25/05/08 Weekend Race Report

The young riders of the club have now taken up on the road where they left off in the Mountain Bike races by a string of excellent performances at the Castle Coombe Summer Races. Three first places with Lowri Thomas, Ffion James and Megan James in the under 10, under 12 and under 8 girls with Nathan Ford and Rhys Thomas taking 5th places in the under 10 and under 8 boys.

Last week saw Abergavenny RC enter two full teams of 4 riders each in the E’Tape De La Defonce. This 2 day stage race for 3rd and 4th category and veteran riders was centred around Cowbridge in Glamorgan. Race one on Saturday morning was from Cowbridge onto the A48 towards Bridgend then off around the coast through Ogmore and St Brides before turning back to Cowbridge at Llatwit Major. A loop of 21 miles on undulating roads to be covered twice then out to Bridgend and back along the A48 to finish at the top of Cowbridge by the St Hilary TV transmitter.

As was to be expected it was an active race from the off with attacks over the undulating roads stringing the bunch out. After a number of attempts by riders to get away in groups of three and four were neutralised by the ever present Cwmcarn and Abergavenny squads a group of eight riders managed to get away by 30 secs on lap two. This too was brought back and the race became less active, the riders no doubt thinking of the final 2km climb up to the finish.

So it was all together as the bunch approached Cowbridge hill and just as the sprinters were winding up for the last dash, John Fitzpatrick from Abergavenny attacked to win the stage which was good enough, along with a sprint bonus, to give him the lead and put him in the yellow jersey going into the afternoon team time trial.

This was a 7 mile dash out along the a A48 towards Bridgend and back to finish at Cowbridge. It was Cwmcarn Paragon who came in first ahead of Abergavenny by 1min 37secs and so the yellow jersey was lost.

Sunday saw the final stage; a hilly 40 mile road race to Bridgend then up the Ogmore valley and over the 15% climb of Blackmill to the Rhondda and then return to finish once again at the top of Cowbridge Hill. It was a war of attrition with Blackmill being negotiated twice. This whittled the field down to 16 riders again containing Abergavenny’s John Fitzpatrick who once again showed his uphill sprinting skills by winning the stage. So a fantastic weekend for the Club with two stage wins which gave John the overall points victory. Unfortunately Graham Edwards got entangled with another rider in the final stage resulting in him crashing. His injuries seemed not to be too bad although a fair amount of skin was lost.

Elsewhere the Clubs 2nd catergory riders Ian Sutcliffe and Gareth James rode in the McInlays Road Race in Somerset for Elite, 1st and 2nd Category riders. Just about anydody who is anybody in British Road Racing was there on this 70mile road race over the Blackdown Hills. After about half way 14 riders including the Abergavenny pair got away and that was the way it stayed to the finish. Every rider in the break except Ian and Gareth was an Elite so it was to their credit that they not only stayed with the break but Ian took 7th and Gareth 12th. The race was won by Marcin Bialobiocki of Sports Beans and 2nd went to Ben Luckwell also of Sports Beans.

 

 

11/05/08 Weekend Race Report

This week saw success by the senior road race team and the final of the Forest of Dean Mountain Bike Series for under 16year olds. The final round brought 5 winners and the same five won the series for their age group. Twenty eight young riders lined up for the 10 and 12 year old race with Sam Beckingsale storming away to win the under 12 boys race and the series with Ffion James taking under 12 girls race and also the series. In the under tens it was again one two for the Club with Ben Beckingsale closely followed by Club mate Nathan Ford. The two riders also taking the 1st place in the series. There was a very competitive race in the under 8 girls with Megan James taking the honours in the under 8 girls and the series win and Joe Beckingsale coming second in the under 8 boys. Ryan Nash completed the day of success by winning the Under 16 boys. The photo below shows the series winners Ben, Joe and Sam Beckingsale, Megan and Ffion James, along with Nathan Ford.

Also this week saw the Noel Jones Memorial Road Race for 2nd, 3rd and 4th category riders over 60 miles on the Talgarth course. The race run by Cwmcarn Paragon was fought out by the two strongest teams of Abergavenny RC and Cwmcarn. Ian Sutcliffe of Abergavenny RC attacked on a number of occasions but Cwmcarn aware of the danger covered every move made. Eventually Cwmcarn rider David Powell got away with Karl Hine of Somer Valley. Then with support of the clubs riders Ian managed to attack and bridge the gap and the three riders managed to stay away to the finish with David Powell taking 1st place from Karl Hine and Ian. The clubs riders, especially Graham Edwards and Guy Stevens, worked exceptionally hard to control any reaction from the bunch to give Ian his chance to stay away. As the bunch sprinted for the line and fourth place it was the clubs John Fitzpartick who fought it out with James Treliving of Team Certini to get 5th place.

 

 

13/04/08 Weekend Race Report

The season has just began to get into gear for the Clubs riders this month. Rebecca James won her race at the International track event at Herne Hill over Easter the Womens Keiren. Her brother Gareth had a very commendable ride in the Martyn Ashfield 2 day stage race for juniors to gain 25th place.He was up against the best teams in the country and as he was on his own without team support he rode an excellent race.

With winter returning the 2nd round Forest of Dean Mountain Bike Series took place with cold and snow flurries to greet the young riders. The under 8’s were first to go and it was the clubs Joeseph Beckingsale and Megan James who dominated the boys and girls event. Next up were the under 10’s and this event was dominated by another Beckingsale, Ben, with Nathan Ford in 5th. The girls race was won by FFion Llewellyn of Maindy Flyers. It was Sam Beckingsale who completed the the triple for that family by winning the under 12 boys with Emily Haycox of Maindy Flyers taking the girls prize. In the under 16’s boys it was first and second for the clubs Ryan Nash and David Jones completing a fantastic weekend for the clubs young off-roaders.

Sunday the 13th saw the first of two handicap road races series run jointly by Abergavenny RC and Gateway Cycles. Unable to use the usual course the race started on the old Raglan to Monmouth Road at the top of the rise by the John Deere Garage and proceeded to Monmouth to the junction of the dual carriage way. Then onto the dual carriageway back to Raglan Roundabout then up the hill to finish after four laps. Three groups: 4th cats and ladies at two mins, 3rd cats and then at a further four mins the 1st and 2nd cats. With 8 riders from the club and 4 from Gateway it was hoped that one of them would be in at the finish. The second group caught the first group after 2 laps and it looked like the the last group would catch them as the lead came down to under two mins with two laps to go. Then the group became disorganised and the lead stuck at a minute and a half for lap three. By the time the fast group got their act together they could only get the deficit down to 20 secs at the end, leaving the main group to contest the uphill sprint which was well taken by T Owen of Pembrokeshire Velo with John Williams of Cwmcarn Paragon and Hefin Price of Bynea 2nd and 3rd. Ex Abergavenny rider, Jessica Allen, now on the British Cyling development squad and riding for Halfords Pro Team was first lady and 5th overall.

 

 

31/03/08 Weekend Race Report

The racing season got off to a flying start last week with the clubs promotion of the 1st round of the Welsh Cycling Association’s Magic Dragon Series Time Trial. The course was over a hilly 22.5miles. The start was just before Tretower on the A479. Riders then had to tackle the long Pengenfford , 3miles in length, to Talgarth. Then left over the hilly road to Llangorse and then Bwlch to descend down the A40 towards Crichowell to finish at the Nantyfinn Cider Mill. 85 riders mostly from South Wales took part but a third fell by the wayside victims of the windy cold and rainy conditions as well as the hilly course. The winner in the excellent time of 53mins 54secs was Colin Wallace of Merthyr CC followed by Andrew Butcher 54.18 and Darren Carpenter 55.08 both of Cwmcarn Paragon. Mark Taylor from Abergavenny RC was 23rd with a time of 1hr 3min 15 secs.

