Southdowns Bikes Cycle Club

Gorrick Spring Series Rd2 - Caesar's Camp

2nd March 2014

A return to Caesar's Camp for Rd2 a regular Brass Monkeys venue and the usual rain throughout the week meant the Gorrick team were out for many hours drying the course out. They had come up with a challenging mix of short power climbs and some long fireroads with a great downhill singletrack section into the finishing arena. How would the guys cope, well Ian Petherbridge is in great form at the moment and won his category by over 4 mins, Will Taylor racing in the Expert cat had a great ride coming 7th managing 5 laps with the winner the legendary Jody Crawforth just 8 minutes in front. Ollie Fenton had a great ride finishing 14th in the Sport cat with 4 laps and Alex Taylor also riding 4 laps in the Super Masters was 22nd.

Race Report - Southern XC Round 1

Sunday was a stunning day and the first ride of 2014 in shorts! The skies were clear, the sun was warm on my back, it could have been August. The beautiful Spring weather drew a mammoth entry for the first round of the Southern XC Series, at Wasing near Reading.

The course was flat and fast, the trails criss-crossed by a tangled network of roots. Luckily it was dry and riders could just clatter over the woody speed bumps. The large entry meant lots of spectators too, families making a day of it, deck chairs and picnic rugs spread out in the sun. It really made for a great atmosphere.

Ian could have won at a canter in the Senior Vets but still put in some impressive lap times as he notched up a third win of the year. James and Will also made it into the top ten.

Full results:

Ian Petherbridge	Senior Vets	1st
Will Taylor	Juniors	4th
James D'Arcy	Grand Vets	8th
Oli Fenton	Sport	23rd
Ben Connor	Masters	32nd

Southern Sting - Duncton 9th March 2014

Andy Jarman, John Reay, Julia Hammond, Jon and myself all completed Duncton this morning. Jon and David Newland did the 80km ride whilst the rest of us took the easier 60km option as both John and Andy had done 33miles in the Storrington Wiggle the day before. The weather was phenomenal and ground conditions were a million times better than last year. There were still some sections of deep mud and massive puddles but the terrain was a lot easier than last year and spirits were high all round. I'd forgotten how steep some of the hills were but we navigated the course well. It was very satisfying making mincemeat of the cyclocross boys going up the hills even if they left us for dust over most of the course. A great day all round, enjoyed by all and definitely worth a repeat visit.

Gorrick Spring Series Rd 3 - Hungry Hill

23rd March 2014

Spring has arrived with blue skies and firm trails but just a tad cold.There were 6 riders representing the team and club with mixed fortunes for two who had punctures and in such short races there is not much you can do. Will managed 1 lap but a puncture not long after which left him no option but to retire. Alex Taylor had his first ever DNF with a badly cut tyre. Ian Petherbridge carried on where he laft off in Rd2 by destroying the field again and he should tie up the overall in Rd4. Simon MacNamara in his first outing this year came an excellent 6th in the Super Master. James D'Arcy in a really loaded Grand Vets came 7th and Ollie Fenton finished 15th in the Sprint well done to all.

Simon Mac

Gorrick Spring Series Rd2 - Caesar's Camp

2nd March 2014

A return to Caesar's Camp for Rd2 a regular Brass Monkeys venue and the usual rain throughout the week meant the Gorrick team were out for many hours drying the course out. They had come up with a challenging mix of short power climbs and some long fireroads with a great downhill singletrack section into the finishing arena. How would the guys cope, well Ian Petherbridge is in great form at the moment and won his category by over 4 mins, Will Taylor racing in the Expert cat had a great ride coming 7th managing 5 laps with the winner the legendary Jody Crawforth just 8 minutes in front. Ollie Fenton had a great ride finishing 14th in the Sport cat with 4 laps and Alex Taylor also riding 4 laps in the Super Masters was 22nd.

Ian P powering his way to 1st

Pump up The South Downs 31st May

Pump my Ride, www.pumpmyride.co has organized a Mountain Biking Event, sponsored by South Downs Bikes on 31st May 2014.

Two routes will be available, 23 and 31 miles, fully signed and a feed station will be available ‘en route’ to boost you on to the end.

High 5 Sports Nutrition will be supplying the energy and Hydration products for the day, and bookings made via the website, before 30th April will receive a bonus High 5 mixer bottle and 7 energy products taking you right through a days ride.

There will also be a goody bag that will contain sponsors products and information and a £5.00 gift voucher from South Downs Bikes.

The whole event will be followed by aerial video with our friends at Skynet, who will make this available on our web site after the event.

This is the first event, and the second will be released shortly, once the plans are complete.

Finally, £1.00 of your entry fee will go to http://www.accesssport.org.uk/ to help other inspire youngsters into sports activities of their own.

Club Website

The new club website is up and running here is the link:- http://www.sdbcc.co.uk/

Gorrick Spring series Round 1 Crowthorne

Well done to all the team members who braved the elements on Sunday! I must admit that I was in two minds about riding myself. In the end it worked out pretty well for me and the other SDB riders who made the effort. Hoping to see a few more SDB riders out for Rd 2 Ian Petherbridge 1st Senior Vet (with a winning margin so big he could have stopped for a cup of tea after his 1st lap) Me - D'Arcy 2nd Grand Vet (first race since september '13 that hurt!) Oliver Fenton 17th Sports Alex Taylor 18th Super Masters (red shoes were worth at least a minute per lap apparently)