Favourable conditions and superb athletes combined to make the course records tumble at the 2018 edition of the Velo Club Walcot Hill Climb.

The largest ever turnout of competitors fought it out on the half-mile hill between the village of Claverton and the American Museum, Bath on the afternoon of Sunday 30th September 2018. Now in its tenth year, the event is organised under the rules of Cycling Time Trials (CTT) for all categories legal to race on the open road. Which means there were riders in Juveniles from age 14, Juniors from 16, Seniors, Veterans and club teams, all for both men and women.

Results

Juvenile Girls’ podium

1st – Laura Curle – Liv CC Halo Cycles – 3:14.9
2nd – Ellie Wallbaum – Avid Sport – 3:25.6
3rd – Isobel Crowther – Avid Sport – 3:46.5

Juvenile Boys’ podium

1st – Jenson Harris – Avid Sport – 2:44.1
2nd – Dylan Cherruault – Avid Sport – 3:02.0

Women’s Team Prize

Avid Sport (Lauren Johnston and Kate Baker) – 5:51.1

Men’s Team Prize

Bristol South CC (Joe Norledge, Rob Borek and Adam Whitehead) – 6:34.5

Fastest VC Walcot member for the Angus McKendrick Trophy

Charles Coleman – 2:25.6

Fastest Veteran

Glyndwr Griffiths – 2:04.5

Fastest Junior

Morgan Curle – Giant CC Halo Films – 2:08.6

Students’ podium

1st – Daniel Colman – Pembrokeshire Velo – 2:13.5
2nd – Charlie Lacaille – St Pauls CRT – 2:20.7
3rd – Michael Beech – Matlock CC – 2:21.0

Women’s podium

1st – Emily Slavin – University of Bath CC – 2:46.6 (NEW COURSE RECORD by 7.2 seconds)
2nd – Lauren Johnston – Avid Sport – 2:53.3
3rd – Kate Baker – Kate Baker – 2:57.8

Men’s podium

1st – Andrew Feather – BCR Racing – 1:59.8 (NEW COURSE RECORD by 4.8 seconds)
2nd – Glyndwr Griffiths – 73 Degrees – WestSide Coaching – 2:04.5
3rd – Josh Coyne – Okehampton CC – 2:05.0

Full and official CTT results are here, and for the Under 15s here

Organiser Felix Young of Avid Sport was fulsome in his praise for the standard of competition and the general turnout on a magnificent autumnal Sunday afternoon, “Thanks to all who raced and to the spectators for creating an awesome atmosphere as ever. Records were tumbling all over the place, so congratulations to the leaders and the standard of competition throughout the field has never been higher.”

VC Walcot is grateful to Cadence Bike Shop on Chelsea Road, Bath for providing superb prizes of Moon premium LED/USB bike lights, High5 sports nutrition products and Cadence drinking bottles and cycling caps across all the categories.

Also a huge thank-you to the official CTT timekeepers Dennis Davis and and Andy Greatwood.

Thanks also to these great photographers whose pics are available below, free to use with credit:

Rich Wood

Anthony Grimley

Nic Delves-Boughton

The results sheet is here

Arran Armstrong writes:

“VC Walcot were out with eight riders at the 24 mile Bath CC TT event today, which started in Maiden Bradley.  The course comprised of ~1,500ft of climbing, with gradients of up to 16%, a proper hardriders course.  The VC Walcot contingent consisted of Tav Walker, Rob Grover, James Coleman, John Benjamin, Michael Bedford, Charles Thibault and Arran Armstrong.  It was a cold start, but it soon warmed up and the roads were dry with a gentle wind, which was a big improvement over the previous TT at Gillingham two weeks ago.  There were no individual podiums for VC Walcot this week, but we did get second in the team event, and were only outdone by a youthful team from the Welsh Cycling Academy.

The course was challenging with a mixture of flowing down hill, short lumps and a torturous climb out of Mere, which made everyone suffer.  However, this was all forgotten after returning to HQ at Maiden Bradley village hall for tea, coffee and a massive selection of delicious cakes; the walnuts on the coffee & walnut cake were even painted gold…?

