SRC Winter Track League Round-up 2011-2012

Swindon RC riders Nick Mawson and Neil Rutter enjoyed success throughout the winter in the Newport Track Leauge. Each meet hosted a mix of traditional events alongside contemporary favourites made popular through the Revolution track series. Mawson raced two meets in the B Leauge, his first ever track races. Being in the middle of a block of base endurance training, Mawson lacked some of his tradmark zipp, but remained competative, growing in confidence and picking up several top 6 spots. Notably, Mawson adapted rapidly to the demands of the Devil, initially looking edgy but swiftly gaining the confidence to hold a possition and boss the race.

In the A’s, Rutter consistently enjoyed success across all six of the meets he raced, notching up 5 wins and a host of podium spots. In his last meet of the series, Rutter lined up on the fence alongside 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner Marcus Backstedt in the 15 lap scratch. Ramping the pace up and holding it at 34mph, Backstedt sat on the front for the whole race keeping the pace so high that no one could come round before releasing his team mate for the win. Not a good start. Rutter enjoyed more sucess in the Devil and Team Pusuit, but it was thanks to Backstedt sitting out the final race to take part in the Madison afterwards which provided the first true sniff of a Swindon result. In the 30 lap A/B scratch, Rutter attacked with one other rider after 6 laps. Joined for a time by a couple of others, the pair worked well, keeping the pace high to drop their companions and lap the field. Having made the junction, Rutter attacked again over the top of the group, taking his companion with him. Cagey looks were exchanged before Rutter opened an early sprint 300m from the line, taking his rival by surprise and winning with the length of the home straight in hand.

The Open Track season begins with the traditional Spring Omniums in March held at Herne Hill, London, where Rutter will look to expand upon his winter form. Herne Hill does not require track accreditation to ride and caters for A and B categories. It would be great if more Swindon riders with track experience were to take part if interested.

Friday, 10 February 2012 21:11

50 Mile Reliability Ride - Sunday 26th February 2012

The traditional season opener!

Meet at the Town Hall at 09:00 hours, three separate groups will set off at timed intervals with a group leader in each, conducted over the usual route (Aldbourne, Hungerford, Newbury, Lambourn, Ashbury & Wanborough finishing at Coate Water).

All abilities welcome but please ensure you arrive promptly so you are in the right ability group.

Last Updated on Friday, 10 February 2012 21:13

Monday, 30 January 2012 19:10

SOCIAL AND AWARDS NIGHT - 3RD MARCH

After a gap of several years the Committee have reintroduced the Swindonn Road Club Social and Awards Nights. The event will be held in the Oak Room at the Kings Arms Hotel, Wood Street, Swindon on Saturday 3 March 2012. The wood panelled function room has been reserved for our exclusive use together with its private bar. The evening will start at 7.30pm with a welcome drink on arrival. The buffet meal will commence at 8pm to be followed our guest of honour Flavio Zappi, a familiar name and face to many of you.

The Committee is delighted Flavio has accepted our invitation as guest speaker given his extensive palmares and knowledge of the sport. He has raced successfully in the Giro d'Italia, Milan San Remo, Tour of Suisse amongst many others and has ridden alongside such notable names as Moreno Argentin, Francesco Moser, Roberto Visentini and Larent Fignon. We are certain his anecdotes will entertain and his return to racing in 2007 in England will give a current flavour to proceedings.

The price of tickets are £10 per head for adults and U16 are £5. Both prices are subsidised by the Club and we hope you agree offer excellentvalue for money given the prices include welcome drink, buffet and guest speaker. The dress code is smart, casual, i.e. no jeans but tie not essential. The event is open to Members, family and friends.

Please support this event and help us make a success of the evening which we hope will once again become an annual social celebration. Trophies will be awarded on the night in the following categories:

• Senior Road Race
• Fastest 25
• Vets TT
• Vets Road Race
• Evening 10 series
• CycloCross
• Contribution Award
• Hillclimb
• Wroughton – Beckhampton

Tickets will be available at the start of the Saturday morning ride from 4 Feb and Sunday morning ride 5 Feb, otherwise call Chris Lowe on 01793 764723. Places are limited to 80 and tickets will not be available on the night. You may find the following links useful:

http://flaviozappi.com/

http://www.thekings-swindon.co.uk/

(Chris Lowe)

Monday, 30 January 2012 08:55

Swindon Road Club January Round Up

Despite the wintery weather it has been a busy month for Swindon Road Club racers with cyclists young and old competing in a wide variety of events and disciplines. The club’s racing scene is currently thriving and with large numbers participating this early in the season 2012 is looking to be a bumper year for the club.

