Velo29 Cycling Team

The first Endeavour Sportive riders departed Stockton Riverside at 8am with a rolling road closure and multi-vehicle escort just like the Tour De France. Groups of 25 were instructed on the order of the day before being set free onto the roads of Stockton-On-Tees and then into the North Yorkshire Moors.

After 15 miles the riders reached the first climb of the day, the steep 25% climb to Gribdale. With a hair-pin bend and Paris-Roubaix style road surface this was a real test of all the riders’ ability! Many took to walking on the second part of the climb, which is nothing to be ashamed of on such a hard hill!  The first feed was now not far away though, and after a short, fast descent on the now soaked roads, the village hall of Kildale was a very welcome shelter for food and water for all of the 300 plus riders.

Back at HQ, the professional’s were just departing. Riders from Raleigh, Endura, Sigma Sport and our own Velo29 set out at what looked to be a cracking pace. Hopefully, all of you enjoyed the opportunity to ride with some of the country’s best young riders, maybe even have a go at holding their wheel as they blasted past!

At just before 10:15, our first rider returned to HQ, well done Samuel Elliot on completing the 35mile route in only 1:59:14:35, you now hold the 35mile record!

By this time, Skinnergate Cycles  had departed on the “Service Par Course”, picking up any mechanical issues out on the 3 routes. On such a wet day, punctures were a plenty and the Skinnergate lads were kept very busy!

Riders were now flooding “pardon the pun” back to HQ, all tired, wet and cold but still smiling! When handing back the timing chips they all had a tale to tell, we’d love to hear any of your stories from the weekend so please do send them to contact@velo29.com; we’ll publish these over the next few weeks, with riders permission.

Out on the course, long route riders were starting to reach the 2nd feed at Cropton, which was a last chance to grab a rest before the hardest climb of the day; the 33% Rosedale Chimney! How many of you managed to ride this killer climb without dismounting? The Pros claim to have made it but we’ve not yet checked all the photos!!

By 5pm all but 3 riders were home, changed and dry. As we packed up the event kit into the vans, we reflected on what had been a brilliant first Endeavour Sportive. 6 months of hard work had gone into the preparation for the weekend and despite the weather, the day had been everything we hoped it would be.

There has been loads of positive feedback already, and this means a great deal to Velo29. We are cyclists just like you and love riding bikes. Many of the entrants in the Endeavour Sportive were first timers and new comers to the sport. We are delighted to have brought so many cyclists together on a wet weekend in July!

We’d like to say a massive thank you to all the riders who turned up and had a great time on the day; Velo29 really do appreciate the efforts you all made despite the horrendous weather. Stockton Borough Council played a big part in the weekend and their support was tremendous, as was the support of all our helpers who turn up at all the Velo29 Events. We could not do what we do without them and they make a huge contribution to Cycling in the North East.

The Endeavour Sportive will be back in 2012 and we hope to be bigger and better than this year, and of course have a ray of sunshine to replace the rain!

Keep an eye on www.velo29events.com for more news on the Stockton Cycling Festival, our other events and everything else Velo29.

Click here to see the full results.

Torrential rain and thunder & lightening didn’t manage to put a dampener on the atmosphere or the rider’s enthusiasm at the first Velo29 Stockton Riverside Races on Sunday. WIth all events well supported despite the weather, the Velo29 Events team are very happy with the day’s fun and games. A special mention has to go to the Youth riders who had the very worst of the weather… thunder, lightening and roads like rivers didn’t dent their enthusiasm as all starters carried on racing to the end; well done to all of you!

Thanks to our partners who turned up on the day and got pretty much washed out… The Guide Dog Association, Polaris Apparel, Breeze Blockers, Sustrans, Cleveland Wheelers and Stockton Wheelers.

