News
07/03/10: Reliability Trial
Fifteen riders turned up for the annual 60m Reliability Trial run off in some of the finest weather seen this year. The steady pace to Talgarth was only interrupted by Mark Prosser dropping his shopping bag and Neil Cox's decision to follow a group of strangers on a jaunt to Hereford. Along the way one rider disappeared and is still MIA.
The climb of Pengenffordd saw a group of 6 clip away. However, their effort was sadly in vain - no tea or cakes awaited the return of our heroes.
28/01/10: Annual General Meeting announced
The Club's Annual General Meeting will take place on Thursday 18th February at the St. Michael's Centre, Pen-y-pound, Abergavenny, starting at 7.30pm. If you have any items of used cycling equipment that you no longer want and are keen to sell (or even give away!), why not bring them along to the AGM to sell to other Club members. The sale starts at 7pm.
14/08/09: Becky James double World track champion
Club member Becky James has surpassed her European success by becoming double World track champion in the Junior Female Sprint and Keirin events. Becky also broke the world record for the Sprint in her qualifying round. Fantastic!
Full report is on the BC website.
17/07/09: Becky James double European track champion
Qualifying: The first event of the morning was the Junior Female sprint and Welsh rider Rebecca James was the only British rider in this event. Rebecca went off in heat 11 and when she took to the track she was looking to beat the time set by the Russian rider Ekaterina Gnideka who had posted a time of 11.836.
Becky looked good though and as she went into her flying effort, the rider who had impressed so much in Cottbus (Germany) recently at a competition there, came round to post a time of 11.584 beating her previous best of 11.62. With five competitors still to go, she was sure of qualification into the first round but wasn’t sure of where she would be seeded. By the time the other riders finished Becky had qualified fastest with Gnideka the second placed rider.
1st Rebecca James, GBR, 11.584
2nd E. Gnideka, RUS, 11.836
3rd L. Berthon, FRA, 11.968
4th O. Montaubon, FRA, 11.977
5th O. Khudenko, RUS, 12.187
1st Round: With Becky qualifying fastest and twelve riders going through, this meant that she would meet the twelfth placed rider in the first round. This was the Polish rider Drejgier who qualified in a time of 12.640. Having looked closely at the shape of the track with her coaches, Becky chose to lead the sprint out and although Drejgier pulled level in the back straight and into turn three, the Polish girl didn’t have enough in the legs to carry that on as Becky pressed harder on the pedals and pulled away to win round one.
Quarter Finals: Charlotte Arndt (Germany) was the next competitor that Becky met in her heat during the evening session. As we had reached the quarter final stage, the sprint matches were the best of three. Arndt had qualified in a time of 12.336 but this wasn’t good enough to beat the impressive James who won 2-0 to move on to the semi finals tomorrow (Thursday).
After qualifying so well the day before and making the finals in straight rides, Becky continued her great progress to the Gold medal in the Junior Women’s Sprint competition by beating her rival in the semi final 2:0.
It was the same again in the Gold medal ride off when Becky came up against the third fastest qualifier, Berthon of France, and demolished her challenge as well to show Europe she is a major challenger in the sprint event in years to come and certainly a rider who has been showing for a few years now that she is one of those special athletes that come along now and then showing huge potential for the future.
(report from BC website)
Update: Becky has won her second Gold of the Championships - the 500m TT - in 35.286 secs. According to BC track records that's a National Comp Record by a massive 0.428 seconds and only a fraction outside the World Record!
26/06/09: 10m time-trial club championship result
Tim Rose is our 2009 10m time-trial club champion. This adds to his 25m victory two weeks ago. Full results below:
10m TT club championships results
11/06/09: 25m time-trial club championship result
Tim Rose is our 2009 25m time-trial club champion. A warm, dry evening with a slight westerly breeze saw him complete the course in an impressive 56mins 50secs. Full results below:
25m TT club championships results
24/05/09: Abergavenny RC Go-Race 'Tank Challenge' Round 1
The opening round of Abergavenny RC's 'Tank Challenge' successfully ran under blue skies and the watchful gaze of soldiers from the OC Art Combat recruiting team!
Riders from each age group competed on a number of dedicated and challenging circuits, created by hand from the military ground by the recruitment team.
First up saw a combined Under 16 and 14's category, mixing young riders from local clubs and new riders from schools keen to give cross country a try.
The pace erupted from the start, with William Worrell (Towy Riders), Sam Anstice (Newport Velo) and Jack Llewellyn (M&D Cycles) setting a relentless pace, sprinting through the finishing arena at the end of lap one, having strung out the field behind. Such was the attacking pace, Llewellyn dropped back on lap two with the other two continuing to fight for the lead on the narrow, technical trails.