Four of the clubs youger members took part in second round of The Dragon Mountain Bike Series at Abergwesyn. The under 12’s were first on this wet, demanding course and it was FFion James who carried on from where she left of last year by winning easily, with Club mate Nathan Ford, both of Abergavenny Road Club, showing great improvement to come home in 3rd place. The under 16’s had to tackle the full 4.5 mile circuit and it was the clubs Ryan Nash who pushed the eventual winner most of the way before technical problems dropped him back to fourth. David Jones rode an excellent and consistent race to take third place.

 

 

09/12/07 Weekend Race Report

It was the worst of weather that greeted the 14 members of Abergavenny Road Club at Pontypool Park last week for the Welsh Cyclo-Cross Championships. Heavy rain and deep mud covered the course.

Dylan Kerfoot-Robson from Rhos-on–Sea CC just getting gold from the clubs Sam Beckingsale in the under 12’s race. In the senior and junior races the racing was a continuation of battles that had been going on all season and it was Gareth James Abergavenny RC improving on his already excellent form who took Gold from Mathew Jones Cwmcarn Paragon.

The clubs Lee Williams season long battle with Ben Simmons turned into victory again for yet another gold in the senior race,with Gateway riders Andrew Baum and Richard Bowen in 3rd and 4th. In the vets event it was another rider from out of South Wales Ross Porter who just managed to beat the local challenge of the clubs Graham Edwards Silver and Darren Williams Bronze. In the youth race the club had also high hopes with 6 entrants but Tom Walker was beaten to the line by Bengareth Roth with Ryan Nash 4th, Bobby Coles 6th, Gareth Sheppard 7th and David Jones 9th. Ellis lane was 19th.

 

 

25/11/07 Weekend Race Report

Three of the clubs riders travelled to Mallory Park last week for round three of the Cyclo-Cross National Trophy. Showing their consistent form, despite the atrocious conditions, Gareth James and Lee Williams both rode strongly to finish 11th in the Junior and Senior events respectively .Graham Edwards was out of luck yet again when he was involved in two crashes caused by other riders, leaving him way down the field in the Vets event. Never one to give up, he remounted for the second time to come in a creditable 19th.

This week saw the 7th Round of the Welsh Cyclo-Cross League at Margam Park with yet another set of superb performances. No less than fourteen riders in all categories took part.

In the Senior event Lee Williams rode strongly to keep his unblemished record in the League, with Guy Stevens 5th and Darren Williams 7th. Darren also took the Vets honours while clubmate Graham Edwards rode strongly for 3rd veteran. The Youth event brought the, now usual, first place for Tom Walker supported by Ryan Nash in third and Bobby Coles in 5th. Sam Beckingsale, also getting used to being a winner, rode to another 1st place in the under 12’s with FFion james 2nd and 1st girl home. In the under 10’s Ben Beckingsale was 2nd with Nathan Ford 3rd.

Full results for all the Clubs riders is as follows:

• Senior Event
  • 1st Lee Williams
  • 5th Guy Stevens
  • 7th Darren Williams
  • 12th Graham Edwards
• Vets Event
  • 1st Darren Williams
  • 3rd Graham Edwards
• Under 12’s
  • 1st Sam Beckingsale
  • 2nd and 1st Girl FFion James
• Youth
  • 1st Tom Walker
  • 3rd Ryan Nash
  • 5th Bobby Coles
  • 13th Ellis Lane
• Under 10’s
  • 2nd Ben Beckingsale
  • 3rd Nathan Ford
  • 23rd Megan James
  • 25th Joes Beckingsale
  • 27th Lowri Thomas
  • 31st Rhys Thomas

 

21/10/07 Weekend Race Report

Abergavenny Road Club riders took 5 wins out of the 6 categories at the 2nd round of the Welsh Cyclo-Cross League promoted by CC Abergavenny at Penlan Sports Field in Brecon last Sunday.

The Senior event was won by Lee Williams also of Abergavenny Road Club from Anthony O’Boyle. Gareth James took 4th and first Junior, while Darren Williams and Guy Stevens came home in 6th and 7th respectively. Graham Edwards was 14th. David James in his 1st cross race was 46th.

In the under 12’s Ffion James beat allcomers boys and girls alike with an impressive performance ably supported by Sam Beckingsale in 3rd place. Nathan Ford was 12th and Megan James 16th. In the Vets event again the club had a 1st place when Daren Williams rode home to win with Graham Edwards also putting in a good ride for 4th place.

Thomas Walker showed his return to consistent form by winning the youth race with the Gareth Sheppard and Bobby Coles in 3rd and 5th.

 

 

08/10/07 Weekend Race Report

Abergavenny Road Club was host to the 1st Round of the National Trophy Series Cyclo Cross held at Abergavenny Leisure Centre on Sunday. The course,around the sports field, was fas,t dry and technical.

The morning events were taken up with the youger competitors on a shortened circuit. The youth race for under 16’s and under 14 boys and girls got off to a fast start and after 3 laps 2 riders had got away from the field. Luke Gray and Daniel McLay stayed away to the finish with McLay outsprinting Gray for 1st place.

In the under 14’s Jonathan Dibben won from Samuel Lowe. The girls category was taken by Hannah Barnes. Best place club riders were Gareth Sheppard 38th and Tom Walker 28th.

The veterans were next up, split into two groups, over 40’s and over 50’s. In the over 40’s after a spell of sorting out with a number of riders in an early break it settled down to three. Nigel Clough, Mick Bell and Mark Eadon. Clough always looked the stronger and sprinted away at the finish to win from Giddings who fought across to the group just pipping Bell to the finish. Darren Williams from the host club came 17th. In the over 50’s Hunt romped home from the field with no challenge to his 1st place. Graham Edwards gained 12th.

It was in the under 12’s that the club had the biggest representation with 9 riders and it was Ffion James and Sam Beckingsale who brought their recent form to the race with a fine 2nd and 3rd in the under 12’s. Ffion being 1st girl home. The race was won by Noah Phillips of Herne Hill Youth. Not to be out done Nathan Ford and Ben Beckingsale were 3rd and 4th in the under 10’s with Megan James 4th under 10 girl and Lowrie Thomas 5th in the same category. Rhys Thomas and Ewan Lane were 16th and 17th under 10’s. An excellent event for the clubs young riders who showed they can compete with the country’s best.

Next up was the junior and womens race. The junior event being won by Scott Thwaites and the womens event by Amy Thompson. Abergavennys RC’s Gareth James rode an excellent race to come in 6th carrying over his recent road racing form to cyclo cross.

The last race of the day was the Elite event. A group of 8 riders established a lead early on but it was Paul Oldham who broke away from the rest with about a third of the race gone to win by 30seconds from Dave Collins and Robb Jebb in a sprint for 2nd. Lee Williams from the club came in 18th.

The previous week saw the first round of The Wesh Cyclo-Cross League take place at Risca by Cwmcarn Paragon .The club had no less than 11 riders in attendance. It was the James' who stole the glory with Gareth 3rd Junior and 6th in the senior race and sister Ffion who beat allcomers in the under 12’s. Darren Williams was 2nd vet with Graham Edwards 4th in the same event. Third place behind Ffion in the under 12’s was Sam Beckingsale with Nathan Ford, Megan James, Lowrie Thomas and Rhys Thomas 12th, 14th, 24th and 30th respectively. In the youth event Tom Walker romped a superb race to win the event with Bobby Coles 11th.

 

 

30/09/07 Weekend Race Report

Abergavenny’s youngsters dominated the final race of the Dragon MTB series held in the Forest of Dean last weekend. Conditions along the forest tracks were dry promoting fast and furious racing.

Tom Walker raced in the under 16’s and did just enough to seal his 1st place as the overall series winner.

Sam Beckinsale showed, in the under 12’s, that he was a class above the rest coming out an easy winner on the day and the overall series winner. This to add to his Gold Medal in the Welsh Champs in August.

