Post by imcdonnell on Mar 18, 2018 8:30:54 GMT
MK Bowl - Saturday 17 March 2018
4 hardy souls from the team raced in harsh conditions at The MK Bowl today. (Matt Donovan, Ollie Bates, Simon Norman and the young pup Alexander Norman). Snow and sub zero temperatures met the riders at Milton Keynes... rider reports to follow so stay tuned...
Race Report 1. Matt Donovan took time out of his weekend childcare duties and gives us a report of his race this morning in Milton Keynes. Over to you Ray.
"Freezing conditions meant a reduced field of around 25 racers. The pace for the first 5 laps was comfortable with some twitchy riders in the pack. A few early soft breaks didn’t stick so I decided to go hoping to be joined. I wasn’t but as I decided to join the bunch two guys flew past me so I decided to jump on their wheel.
To our amazement no one reeled us in and within 5 laps we had over 30 sec lead which extended to over a min after a few more laps. The three of us worked well together pushing up the hill and over the top. We knew with 5 laps to go we were the top 3 as we were close to lapping the bunch. The wind was brutal and the snowed continued for most of the race, my hands were numb by this point. I lead with one lap to go waiting for my opportunity and as we approached the final hill one guy fell off the back and a second before I decided to sprint a young 17 got the jump on me and I came home 2nd. I just left my sprint a second too late but pleased with 2nd place and legs felt good. Now have my 12 points after 6th place last week"
Great job mate and a fine start to the season!
Race report 2. Following Matt's great showing earlier, Ollie Bates raced in the 2/3 at lunchtime alongside Normski and served up another great result on top of his previous 2 wins this season. Take it away buddy:
"Freezing conditions this morning lads, warming up on the rollers in the bloody snow haha. Had the beast with me today! (Si) A strong field lined up, around 65 ish riders. 2 riders went off the front from the off, and managed to stay away for the whole race. Si was his usual strong self trying to break away from the main group multiple times, but conditions were awful with a huge head wind at the bottom of the circuit, proving difficult to stay away. I kept hidden away, trying to save up as much energy for the sprint, after a tough training week. 5 laps to go they ramped it up, and the group began to string out. 1 lap to go on the bottom corner, Si sadly got pushed into the bush, causing him to come in with the main group (solid riding)! I managed to get myself 4th in the sprint, and 6th overall, a little disappointed but points are points! Also best of luck to young Alex riding the youth race today!"
Nice words from a top fella; thanks Ollie. Jack Steele Jessop from our buds at Flamme Rouge RT won the race with a blistering attack over the hill and pretty much rode away from everyone. Impressive and chapeau to JSJ too.
Race report 3. Our final report comes from the youngest rider in the team, Alexander Norman who has taken a big step up into the Under 14s this season. Having not long turned 13 and up against much bigger and older opposition (he currently weighs in at 34 kilos); he is under no illusion that this season will be a huge learning curve and is concentrating on the road racing basics/techniques and his training over the course of the year.
Over to you little dude:
"After a couple of cancellations I was really nervous for my first race of the season and the weather wasn't great either. My aim was to push hard on the first lap and tuck in as best I could. The older kids shot off and once we hit the headwind at the bottom of the circuit I lost the tow. I ended up in a small group and in a 4 way battle for most of the Race, gaining time up the hill but struggling for power down the other side. I dug in though and managed to pip my competitors over the line and really had a great race. I'm following Ollie Bates old training plan at the moment which I'm really grateful for, and by the end of the year hope to put on a bit more size and weight and hang with the fast group. My 5 year plan is to road race like Ash (Cox) and TT like Dad as they really encourage me. I'll keep pushing whatever though!"
Nice one Normski Jr!!!
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MK Bowl - Saturday 10 March 2018
The roadies are in action this weekend with racing at the Milton Keynes Bowl and the Spring Chicken / Roy Thame races near Buckingham. Good luck to the boys and various reports to follow:
Race report 1. The fabled Spring Chicken Road Race threw up a right old mutha clucker of a day today. Our Ollie Bates was the only BRRT rider in the field and had to really fend for himself as Billy no mates today. He was the right side of a split in the bunch that fractured the field and kept himself out of trouble to the finish. Having ridden the (potholed/lumpy/technical) course a number of times myself it's a testament to his handling skills that he came through unscathed and in one piece for a solid top 20 result. Top man, top result! This photo - that he begged us not to publish - will give you an idea of today's conditions...dirty dirty boy!!!
Race report 2. Milton Keynes Bowl Crits organised splendidly this week by our buds at the JCA-Equip Velo team. A wet circuit and slimey conditions greeted our 3 riders today with Matt Donovan and Dan Pearce in the mornings 4th Cat race and Simon Norman in lunchtime's 2nd/3rd Cat race. The 4th's race started with a twitchy bunch and the inevitable crash that neutralized things for a lap or 2. Matt stayed out of trouble at the front and put a shift in at times dragging the bunch around, whereas Dan kept his powder dry until the last lap sprint...and then got his shit together and popped off the front to win! Matt came in approx 6th having paid for his earlier efforts to complete a great team race. 👍 In the 2/3's Normski was pretty much in control and looking good but missed the break at the crucial time. He worked hard at the front jumping over to various small breakaways but nothing much stuck. The initial sole breakaway rider impressively soloed to the win with Normski grabbing 4th in the following sprint and 5th on the day. A solid start to the season following a difficult injury-hit winter 👍 So there you go...3 wins already this season for the Team and decent points all around today. BRRT BEASTMODE in full effect baby!
| Race 1 - Ollie Bates | Race 2 |
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Hillingdon - Saturday 17 February 2018
Big congrats to Ollie Bates for his win at Hillingdon yesterday and for bagging the Team's first victory of the season. Thoroughly deserved win for Ollie who has had a mix of bad luck in a few races recently, but continues to race and train with a huge smile on his face. 😁😁😁 A great season beckons for the young dude 👍👍 (image courtesy of www.davehaywardphotos.com/…/Hillingdon-Winter-Serie…/ ) look them up.
