East London Velo 6 Days of Winter 5 2014

Wayne Crombie

East London Velo 6 Days of Winter Category circuit  racing.

The fifth race of the East London Velo 6 Days of Winter Cat 2/3 series held at Hog Hill (Redbridge Cycle Centre), NE London on February 8.

It was a windy day, with some showers and sun in equal measure, and tough conditions meaning few finishers. In the end several riders needed some assistance after the finish of the races, as the combination of the wind and rain showers made the conditions colder than many had expected.

Special mention for “WJ” Clover Murray for being one of the few who, despite the challenging conditions, persevered and once again finished the race. That’s the kind of strength of character you need to be successful in this sport, chapeau.

On a “personal” note, the club were very pleased to see ex-ELVer Louis Modell in in the 2/3 race, making his first race appearance since leaving the club to join the Jeff Banks-sponsored Catford CC Equipe Banks U23 development squad. Once again, best wishes from all at the club Louis.

4th Category

In a change from the norm, the race used the alpine chicane along with turning around at the bottom of the long down hill, straight back on to the Hoggenberg. The combination of the conditions and the challenging course meant it was a very tough race, borne out by the fact that only 16 of the original 35 finished the race with only 4 riders on the leading lap at the end.

Early on Daniel Busbridge took the lead along with James Dixon, with a gap to a small group of 5 riders and the rest of the field spread over the course.

Unfortunately, Dixon dropped his chain on lap 10 leaving Busbridge to press on alone in the lead. The group of 5 held together at about 20 seconds with Dixon starting to claw his way back up to them.

On lap 19 Busbridge was forced to stop while leading the race with a re-occurrence of an archilles injury, leaving a bunch of 4 that now included Dixon to lead the race.

It stayed together until the last lap when Dixon attacked on the bell, but he could not hold the gap and Callum Riley managed to pull him back and pip him on the line.

1. Callum Riley – Newdales Cycles RT
2. James Dixon – Cambridge University CC
3. Charlie Bratt – St Ives CC
4. Jamie Dredge – Private Member
5. Jack Hardwicke – Plomsgate CC
6. Laurence Kirby – Welwyn Whls CC
7. John Rumbold – North Road CC
8. Akis Kollaros – London Dynamo
9. Oliver Scott – Dulwich Paragon CC
10. Charlie Passfield – Walden Jur
11. Ian Cullen – Walden Velo
12. Ben O’Dell – East London Velo
13. David Ross – Fig CC
14. Jason Fitchew – Ford Cycling Club
15. Lee Wingate – Glendene CC
16. Mark Freeman – Lee Valley

16 finishers from 35 riders.

Cat 2 / 3 Race

For the 2/3 race the decision was made to keep the alpine bends, but use the full circuit. After 2 laps Louis Modell attacked the bunch and went away with George Wood. They built a 15 second lead quickly and held it for 4 laps.

The bunch were stirred into action when series leader Gunther Zechmann attacked, bringing a group across to Modell and Wood, which also included 2nd place in the series Edmund Bradbury. The front group of 6 easily consolidated their positions, whilst behind the pressure of the pace and wind told, with the chasing bunch soon splintering into small groups.

With 3 to go the lead bunch started to play cat and mouse. With lap times going up, two riders who had been chasing at over a minute down were able to bridge across, meaning the lead group had grown to 8 riders by the bell.

Modell, Zechmann and Bradbury were all still in the lead group, and had shown in previous races that they had the ability to sprint well at Hog Hill. The sprint up the Hoggenberg was eagerly anticipated by the watching crowd, and Louis Modell came into sight first with Bradbury chasing. However, in the end Bradbury easily overtook Modell to take his 3rd victory on the trot and take more points out of Zechman’s series lead – it really will come down to the wire! Further back, there was a photo finish for 5th and 6th place with Callum Anderton taking 5th from Zechmann by less than the width of his front tyre.

1. Edmund Bradbury – Cambridge University CC (3)
2. Louis Modell – Catford CC Equipe/Banks (A)
3. Lewis Bulley – Sports Traider Race Team (A)
4. George Wood – Neon Velo.Com (2)
5. Callum Anderton – Private Member
6. Gunther Zechmann – London Phoenix CC (2)
7. Theo Doncaster – CC Ashwell (2J)
8. Philip Hersey – Eagle Rc (3)
9. Will Hayter – London Dynamo (3)
10. Will Sloper – Cambridge University CC (3)
11. Colin Bailey – North Road CC (2)
12. Neal Mackintosh – London Phoenix CC (2)
13. Callum Haseler – Cambridge University CC (3)
14. Michael Smith – Cambridge University CC (3)
14. Cameron Woolsey – Cycle Club Ashwell (CCa) (2J)
15. Pete Dyson – East London Velo (3)
16. Clover Murray – Braintree Velo Cycle Racing Club (W3J)

16 finishers from 41 riders.

Series Standings

With Gunther only managing 6th place, his lead over Bradbury in the series is cut to 2 points… Game on!

1. Gunther Zechmann – London Phoenix CC (59) – £100
2. Edmond Bradury – Cambridge Uni CC (57) – £80
3. Will Hayter – London Dynamo (22) – £65
4. Theo Doncaster – CC Ashwell (19) – £55
5. Lewis Bulley – Sports Traider RT (18) – £45
5. George Wood – Neon Velo (18) – £35
7. Joel Natale – Dulwich Paragon CC (17) – £25
8. Colin Bailey – North Road CC (12) – £20
9. Luke Merrilees – WyndyMilla (11) – £15
10. Kieran Brady – Citycyclecentre.com (9) – £10
11. Jonnie Blackman – Beckenham Rugby Club (8)
11. Jack Finch – PMR@Toachim House (8)
11. Charles Pearson – Cambridge CC (8)
11. Ray Wilson – London Dynamo (8)
15. Adam Capes – Finchley Racing Team (6)
15. Patrick Martin – WyndyMilla (6)
17. Rhys Keepence – Dulwich Paragon CC (4)
17. Richard Price – London Phoenix CC (4)
17. Frank Rawlins – North Road CC (4)
20. James Freeman – Dulwich Paragon CC (3)
20. Philip Hersey – Eagle RC (3)
20. Philip Holloway – Southend Wheelers (3)
23. Jason Jeffers – East London Velo (1)
23. Iain Palmer – Twickenham CC (1)
23. Seeley Robert – Brixton CC (1)
23. Will Sloper – CVCC (1)
23. Daniel Tullett – Hargroves Cycles (1)

Tied riders are currently shown alphabetically. In the event of a tie in the top 10 prize money will be equally split between the riders.