The closest race of the day was to be under 10’s and under 8’s with FFion James tied on equal points with two boys so the winner would take the series. FFion had a fantastic start and was never threatened by the other riders to win her race and the series. Sam’s brother Ben showed his continued improvement by coming in 5th boy.

There were three riders from the club in the under 8’s and it was Nathan Fords 1st place that sealed his series win with Joe Beckingsale’s 2nd place on the day to give him his first placing. Megan James showed her characteristic determination to come home in 3rd place and was series runner up in the under 8’girls.

So ended a highly successful season for the Clubs young riders and the Club wishes them much success in the years to come.

 

 

23/09/07 Weekend Race Report

It was the last weekend of the road racing season and there were 5 of the clubs riders in action. Gareth James and Ian Sutcliffe rode the Ystwyth CC Autumn Road Race and John Fitzpatrick, Steve Thomas and Graham Edwards rode the The Warwick Town Centre Races.

It was the Ystwyth event which was to give the success of the weekend. The race was 62 miles with an 18 mile lap and over 1250 metres of climbing. It was one for the strong men. It was Gareth James Abergavenny RC, still a junior rider, who with Dave Powall chanced their arm to attack near the start and they soon built up a lead of 40 secs and were maintaining it when Dave punctured. Gareth was not put off and still tried to stay away but was joined by 3 other riders who managed to keep a gap varying between 30 and 90 secs on the rest of the field.

The finishing leg of the race was up a leg crippling 16% hill and Gareth and Ben Simmons managed to drop the other two breakaway companions over the top. So into the finishing straight with Gareth leading but was just pipped to the finish by Ben Simmons.

Meanwhile not to be outdone, Ian Sutcliffe attacked out of the remains of the bunch on the climb to close down a one and half min gap to the other two riders and then attacked down the finishing straight but was just beaten to the line by Simon Owens of the promoting club to finish in 4th place just 30 secs down on the winner.

In the Warick Town Centre Races Steve Thomas was up against the best Elite riders in the country. 6 riders broke away but Steve rode a creditable race to chase and come in 12th. Graham Edwards crashed twice and still finished in the bunch and John had to retire with an injured knee.

Two of the clubs riders took part in the 3rd round of the Dragon Series MTB XC races the previous weekend at Llaneglwys. Lee Williams showed his superior riding by winning the Elite event and Welsh under 14 Champion David Jones won his race to add to his recent first place in the Media Mini Marathon (30kms) at Ruthin in North Wales.

 

 

10/09/07 Weekend Race Report

It was a busy week for Abergavenny Road Club both organisers and competitors alike. The major event was the 65 mile road race promoted by the club for 2nd and 3rd category riders. The course: 3 times around the Usk–Raglan-Charthouse circuit with three climbs of Gwehelog promised to be a tester as there were a lot of riders with a point to prove.

The promoting club had no less than nine entrants and had high hopes of a top 3 finish. So it proved to be one of the fastest starts along the Raglan dual carriageway known for many years with the field arriving at the first climb of Gwehelog early with a leg bending average of 28 mph. It was Abergavenny’s Gareth James who had the legs to take the prime sprint with the field in hot pursuit.

With such a high race speed it was always going to be hard to form a break as every attempt was chased down by the strong teams. Such aggression was always going to take its toll and there were many retirements. With the remains of the field all together 50 riders from a starting field of 80 came into the last 1km.

Andrew Baum from Abergavenny’s Gateway Cycles Racing Team took the initiative 500 metres out and, with an ominous display of strength prior to the encroaching cyclocross season, managed to hold off the entire field. Abergavenny RC had two top 10 finishers with John Fitzpatrick 5th and Ian Sutcliffe 7th.

The club’s young riders had a hugely successful Mountain Bike Race held in the Forest of Dean on Sunday with 6 entrants and 4 first places, a 2nd and a 6th. Tom Walker showed his class by riding away from the field in the under 16’s boys as did Sam Beckingsale in the under 12 boy’s. FFion James under 10 girls and Nathan Ford under 8 boy’s had to work somewhat harder for their wins as the finish was close in both cases. Megan James was 2nd in the under 8 girls with Ben Beckingsale 5th in the under 10 boy’s.

We must also congratulate two other riders from Abergavenny last week who took part in the Welsh Championship 12hr Time Trial. Alun Owen of CC Abergavenny who’s 264.777 miles got him into 2nd place and enough to gain him Best Welsh All Rounder Award in Time trialing for the year. Abergavenny Road Club’s Tim Rise who gained 8th with 250.147 miles. A stunning achievement as it was his first attempt at long distance time trialing.

The club also held its 25 mile Time Trial champs and Hill Climb Champs last week. Evergreen Graham Edwards won the 25 with a time of 1.0109 with Steve Thomas 2nd with 1.02 43 and Mark Taylor 3rd with 1.0355. The hillclimb held on the Tumble over a measured mile from the Cordell Country Inn was won by Ian Sutcliffe in 4 mins 51secs, 2nd was Mark Taylor in 5mins 51secs and Steve Thomas 3rd with 6mins 26secs.

 

 

19/08/07 Weekend Race Report

Graham Edwards, Ian Sutcliffe, Guy Stevens and new member, John Fitzpatrick took part in the Wasp road race on Sunday. Despite a change of course the event still had the customary 'sting in the tail': a nasty 1km climb to the finish.

Cold and wet conditions meant the bunch was in no mood to hang around and a flurry of attacks took place as soon as the neautralised flag was dropped. Ian Bendall (Forza Cycles) kicked hard the first time through Llandeilo, dragging 5 men with him to form a dangerous looking break. When they quickly built a lead of a minute the Abergavenny RC riders knew they were in for a tough, race-long chase.

The move was finally reeled in with only 3km remaining. As the bunch hit the finishing slope riders immediately started to drop back, leaving a core group of around 10 to fight for victory. Ian got 5th, while John and Guy were 12th and 13th respectively. Graham, who had put in a sterling days work driving the race in pursuit of the breakaway, still had the legs to cross the line in the upper half of the bunch.

Meanwhile, in the Elite Women’s British Road Race Championship held in Essex, second-claim club member Jessica Allen (Pinarello RT) continued her rise through the senior ranks by gaining a fantastic 14th place. Nicole Cooke, with her 8th title, took the victory.

 

 

12/08/07 Weekend Race Report

After the exertions of the Abergavenny Festival of Cycling 7 of the clubs riders took part in the Welsh Champs Criterium Champs at Tywn on Sat 4th Aug. The event also incorporated the Clubs Criterium Champs. The senior race over 30 miles was contested by Steve Thomas, Gareth James and Graham Edwards. The event was won by David Bees in a break of 6 riders. Steve Thomas gained 7th place by sprinting away from the bunch at the finish and to win the senior club champs. Gareth James was 2nd with Graham Edwards 3rd in the club champs.

In the youth races FFion James was 3rd in the under 10 girls, sister Megan won gold in the under 8’s by a comfortable margin with Lowrie Thomas in bronze position with brother Rhys 4th in the under 8 boys.

The following day saw 5 of the clubs riders in the medals at the British Schools Welsh MTB champs. Megan James was 2nd in the under 8 girls with sister Ffion James winning gold in the under 10 girls. Both riding for Our Lady of St Micheals. Nathan Ford was 3rd in the under 8 boys riding for Govilon Primary. More was yet to come with David Jones dominating the under 14’s race to win gold by 5mins. Ryan Nash won silver in the under 16’s race. Both boys rode for Monmouth Comp.

The same week saw circuit specialist Steve Thomas gain a 4th place with clubmates Lee Williams 6th and Gareth James 15th in the Pembrey Circuit Races.

