I Love Summer, Hetton Park National Series 2011 19th June

The 19^th June saw the top juniors in the country heading to Hetton Park (Sunderland) for yet again another round of the Junior National Series). Riding For The Progressive Cycle Coaching Development Squad was; Myself, Brock Duncumb-Rogers (http://brockduncumbrogers.blogspot.com/) & Tom Moore. Taking us all the way up the country was coach and team manager Dan Bennett (http://www.progressivecyclecoaching.co.uk). The circuit we were racing on turned out to be very exciting and was made a lot more interesting by the weather! The race consisted of 45 laps which made up 81KM. There were also sprint primes on the 15^th and 30^th lap just to spice things up a bit.

As I mentioned the weather played a big part in the race, it was absolutely pouring it down and there was lots of spray due to surface water on the track and there were a few large puddles which had grown since the beginning of the race. This left riders with the dilemma of keeping glasses on and not being able to see due to water on the lenses and them fogging up or taking glasses off and having grit and anything else that was flying around going in them. Brock opted for the latter which he paid the price for later on in the day. He pulled the biggest piece of dirt possible out of his eye in the service station, it looked like a slug... ouch!

Back to the race though; The start of the race saw some attacks up the climb but nothing was coming of them as it was too hard to stay away because nobody was working and the conditions were harsh too with the crosswinds in places. Unfortunately I punctured after 8 or so laps on my rear Tub which was frustrating but I was granted a lap out for a wheel change. The regular junior gearing however is a 52/14 but I was given a 15up cassette which put me at a disadvantage to everyone else with a smaller gear which would affect my race later significantly.

Unfortunately there was a crash on the decent with 2 laps to go which Tom Moore was caught in and came down and is now savagely cut up all up his left hand side. This split things up a little bit. The two remaining laps which followed saw a bit of messing around in the bunch with the pace coming right down and a few random attacks which I was able to cover. The last time up the hill Matt Holmes (OPD) attacked heavily but luckily Josh Papworth (ODP) chased him down and brought the bunch with him.

Coming into the last part of the circuit I was in the best possible position and attacked out of the corner and was leading by a few bike lengths with 100M to go as you can see in the photo. Annoyingly I span out way before everybody on what seemed tiny gear and Chris Latham (ODP) managed to get the win. You can also see by the photo how everyone came round me. I was devastated at the end knowing I would have won if I had the right gear. However i still finished 13^th which gives me 11 National Points and my first Series Points of the year. Brock got 4^th which was a really good ride so well done lad!

Next weekend there is another National Series race on Saturday which is another crit so I will be racing in that! The team will also be racing on Sunday in a SERRL event and I too will be there searching for a Win! The weekend should give me some good last minute training and form before the National Junior Championships the weekend after.

Other news: I will be arriving in the south of France in exactly two weeks for some Nocturne racing and a road race! I am very excited about this and also getting in some good training in the sun (a massive contrast to this weekend) before coming back up the country and into Belgium for a race and then heading home and resting up for a week before yet again another National Series (Bath Road Race)... a busy few weeks but I am enjoying myself greatly.

Finally i would like to thank Dan Bennett for taking us up to Sunderland this weekend and
British Cycling North East Region for putting on the race!

SERRL 3 Day

I will be posting a blog later in the week when i have some energy... but I thought that I would post a few pictures up from the race... There are LOADS more to come though!

The Next Few Weeks

The majority of the team are having this weekend off from racing as it is becoming clear that there are some tired legs out there in the peloton. After that I have a hectic few weeks

My Schedule is as follows:

22nd May - Central Divisional road race championshios Elite,1,2

28th, 29th, 30th May - SERRL 3 Day Stage Race

5th June - SERRL (to be confirmed)

12th June - SERRL Biddenden

18th June - Hetton Park Junior National Series Crit (Newcastle)

25th June - CC Giro Curborough National Series Crit (Birmingham)

3rd July - Junior National Road Race Championships (Newcastle)

4th July - Extended Endurance and Climbing Training Period (South of France)

Wouter Weylandt

Cycling lost a talented rider today in the Giro, I thought I would do a blog tribute to the team and all of Weylandt's friends and family.

Isle of Man Junior Tour (national series) 2011

The junior Isle of Man tour is held over three days with a prologue time trial, and two road stages. The race is also part of the Junior National series (a series of races where the top riders come from all over the country to race in and fight for the title). This year representing the team was myself (http://charliefawkeridersblog.blogspot.com/), Tom Laker (http://lakertom.blogspot.com/) and Brock Duncumb-Rogers (http://brockduncumbrogers.blogspot.com/).

Tom Laker and I travelled up on Wednesday 26^th April after a night of racing at Goodwood the previous evening where ‘Goodwood Star’ Brock Duncumb-Rogers managed to get a 2^nd place in the Elite race and Drew Holmes (http://www.drewholmescycling.co.uk/) getting 4^th, both very good rides may I add.

Me and Tom Laker were fortunate to ride both road race circuits on Thursday which gave us that extra bit of extra knowledge that some riders may not have.