By the penultimate lap it looked as though a sprint finish was on the cards, until a flying Worrell cross the line having 'hung it out' on the descent to create a short lead.
Anstice used his considerable fitness honed on the National Velodrome in Newport to chase, but by the line could not make up the gap and settled for second. The younger Anstice brother, Joe, claimed a deserved third place after a steady start, pacing himself in the hot conditions.
Adam King (Maindy Flyers) had a remarkable result in the Under 14 boys category, crossing the line in third overall amongst the older Under 16 competitors. King's slight build suited to the circuit with a long gravel climb benefiting those quick on the ascents, and able to cope with the technical descents that followed. Carwyn Davies (Towy Riders) proved almost as impressive, finishing just behind King and beating many of the older riders. Sam Beckingsale (Abergavenny RC) claimed a deserved third, having recently made the jump from Under 12's racing.
Sole female entrant was Sophie Burkitt (Cwmcarn Paragon), undaunted by competing with the boys who made a fantastic effort to complete the distance and finish ahead of a number of boys.
In the Under 12's category Ffion James (Abergavenny RC) showed a clean pair of heels to the field, opening a gap on the first challenging lap which she extended through to the finish. Ffion used her considerable descending talent to hold the gaps opened on the short but steep climb these riders faced each lap. Namesake Ffion Llewelyn (Maindy Flyers) grinned the whole way to a deserved second, finishing mid way through the pack.
Second in at the finish proved to be James club mate Nathan Ford, who overcame a start position behind the Under 12's to work through the field and win his category in a last gasp effort, passing the older riders. 'Fordie' took the position from Under 12 boys winner Ben Beckingsale, and Under 10 girls victor Megan James. Both Beckingsale and James were dominant in their categories with Rhodri Davies (Towy Riders) and Nathan Llewellyn (Maindy Flyers) completing the Under 12 boys podium. Ella Doheny chased her club mate Megan home to runner up spot in the Under 10 girls, whilst Joe Beckingsale and Ieuan Best rounded out the Under 10's podium, excelling themselves by finishing half way up the mixed field.
As with the under 12's, the under 8's saw Abergavenny RC well placed through the results with Huw Higgins Worrell taking a clear win from Andrew Wheatley (Halesowen CC & C), who in turn rode a strong race and held off Llewellyn Price for third.
Elynor Backsteadt (Maindy Flyers) proved her bike handling skills easily transferred from the cycle Track to Mountain Biking, winning the girls category from another Track regular, Kitty McHugh (Newport Velo).
Riders were kept entertained between events with the army recruitment climbing wall to try and finished their races under observation of a resident tank! The club would like to thank the recruitment team for allowing use of the land, and look forward to returning to the venue on Sunday June 7th for round two of the 'Tank Challenge'!
02/05/09: New Kit Launch
A few of the 100+ members of Abergavenny RC, along with club sponsors, pose outside Gateway Cycles for the official launch of the new kit
Saturday 2nd May saw the official launch of the new Abergavenny RC kit at Gateway Cycles. The striking red and white design was eagerly anticipated and many thanks go to Ioan James for collecting the order from the distributor and to Steve Thomas for sorting the pre-orders. For those who did not pre-order, Gateway Cycles carries a small quantity of stock. However, we anticipate placing another follow-up order in the near future.
The youth riders seem particularly pleased with the new club colours
08/03/09: Reliability Trial Images
09/01/09: New Kit Design Revealed
The Club Committee canvassed opinion from a number of members and the sponsors and came to the consensus view that this achieved a number of design goals: to differentiate the Club from others in the area, to be visible both in a bunch and to other traffic users and finally, to create a striking, integrated kit.
New jersey design [front]
New jersey design [back]
Delivery of the initial supply is estimated towards the end of March and will be available through Gateway Cycles.
05/01/09: Sponsorship Announcement
Abergavenny RC is very pleased to announce that Gateway Cycles is joining Govilon Garage and Nick Lane Building Contractors in sponsoring the Club. A sponsorship contract has been signed between Gateway Cycles and Abergavenny RC this afternoon.
The Club is extremely grateful for the ongoing support of Steve Jones at Govilon Garage, and Nick and Sharon Lane at Nick Lane Building Contractors. We look forward to building an excellent relationship between the Club and Claire and Richard Bowen at Gateway Cycles.
Abergavenny RC has been supported by Bikebase from 2004 until the end of 2008 and the Club would like to thank the current owner of Bikebase, Andy Langston, and the previous owner, Simon Bailey, for their support during their time of sponsorship.
Claire and Richard Bowen of Gateway Cycles sign the sponsorship contract