On Thurs Aug 9th saw 9 of the clubs riders competing in 15th event of The Castle Combe Series Races. In the Senior Event a 17 lap handicap there was a huge gap of one lap between the Elites and the 4th cats with half a lap between the Elites and the 3rd cats. The Elite riders driven on by Ian Sutcliffe and Guy Stevens set about closing the the gap in order to set up Steve Thomas for the sprint. In a tightly fought finish Steve took 3rd and Graham Edwards 12th.

Ffion James took her now customary 1st place in the under 10’s with sister Megan completing the double by winning the under 8’s. Lowrie Thomas was 4th in the under 8’s. In the under 16’s youth race over 5 laps Emily Farnworth was 2nd girl to complete an excellent evenings work by the clubs riders of all ages.

 

 

05/08/07 Weekend Race Report

At the town circuit races on Friday night in Abergavenny the Club had no less than 10 riders entered in the support event for 2nd, 3rd and 4th category riders. This event also was designated as the Clubs circuit race champs. Gareth James attacked on the first lap and took several other riders with him. In the final sprint he was Abergavenny's 1st rider home in 6th placet o take the Club Champs 1st place. Graham Edwards and Stephen Thomas were 27th and 28th to take the 2nd and 3rd spot in the championship.

Mention must be made of Ian Sutcliffe one of two entries from the town in Sundays main Race. As only a 2nd Category his ride to stay in the main bunch until the finishing circuit was an enormous achievement considering the quality of the other riders.

After the exertions of the Friday night event in Abergavenny several Club members made the journey to Tywyn on the coast in Mid Wales to take part in the Welsh Criterium Championships. In the Youth Races Ffion James took a bronze medal in the Under 10 Girls while her sister was dominant in the under 8 girls winning the race comfortably and gaining a gold medal in the process. Lowri Thomas won the Bronze in the Under 8 girls whilst her brother Rhys was 4th in the under 8 boys. In the Senior Championship event Graham Edwards, Steve Thomas and Gareth James lined up with 15 other starters to contest the 30 mile event. The racing got quickly under way and soon a group of three riders had established a lead of 20 or so seconds and the bunch hesitated allowing the gap to grow. Eventually another three riders broke away from the bunch but unfortunately, perhaps feeling the effects of the Friday night, none of the three Abergavenny riders were able to make the break. After nearly an hour and a quarters racing David Bees of Forza Cycles won the Championship whilst Steve Thomas sprinted home at the head of the bunch to salvage a creditable 7th place, James placed 10th and Edwards 13th – all scoring more valuable ranking points.

In Aberystwyth on Sunday was held the British Schools Welsh MTB champs. The club had 3 top 3 placings: Megan James 2nd in the under 8 girls, Ffion James 1st in the under 10 girls - both riding for Our Lady of St Micheals and Nathan Ford 3rd in the under 8 boys riding for Govilon Primary.

 

 

30/07/07 Weekend Race Report

No less than 14 riders of various disciplines and ages took part in competition this week. On Thursday last at Llandow, in his first serious outing on the road bike this season, Lee Williams showed that he is not just a talented mountain bike rider but can also turn his to other racing disciplines when he placed 2nd in the last of the South Wales Criterium series events. After some aggressive riding from Lee and Steve Thomas in the first few laps, Lee eventually broke away with six other riders to form the main break of the day. He was pipped in the sprint for the line by David Bees of Forza Cycles but came away confident that he had good racing form. Steve Thomas finished 10th to leave him needing just one more ranking point to retain his 2nd category licence. Graham Edwards finished 12th and Mark Taylor 15th after using all their energy doing some excellent teamwork to ensure Lee’s breakaway succeeded. Darren Hughes rode the 4th category event and, despite suffering from a heavy cold, placed 8th gaining him sufficient ranking points to move up to 3rd category.

On Sunday Williams backed up that showing of good form by winning the 3rd of the Summer Series events at Llandow. Once again the action started from the gun. Thomas broke away on the first lap with two other riders quickly gaining a 20 second gap. Williams counter attacked with several other riders from the bunch and after two laps a large group of nine riders had established a break, including Thomas and Williams that looked like it may just go the distance. However the bunch had different ideas and after six laps the whole race came back together. Williams immediately went on the attack again and this time broke away with Darren Carpenter from Cwmcarn. The two rode strongly together to eventually lap the main bunch with 10 laps remaining. Whilst Williams and Carpenter were ploughing on with their effort Thomas and Edwards were covering any counter attacks that went to protect Williams lead. Eventually Thomas found himself in a break of five riders half a lap clear of the bunch chasing another small group of three who were trying hard to catch the two leaders. After lapping the field, and with some team help from Edwards, Williams again broke away from the bunch with six laps to go to solo to his first road race win of the season. Edwards finished comfortably in the lapped bunch whilst Thomas broke his run of 10th places by picking up 8th after some hard riding in the second breakaway, thus guaranteeing his 2nd category status for yet another season.

In the accompanying youth races, Lowri Thomas won the Under 8’s event with her brother Rhys coming third despite being only 5 and having to race against the 8 year olds!

Elsewhere on Sunday Ian Sutcliffe, Guy Stevens and Gareth James travelled ‘across the bridge’ to take part in the Chard Wheelers road race in Somerset. Sutcliffe was rewarded with a 9th place at the end of the race to add to his 6th place in the Presidents Road Race the previous week. Stevens and James finished comfortably in the bunch.

Thomas, Williams, Taylor, Edwards, Sutcliffe, James, Hughes,Emily Farnworth and Rob Bignell all take part this Friday in the Abergavenny Cycling festival circuit races around the streets of Abergavenny with the aim of snatching a home win.

Elsewhere Ryan Nash and David Jones took part in the 4th round of the British Mountain Bike Series. Ryan coming 10th in the Juvenile and David 19th in the Youth. Very good results against the best riders from all round the country. The younger James sisters continue in their bid to take on all comers ,girls and boys, in the Hengrove Park Crits in Bristol on Saturday. Megan came in an excellent 3rd in the under 8's despite mechanical problems. Older sister Ffion gained 3rd place girl in the under 12's.

 

 

22/07/07 Weekend Race Report

Abergavenny Road Club rider Graham Edwards pulled off one of the greatest results of his racing career in winning the Veterans Dragon 2-day Cycle Race in Neath on the 21st/22nd July. The event consisted of a 3.5mile prologue TT on the Saturday morning followed by a 43 mile road race in the afternoon, with the event concluding on the Sunday with a 56 mile road race.

As is getting to be a regular feature recently it rained all weekend Edwards recorded a respectable time in the prologue TT finishing in fourth place just 48 seconds down on the winner Paul Herbert from Rhyl CC. This set the scene for a fierce battle between Herbert and Edwards over the whole weekend. The second stage road race looked like coming down to a bunch sprint with one lap of the eight mile circuit to go despite Edwards best efforts to get a breakaway group working. With just four miles remaining and the rain pouring more torrentially than at any time in the race Edwards made one last bid to breakaway as the race turned off the dual carriageway onto the old Glynneath Road at Resolven. He found himself alone with a ten second gap and the bunch hesitated. Going for broke he set about time-trialling his way to the finish, slowly eking out a greater lead as the final miles counted down. At the finishing line he had gained an advantage of 46 seconds over the pursuing bunch and celebrated his solo victory in style crossing the line alone arms aloft!

At the start of the final stage Edwards had moved into second overall just two seconds behind the race leader Herbert. With time bunuses of 15, 10 and 5 seconds on the line at the finish Edwards knew that if he got one of those first three places and finished in front of Herbert the overall win was there for the taking.

True to form the final stage was a cagey affair with Edwards and Herbert watching each other like hawks. The race did come down to the final sprint with Edwards proving to be the better sprinter too placing second on the stage and getting those all important time bonuses that meant that he won the race overall.

 

 

15/07/07 Weekend Race Report

2nd Category rider Stephen Thomas continues to show his consistency and form for this type of racing by achieving a top ten place in the South Wales Criterium and the LLandow Circuit races last week. He was ably supported in the 4th cat race by Chris Howarth and Darren Hughes with 6th and 7th places.

