Armchair racing correspondent Vicky Lawson writes…
Ten events, squillions of gallons of sweat, and inexplicably, Phoenix didn’t win. Sort it out next year, chaps and lady-chaps, yeah?
Congratulations to the winners:
Men Individual: Greg Fitzek – Cowley Road Condors
Men Individual (U23): Greg Fitzek – Cowley Road Condors
Men Team: GS Henley
Women Individual: Aimee Jones – Cowley Road Condors
Women Team: Cowley Road Condors
We, small but mighty, were 4th women’s team and 5th men’s team. I feel a 2018 bird-off coming on.
We had some great performances to be proud of. The Hofley household – Martin ‘Stan’ Stanley, a magnificent overall 8th man, was accompanied by blushing racing debutante Clare Hofmann (12th woman). The Pittards: Laura 9th and James 14th (and second-placed U23 rider). Olivia Bentley, most recently seen in the Women’s Tour of Sussex, took 6th thanks to her podium in the Woodstock round. Harri James took 10th, and experienced lags (sorry chaps) Grant Goodall and Jez Hewitt rocked up to add a bit of mid-table respectability to the mix.
Now in its fourth year, the league overall has grown, with the addition of High Wycombe CC and associate membership of Oxford University CC, and included an ITT (ahh, civilised) from Oxonian for the first time.
The league couldn’t continue without all of the volunteers from each club who work really hard to put on races. The DPCC race this year was executed to perfection by directors David Emms and Simon Evans; if you fancy yourself as a bit of a Christian Prudhomme, there will be opportunities to run our 2018 event – come to the AGM on Thursday 19th October and seize power.
A big thanks to Simon Evans and David Emms for organising two great races this weekend. Thanks also to the comms, the motorbike squad, the accredited marshals, including a big group from Mickey Cranks and the rest of the marshals. Finally thanks to the riders for coming – we hope you enjoyed the racing.
Well done Phoenix – we can be proud of ourselves today. Next up TTs and audax – get involved.
Oxfordshire Road Racing League Rd 2 – Organised by David Emms
Some people describe road racing as “chess on wheels” because you face a plethora of potential moves by your opponents and need to think several moves ahead to cover all eventualities. At the same time, you must constantly reassess your strategy, sometimes in a split-second, depending on what your opponents throw at you. This combination of mind and body is what makes road racing so alluring to so many, even when the best laid plans don’t work out…
Well our Grandmasters’ plans are generally working out, so much so that this time last month DPCC was one of the top 10 clubs nationally!*
Starting with our 4th cats, Martin Stanley “captured” his 3rd cat licence with another podium – a 2nd place in a Milton Keynes crit – after deploying his fave top-secret strategy very nicely. Grant Goodall and James Pittard also “checked” in with further top 10 finishes, carrying through their good form from February.
Turning to our 3rd cats, Anthony Atkin recorded a strong finish in the Spring Chicken RR and was unluckily caught behind a crash after doing everything right in the Lovello RR; sometimes bad luck trumps even the best-laid plans!
Jez Hewitt knows this, having punctured 10 minutes into in the Spring Chicken. He then finished 18th in the Cat 3 Karbona Circuit Race, ruing a poor split-second decision in the final kilometre which cost him a certain top-10 finish. Next time…
Our racers are now building towards the DPCC road race on Saturday 13 May, and the rest of the ORRL series, with Anthony and Martin contesting their final prep race – the Thames Velo RR – this weekend.
*at the time of writing, this had changed a little
In road racing, sometimes you’re the hammer and sometimes you’re the nail. The early season results are in and DPCC certainly has more hammers than it does nails.
Eleven club members raced in one/more of the OTRT Winter Series at Dalton Barracks. Notable successes were: a winner (Martin Stanley) and a fifth (Grant Goodall in his first ever road race) in the cat 4 men and a 2nd place (Lucy Austin – in her maiden race) in the cat 2/3/4 women.
Harri schooling young Stan
Top 10 finishes beckon for Harri “3 puncture” James and Simon Kelly after strong rides in cat 4 races.
In the cat 2/3/4 men’s races, despite being surrounded by 2nd cats, including several ex-1st and elite cat riders, Anthony Atkin and JezHewitt recorded solid bunch finishes and an unlucky late crash robbed Paul Solerti of a bunch placing after a similarly strong ride. Thankfully, Paul and his VERY flashy bike are both OK.
Lastly, James Pittard continued his good form, dodged several crashes and secured an excellent 8th in a 4th cat crit at Milton Keynes this Saturday. This came a week after the Dalton peloton thwarted his brave, late solo attack and caught him in the final 100m so again, more points are in the post.
Watch this space for updates: in upcoming weeks members are racing in Buckingham and Milton Keynes (and probably a few others) before the ORRL series starts – with the DPCC race – on 13 May.
