CCH Road Race 2014 - Report

The peloton riding out from Saffron Walden

 Overnight night rain and downpours on the way up the M11 left me wondering if the race would go ahead - `I'd already had reports of flooding on the course. By the time we rolled into the Hq at the Lord Butler Fitness Centre in Saffron Walden it was beginning to clear meaning the races would go ahead after a slight delay.

Early break forming with Richard Wood and Ben Sumner

 A set of temporary traffic lights had appeared on the hill leading to the finish so the line was moved back onto the circuit and once I  had tracked down the BC finish line van we made it up the hill in time for the race to come through for the first time in 4 3/4 laps. Two riders had jumped away at the bottom of the hill - Richard Wood and Ben Sumner . Rhys Howells was leading the group behind and urging them on to catch the break.

The lead group swelled to five riders headed here by Rhys Howells with Roy Chamberlain and Mike Debney

 Next time round we had a break of five riders who had put some time in to the main bunch. The main bunch meanwhile was been thinned rapidly as rider after rider succumbed to punctures with the roads covered in debris washed off the fields and gravel drives beloved of country dwellers. One section of the race was being neutralised each lap as the road was close to a foot under water. The commissaires and marshals did an excellent job of ensuring this didn't become an issue, whilst the rain did its best to turn the rest of the course into a lake too.

The leading group now at four riders

Next time round and the lead was out to over a couple of minutes with the lead group now down to four riders - Roy, Mike, Richard and Rhys. As the race came through for the last lap it looked like half the field had retired and the lead was up closer to three minutes. It looked like a straight fight between the leading four.

Rhys Howells - Richardson-Trek RT wins in style

 We eagerly waited a close fought finish but CCH old boy Rhys Howells had other ideas he dropped the other three to come up the hill alone winning by 48 seconds form Richard Wood who placed second by a tyres width from Roy Chamberlain. Lubomir Belak led in the rest 3.35 down on the winner.

The podium l-r  -Richard Wood 2nd, Rhys Howells 1st, Roy Chamberlain 3rd
- all Photos - Bart Wallbank

Great racing by all the riders and great support from CCH members. Thanks to all those who helped out on the day and in advance and to the accredited marshals, motorbike marshals and commissaries for giving up their time.



Full results -

Place	Number	Rider		Team / club	Cat'
1	37	Rhys	Howells	Richardsons-Trek RT	Elite
2	1	Richard	Wood	Arbis - Colbert Cycles RT	1st
3	46	Roy	Chamberlain	Team Corley Cycles	1st
4	42	Lubomir	Belak	St Ives CC	2nd
5	2	Mike	Wragg	Arbis - Colbert Cycles RT	1st
6	9	Ashley	Cox	CC Luton	Elite
7	16	Philip	Peters	CSE Racing	2nd
8	14	Henry	Farrell	CSE Racing	2nd
9	5	Mike	Debney	Cadence Cycling Performance	1st
10	48	Dale	Johnston	VC Norwich	3rd
11	27	William	Drury	Glendene CC	2nd
12	50	Mark	Yale	VC Revolution	3rd
13	6	Peter	Kirwan	Cambridge CC	2nd
14	4	Andrew	Sanders	Braintree Velo Cycle Racing Club	2nd
15	52	Nick	Perks	Velo Schils - Interbike RT	3rd
16	55	Lloyd	Chapman	Richardsons-Trek RT	1st
17	11	Jason	White	Clay Cross Road Team	1st
18	3	Ben	Sumner	Beeline Bicycles RT	1st
19	31	James	Jobber	Neon-Velo Cycling Team	1st
20	32	Daniel	Young	Neon-Velo Cycling Team	2nd

New cotton caps on sale

New grade Cycling Club Hackney cotton caps will be on sale at the CC Hackney road race this Sunday 13th June.
Also available via CCH website and in some of Hackney's bike shops including Hub Vélo. £10.00 each. http://www.cyclingclubhackney.co.uk/kit-and-merchandise.html

Strong Showing from CCH youth B in National Youth Road Champs

Callum in the charge from lap 1

CCH youth riders Callum Bulley, Isaac Costley, Logan de Monchaux-Irons and Frank Moore joined the hordes up at Hoghill on Sunday 6th July for the 2014 National Youth Road Races. The event was was organised by LVYCC who did a splendid job of it - with areas set aside for gazeebos and warming up and holding pens for the riders before each race.

The riders warm up camp

There were close on 80 riders signed on for the Youth B race that the four CCH riders were in and once they were all gridded they set off from the layby on the bottom circuit at quite a rate and never really let up for the next 20 laps of the 40km race.

The peloton descending past the bike pits

With such a large bunch it would assumed that there would be some spills and that the hill would split it up . Most of the spills came going up the Hogberg as riders in front slowed and those behind touched wheels so nothing too serious however once riders were caught up in these it was hard for them to get back into the race.

Isaac and Callum ascending the Hogberg

Unfortunately Callum got caught up in one of these offs and retired from the race with 6 laps remaining. A few riders had tried attacking off the front of the bunch but it was so strong that any such moves by individuals were shut down within a lap.

Logan with Theo on the Hogberg

 Then at five laps to go Theo Modell (ELV) and Isaac  sped off the front together quickly getting a large gap  - with two riders it looked like it might stick - after one lap they were still ahead.