Friday’s Prologue was a 1.3km dash along the Sea front, literally within metres of the water, it was just up and a hairpin around a corner then i dash back to the line. There isn’t much more to say apart from the sea ‘breeze’ was off the scale!

Saturday’s circuit was particularly challenging with quite a hard climb in it which followed a rolling decent. This road was really the definition of rolling before getting to the bottom where there was a much welcomed switchback onto the coast road. And of course being a junior race everybody likes to break as late as possible and see who can pull off the best skid so that corner was often carnage! The coast road was particularly hard with strong crosswinds before turning left into a town with some ‘kermesse like corners’ before another hard stretch of road with high winds before hitting the climb again!

Sunday: The circuit used for this race was extremely quick, but still windy. In general it was flatter apart from the climb which was nowhere near as challenging. The hardest part of the circuit which we learnt on race day was over the top of the climb, the short decent before a 90 degree left hander and then a slight uphill kick which was hard if you were sitting to hard back.

Race Time

The Prologue Was very hard as the winds had picked up and we all were set off at about half past 8. After a good noisy warm up we were all ready to go (Brocks rollers are very loud) I finished the Ride in 13^th with 1.46, Brock was 23^rd and Tom Laker 36^th.

Stage 2 was the first road race (hilly one) the race panned out to be so hard with all of us being in good positions throughout. I felt really good for the majority of the race. 11 laps of the circuit however took it’s tole on me! Tom Laker was dropped from the race. Brock was also dropped after getting into a move with Jon Dibben and Owain Doull. I managed to stay in the bunch (what was left of it) for the whole race but the last time up the hill I had nothing left to give and just managed to beat Josh Papworth (ODP). The General Classification after Stage two was as follows:

Charlie Fawke: 35^th @4:54

Brock Duncumb Rogers: 43^rd @ 40:23

Tom Laker: 55^th @ 1:12:25

Stage Three was a fast race. The race started off at great speed and it didn’t do to well considering we had raced twice already that weekend and my legs were hurting from Saturday’s stage and I know I wasn’t the only one with that feeling! Unfortunately Tom Laker didn’t finish the race. Brock was away on his own on the last lap until 2K to go which would have got him third. Matt Holmes and Owain Doull were away on their own from the gun and got 1^st and 2^ndand the rest was a bunch sprint. The race was 6 laps then peeling off onto the coast road for the finish. 200m before peeling off there was a savage crash which me and Brock got caught up behind but we still were on a bunch finish.

Overall it was a good weekend I think and we are all getting stronger in the national levelled races. I would personally like to thank Tom Lakers Grandparents for taking me for the weekend and On Behalf of Brock I would like to thank his parents for taking him and helping us on the side of the road. Everyone’s help was much appreciated!

Final GC:

Charlie Fawke: 33rd @4:23

(I wrote this for the team website)

Thanks for Reading, Charlie

The Endless frustration known as bike racing

So these last few weeks of racing have ended in total frustration and disappointment and I can’t do anything about it. I haven’t blogged for quite a while as I haven’t really had much to write about with terrible results and what not.

As a sufferer of Hay-fever which results in me needing a ventolin accuhaler due to the carnage it puts my chest through these last few weeks have been pretty rubbish! With the pollen count being high it has been affecting my performance greatly.

Les Ingman

I rode this race last weekend and we had a strong team put out for it with myself, Tom Moore, Drew Holmes, Tom Laker, Brock, Matt ‘Northern Star’ Pilkington and Henry Bird. This race didn’t end too well for me only lasting the thick end of 20k’s before chucking up all over myself... which wasn’t pleasant to be honest! However Matt went on to get 12^th and a strong performance from Brock and Tom Laker.

Surrey League Milland Hill:

Saturday 23^rd April The team was at Milland Hill an 8 lap road race which resulted in us hitting the 25% hill 9 times (there is no typo here there is actually a 25% Climb) I was feeling strong in the race but I missed 2 bottles on consecutive laps and the heat killed me leaving me de-hydrated even though I drunk a ridiculous amount before the race and started with 2 full bottles. I had to abandon the race annoyingly with 2 laps to go due to cramp. It was a shame really as I felt good for the first time in a while and would have got a good finish if I managed to get the feed!

Belgium Erpe

Sunday 24^th April took the Junior team over to Erpe Supporting was my mum, dad, brother, Trevor Holmes and Joe Mcgill (@joe_mcgill) It was the first time in a long while where I felt good before a race. However I suffered a puncture in the warm up and then punctured on the first lap of 16... A course that suited me to the ground... the frustration in my head is so high at the minute but my luck should change soon.

It’s only a few more weeks until my Hay-fever goes so after that I will be back to my normal racing ways.

I’m also using the Hillingdon Summer series as training. I have been riding those races very aggressively so the results are soon to come rolling in and I will be racking up the points after a few more weeks of tight chests, sneezing and sick!

Cheers for Supporting and Reading

Adios

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