Hemel Hempstead Cycling Club

This is a copy of the race report we sent up to Central CXL amended with extra Hemel results.  But first a little video. 

Fantastic weather greeted the 146 riders who came along to Longdean School to race round 4 of the Central Cyclo Cross league.

The event was promoted by Hemel Hempstead Cycling Club and they had set out a challenging course, comprising both longer fast sections on grass combined with short sections of off-camber and woodland to really show who had turned up with their cross skills honed

The first race on the short circuit was the Under 10’s was won by Skip Snelson (A5 Rangers) who finished a 90 seconds clear of first girl, Molli Keenor (Team Milton Keynes) and third placed George Shore.

The under 12’s was dominated by Welwyn Wheelers rider, Tom Durkin who had over 30 seconds in hand from Alisdair Grant (A5 Rangers) and Sam Skeggs (Team Milton Keynes). First girl to finish was Annabelle Foxall (Beds Road CC). 

Tom Williamson was representing us in the Under 12's and took a strong 8th place in his first race and looked like he loved it.  His family and the rest of us certainly gave him a huge shout as he went round.

The Under 10’s and Under 12’s all did brilliantly and raced in the toughest conditions with damp grass making the going slippery.

Next up was the full circuit and the Youth and Novice Races. Conditions were drying out and getting faster as the riders lined up in the grid. This was the first race running on the full 2011 circuit, running in the opposite direction to previous years, so it was interesting to see where it flowed and where the tricky sections were.

As usual the best Youth riders took everything in their stride and a three way battle for the race win came down to the last laps. In the end Lewis Hutton (Oxonian CC) took the win from Zinzan Heap (Team Milton Keynes) and Henry Dawson (Kingston Whrs). In the Under 14 boys the win went to Jonti Heap (Team Milton Keynes) from Marcus Burnett (Team Milton Keynes) and Conall Brown (Hemel Hempstead CC).  Conal therefore took his 4th club championship in a row and looked strong despite an illness in the week leading up to the race.

The Under 16 Girls was won by Elizabeth Ruffley (A5 Rangers CC) from Lauren Randell (Icknield RC). And the Under 14 girls was won by Rhona Grant, again from A5 Rangers CC from Elizabeth Shirley and Neve Skeggs, both from Team Milton Keynes.

The Novices race was won by Richard Lofthouse (Eagle RC) from Marc Preece (RAF CC) and Chris Conaghan

On to the big race and the sight of 98 riders being gridded really shows how the Central League has grown in the last couple of years. From the gun the pace was relentless and a small group soon started to pull clear of the rest. At the head of affairs were the Team Corley riders, Greg Simcock and Nick Jones, closly tracked by Gavin Rumbles (CC Luton). Behind them various battles were fought and over the hours racing metres were gained and lost as rider’s fitness and skills showed through.

Going into the last laps the Team Corley riders had distanced the rest and fought out for the win. In the end Greg Simcock managed to gain a little space over Nick Jones and came in a couple of seconds clear. Gavin Rumbles held strong for third place a couple of minutes back.

The women’s race was dominated by Katy Simcock who finished a couple of minutes clear of Christina White (Team Milton Keynes) and Sara Randle (SIP Events) to make it a family double for the day.

Senior Men was won by Nick Jones (Team Corley Cycles) from Stephen Bradbury (AWCycles) and Phil Hersey (Eagle RC).

In the Hemel championships it was Gavin Atkins who finished strongest, despite a couple of spills to take the win from Sam Williamson and Chris Grange.

It was great to hear so many positive comments about both the course and the racing after the event. Most riders loved the challenge to their skills as well as the chance to test their fitness. The great weather really brought out the best in everybody.

Organiser Keith Fletcher and his team at Hemel Hempstead Cycling Club would like to thank all the helpers they had both leading up to the event - creating and setting out the course and on the day. They are already excited and planning improvements for 2012.

There is a short video (see above) and a load more photos on the club's Facebook page here

https://www.facebook.com/groups/35974422825/

And the full event results and most of this report are on the Central CXL website here

http://www.centralcxl.org.uk/?q=node/86

And finally you can follow the pre and post race banter here

http://www.hemelcycling.org.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1162

There are still plenty of races left in the Central League for those wanting to have a go plus the Inter Area championships at Milton Keynes in a couple of weeks. Check the Central CXL website for the latest details.

http://www.centralcxl.org.uk