The next time trial that Velo Club Walcot will be out for in force is the 21st April 2018, hosted by Gloucester City Cycling Club (https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-details/16991#anchor) and is run on the U72 course, detailed here; https://www.strava.com/segments/3444409.  Remember, you don’t need a TT rig or speciast gear to have ago at a race, just enter via the Cycling Time Trials (CTT) website and turn up with your normal road bike. It’s good fun, social and of course there is generally cake at the end.  Competition classes usually include, male, female, team and three veteran classes based on age, but really it is you, solo, against the clock and it’s addictive.”

The dust (even after all that rain in April) has finally settled on Round 4 of Bath Cycle Races. It could have been a real baptism of fire for the club. Compared to many of the local clubs racing we’re pretty small and resources are minimal but we do like a good challenge. Organising and hosting round 4 of Bath Cycle Races has probably been the biggest undertaking the club has ever attempted. Like a Jens Voigt solo effort Jon Arnold has put in huge amount of work to get himself and the club up to speed on all things road racing. In fact he’s actually been an integral part of every round so far helping set up, marshal and dismantle stuff each week. The nature of the course and having a series of events close together means running Bath Cycle Races is ‘labour intensive’. Course set-up begins about 3pm each week and the park is usually returned back to normal at about 10pm. And all in the name of fun…..

Of course, some nice weather, a rowdy bunch of students and a cycling crazy dog all add to the atmosphere. Mix in 80+ riders over 3 races and it’s happy days. What will we do with our Wednesday evenings once we hit June? For now we’ve got one more week of racing to look forward to and what a week it could be. With the series titles up for grabs and some exclusive winner’s jerseys waiting in the wings let’s hope everybody’s got enough left in the tank for round 5.

….And so to the racing. The 3/4 Cat race was once again contested at a frenetic pace, even quicker than the E/1/2/3s, clearly a gentle evening ride is not on the menu with those guys. Despite a high overall speed the main bunch stayed together into the last lap with Mark Munns prevailing in front of Ed Griffin. Pierre Thomas repaid the vociferous Bath Uni CC support by grabbing the final podium spot. In the Youths category Adam Beddall continued his dominance and will surely complete a clean sweep of wins next week. The women’s race was again won by Adel Tyson-Bloor with Nicole Walters the eternal second. Perhaps round 5 is yours Nicole?

The E/1/2/3 race was a very cagey affair with all the main teams happy to ‘eyeball’ one another for the fist half of the race. That was until Alec Baskaya and Colin Parry escaped off the front. For a while it looked as though they would be caught but eventually their lead was too big for the bunch to pull back. Despite Colin’s best efforts Alec always looked the most likely winner of the two and he duly delivered in the final dash for the line, taking his second victory in the series. 

Finally, a massive thanks to everybody from the club who helped marshal the event plus Matt Hargreaves from Bath CC who supported Jon at the sign-on desk. A top club effort all round. 

All pictures courtesy of Rich Wood

Full results on DB Max’s website

(Pictures courtesy of Rich Wood)

On a sunny Wednesday evening there’s nothing better than watching the best that local road racing has to offer in Bath’s Victoria Park.

Round 3 of the increasingly popular race series yet again drew in riders from many of the local clubs and beyond with both the 3/4 and E/1/2/3 races close to capacity on the short and testing circuit. There was also an improved turnout for the women’s race which was especially encouraging. Adel Tyson-Bloor showed everybody else how to nail a sprint finish edging out Miriam Freemantle by just 0.013secs with Nicola Walters just 0.669secs behind. Let’s hope there’s more close racing to come from the women in the final two rounds.

In the Youth category Adam Beddall took his third victory in succession once again beating Rob Hogg to the line to take the points. Series victory looks set to be his come Round 5.

The 3/4s race produced another great finish with a large bunch of riders all in contention come the final lap with most riders content to keep the pace high and settle things late on. Last week’s winner Scott Chalmers looked set for another victory, calmly sitting on or near the front of the main group throughout but was narrowly beaten to the finish by Alec Rumball in a four man sprint including Michael Ward and Mark Munns. The 3/4s series will now surely go down to the wire with a different winner of each round so far.