Go Race / 4th Cat Event

Comeback man Graham Topp won the sprint in this event from a field of about 20 riders. A Cleveland Wheeler in his youth, Graham has now resumed racing and joined his local club the Stockton Wheelers. Richie Burnicle (BlackHawkBikes) deserves a special mention for his attacking throughout the race; he was pulled back everytime but still managed to get 4th in the sprint. The best Go Race riders in the clasification were Ian Cowen, Alec Ledner and Greg Fletcher (8th, 9th and 10th) all of whom have recently started training with the Velo29 Cycling Team. Classification as follows:

1st: Graham Topp (Stockton Wheelers)
2nd: Stuart Grey (Sunderland Clarion)
3rd: Simon Donoghue (Team CF)
4th: Richie Burnicle (BlackHawkBikes)
5th: Chris Barnard (Sunderland Clarion)
6th: Chris Ranson (Infinity Cycles)
7th: Dave Ranson (Infiniity Cycles)
8th: Ian Cowen
9th: ALec Ledner
10th: Greg Fletcher

Youth Racing

In what was undoubtedly the worst weather of the day, there were 2 races for the courageous youth riders. The C, D & E cat event lasted for about 20 mins and the A & B lasted for about 40mins. Hats off to competitors in both events for starting and finishing their races. You can be sure that a lot of people were put off by the weather from all age groups, but these hardy souls put their hearts into their events. Classifications as follows:

Cat A Boys:
1st: Jack Sadler (Herbalife Wheelbase)
2nd: Alex Hopper (Velo29)
3rd: Levi Moody (PedalSport CC)

Cat A Girls:
1st: Laura Kotch (Cleveland Wheelers)

Cat B Boys:
1st: Scott Auld
2nd: Joe Howard (Cleveland Wheelers)

Cat C Boys:
1st: Angus Brown (Infinity Cycles)
2nd: Tom Piddock (Aire Valley RT)
3rd: Aaron Preston

Cat C Girls:
1st: Helen Kotch (Cleveland Wheelers)

Cat D Boys:
1st: Connor Eyeington
2nd: Joe Piddock (Aire Valley RT)
3rd: Lawrence Squire

Cat E Boys:
1st: Patrick Kilkullen
2nd: Arram Brown

The House Designer Wear 1 Lap TT

The House of Yarm sponsored this event, with the winner being Tom Barras of Cycle Premier -Metaltek taking the spoils. He was closely followed by Chris Smart of the might Glasgow Coureurs and Chris Mark of the Velo29 Cycling Team. Given the weather, you can be pretty sure that the most technically gifted rider took the spoils today.

The OTR (Handbuilt Carbon Wheels) 2,3,4 Cat Race

This exciting race was won by Pendragon Colnago rider Richard Meadows in emphatic style. Ridding himself of his breakaway companions Michael Dales (Velo29) and Liam Armstrong (VC Briganti), Richard powered to a solo vicorty with a gap of about a minute. The bunch sprint was won by Velo29′s own Taylor Cardus, who also won the first junior prize, showing his potential to be a top class sprinter in years to come. The first lady whose performance was outstanding was Brit Tate of the Dirtwheels Cycles Team, who distanced her rivals (Rachael Bamford and Karen Poole early on in the race). Classification as follows:

1st: Richard Meadows (Pendragon)
2nd: Taylor Cardus (Velo29)
3rd: Will Brown (Fietsen Tempo)
4th: David Johnson (Adept)
5th: Jack Rees (Velo29)
6th: Nick Amitstead (Dirtwheels Cycles)
7th: Mike Bell (Fietsen Tempo)
8th: Liam Armstrong (VC Briganti)
9th: Simon Davison (Blackhawkbikes)
10th: Jack Sadler (Herbalife Wheelbase)

The Velo29 Elite Riverside Race

Some of the best riders in the country from some of the best teams in the country turned up in Stockton on Sunday to fight for the spoils at the Velo29 Elite Riverside Race. Riders from Endura, Raleigh, Velo29, Cycle Premier Metaltek, Sigma Sport Specialized, Pendragon and a full sqaud from Herbalife Wheelbase ensured this race was worth staying out in the rain for.

Attacking riding from the off saw an early break of 5 that was to last the full length of the race. The strong man in the break appeared to be Endura rider James Moss who took the Velo29 Online Bike Shop Prime early in the race and also the Vankru Performance Bikes prime at 3 laps to go. Also in the break were Rob Partridge (Endura), Kit Gilham (Sigma Sport), Andrew Hawdon (Herbalife) and Andrew Coupe (also Herbalife).

Back in the bunch the action was hot, with Tom Barras (Cycle Premier) taking the bunch ‘Skinnergate Cycles of Stockton’ prime and constant attacking from Chris Mark (Velo29) and Richard Meadows (Pendragon) keeping the time gap low to start off with. Their attacking was however effectively neutralised by Herbalife and Endura.

