collecting 3rd.

Race numbers: 48 started, 38 finished, 10 DNF, 4 DNS

Photographs (Glyn): can be viewed via our FB page

Farnborough and Camberley 2nd/3rd cat Road Race (Seale)

The 2nd/3rd cat race presented the riders with 14 laps (55 miles) of the circuit and luckily slightly warmer weather conditions also. An almost full field left the HQ taking in the narrow lane to the main road.

Once on the circuit and first they had passed the lap board, showing 14 laps, the race was on. Within a couple of laps, 3 riders, Charlie Heffernan (Southdowns Bikes CASCO Pet Racing Club), Lewis Winfield (VC de Londres), and Thomas King (Southampton Uni), had chipped off the front gaining a slender lead, but with the pace still remaining high within the bunch, these guys were brought back fairly quickly. For the next 5 or 6 laps, the bunch remained very active with high-speed descending into Seale, full on racing exiting Seale and hard riding up the climbs (out of The Sands and finish climb).

This constant pace did, however, cause a few to struggle but for the stronger riders, this was good news. It wasn’t until 6 laps to go that a break of 2, Neil Pearson (Gemini BC) and Mikey Weavers (Project 51), established a good lead that could turn into something positive. One lap later these two riders were then joined by 2 others, Tim Whitehead (Oxted CC) and Joe Parker (Blazing Saddles). Together these 4 worked well establishing a lead of around 35 seconds.

Trouble was the bunch still remained active and with 3 laps to go, were brought back. In the meantime, the race (bunch) witnessed two crashes. One in the village of The Sands and another on the final corner leading to the finish line. All riders involved were able to get back onto their bikes, but these crashes did cause some splits with riders not able to get back into the action.

With 2 laps remaining, Peter Allen (WyndyMilla) and last years 3rd cat race winner, managed to slip off the front for a few miles, but eventually, this came to nothing. By the time the bunch took on the finish climb for the penultimate time (the bell lap), they were chasing a lone London Dynamo rider (Joseph Murray) who had managed to get himself clear with a small time gap of 20 seconds.

After waiting a further 12 minutes or so, and once the lead cars had passed through the finish area, the race then revealed that Joseph was still clear and about to take the win. As he crossed the line, 35 seconds clear of the bunch, we all heard him expressing his joy with what he had achieved. Logan de Monchaux-Irons (Meudon Pedal Heaven Le Col RT) took the bunch sprint for 2nd with Tony Boness (Blazing Saddles) taking 3rd.

The videos mentioned in this email can be found on the Surrey League YouTube site.

Race numbers (2nds/3rds): 45 started, 24 finished, 2 DISQ, 19 DNF, 5 DNS

Photographs (Glyn): can be viewed via our FB page