It was the younger element who continue not to be out done by their senior club mates by providing top 3 places at Castle Coombe over the past two weeks. On the 5th of July Sam Beckingsale was 3rd in the under 12’s and Megan James blew all the competition away, boys included, in the under 8’s with a fine aggressive ride. The following week sister FFion scored a 2nd place in the under 10’s but Megan repeated the previous weeks performance with yet another decisive win in the under 8’s.

 

 

02/07/07 Ras De Cymru Report

Abergavenny RC had a full 4 man team in the Ras De Cymru - a 5 day stage race for 2nd and 3rd category riders held around the roads of South Wales between 27th of June and 1st of July. Those taking part were: Ian Sutcliffe, Richard Holmes, Mark Taylor and Graham Edwards with Steve Thomas riding in a composite team with Cwmcarn Paragon. The object of the clubs riders was to work to get Ian Sutcliffe in the highest postion possible at the end of the 6 stages.

Stage 1 was a individual 4 mile Time Trial over a hilly course at Llangibby in which Ian came 26th - one minute down on the winner.

Stage 2 on the following day was 2 laps of the Abergavenny/Rockfield circuit, a total of 46 miles with 2 climbs of Pen-y-Fal hill out to Rockfield and back along the Skenfrith road. With the help of his team Ian got into the lead group of 20 riders but no one was going to let the local riders get away and he finished 1 minute down t the end of this stage. The afternoon saw the team all together in a Team Time Trial around the Raglan/Hardwicke 15.7 mile Circuit. The team put in a solid performance riding well together to finish 16th.

Day 3 was a 68 mile road race starting at Caerleon and riding to Usk then 3 times around the Gwelhog/Raglan/Charthouse/Usk circuit. 4 riders got away on lap 2 with the rest of the bunch chasing hard to keep the gap down to 1 minute. All the team members finished safely in the bunch.

Day 4 and stage 5 took place on the Storey Arms Brecon/Defynnog circuit over 60 miles. Keeping the emphasis on hill climbing the team kept Ian in the lead group before 4 riders formed a break to finish 3 mins ahead of the next group of riders, with Ian 15th man home.

The final day and stage 6 took in Llangynidr/Brecon/Talgarth and back to finish at the top of LLangynidr mountain. Legs were very tired by this time but this was the best day for the club when Ian got away with 14 other riders and with the other riders closed the race down helped by Steve Thomas the group stayed away. With attacks coming from the break on the climb of LLangybidr mountain the lead riders broke up but Ian managed to hold on to 11th place 3mins ahead of the bunch.

First overall was taken by Ben Simmons(Lifeforce) with Ian a highly creditable 18th with full supprt from his team who managed to finish 13th in the team placings. It was an excellent performance buy the clubs riders who worked tirelessly to place their lead rider in the top 15 and maintain a good position overall.

 

 

01/07/07 Dragon MTB XC Series Round 2 Report

Abergavenny RC was the host to the 2nd round of the 2007 Dragon XC Mountain Bike Race series held on Sunday July 1st at Bettws near Abergavenny. The weather was a mix of sunshine and showers – but at least we weren’t flooded! Just under 90 riders enjoyed the challenge of the course.

The Under 12’s went off first – one as young as six! It was great to see such enthusiasm. I heard that one rider was worried about taking part – and ended up coming second in his category. Megan James (Abergavenny RC) won the Under 8’s with Joe Beckingsale 2nd and Nathan Ford 4th both (Abergavenny RC). Ffion James (Abergavenny RC) won the under 10’s with Ben Beckingsale 2nd with Evan Lane 4th (Abergavenny RC). Sam Beckingsale (Abergavenny RC) kept up his form to win the Under 12 race with club mate Elliot Coles 2nd.

The list of honours didn't end there for the promoting club as David Jones winning the juvenile race with Ryan Nash 3rd in the Youth event. At midday the rest of the categories set off. Jonathan Pugh (Scott UK) flew around the course on his first lap in 17 minutes and kept up his impressive lead for all six of his laps to win the Elite category. Rob Friel (www.raleigh.co.uk) kept his winning form to take first place in the Expert category. Melanie Alexander (Abergavenny RC) won the Expert Female category in a time that many of the male riders would have been pleased with. Mark Spratt also from the club won the Male Masters event and Carl Brancher came 4th in the Grand Vets Race.

To show that it is always worth taking part, Joel Shetton entered well after the race had started (by about 20 minutes) and still managed to overtake some of his category challengers! We also had one rider pay £30 to get to the race in a taxi from Newport station as the trains were cancelled. We hope the prize money went some way to compensating for her outlay.

The course became more muddy as the tyres went over it. Some parts became more or less impossible to ride as the race went on. However, the feedback overall was very positive – a good mix of challenge, stretch, mud and grass. Thanks to everyone who helped out on the day – including those manning the oh-so-important refreshment stand (including home-made cakes). Without the willing volunteers there wouldn’t be a race.

 

 

24/06/07 Weekend Race Report

Last Thursday saw eight of the Clubs riders entered in the Castle Combe circuit races. Megan James took the honours in the under 8’s by decisively beating all comers, boys and girls alike, in her race by simply riding away from the field. Daniel Pearce of Forest of Dean tried very hard to stay with Megan but had to give up after 2 laps.

In the under 16’s event Emily Farnworth continues to show her improvement and determination by taking the race to her group with a number of attempts to get away but being brought back each time. Her group ended up in a sprint with Emily just losing out to Ruby Millar CC Cardiff by half a wheel.

The main race was a handicap split into 3 groups over a 17 lap event. The first group of 4 category riders were caught by the 3rd category riders before half distance. Whilst the Elite 1st and 2nd category group split after constant attacks, ex- professional Ben Luckwell managed to break free with another rider in tow.

This left Steve Thomas and Ian Sutcliffe left to chase. Meanwhile Mark Taylor and Graham Edwards were doing their best in the 3rd category group by working hard in an attempt to stay clear but it was not to be. LuckWell steamed up to and past the bunch to take first place with Paul Standen in 2nd. Gareth James and Huw Herrity finished in the bunch.

Meanwhile, offroad, Richard Holmes and fellow club mate Mark Spratt have just completed the Mountain Bike 24hr Marathon Mountain Mayhem race and finished in 7th place in the Elite event - a fantastic ride. Mark was also a excellent 11th place in the 2nd round of the Trek 100km Endurance event 2 weeks ago.

On the track, Lowri and Rhys Thomas took part in the Welsh Schools Hardtrack Champs at Maindy Cardiff. Rhys was 5th boy in the under 8’s despite being only five and sister Lowri was 5th girl in the under 8’s.

 

 

18/06/07 Weekend Race Report

On Thursday 14 June four Club riders travelled to Llandow for the third of the South Wales Grit series races. New Club member Darren Hughes rode the 4th Category 27mile event with the intention of getting a good result to get points towards being upgraded to 3 Category and he didn’t disappoint. After some very aggressive racing, including getting away in a number of breaks, Darren was rewarded with fourth place in the final bunch sprint, bagging himself six points in the process.

In the 2nd and 3rd Category race Mark Taylor, Steve Thomas and Gareth James took to the start line and some fast and furious racing got underway immediately the flag dropped for the start of the 35mile race. Thomas rode a particularly aggressive race getting into a number of breakaways which all tried but failed to break the stranglehold of the bunch. Taylor too found himself in a couple of moves that looked promising, only to be chased down by the riders from Cwmcarn Paragon. Eventually it was the turn of Gareth James to get into what proved to be the race winning break. Gareth was unfortunate though when the weakest rider in the break failed to negotiate the chicane cleanly losing contact from the other two riders and leaving a gap that Gareth was ultimately unable to close. All three had to settle for a comfortable finish in the bunch after a hard fought race.