The E/1/2/3s race was all about the Wilier/Live2Ride team. They controlled things from start to finish. Firstly Tavis Walker went for a solo effort managing at one point to gain an advantage of 28secs over the chasing pack. He was, however, slowly reeled in at which point another team rider bridged across to him and they pressed on to build up a small advantage. Again the bunch worked hard to pull them back with 1-2 laps to go. All the extra effort from the other teams finally took its toll and Mark Perry pounced in the final stages to take the victory by 1 sec from Jason Flooks with Ian Rees a little further back. 

Thanks again to all who turned out to spectate and for Bath Uni CC for making sure things ran smoothly. Next up Round 4 and our turn to host!

DB Max Results

Rich Wood Flikr

Road.cc Dave Flikr

(Picture courtesy of Rich Wood)

Undeterred by the rain, some 75 riders took part in another memorable evening of racing in Victoria Park.  The rain just about held off (well, sort of) and thanks goes to all the riders for respecting the conditions and putting on some great racing. 

Velo Club Walcot welcomes our newest club member, Callum Eaton, who raced the youth category in both Rounds 1 and 2.  Having raced as a young lad, 15 year old Callum is keen to find his racing legs again.  I’m sure you will all join us in wishing him good luck in the upcoming Rounds. 

With his first ever race now safely tucked under his belt in Round 1 last week, fellow club member Giles Prentice successfully dealt with the wet roads on offer for Round 2.  Onwards and upwards Giles! 

Both the Cadence and Wilier teams have been very prominent during previous Bath Cycle Races, but despite another strong showing Round 2 saw the focus switch to the Dream Cycling Club, which is part sponsored by another one of Bath’s bike shops, Avon Valley Cyclery. 

Scott Chalmers (Dream Cycling Club) took the win in the 3/4 Cat race, mastering the tricky conditions to triumph over the biggest field of the evening. 

However, the stand out ride of evening came from Scott’s team mate and 2011 Bath Cycle Races 3/4th Category Series Champion, Alec Baskaya (Dream Cycling Club).  Now racing the E/1/2/3 Category, Alec put in a big turn to break off the front and soloed to a well-earned victory, with the chasing pack crossing the line some 19 seconds behind.

Provisional results here: 

http://www.dbmax.co.uk/store/other_results

Lots of photos to view: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dynamitedotorg/7166985654/in/set-72157629656078302 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57553967@N08/sets/72157629656649344/

Bath Cycle Races Rd 1 – What a great night of racing! After all the hard work the Bath Cycle Races Team (including Jon Arnold) had put into getting this race series up and running the response and turnout was amazing.

The 3/4 race sold out by about 6-30pm and riders were being turned away from the queue such was the popularity. This meant that 50 riders took to the start which also backed up and improved entry for the Youths/Women race as well. With about 30 riders in the E/1/2/3 race the racing was fast and frenetic. 

Peter Medhurst won the 3/4 race by smallest of margins, 0.004 secs, edging out Ed Griffin and Michael Ward for the podium. The women’s race was also a close run affair with Miriam Freemantle just pipping Nicole Walters on the line. With an increased size of field over last year in the E/1/2/3 race there was a lot of expectation about how the race would pan out. The pace was quick from the start with mostly Wilier/Live2Ride and Cadence Cannondale controlling/patrolling the front. A number of riders tried to form a break-away group but none of them stayed clear for more than 1 or 2 laps such was the relentless pace. In the end it came down to a final lap tussle with ex-VC Walcot rider Tav Walker (Wilier/Live2Ride) laying his cards on the table early and going for a long one. It was, however, John Wager (Felt-Colbournes RT) who won by a couple of bike lengths from Nick Noble and Colin Parry. Another ex-VC Walcot rider Charles Coleman (Cadence Cannondale) got 6th and was the second best place non-Elite rider. Chapeau Charles.

Club members Giles Prentice and Michael Young (racing for Cadence RT) took part in the 3/4 race with it being Giles’ first ever road race. He came in a little bit down on the main bunch but enjoyed the experience and vowed to come back in the coming rounds and aim to finish in the pack.

If you missed the action there are some great photo sets here by:

Rich Wood

Anthony Grimley

Nigel Shoosmith

See you all next week and don’t forget that 23rd May is our turn to host.