The road racers have been out in force flying the club colours at early season closed circuit events. The Ludgershall Winter Series began in the middle of January and is run on a 900 metre long flat oval track. Neil Rutter, Aaron Collins, Aaron Taylor and Mike Holborow have all been fighting it out across the various categories with Aaron Taylor gaining a fifth place on the 28th January and Mike Holborow gaining ranking points by placing tenth. Neil Rutter was denied a win by a puncture at the 21st January meeting, but returned home with a highly creditable fifth.

Swindon have also been active in the Velodrome with a number of riders taking part in the winter track league at Newport. Neil Rutter and Nick Mawson have both been making the trip west with Neil riding A category and Nick fighting it out with the B’s. Both have notched up a number of excellent top ten finishes with Neil managing to take 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th places in a single evening’s meeting!

The largest contingent of racers have been active in the cyclocross off-road races with the club now becoming a force to be reckoned within in the south. The club was well represented at the last meeting of the Wessex Cyclocross League which took place on the 22nd January at Thruxton airfield near Andover. The weather was mild and dry, although a strong wind made some sections on the grass banking tough to negotiate. The course was a tight, twisting circuit utilising some grass banking to full effect for a series of short, sharp climbs, tricky descents and some awkward off-camber riding.

Once again Swindon RC had the highest turnout of all the teams with plenty of orange & blue jerseys to be seen in each of the competitions. In addition the winner of the Senior Mens race Dan Lewis is 2nd claim for Swindon RC.

The Man of the Match award went to Crispin Doyle in the Seniors race.

Crispin snapped his chain about 200 milliseconds after the start gun went, and then had to run 80% of the course until he reached the pits to swap bikes. By which time he was at the back of the field 1 min 50 seconds behind the leader. Undeterred Crispin went off like a rocket, and stayed in rocket mode for the next hour and eventually finished 5th just 2 minutes behind the winner.

Under 12s

1st Leun Woods Charlotville CC

5th Liam Sewell Swindon RC

6th Connor Hutchinson Swindon RC

8th Ellis Jones Swindon RC

14th Natelie Moore Swindon RC

15th Tyler Smith Swindon RC

17th Lewis Jones Swindon RC

20th Seren Jones Swindon RC

Youths

1st Rob Bolwell U16 WightMountain 23:27

2nd Jack Saunders U16 Swindon RC @ 2:23

3rd Tom Sewell U14 Swindon RC @ 2:47

10th Bethany George U16G Swindon RC @ 6:27

11th Kieran Woods U16 Swindon RC @ 6:55

12th Rhianna Jones U16G Swindon RC @ 7:10

13th Hannah Gibbs U16G Swindon RC @ 9:52

15th Ciara Hutchinson U14G Swindon RC @ 10:49

Junior/Vet/Women

1st Matt Hargroves Jun Hargroves 47:20

2nd Matt Woods Jun Hargroves @ 00:01

6th Andy Roberts Vet GWR Team @ 2:10

20th Sean Bolton Vet Swindon RC @ 7:42

30th Andy Smith Vet Swindon RC @ 1 lap

56th Andy Gibb Vet Swindon RC @ 3 laps

Senior Men

1st Dan Lewis RAF CA 57:40

5th Crispin Doyle Swindon RC @ 2:18

8th Ed Sneddon Swindon RC @ 7:00

Last Updated on Thursday, 02 February 2012 18:46

Monday, 19 December 2011 18:49

2012 MEMBERSHIP FEES DUE

It’s that time of year when fees are due!

Membership fees are the main income for the club & we rely on these to support all club activities such as club events, Affiliations, WEB site hosting, Club Kit & all other expenses during the year.
As agreed at the AGM the following fees apply:-

Seniors £15
Family £21
Junior £8 (16yrs to 18yrs)
Under 16 FREE
Second Claim £7

Please forward your cheque, payable to Swindon Road Club, to Jeff Smith at the address below;

Jeff Smith
4 Rinsdale Close
Sparcells
SWINDON
SN5 5FF

Emergency contact details

When rejoining please provide emergency contact details i.e. a name & phone number. Could you please include this information when sending in membership fees? Please be aware that no SRC membership details are passed onto any other parties.

Communication

There maybe occasional letters sent out to the Club membership but most communication & information will made available through the website. However could you please PM me (Jeff Smith) of any change of address or email address in order to keep the membership database up to date?

Many Thanks

IMPORTANT
Please note that EXISTING members must renew club membership before end of February to be eligible for the 2012 club TT series.