On Sunday six Club riders travelled up to the Jean Baker Memorial road race over 55miles of undulating roads near Kidderminster. The team’s plans to place a rider in every break unfortunately came unstuck when a large group of 22 riders escaped within the first three miles of the race. Mark Taylor was initially with the break but was unable to hold the pace on the sticky road surfaces and was eventually dropped on the main climb on the circuit. New Club rider Daren Williams worked hard with Ian Sutcliffe and Guy Stevens to try to generate some effort in the bunch to chase down the breakaway whilst Steve Thomas had to content himself with surviving in the bunch as more of a training effort after his exertions of the Thursday before and Gareth James retired with a worrying muscle injury. At one point the breakaways lead had been cut to just 20 seconds with 18 miles to go, but then the bunch ‘switched off’ again and the lead grew steadily to over a minute at the finish. The Club’s riders had to settle for finishing with the bunch. However, it was a good hard race run off at over 25mph average speed which should serve well for the upcoming Ras de Cymru.

 

10/06/07 Weekend Race Report

Ian Sutcliffe took his first win of the season at the weekend's Tour of Carmarthenshire following some excellent team riding by Graham Edwards, Gareth James, Steve Thomas, Guy Stevens, Mark Taylor and Ian himself. The aim was to ensure a club presence in any breakaways that formed and in a very active race, all 6 riders worked tirelessly throughout the 63mile event.

The course took in a stiff climb through Llandeilo town centre 4 times but this was not decisive and the numerous attacks that typified the race were always brought back.

Ian, together with 3 others, got in a move that was finally allowed to get away thanks to some strong riding up front and some deft strategy by the rest of the team in countering any chase attempt.

Having completed the final lap, the breakaway turned on to a sapping 3mile drag climb all the way to the finish line. Ian, displaying the form he had shown in the previous weeks Welsh championships, proved to be the strongest in the race by taking the sprint by several bike lengths from his breakaway companions. A thinning peleton came home a minute later, with Gareth James taking 1st Junior and 10th overall.

 

 

05/06/07 Welsh Champs RR Report

Dry but overcast conditions welcomed the 90 or so riders who competed for the four titles on offer at the Welsh Road Race Championships in Abergavenny yesterday. In the Senior and Junior combined event 40 seniors and 8 juniors took to the start for the 80 mile race. On the outward leg to the main course up the A40 dual carriageway, the racing started almost immediately with a small group of three riders attacking as soon as the neutral zone flag went down. They were quickly joined by another ten riders to make a very useful looking breakaway of 13 riders. By the time they reached the end of the carriageway they had established a lead of 45 seconds and were working well together.

At the Charthouse and the start of the first of four full circuits, the lead had increased to just over a minute with one rider already dropped from the break such was the effort they were putting in to establish a sustainable lead. A lap later and the lead had increased to two minutes and the bunch, despite teams as notable as Cwmcarn Paragon and CC Abergavenny having missed the break, making little in roads into chasing the break back. Several counter moves occurred but were unsuccessful until, during the second lap of the main circuit three of the junior riders, Luke Rowe, Mike Webb and Andrew Williams took it upon themselves to form a breakaway chasing the lead bunch that was now down to eleven.

This set the pattern for the remainder of the race with the lead group eventually whittled down to ten and then competing for the Championship in a sprint at the end. Stephen Lloyd from Deeside Olympic eventually seeing off a fast moving group to become the first 2nd cat rider in a number of years to win the senior championships.

Luke Rowe eventually outsprinted his breakaway companions to win the Junior Championship after nearly 50 miles of three-up breakaway riding and surviving the bunch almost catching them at the end.

The Veterans and Womens race was as keenly contested with no fewer than ten women and twenty six veterans fighting out for their respective Championships. Numerous attacks and counter attacks, particularly on the main climb of the day over Cold Harbour, shed riders from the main bunch throughout the race but none were successful in breaking the grip of the bunch until Mike Lindsay (Wills Wheels) and John Skates (Deeside Olympic) eventual slipped away on the penultimate of three laps of the main circuit.

The two worked well together while the bunch tried in vain to regroup and chase them back, but as the finish loomed closer things started to get cagey and tactical as they all thought about that final Vets medal up for grabs and the three remaining women gauged who was likely to be the strongest. On the run in to the finish Skates eventually proved too strong for Lindsay to give Deeside Olympic a double for the day, with the super-fast Katie Curtis holding off some experienced campaigners in the veterans bunch to take the Women’s title.

The organiser, Steve Thomas would like to express his thanks to the competitors for providing a well contested race; the members of the Welsh Escort Group who did an excellent job of ensuring the safety of all involved in the event; Gwent Police for their input and agreement in re-establishing one of the best road race courses in Wales; and, the members, friends and helpers of Abergavenny Road Club, without whose assistance I would not be able to run the events.

 

 

25/05/07 Weekend Race Report

As usual a significant number of the club's 80 strong membership were out in competition over the bank holiday. Junior Jackie Garner, who continues to make progress and catch the eye of racing teams around the country, rode at Castle Coombe on Sunday and The Presidents Handicap last Thursday, both events against men. Jackie was 3rd women home at Castle Combe after riding a strong and determined race.

Another young lady beginning to make her mark is Emily Farnworth who rode the Youth under 16’s event at Castle Coombe on Thursday. The 5 lap race was hard and eventually split with all the young women in the back half of the race. At the beginning of the last lap Emily attacked and looked like she had opened up a gap of 200 metres. However as the field came into sight near the finish they were all back together again. As they approached the final corner Emily attacked again and was only just caught on the line by two other riders. The effort was good enough to gain her 2nd place girl.

Five other club riders along with Jackie rode The Presidents Handicap also last Thursday: 2nd Catergories Guy Stevens, Ian Sutcliffe and Steve Thomas and 3rd Catergaories Mark Taylor and Graham Edwards. It was an un eventful race with Mark getting away with another rider for half a lap and when the race came together a concerted attempt was made by the clubs riders to dominate the race but it all stayed together and ended in a bunch sprint.

 

 

21/05/07 Weekend Race Report

It has been yet another good week for rider of all ages in the club. Young Ryan Nash travelled to Sherwood Pines near Nottingham two weeks ago to take on the best in the country at the British Mountain Bike XC Series where he came a creditable 20th. Also in the same discipline Mark Spratt came 11th in the senior 100km in the National Trek Marathon MTB Series. Again an excellent ride against the best in the country.

Stephen Thomas is beginning to find some form after a late season start blighted by illness by coming in 10th in his first road race of the year in the 2ND Category event at The South Wales Crit at LLandow last week.

However it is the youngsters of the club who continue to make their mark on the competitive scene with all the seven entrants in the Maindy Freewheelers Races this week gaining top 5 places. In the under 10 Girls FFion James was 4th with sister Megan 1st in the under 8’s, closely followed by Lowri Thomas for 2nd whose younger brother Rhy was 3rd in the under 8 boys. Sam Beckinsale was 4th in the under 12 boys, but it was the Grosmont pair of Ryan Nash, 1st Under 16 boys and David Jones 1st under 14 boys who continue to impress with their solid and aggressive riding.

Ryan Nash and David Jones

 

The clubs senior 3rd and 4th category riders: Mark Taylor, Graham Edwards, Rob Bignell and Gareth James were entered in the 2 day road race around the Vale of Glamorgan called the 'L'Eape de La Defonce'. With an entry of some very strong teams it was always going to be a tough nut to crack and luck was not on their side. The first race on Saturday morning over 66 miles and 3 laps the field stayed together for 1st lap then with attacks from the strong field over the climb a break of 4 riders got away from the main bunch. The clubs team leader Gareth James punctured at this point and even with Mark Taylor's attempts to bring him back up to the bunch it was too late as the break stayed away.