The final few laps in the break saw an non stop attacking, with James Moss looking like the most likely winner. Unfortunately, James raised his arms a lap early (it’s easier done than you might imagine), and the sprint was taken a lap later by Andrew Hawdon from Endura riders Moss and Partridge.

Classification as follows:

1st: Andrew Hawdon (Herbalife Wheelbase)
2nd: James Moss (Endura)
3rd: Rob Partridge (Endura)
4th: Kit Gilham (Sigma Sport Specialized)
5th: Andrew Coupe (Herbalife Wheelbase)

At the beginning of the year I had decided that June was going to be a chill out month, i.e, no racing and plenty of other activities. The idea was that I could recover from the early season races and have a good end to the season. It worked out quite well as I visited friends in London, made some family visits and attended the best rock festival the UK has to offer, Download. That’s not to say that I didn’t ride my bike, because I did plenty of that, just no racing. One ride in particular stands out. One sunny Saturday morning in early July as I was leaving the house I distinctly remember thinking ‘I may regret this’. I was meeting my Velo29 team-mates for a ride. These rides can differ from week to week, from 2-3 hours very steady to a 6 hour full on suffer fest. With some hard mtb training planned the following day I wanted to ride no more than 60 miles on flat/rolling terrain. When I got there I realised that was never going to happen. So it was that 10 intrepid explorers (ok, 10 skinny cyclists) set out for an adventure (ok, ride) around the North Yorkshire Moors. We cruised the rolling Helmsley TT road, enjoying the view, powered along the flat to Pickering and took it steady over the dales towards Whitby, stopping at a riverside café in Ruswarp for refueling. The next road was right up my street turning from tarmac to a full on rutted, rocky fire-road. How we all got through on 23c tyres without a puncture is nothing short of a miracle! We took the scenic route back through Egton, Lastingham, Danby and Castleton. A cracking day out covering about 80 hilly miles and my only regret would have been if I hadn’t had been there.

So following my easy June month it was time for the next 10 hour mtb race at Galloway Forest Park in south west Scotland. The last two of these events Jason and myself have done as a pair have been awful weather, so I was remaining optimistic with a good forecast. Win’s don’t come by very often but we had won the event last year and hoped to repeat our success. The competition was certainly high with lots of shaved legs on the start line! When the lead out car had pulled over I had to fight a strong urge to chase the guys at the front of the race, they were really pushing. Pacing for these events is key, you can’t win on the first lap but you could certainly loose it by going too hard early on. After 5 hours racing there was 20 seconds between the leaders and us in 2^nd. But that’s when it all changed, we kept putting in consistent lap times (my last lap being my fastest) and the other teams started to fade so that by the end we had a winning margin of 16 minutes. A very sweet victory on the best mtb race course I have ridden all year. Some friends had come over from Selkirk to ride in the trios category and they came over to our camp after the race and 6 smelly, sweaty mountain bikers squeezed into Jason’s camper van to avoid the midgies and enjoy a beer. Buzzing from the race, alcohol and caffeine we chatted till past midnight recounting incidents from the race. Collisions with trees, falls into mud, mechanicals and broken saddles all featured in what was the best race weekend of the year so far.

Epic: Surpassing the usual or ordinary, particularly in scope or size.

Epic is certainly one word I would use to describe the events of 20^th/21^st May 2011. After Jason and myself won the senior pair’s race at last years 10 @ Kiroughtree I was hounding him through the winter to attend 10 Under the Ben, the first race in the series on world class trails near Fort William. For anyone unfamiliar with the format it’s a Mountain Bike Endurance race for 10 hours, teams of 1, 2, 3 or 4 try and complete as many laps of the course in the 10 hours. Tough, but very rewarding. A last minute change of schedule meant we could make it so we headed up on the Friday morning towards a met office weather warning of heavy persistent rain. 7 hours later we arrived and a short break in the weather meant we could set up camp. We decided against a practice lap and headed up the swaying gondola to get our free pasta meal. The rest of the evening was spent in the van talking tactics and laughing at the heavy rain and strong winds. If we didn’t laugh we would have been crying!