Isaac on the break

 However second time up the Hogberg out in the wind took its toll and Theo dropped Isaac - within half a lap they were both swallowed up by the bunch again. By now the lap times were tumbling and the riders were averaging 39 kph.

Logan finishing just outside the top ten

A bunch sprint would settle it then with them all going full gas up the Hogberg with Jack Ford of Holmfirth just edging out Matthew Burke of Newport and Euan Cameron of East Bradford in a tight finish. The CCH riders finished Logan 11th, Frank 31st and Isacc 41st - full results here. Great effort by the boys and a pity more of Youth riders hadn't entered across the categories with the race being so close to home - never mind they can all travel up north or wherever it is next year.

Frank at the finish

Gold Silver and Silver for Hackney at the Youth Games

The Hackney London Youth Games squad 2014

5th of July 2014 - the Tour de France starts in Yorkshire - meanwhile down at Crystal Palace true cyclists and cycling fans were getting on with the business at The London Youth Games. Representing the London Borough of Hackney we had a whole host of CCH youth riders and wearing his East London Velo  colours we had Theo Modell.

Isaac went off first then hightailed it down to the swimming pool to represent Hackney there too - someone should have told him it wasn't a triathlon...

 In the under 16 section we had Isaac Costley , Frank Moore, Molly Lloyd  and Theo - all under 14s. The wet weather meant that the course was extremely slippery and the organisers decided to shorten it to take out the dangerous bottom corners - this meant the riders did just under 1km instead of the expected 6.5km so it was a short sharp effort for all.

Frank on his way to a great time

 After our first  riders had went through at 1.35  for Isaac and 1.32 for Frank it was looking good and Molly continued this with a !.44 and Theo topped it off with a 1.29 - all great times that put Hackney into 2nd place after the U16s had finished.

Molly with the Hackney support crew roaring her up the hill

 The slippery course and intermittent rain meant for some cagey riding round the corners but it looked like it might dry up in the afternoon.

Theo powering into the top straight

The team practise their weight lifting skills at lunch time

Mack finishing first in the Youth Cs

Next up were the Youth C D E riders with some boroughs fielding some very young riders mack started off with a very good 1min 58 secs.

Charlie on her way to joint top time for Youth C category

Charlie then came flying through with one of the fastest times for the under 12  group at 1.41, closely followed by Euan on 1.45.

Euan crossing the finish line

 Last rider out for Hackney was Kai who finished in 1.43 and then it wa s nervous wait whilst all the others finished and the judges totted up the scores.

Kai on the 180 bend

 The heavens opened and it really poured down meaning the boys and girls circuit races were cancelled for safety concerns so we all awaited the results -

Frank and Molly with the silver medals for Youth A/B category

Silver for the under 16s -followed by gold for the under 12s -

Charlie Kai Mack  and Euan with the gold medals for Youth C D E category

 - and silver overall - only missing out by 5 seconds to Richmond - well done to all the riders supporters and helpers - hopefully the tent will dry out in time for tomorrow.

2nd place overall team - LBHackney

Following message from LB HAckney -

Good Afternoon all,

At the weekend we had the last competitions of the London Youth Games 2014.

Over 5000 young people trained towards final selection to represent the London Borough of Hackney, with 550 actually going onto compete for the Borough against the other 32 London boroughs in the London Youth Games 2014. Hackney was represented by 47 teams across 31 sports since November 2013, culminating in the finals weekend at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in July.

The Borough of Hackney recorded its highest overall result in the 33 year history of the Games and maintained the borough’s high standards of finishing in with the elite sporting borough’s of London by finishing 6^th in London, with 34 teams finishing in the top twenty, 22 of which finishing in the top ten. Accumulating 11 team medals and 46 individual medals.

There were team medals for the Girls Table Tennis, girls handball, boys athletics, cycling, girls football, indoor rowing, BMX, disability tennis, tennis, cycling and adapted rowing teams with 46 individual medals across disability athletics, Kayak sprint, diving, sailing, rowing, judo, disability swimming, indoor rowing, football, adapted indoor rowing, athletics, BMX, cycling, sailing.

Hackney also recorded the highest in the Games history for 4^th in the regatta and 9^th in the disability in London. Along with these we also won the most improved borough in the Games. Full results for each competition can be found under “sports” onhttp://www.londonyouthgames.org/default.asp#

Please find attached the complete results table along with the list of medallist.

I would like to thank you all for the unwavering support to the cause and amazing hard work you repeatedly demonstrate towards supporting the young people of Hackney to achieve their potential. Because of you these young people are now showing what we have always known that Hackney has talent and dedication across its young people, team managers and its coaches. Thank you for going the extra mile, I realise sometimes it can be a hard slog with little thanks, but be assured Hackney thanks you and most of all I do.

When it comes to sport, Hackney no longer make up the numbers in London we are now the ones to beat!

Thank you all.

Kind Regards

Lynn Humphrey

Leisure & Physical Activity Coordinator

CCHackney road race program 2014

Eastern Region Youth Circuit Series - Newmarket

It was another successful weekend for our young riders last weekend, after two on the podium the week before, this time we managed all three! Well done to Frank Moore (1st), Isaac Costley (2nd) and after a great sprint finish Sam Bardill (3rd).

St Ives Criterium

CCH on the U14 Podium. 1st Frank Moore, 3rd Callum Bulley