So after race one Russ Blazley of Leisure RT was in the race leaders jersey by winning the stage. In the afternoon Team Time Trial the riders faired better working well together to gain a respectable 12th place.

The last stage on Sunday was a 44 mile single loop around the Vale of Glamorgan with two stiff climbs to be negotiated. On the first, the race split into two groups with Gareth and Mark in the first group and Graham and Rob caught in group two. And so it stayed to the finish with the overall leader finishing in the first group with Mark and Gareth.

 

 

07/05/07 Weekend Race Report

This Sunday saw the first day of the Bedford International 2-day Womens Team Series Road Races. Jackie Garner the 17 year old junior from Abergavenny Road Club was, on the strength of her ride in the previous weeks Cheshire Classic, asked to ride as a guest for Luciano - one of the top womens teams in the country.

The first day started with a team time trial. Jackie riding with 3 other riders acquitted herself well. The afternoons road race, 45 miles over a flat circuit, was expected to stay together ,but with the entry of a number of continental teams including a crack Dutch squad it turned out to be fast and furious. With average race speeds of 25 mph the field split with the main bunch being whittled down from 75 to 40 riders. Jackie despite being called on to carry out her duties as team domestique still finished in the top 30. The days work saw the dutch riders in the lead but Luciano in 1st team place.

Sunday saw the final days road race over a vicious hilly and twisty circuit at the Millbrook Vehicle Proving Ground. Again Jackie was called upon to carry out team duties but still managed to finish in the top 40 overall and helping her team to hold on to its 1st team placing. Luciano were sufficiently impressed with her performance to offer Jackie a first team place.

 

 

30/04/07 Weekend Race Report

This weekend saw 12 riders of all ages competing in a variety of races in Wales and England. Junior Jackie Garner rode in her first Womens National Road Race in the Cheshire Classic and had an excellent race. The event over 50 miles and 11 times up a short but gruelling climb in Weaverham Cheshire was to be a test for the young newcomer to road racing. With entries comprising the best in the country including ex Abergavenny RC member, now riding for Pinnarello RC, Jessica Allen and other members of the GB Talent Squad it was going to be a tough day. With in form Lizzie Armistead and Jessica taking the race to all the rest they took it in turns to attack the field on the climb but to no avail as each top- rider in turn tried to get away. The effect was to thin the field down from 60 to 30 riders with Jackie holding her own in the bunch. Then with two laps to go a crash at the back of the bunch took down Jessica and two other riders from the Talent squad which split the field further. Not to be deterred Jessica rode as hard as she could to regain contact and then attacked up to the finish.The winner in a powerful sprint was Lizzie Armistead with Jackie holding on to finish in 18th place.

Closer to home at Three Cocks Ian Sutcliffe, Guy Stevens, Gareth James, Steve Thomas and Mark Taylor rode the Noel Jones Memorial Road Race for 2nd and 3rd catergory riders. 5 laps of the Three Cocks-Llyswen circuit included a tough, sharp climb to the start/finish area. Riders slipped away from the bunch in two's and three's to eventually form a lead group of 15 which included Ian Sutcliffe. With team mates discouraging an organised chase from the bunch, the break went on to establish a 3 minute lead. Having won the penultimate lap prime prize Ian attacked the break, was caught half a lap later but managed a strong 5th place in the finale.

Also on Sunday there was a track promotion for juvenile riders at the Newport Velodrome with the clubs Emily Farnworth and ex-club rider Rebbecca James. Unfortunately Rebecca had a crash early on but still competed in four sprints which gave her enough points to come in third overall. Emily decided in her sprint event to go from the gun and it almost worked being caught on the line by Ruby Miller to gain a worthy second. She also picked up points in sprints in her scratch race enough to give her sixth overall on the day.

The Club also had 5 young riders in the 1st round of the Youth Mountain Bike League held in Builth Wells. In the under 12’s Sam Beckinsale decimated the field by leading from the start. Ffion James was 3rd home and punctured whilst lying third overall but put in a spirited recovery to finish 5th overall. Younger sister Megan completed the triple placing by coming in 4th girl. In the under 14's David Jones took top honours while Ryan Nash was 3rd in the under 16’s. Other club placings included:

• Senior 1st Place Lee Williams
• Vets 9th Place Carl Brancher
• Youth 7th Thomas Walker

 

 

23/04/07 Weekend Race Report

Last Wednesday four Club riders took part in the first Maindy Mini League event. Having ridden well in the Merida Marathon the previous weekend the Clubs latest youth recruits David Jones (Under 14) and Ryan Nash (Under 16) switch to road bikes for the first time to take on the Maindy Flyers in their own back yard. Both showed their obvious potential by easily winning their age categories on the night despite being on unfamiliar and ill fitting ‘hire’ bikes. In the Under 8’s both Lowri and Rhys Thomas won their categories as well.

At the British Schools MTB Champs in Nant-Yr-Arian on Sunday the club placed the following riders:

• U8 Girls 3rd place - Megan James, Our Lady of St. Michael's
• U10 Girls 1st place - Ffion James, Our Lady of St. Michael's
• U12 Boys 10th place - Sam Beckingsale, Cantref, Abergavenny
• U14 Boys 6th place - David Jones, Monmouth Comp
• U16 Boys 2nd Place - Ryan Nash, Monmouth Comp

Gareth James was racing in the Sid Standard Memorial Road Race in Nottingham, part of the National Junior Road Race Series. There were 60 starters in the race and Gareth road a very aggressive race including nearly a lap of the 6 mile circuit away from the front of the main bunch, but missed the critical break to end up 22nd overall, slightly disappointing for all his efforts.

At the Llandow circuit races the club was well represented at all ages and categories. The Thomas siblings were once again in action, this time Rhys (who’s only 5) had to race against his sister and others in the Under 8’s category. Lowri won both the individual time trial, over 1 lap of the circuit, and the later 2 lap scratch race – despite being given a handicap of almost 30 second to catch the other riders. Rhys finished fourth.

Later in the day Jacky Garner took part in the 4th Category race against senior men and once again showed that she is taking to road racing like a fish to water. Despite advice from her coach to ‘sit in’ and wait for the sprint Jacky spent most of the race being aggressive, attacking and taking the race to the men. This effort told on the last lap or two when the strength of the older riders meant that she had to be content with a finish in the bunch.

In the final event of the day five Club members took part in the 35 mile race for 2nd and 3rd Category riders. Steve Thomas, Graham Edwards, Ian Sutcliffe, Guy Stevens and Mark Taylor lined up in a field of 45 riders to contest the 35 lap race. The race ebbed and flowed with a number of unsuccessful attacks from various riders, with good attempts from Stevens and Taylor in particular, before a two man breakaway established itself with a 30 to 40 second lead with 17 laps to go. Indecision from the bunch and an uncoordinated chase meant that the duo were able to hold on to their advantage right to the finish with Ben Simmons from Lifeforce taking the win. The bunch contested the sprint for the minor placings with Sutcliffe and Thomas picking up 12th and 13th respectively. Edwards, Stevens and Taylor all finished comfortably in the bunch after a hard work out.

 

 

15/04/07 Weekend Race Report

Abergavenny Road Club was the organiser of the last of The Road race Handicaps on the Raglan course last Sunday. The Club had 6 riders in its own event spread across all three groups. As usual the race was 45 miles long three times around the Raglan loop and had a few surprises in store.

The race started and finished outside the Hardwicke Restaurant with a group of fifteen 4th category riders including Jackie Garner and two other girls. Group two was twenty three strong including club riders Gareth James, Graham Edwards, and Mark Taylor set off 3 mins later. The scratch group ,ten riders, with the clubs Guy Stevens and Ian Sutcliffe followed a further three mins back.

