We've had some red faces this weekend for sure.... a result of the scorching weather as well as two days of action.... that was at Hillingdon cycle circuit on Saturday and then at Merstham today.
 
Cycling Nuts event - Saturday afternoon
 
We had a splendid turn-out of ten riders and came home with a glorious bulging bag, teeming with success after Raiders' first serious showing at this event..
 
The three things to report most of all were:
 
1 The winner of the £20 prize for the first girl in the Under 14 race was Maddy Davy, a Redhill Raider.
 
2 Redhill Raiders was the third team in the competition for all 45 riders in the three races for three youngest age groups - Under-12, Under-10 and Under-8.
 
Our seven riders in these events ran up a total of  28 points.... and that earned us a cheque for £30.
 
3 The keenest race of all on Saturday was the Under 10 event, with 17 riders and the girls' results in the U10 showed Gabriella Wright on the podium, a result of her placing third.... and that on a MTB.
 
The fourth-placed team had 14 points and the team behind them rattled up 12..... so we were well clear of the chasers.
 
The next step up the ladder will be tough.... as second place went to Hillingdon Slipstreamers, riding on their home patch, and they gathered in 65 points.
 
But we only need to double up for next year and we'll be knocking on that door. ... virtually.
 
It was also good to see Jamie Pullen in the thick of things. He was virtually the youngest in the U10 but despite that Jamie was in the thick of things.... whenever I looked out he was battling away with in a tough little group of six riders who were giving it some welly....a couple of them even sneaking onto the back of a group in the U14 race as then motored past.
 
Sunday at Furzefield School, Merstham
 
The outer gates were back to normal - phew. From inside the car I could see that the security gates were open so that meant just the outer ones to deal with... they're badly scarred these days thanks to the construction people who've been working in the school - it looks like one of them must have tried to batter their way in one day.
 
But smiles evaporated when the inner gate was locked for the first time ever. But then a stranger came bounding towards us and I asked him, somewhat nervously, if he might be Mr Potts (never having seen Mr Potts) and indeed he was and all was sweetness and light as he had recognised out plight (presumably from a bathroom window) and had come to help... with his key.
 
We had 20 riders for the third session running and so the warm-up, with the addition of four adults acting as engines (well three adults and Maddy the Cycling Nut from yesterday to be precise) and strings of followers everywhere, was quite something, especially when three of the newer riders repeatedly opted follow their instincts rather than the string they were supposed to be following.
 
We did the individual skills test as I had remembered the stop-watch, though it was playing up and it decided to time backwards from precisely one hour... so when first-off, four-year-old Harry Blyth was halfway round his time was showing as 59min 22seconds rather then 38 seconds.
 
The plan is to tally up the figures from all the runs of the test made during 2011 and so at the Christmas Social on Sat 17 Dec (note the date) we'll announce the winner of each age group and give them a medal.... Adrian Webb is at home melting down the gold right now as we speak (not sure who I'm speak to here).
 
Some times include a 10-sec time penalty for knocking a down a cone (some knocked down more than one cone)
 
Final race - handicap race for younger riders (3 laps)
 
1 Gabriella Wright
2 Eli Price
3= Joshua Sharples
3= Ellen McLeod
 
Final race - handicap race for older riders (8 laps)
 
1 Louis McLeod
2 Matthew Ferguson
3 Freddie Davy
 
It was a massive field, by normal standards and the sole rider set off last, with the biggest handicap of all, was Freddie. He shot off like a rocket and quickly had half the field under his belt. After that he picked them off one by one but despite his best efforts two riders stubborly held out.
 
To be honest, I thought Freddie had caught the lot but I was corrected by some quite excited parents as sure enough Louis got quicker if anything and was 30m clear of second-placed Matthew at the end.
 
No Green Jersey award this week, replaced by the Cycling Nuts award which went to Gabriella Wright
 
Third place after racing for 30min on a tarmac circuit at Hillingdon on her mountainbike when the rest were on road bikes with slick tyres is worthy of some celebration.... no wonder the next day at Furzefield she grabbed at the chance to have a loan of a Raiders road bike. Well done. One to watch.
 

Photo: 

Gabriella on great form - 021011

Submitted by admin on Sat, 08/10/2011 - 14:06

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Event: 

Raiders session 2 October

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