Road racing update: 24 June 2014 by Gray Turnock
Fourteen club members have been mixing it in the bunches this year, mainly in London and the Home Counties but with Johns Pritchard and Wood also showing the club colours in the north. The former earning a well-deserved promotion to the thirds in the process.
Several newer members have been getting stuck in. Mani Arthur returned from the Milton Keynes Bowl having survived the shock of his first lap of competitive cycling to get back in the bunch and stay there until the end of the race. Well done that man! Others making progress include Mark Morris, displaying more of the grit that saw him home as one of the few finishers in our own road race last October to dodge various crashes and generally sketchy riding to stay upright in the bunch. Less fortunate have been Seet Teoh, who has nevertheless been improving with every race, and Szilard Pinter, who got his sprint tactics bang on to score a podium placing at Milton Keynes before the curse of fourth cat racing felled him and his collarbone at Hillingdon. Undeterred, he’s now back on his bike and looking for the handful of points he needs to make third cat.
Moving up the ranks, Amir Estehardi got his third cat with some punchy riding in the Surrey League, while both Tom Baskaya and Alex Cohen have been in the points in the Eastern Road Race League, Alex getting it right in the Abberton Road Race, playing the final exposed uphill finish across the reservoir well and scoring an excellent sixth place finish in a bunch sprint. Mike Briars, Anthony Jarrett and Gray Turnock have been racing with the elites with the latter pair representing the club at the Regional Championships in what was a tough competitive race around the Abberton reservoir. Although neither troubled the points scorers on that occasion Gray got a career best result in the same month with third place in the Andrews Trophy from a ten man 60 mile breakaway.
Finally, credit to Anthony for promoting a Monday evening chain gang. Although still in its early days we do now have the critical mass of road racers for this excellent form of training, and those taking part have clearly been benefiting from the chance to practice their through and off in readiness for that winning break!