All three groups worked hard and at the end of the first lap the gaps had come down to two and one and half mins respectively. At the end of lap two three riders, including Gareth James, managed to bridge across to the first group. When the scratch riders caught the middle group it was expected to be only a matter of time before the entire race came back together. However, the lack of a coordinated chase meant this only occurred on the final rise prior to the finishing straight.

Andrew Williams of Cwmcarn Paragon took first place with Gareth James of Abergavenny Road Club gaining another second place after some aggressive riding. Jackie Garner in her best finish yet also finished in the bunch sprint, just being pipped by Gateway Cycles Clare Lines to the women's prize.

Also this weekend three of the Club's riders took part in the 1st Enduro Offroad series at Builth Wells. John Stokes did the 40km night race on the Saturday with over 200 riders and the 50 km event on Sunday with over 1000 riders. Ryan and David, two of the younger recruits did the 23 kilometre race and achieved the fastest time in their categories.

 

 

09/04/07 Weekend Race Report

It was the girls from AbergavennyRC who faired best in the Easter Holiday Racing. Rebecca James came home with the most with a 1st place in the Womens Kieran event at The Good Friday Track Meeting at Herne Hill London. Not content with that she travelled up to Manchester on Easter Monday to take part in the ACT Easter Monday Track Event and came home with 2 places: 1st in the Womens Kieran and 2nd in the Womens Scratch race. The 16 year old Abergavenny girl who was picked for The Olympic Development Squad continues top make good progress in her attempt to represent Great Britain in the Olympic Games.

Closer to home the club had 5 riders at the Good Friday Circuit Races at Castle Combe. Again it was the girls who came home with the places. Young Lowri Thomas won the under 8’s event. Then 4th cat 17 year old Jackie Garner decided to attempt the 3rd cat event over 17 laps of the full race circuit. Also racing in this event were evergreen Graham Edwards and Mark Taylor. The race stayed together despite many attempts by riders to escape until with 4 laps to go two riders managed to create a 20 sec gap. Despite the hard work of the bunch which both Graham and Mark made contributions too they could not reduce the deficit. So it was a sprint for third. Mark hard to retire with one lap to go after losing two spokes in a wheel but Jackie sprinted in with the bunch to become 1st women across the line. In doing so she beat two women who were members of one of the best teams in the country.

In the Elite and 1st cat even,t junior Gareth James decided he needed the extra quality opposition to extend him. This was a very active race with it eventually splitting into two groups and it stayed that way to the finish. Gareth rode a good strong race and finished well up in the 2nd group.

 

 

01/04/07 Weekend Race Report

This weekend saw one of the best results for Abergavenny RC for some time. The club finished with 3 riders in the top ten in the final CC Abergavenny Handicap on Saturday afternoon and a 2nd place in the Angela Davies Memorial Road Race in Aberystwyth over 50 miles for 3rd and 4th category riders.

On Saturday the club had 5 riders starting in the 3 groups. The race went to the handicappers plan for most part with the 1st group being mopped up by the 2nd group after a lap and a half. With the scratch group bearing down on the main group two riders including the Clubs Mark Taylor decided not to wait and attacked building at one time what looked like a race winning lead. However the scratch group caught the main group on the last lap and powered their way through taking just a few riders with them including the clubs Gareth James. Then Mark Taylor and fellow escapee were swept up and on the run in the group broke up with Martin Bialobioki of Middridge CRT powering across the line for 1st place. However both Gareth James, still only 17 and a Junior, and Mark Taylor clung on to take 6th and 7th with the clubs Ian Sutcliffe winning the bunch sprint for 8th with Graham Edwards in the bunch for 20th. A truly ground breaking achievement for these thre riders with 3 places in the top ten.

For one of these riders Gareth James clearly not winded by the efforts of Sat more glory was still to come. The following day in Aberystwyth over 50 miles and 4 tortuous climbs Gareth got away with Andrew Williams of Cwmcarn Paragon and was only just beaten in the sprint for 2nd place with the rest of the race split up behind them. A great weekend for Gareth and the other riders of the club.

 

 

25/03/07 Weekend Race Report

This weekend saw the clubs riders active in two road races in South Wales. The first on Saturday with 5 riders in the local handicap run by CC Abergavenny. Mark Taylor and young Jackie Garner and Carl Brancher set off in the first group followed by the 2nd catergory riders 5 mins later containing Graham Edwards with Ian Sutcliffe in the scratch group a further 5 mins later. Mark Taylor with the confidence of a 3rd and 5th place the week before at Maindy Stadium and LLandow Crits went on the attack from the off putting 30 secs into his group before the the lap was a quarter gone. He stayed away for the 1st lap before being absorbed.

The 2nd group worked hard and caught the first group after one and half laps. The combined efforts of this bunch managed to stay in front of the scratch group until the final few miles before being caught and passed in the final run in. Ian Sutcliffe came in the first group with 9th place to add to his 8th the week before with Graham Edwards at the front of the chasing group in 15th and just a few seconds down. Mark Taylor was a further half min down on this group in 24th paying for his exurbances early on in the race. A much improved 17 year old Jackie Garner came in 31st along with Carl Brancher 32nd who was in his first road race.

On the Sunday the club had 4 riders in the Betty Pharoah Memorial Road Race. Ian Sutcliffe and Gareth James in the Elite 80 mile event and Graham Edwards and Rob Bignell in the 3rds and 4th catergory race over 63 miles. The course was the very demanding loop around the Vale of Glamorgan made harder by a strong wind from the north. Both races were split open by the course and conditions with the Elite event won by Mathew Higgins of Corley Cycles with Ian 2 mins down in 18th place.

In the other race 3 riders were away but in the last few miles Andrew Pearce in a brave dash for the lead caught and passed the now fractured break on the last hill to win. Such was the conditions and standard of racing that the whole field broke up into small groups. Rob Bignell had a fine ride and led what remained of the bunch to gain 16th with Graham Edwards in 27th.

 

 

11/03/07 Ye Olde Abergavenny Handicap

A fine spring day greeted the riders for Cwmcarn Pargon's Abergavenny Handicap on the Raglan/Hardwick roundabout course. 55 miles 3 times around the circuit then a further half lap to the finish with an uphill sprint on the Monmouth road out of Raglan past the castle.

The 4th category group set off first, followed 3 minutes later by the 3rd's, with another 3 mins to the Elite/1/2 riders. The club had 7 riders in all. 2nd Cats included: Guy Stevens, Ian Sutcliffe and Stephen Thomas. Rob Bignell and Gareth James were in the 3rd's, with Mark Taylor and newcomer 17 year old Jackie Garner in the 4th cats.

The scatch riders put 3 mins into the 2nd group at the end of the first lap and the 4th's were swallowed up half a lap later. An attack by Neil Jones of Gateway Cycles took 3 others with him to make the decisive move of the day. Neil was pipped on the line by Peter Kennaugh of Pinarello RT with fellow escapees Mark McNally and Andrew Fenn of Liverpool Mercury a few seconds down. The bunch sprint was won by Rhys Lloyd also of Liverpool Mercury.

 

 

04/03/07 Ffion & Megan James BSCA Success

Nine year old Ffion James and her sister 6 year old Megan have recently competed in two Welsh Schools cycling events. First up was the Roller Championships, which is a bit different from the mountain bikes they are both so used to riding.

Megan was competing in the Under 8s and recorded the second fastest time in both the 500m and the 1km to claim the silver medal. Ffion was competing in the Under 10s and recorded the third fastest time in both the 500m and 1km, missing out on second overall by less than half a second.

On Saturday March 3rd the girls both competed in the Welsh Schools Hillclimb Championships at Bryn Bach Park, Tredegar. Despite the strong wind and hailstones Megan managed to fly up the climb and claim 3rd place, despite being the youngest competitor. Ffion was competing against a strong contingent from the Maindee Flyers Club in Cardiff, but all her riding up and down the hills around Abergavenny paid off as she claimed first place and a gold medal, winning by a margin of just 2 seconds.