2006 Club News
17th December
Ross and
Steuart Saunders warmed up for the Kernow CC Xmas 10 course in Leedstown but
the race was cancelled with a couple of minutes to go due to a car accident
that blocked the road. Air ambulance the lot! Picture
of Ross and Steuart.
6th November
Somerset RC members Leigh Pinchen & Iain Hounsell took part in the National Hillclimb event which was recently held in Sidmouth. Large crowds cheered the riders as they tackled the one mile climb on a closed road which reached 20% in places.
Following on from some fine performances locally, Leigh finished 65th in a time of 6.37.5, whilst Iain was 86th in 7.11.
A field of over 130 riders took part with many travelling from all over the UK.
Roadman Dave Bentley ended the year in fine style, gaining his elite category licence.This now places Dave amongst the best riders in the country which is a great achievement after a tough season.
Ilton Races
of 4th Nov - results
15th October
Somerset Road Club/Bicycle Chain riders are now coming to the end of the racing season but recently riders have competed in three different disciplines.
Roadman Dave Bentley now requires just a handful of points to earn his Elite licence after some solid racing performances.
Time triallists,Tim Reeves & Mark Kurpyta represented the club in the GP des Gentlemens 25 mile 2-up event at Poole. They finished 5th in the 40-49 age category and 10th overall with a time of 58.02. Leigh Pinchen, in preparation for the forthcoming National hillclimb, finished 14th in the Bristol South hillclimb when he tackled Burrington Combe in a time of 8mins 36secs.
30th September
Divisional Circuit Champshionships at Ilton - results
24th September
Somerset Road Club riders enjoyed more top ten finishes at the weekend.
On Saturday, Rick Johnston & Iain Hounsell took part in the Yeovil CC 10 mile time trial at Podimore. Rick bagged 10th place overall with a time of 22.42 whilst Iain was not far behind with 23.24.
On Sunday Tim Reeves finished 5th overall in the Bath CC 25 mile time trial held on the Frome by-pass. With only 3 riders going under the hour,Tim finished in a 1.02.20.
17th September
Somerset
Road Club (sponsored by Bicycle Chain) riders have had some marvellous results
recently.
Riding the popular Andover 10 mile time trial, Rick Johnston produced a storming
ride to break the 21 minute barrier, recording a seasons best 20.48 placing
him 3rd in the 'Veteran over 50' category. This was an outstanding end of
season achievement after a series of consistent rides through the summer.
Rick was also the SRC's highest placed rider in the tough Gillingham 19 mile hilly event the previous week. Rick finished 8th overall in a time of 48.23. Leigh Pinchen and Iain Hounsell also had fine rides finishing 11th & 12th respectively with Leigh recording 49.27 and Iain 49-59. Leigh is currently training in preperation for the national hill climb championship which is being held in Sidmouth shortly.
4th September
Somerset RC/Bicycle Chain rider Iain Hounsell recently took part in the Welsh CA 12 hour event in South Wales. Competing in his first ever 12 hour time trial and despite being hampered by back pain he finished an excellent 21st from a field of 63 riders riding a total distance of 230.56 miles.
Meanwhile a team from the SRC entered the CS Dynamo 4-up team time trial based on roads near Exeter. Work committments meant Tim Reeves was a non starter but the remaining trio of Rick Johnston, Leigh Pinchen and Mark Kurpyta finished in 14th place with a time of 1:05:30 for the 40kms event.
22nd August
With a shortage of local 'open' events recently, riders from Somerset Road Club/Bicycle Chain have generally been competing in club Time Trial action.
However some riders have had some notable success in Open events.
In the Weston Wheelers 10 mile time trial held on the A38 at Lower Weare, Andy Winterbottom took a fine 2nd place with a time of 21.53.Rick Johnston finished 6th in 23.07.
Further afield, student Dean Robson, making a rare appearance for the SRC, finished 4th in a strong field of riders in the Plymouth Corinthian 25 mile TT, recording 54.55. Mark Kurpyta struggled to 1.07.12 after a short break from competition.
More recently
the SRC were represented by three riders in the Antelope RT 10 mile TT in
Poole. Unfortunately the three riders had late start start times in a full
field of riders so they had to suffer with the increasingly breezy conditions.
Nevertheless Rick Johnston proved that his high intensity training regime
contiues to be very worthwhile by recording a time of 22.20.Tim Reeves, riding
his first Open event following recent knee surgery,finished in 23.13 and Mark
Kurpyta,completing the trio,finished in 24.51.