Lucy, who only started cycling ‘properly’ six months ago, stormed to second place in the OTRT women’s cat 234 crit race on 11 February. Credit also to her trusty domestiques, Karla (Corley Cycles) and Olivia (Twickenham CC) – particularly to Olivia, who raced even though she’s been suffering from goo on the lungs.
Lucy (in black) and Karla off the front
Entries are still open for the remaining two events in the series (ladies, any takers?), and a quick skim of the entry lists reveals that Anthony, Grant, Harri, James, Neil, Simon K and Stan will be in action in the men’s races on the 25th.
Annabel
Meanwhile, Annabel is putting in the miles in preparation for another long-haul adventure. She’ll be spending March 9th – 14th riding 1,452km from London to Cannes. Turns out you can also get there in 2 hours on easyjet, but this way, Annabel saves herself the massive faff of airport security AND confirms her status as a legend.
On Saturday 14th May, DPCC will be hosting 2 road races:
First off is the Oxfordshire Road Race League (ORRL) round 1 starting at 09:30
Followed by the Ridgeway Spring Classic at 13:30
Both races will utilise the Great Shefford course (see here for a map of the race circuit), with many DPCC members volunteering their time to help host these prestigious events. Even if you are not helping on the day it would be great for club members, and friends of DPCC to come and show their support for what is planned to be a great day of racing.
At the beginning of this year Dan and I went on on a training camp with Azur Cycle Tours as a prize for winnnig the ORRL. The camp was run by Justin Lord, who some of you might know, and featured some great rides with everything setup perfectly for us to make the most of our time out there to tackle some big mountain climbs around Nice. This Feburary he’s running a camp out in Tenerife (i.e. warmer and sunnier still!) and has invited folks from all the clubs involved in the ORRL. Here are the details (get in touch with Justin if you’re interested but post here too so everyone knows who’s going/interested):
As the curtain closes on an enjoyable 2015, thoughts turn to training over the winter and the 2106 season. As a proud ORRL sponsor, Azur Cycle Tours would like to invite you and your DPCC mates (club regulars as well as road racers) to join a training camp in Tenerife, 27/02 – 05/03.
The invitation is extended to all the ORRL clubs.
It should be a fantastic week – there will be a choice of rides each day, so people can choose between some high intensity training and some more relaxed riding in the sunshine! There is also a lot for non-cycling partners to enjoy.
Riders from other ORRL clubs have already signed up, and it would be great to have some DPCC riders along too.
The accommodation is in apartments in the Regency Country Club, so depending on numbers, it may well be possible for DPCC to have their own self-containted apartment, whilst being part of the wider group for rides and socialising.
All the details are on the website: http://azurcycletours.com/tenerife/ give me a shout if you have any further questions (AzurCycleTours@gmail.com). The places are actually going quite quickly, so if you’d like to join, please get in touch ASAP.
Sunday 5th July: 8 a.m. : DPCC utilised our friends at Oxonian CC – Open 25 mile TT on the H25/17 course for our club champs. On what was a perfect float morning with not a breath of wind, Steve Mead and Clare Hofmann emerged victorious as Mens and Ladies champions – 2015. Congratulations to Both!
Thanks again to Oxonian for a super event.
9 a.m.: The ever popular Club run with ~20 members led by Ron and Simon had a great morning ride to Waterperry. For the usual great weekly write up of the club run see our internal forum section here.
11:30 a.m.: 3 plucky DPCC riders were among a strong 80 man peleton in Kirtlington for the latest round of the ORRL hosted by Cowley road Condors. A great event again in perfect conditions, although a non racing incident on the final lap did interfere with the ultimate results, but Sebastian Charlesworth rode his luck and finished in a unconfirmed top 10 place.
Congratulations to Seb and the team.
More photos here.
Finally Richard Harrison took a drive up to to Hull to Ride on the now famous V718 course in a City RC event. Unconfirmed results again, but I hear it may be a new club record for a 10 mile TT in a monster time of 19 minutes 6 seconds. Looking forward to validating that as a club record Richard! Edit results now confirmed, new club record! Results here and photos of Richard here.
As usual, if you have any cycling related activity you want to share then drop me an email here.
Sunday 27th July saw the Oxonian and last round of the ORRL at the Great Milton road circuit.
Dave Emms narrowly came second in the sprint on a glorious Summer morning. After initially being isolated on the front with 500m to go, Tim Allen had the guile to take over on the front of the peleton to lead out Dave over the final hill on the A40 to leave “The Emms Express” in prime position for the sprint ahead.
As a reward for both their efforts, Dave Emms won the league and now becomes a 2nd Cat rider and Tim Allen picked up the most “combative” rider in the series and winner of the under 23 competition.
A top team effort guys! Congratulations from all at DPCC!
Thanks also to Oxonian CC for hosting the final round of the ORRL.
Hello club members, welcome to the July edition of the club newsletter. There has been lots going on: records being broken, TT’s, road racing, Audaxing (if that is a word), Ladies 100km and the weather has been pretty good! – all this activity does make it tough finding time to watch the Tour!
