CCH in National Series Road and Mountain Bike Races

Three Hackney riders lined up in national series events at the weekend.

Weak spring sunshine greeted the start of the National Youth Criterium Series at Yarborough; the race was marked by furious sprints over the straights and sharp braking as the riders negotiated the the narrow bends on the flat twisting circuit. Tao Geoghegan Hart and Alex Peters kept with the leading bunch throughout the 35km race and in the end only Jonathan Dibben was able to break clear leaving the rest to sprint for the line with Alex getting a great 4^th place while Tao at 13^th was the first under 15 year old to cross the line.

The following day Alex Peters and Gary Linguard both competed in the first round of the National Mountain Bike Series at Sherwood Forest, Alex in the youth and Gary in his first year in the Vets. It was never going to be possible to win because the riders were gridded and over the narrow tracks of a mountain bike course there are always slower riders ahead so it was remarkable that Alex came in 6^th (after starting at 45) and Gary came in 12^th (after starting at 58). The course was 8km over some tough terrain with logs, tree roots steep inclines and sharp drops so it was no surprise that Alex had crashed in his race; providing entertainment for the crowd by spectacularly flying over the handlebars after clipping the barriers at the main arena where he was trying to negotiate a long straight bit that was only 10 meters wide!

1,2,2,4,6

Cycling Club Hackney had some great results on Saturday with all the riders getting top positions.

On a windy and wet day at Hog Hill Keir Apperley, Clem Berrill and Alex Peters lined up in the cat 3/4 race against a large field of riders. It was a tough and fast race from the start and when a group of 6 riders finally got away from the pack Keir was with them. It was a few laps later when Alex spotted an attack on the hill and jumped at the opportunity working with another rider to bridge to the leaders. Clem was the last rider to break away from the peloton with a superb solo effort, taking two tough and painful laps to bridge the gap to the leaders.
After an hour of hard racing the five laps to go marker came up and attacks soon followed. Clem still had enough in the tank to mount an attack and although it was closed down, the leading group had been split and now there were just four riders in the lead including Clem and Alex.
On the final hill Clem attacked once more and Alex counter attacked leaving the two Hackney riders clear to sprint for the line, with Alex winning his first Cat 3/4 race and Clem second; Keir was also in the points with a great performance to take sixth place.

At the same time over at Hillingdon Tao Geoghegan Hart also had a brilliant day's racing with a second place in the youth race; only his second race of the season and as if this wasn't enough he then raced in the Cat 4 race where he took fourth place- in a day getting more points than Alex got all last season!

Alex and Tao both race in the first round of the National Youth Circuit Race Series at Lincoln on Saturday - Good Luck!

Flying the flag for CCH

Following an outing to Hog Hill for the San Fairy Ann Criteriums(photos below) with other club youngsters Bede, Frank and Ned last weekend - Logan swapped his slicks for knobblys and flew the flag for CCH at the Big Bad Bike Race at the Trax' Lordship Park on Saturday 13th March in Tottenham. He had the best time for his under 10's age group in the time trial at 1min 11secs on a challenging MTB course with mud, grass, sand and lumpy tarmac keeping it interesting all the way round. For comparison the under 16's best time was a four way tie on 1min5secs.

Logan starts his time trial.

All the riders split into teams and then took part in a relay race, which looked pretty scary on such a tight course.

Following this Logan won the two lap mass start for his age range using a bit road racing nous letting the other riders draft hime round the first lap before leaving them behind on the downhill section second time around.

Logan crossing in 1st place.

The venue is a great little MTB track and the event was well organised by the Trax and British cycling.

Saturday 6th of March - Logan, Frank, Ned and Bede had a great time at Hog Hill

- not the least of which was watching Alex in CCH colours win the under 16's yet again -

For those interested there is Go Ride racing at Hog Hill next Sunday the 20th.

San Fairy Ann Youth Race

Alex Peters chalked up his fourth successive victory in youth road races this season with a exciting win in the San Fairy Ann race on Saturday at Hog Hill. There was a large turnout with the racing season beginning to kick off and no racing at Hillingdon - Alex started at the back having decided to put on overshoes just as the other riders began to line up, the pace was frantic from the start and the field immediately splintered with Alex amongst the leading group of five riders after he bridged the gap to join them. The five stayed clear for the rest of the race and they watched each other warily on the final lap. At the foot of the final climb Alex made a break jumping a few bike lengths clear before Daniel Murphy swept past him halfway up the hill, Alex dug deep and was on his wheel in moments. Approaching the finish Murphy cleverly sprinted through on the inside of a lapped rider to block a counter attack - Alex was forced to swing out wide and in a Cavendishesque finish won with lunge across the line.

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