2nd July
Somerset Road Club/Bicycle Chain's top road man Dave Bentley has been in busy action lately. Competing in the recent South Of England criterium races at Bath he came 2nd having rode his way into a 5 man break. In the latest Tor 2000 circuit series at Merryfield he came 8th, winning a bunch sprint to the line. Dave is currently 2nd in the South West rankings having already gained 190 points which places him in the top 20 first category riders in the UK.
On Sunday three 'testers' from the club competed in the Yeovil CC 25 mile time trial. In warm & humid conditions Andy Winterbottom showed that he has lost none of his form to finish 2nd from 52 riders in a time of 54.38, a fine performance in a field of good quality local riders.Rick Johnston, making a fairly rare '25' outing finished 11th in 58.55 and Mark Kurpyta was 27th in 1.03.06.
25th June
Polish rider Marcin Bialolocki secured another fine road race win for Somerset Road Club/Bicycle Chain in the recent John Andrews race for 3rd & 4th cat. riders. Although having now gained sufficient points for his 1st category licence in just a handful of events, Marcin nevertheless beat a large field of local riders to record another good win.
Rick Johnston, meanwhile, has been competing in time trials and finished 9th in the Bristol South event on the A38 north of Bristol in 23.04 with almost 50 riders taking part.
The annual TVCRA 4-up team time trial was recently held at Merryfield airfield and the SRC team of 'testers' comprising Andy Winterbottom, Iain Hounsell, Mark Kurpyta & Kevin Sayles finished 3rd, completing 6 laps of the 3 mile circuit in a time of 44.04.
11th June
Somerset Road Club/Bicycle Chain riders recorded their first 'team' success of the season.This award is based on the combined times of the three fastest riders from each team and in the Clevedon & District Road Club 25 mile time trial at the weekend based on the A38 road from Badgeworth to Bridgwater, Somerset RC narrowly beat the promoting club.
Andy Winterbottom, making a rare outing, showed that he has lost very little form and rode to a fine 2nd place overall with a time of 56.17.Tim Reeves in 1.00.44 and Barry Searle with 1.01.30 combined to take the honours. This was a particularly good result for Barry, who was riding his first '25' for decades! Mark Kurpyta, who has unfortunately suffered a recent run of punctures, finished in a time of 1.02.25.
4th June
Somerset Road Club/The Bicycle Chain riders have been in both race and time trial action recently.
Roadman Dave Bentley took a 10th in the recent Divisional Champs. and has been a regular in the Tor 2000 circuit series at Ilton.
Tim Reeves & Mark Kurpyta travelled to Devon to ride the Exeter Wheelers' 25 mile TT on the A38 near Buckfastleigh. Tim was pleased to record a 'sub hour' ride in his first 25 of the season and finished 13th in 59 minutes exactly. Mark was 25th, recording 1.01.52.
A few days later on Bank Holiday Monday the same two riders made an early morning start to compete in the Poole Wheelers' 10 mile TT. They were joined by Rick Johnston in a very strong field of 120 riders. In conditions far from ideal, with a nagging headwind to the turn, Tim finished 36th with 22.41. Rick was 46th in 23.15 and Mark finished 54th with a 23.35.
15th May
Tim Reeves won the opening round of the Tor 2000 Time Trial series.On the 5 mile course through the Yeovilton air station he recorded 11.48 on a breezy evening.
14th May
Lisa Parsons riding for Somerset Road Club/The Bicycle Chain competed in the Womens National Series Road Race (The Mendip Hils RR) against 58 riders, including a number of Europe-based professional teams. 5 riders broke away on lap 4 of the 10km hilly circuit near Bristol, and Lisa featured prominently in the chase, eventually finishing 9th in the finishing sprint. Her place has added 20 points to her season's total, and so she moves up a category for her next race. Picture
Ian Hounsell rode the Somer Valley hilly 29 mile TT finishing 17th overall with 1.13.45
13th May
Both Mark Kurpyta & Rick Johnston travelled to Andover to compete in the Crabwood CC 10 mile TT on the fast A303 circuit.Rick finished a fine 7th in the over 50 age category with 22.02 continuing his excellent early season form. Mark suffered a puncture around the halfway mark so DNF'd.
11th May
Mark Kurpyta was the sole SRC entry in the 'Bikinmotion' 10 mile Time Trial on the S4 course near Buckfastleigh.On a fast evening Mark finished 15th in a good quality field recording 22.40.