Oxfordshire Road Race League
There is only 1 race left in the ORRL this season and Dave Emms has had some great results, winning the first race at Weston on the Green, 5th at Dalton Barracks and coming 2nd at Kirtlington. Junior rider Tim Allen is also placing high in the under 23 rankings for the race league. The 2nd round was our clubs road race and it was a huge success, down to the excellent organization from Nick Druce and Simon Evans – a huge thank you to them, and all the volunteers who made it all happen on the night. Photos here: http://www.didcotphoenix.co.uk/?page_id=2187
Beeline bikes will host a League presentation evening and last stage of the TDF at their shop on Cowley Road, Oxford. There will be a bar & nibbles and special discounts on the day.
Timings will be approx:
1630 – Shop closes
1700 – open up to league presentation evening
1730 – presentations of prizes
1800 – watch the finish of the tour.
Time Trials
The TT season is now down to the last few fixtures. There’s a 2-Up on the 24th July on the Sire’s Hill course, the 25 club championship has moved to 3rd August and joins the Oxonian event at Cumnor, and at the end of August the Club Hill Climb championship. Don’t forget there is a new “beginners” Wittenham clump hill climb too on 7th September.
Also, Congratulations go to Steve Wright for breaking the 50 Mile TT club record with a time of 1 hr 46 minutes 40 seconds, on a very hot Shaftesbury CC E2/50 course on the 19th July and Phil Brown for breaking the Veterans 25 mile record in a time of 51mins 28 seconds on the R25/3L course in South Wales on 21st June.
This year also saw the 25th Anniversary of the Ben Owen inter club time trial which took place on the 19th June (Stadhampton 118A course). Numbers were down on previous years – mainly due to the World cup going on! – however DPCC had a great result with both the Men’s and Women’s team winning! Congratulations to all who took part and especially the volunteers & cake bakers – all helping to raise over £300 For the Children’s Leukemia charity.
Friday 20th June saw the BMCC Silverstone 9-Up TT ( 3 laps of the F1 circuit, 10.8 miles). An unpracticed DPCC team finished in a time of 24mins 53 secs placing a very respectable 34th our of 80 clubs.
If you would like to enter the Club Open 10 mile on H10/181 course Saturday 23rd August enter here : https://evententry.ctt.org.uk/Account/Logon/98790
Dave Rodger is also looking for some more help in the way of 3 marshals, if you have a spare hour or two on the 23rd then please contact Dave.
Audax
The Barbury Bash proved to be another successful event with 110km, 160km, and 210km routes. Plenty of club members took part over all distances and had a great day in the saddle. Thank you to Ian Middleton for organizing such a successful Audax.
Rapha Women’s 100
The proved to be great day – 16 ladies set off on a ‘figure of 8’ loop around Didcot. Having a last minute re-routing of the 2nd half as the council decided this would be a good day to ‘resurface’ some of the local roads! I use ‘resurface’ in the loosest sense – chucking stones one the road is what really happens!
We stopped half way for a welcome break and the obligatory tea & cake. A huge thank you for Mountain Mania for supporting the club and opening the shop for us to use on the day as well as providing the tea & cake, yum! Last year Rapha managed to attract 4,000 women worldwide to join the ride – this year they are expecting this to be more than double. So far on Strava 8,130 have signed up to the challenge.
8 DPCC members joined the ride and helped keep the rides together (we split into 2 after a while) – so a huge thank you to all of them. 8 non members join in the ride, with some coming from as far as Chipping Norton. No mechanicals, however, we did pass a number of road kill: 7 pigeons (not a good day for pigeons!), 3 rabbits, 2 butterflies, 1 pheasant, & 1 hedgehog . . . only the 2 butterflies were victims of cyclists! Oh and the 2 big juicy flies that Beth swallowed :o(
All ladies who took part will proudly receive a woven badge from Rapha – this should sit nicely with the DPCC roundels! Well done ladies, a thoroughly enjoyable day!
Le Tour
It is that time of year again when we avidly watch le Tour – and this year the Grand Depart was in Yorkshire! Duncan O’Reilly rode the first stage of the tour to raise money for the Brain Tumor Charity – so far he has raised an amazing £2,700!! If you have not donated it isn’t too late, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/Duncan-O-Reilly
A few club members managed to catch le Tour on its way from Leeds to London – bumping into Dunko in Muker on Stage 1, well he found them! Other club members managed to catch the racing on stages 2 and 3, with Martin Stanley and Simon Evans helping as official marshals on stage 3 within Epping Forest.
Cyclocross
This was a great success last December and we are looking for a team of volunteers to help organize the next event, either this year or next. If you have a passion for Cyclocross & fancy helping to organize such a great event for the club then we’d like to hear from you, please contact: chairman@didcotphoenix.co.uk or secretary@didcotphoenix.co.uk
Well that is quite enough from me – I’m off to watch the highlights of the latest Tour stage!