The following morning the weather gods must have been in a good mood as they let us start the race without rain but someone must have angered them and once it started it set in for the day making the course wetter and muddier by the minute. My first lap was a bit of a mare as I got tripped in the le-mans style start and lost a minute or so to the leaders. I fought my way towards the front but was aware of 10 hours more racing so tried to keep it steady. We had decided on a lap-on-lap-off strategy and I was soon handing the timing chip to Jason and getting cleaned, fed and rested ready for my next lap. It went something like this. ‘Go on Jase, have a good lap’. Back to van, clean drive-train, lube drive-train, get muddy kit off, get clean, put clean kit on, get food & drink, stretch, make warm drink and listen to motivating rock music, make drink bottle, eat energy bar, put wet muddy cycling shoes back on, get to course, take dibber and smash another lap. That was pretty much it for 10 hours, I had a big dip in motivation after lap 2, thinking ‘this is just stupid’ but some encouraging words from Jason (thanks mate) and some banana bread lifted me back up and we pressed on. The course got quieter and quieter throughout the race as competitors pulled out and some just stayed at camp deciding the conditions were too bad to continue. Muddy sections of the course got taken out as the rain continued to pelt down, making the going harder and harder. We completed 6 laps a piece taking our total to 12. Not having any support meant we knew nothing of our position and were just happy to finish and get cleaned up. On un-steady legs we headed over to the main tent to find out where we finished. A long wait for the leader-board to go through the categories but one worth waiting for when we found out we had come 2^nd, 1 lap behind the winners and 6 minutes in front of 3^rd place. A well deserved pint of Belhaven best went down very quickly while we waited for the podium presentations. One of the hardest races I have done to date and not one I will choose to repeat next year if the conditions are the same.

The previous weekend was the Nutcracker Round 2 which doubled up as the North of England Championship race. A good ride by Alan Nixon to take the gold in the masters race with me taking 2^nd, the silver medal and the series lead. No races for 4 weeks now but with a holiday, rock festival and dry trails there is plenty to look forward to.

Race: Ballantyne Trophy Road Race, Northumberland. Conditions: Overnight rain means wet and gravely roads.

Come on guys, at least be quiet when the commissaire is talking even if your not going to listen. Ok, let’s roll out. Shoot, I’m a bit to close to the back of the bunch, I need to move up. It looks quite steady on the front, I will move up soon. Ah, the first climb of the day, now I can get through the bunch, it’s not too steep, nice and steady. That guys looks very twitchy, get past him, whoa we touched handlebars, get as far away from him as possible. Ok I’m near the front now. A few solo attacks there, happy to let them go, they will come back. Excellent, a steep fast descent, I can have some fun here!! Cool, that was fun…….where’s the bunch?? Ok, me and this other guy can work to get up to the front of the race. A few more guys have joined us to work together. The gaps only small but were having to work very hard to close it. Right, we have about 8/9 good riders here, we could make this break work, just keep tapping through, keep the pace high. Man, I’m suffering here, I’ve forgot to eat and drink, ok get a bar and sit at the back to recover, sorry guys can’t come through just yet, it’s hard enough hanging on! Ok feel better now, will start going through. Feel quite good now, must have hit a climb a bit to hard earlier on. Wow, this road is really pot holey, could do with my mountain bike. 2 laps in, shoot, the bunch have nearly caught us, might as well sit up. That’s a surprise, the bunch is only about 20 riders big, a lot have been dropped. A big attack off the front, can’t go with that, I need some recovery. The bunch seems to be moving fairly quickly, is this the last lap? Hang on, we are going the other way at this junction, stay near the front. Dam that’s a steep kicker, dig in, I’m loosing touch with those guys a bit, can’t push any harder……arrrggghhh! Phew, try and recover a bit, get the gear going. There are 3 guys in a break about 1 minute ahead and 3 guys about 20 seconds ahead of our group of about 10. There’s Tom, looks like he has a mechanical, he was going well there. That looks like a big old climb, ok get into a rhythm, keep a good cadence. This is my sort of climb, hang on, is anyone else going to do any work? Oh well, I’m not slowing down, if we drop a few then less to sprint against at the end. Ok, that was a false summit……so was that one! This must be the top. Those 3 guys still have a good gap, lets work together. I recognise this road, we must be near the finish. There’s the 1km to go sign, I might as well have a dig, I can’t sprint. My legs didn’t like that idea, I’m at the back of this group now, where’s the line, they are leaving it a long time to sprint?! I count 7 guys in front of me, with the 3 up the road that makes me 11^th. Not too bad but not great, I should have eaten and drank more, I know better than that!