May 7th
Somerset Road Club/The Bicycle Chain riders have been in local Time Trial action and have had some pleasing results. Recent rides in Devon by Mark Kurpyta and Rick Johnston were unfortunately declared void due to a timing error but both riders recorded unofficial 'seasons best' times on the superquick newly surfaced A38 at Buckfastleigh.
On 4th May Tim Reeves finished 9th overall and 5th veteran in the Sid Valley '10' at Honiton recording 23.37 on a damp and dull evening.
On 6th May, again on the same course at Honiton, Rick Johnston
finished fastest of the SRC riders recording a 22.59 to finish 5th overall
in the First Chard Wheelers 10 mile TT. Tim Reeves finished 7th in 23.11 and
Mark Kurpyta was 11th in 23.51.
April 23rd 2006
The Somerset Road Club held their traditional '2-up' 10 mile Easter Monday Time Trial on the A38 between Cross and East Brent with a decent entry of 20 teams, including several new pairings.
With many of the regular riders unavailable, 3 teams from the road club took part. Fastest pairing and first off were Club Secretary Ray Pollard who, riding with Martin Marchant, produced a creditable time of 25.45. The all ladies pairing of Sara Dunn & Lisa Parsons finished in 26.59 narrowly beating 'supervet' and evergreen Club President Pete Sandy who, paired with another veteran Barry Searle, finished in 27.18.
Last Sunday Mark Kurpyta made the long trip over to South Wales
to compete in his first '25' of the season. Mark was on for a fine sub hour
performance until he suffered the misfortune of a puncture with just 2 miles
to go. Mark soldiered on and eventually finished in 1.09.51.Club Chairman
Tom Cox, however, produced his umteenth ride under the hour and recorded 58.50.
April 9th 2006
SRC members were in road race action last weekend over at Yeovil in races which attracted a large and competitive field of local riders.
In the 60 mile Ham Hill road race, Dave Bentley rode strongly throughout but although leading a bunch sprint at the finish just finished outside the top ten riders.
However in the 45 mile Pittards Race, SRC newcomer, Marcin Bialoblocki,
had a convincing win with a strong sprint finish within the final metres taking
the honours in another strong field of riders . Kevin Sayles, also representing
the 'SRC', finished in the main bunch in his first race of the year.
April 2nd 2006
Riders from Somerset RC were in Time Trial action over the weekend. Blustery & changeable conditions faced the riders on both days.On Saturday, Yeovil CC hosted their Spring 10 mile event on the A303 at Podimore near Ilchester. Tim Reeves finished 4th overall in 22.53 following a short 'training trip' to Majorca. Iain Hounsell finished in 23.44, Mark Kurpyta in 23.48 and Rick Johnston in 25.13. The SRC narrowly missed taking the team prize by a few seconds.
The following photos were taken by Richard Owens:
On Sunday the action turned to a hilly 17 mile course on the outskirts of Exeter. The SRC faired well with all riders finishing comfortably in the top half of the field of competitors. Tim Reeves completed the circuit in 42.24 with Iain Hounsell narrowly behind in 42.54 and Mark Kurpyta in 44.14.
SRC Chairman Tom Cox travelled to Hampshire on Sunday to ride a '2-up' 25 mile time trial and finished 9th overall (and 2nd on standard) with a fine sub hour ride in windy conditions. He partnered Pete Pickers to finish in 57.50. The event also included a rather rare home appearance from 'Team Discovery' director sportif and ex Tour de France rider Sean Yates.
Marcin Bialoblocki won his circuit race at Thruxton for the second weekend in succession.
March 26th 2006
March 19th 2006
SRC riders were back in early season time trial action on the normally fast A303 course near Andover on Saturday. However a bitingly cold headwind on the outward leg made for extremely tough conditions in this 10 mile event with riders posting times well outside their best.
Chairman Tom Cox rode strongly to just take a top 20 placing with a time of 23.54. Tim Reeves with 24.52 finished 33rd and Mark Kurpyta was 42nd in 25.39.
March 5th 2006
Somerset Road Club riders have already started racing competitively in 2006. Dave Bentley started the season in style finishing in 2nd place in a demanding hilly 13 mile Time Trial near Plymouth and the following week recorded 8th in a road race at Thruxton.
On Sunday there were two entries from the club in the CS Dynamo
'2-up' 10 mile team time trial at Honiton.
The pairing of Lisa Parsons and newcomer Sarah Dunn coped well with the conditions
finishing as 1st female team overall with a very creditable 27.19.Tim Reeves
& Mark Kurpyta took the 5th overall award with 23.34.
Tim Reeves and Mark Kurpyta:
Lisa Parsons and Sara Dunn:
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