Report by Leon Marshall
Women's Plan bears fruits in first BUSA In bright, calm conditions LSCC travelled to Curbar Gap in Derbyshire to tackle the BUSA hill climb champs. The climb of 1,796 yards is usually won in under 6 minutes and with conditions favourable, course records were up for grabs. The men's team were depleted after the departure reigning champion Paul Watson. The task fell to the rest of the club, who after a long season on the road were glad this was their final race. After the implementation of the newly formed Women's Development Plan (WDP) Catherine Hare and Women's Captain Sarra Whelan were in a strong position for overall honours. Chris Wood and Martin Boyd were the strongest riders for the men's team, but they narrowly missed out on a team medal finishing fourth overall. By far the ride of the day came from Catherine, who won the individual title by more than minute and was fractionally outside ex-lufbra Leslie Patterson's course record in the process. Sarra missed out on third by just one tenth of a second, but the strong ride allowed them to walk away with team gold as well. With such a strong start, this shows that the club was right to go with the WDP and the commitment from the girls proves we have strength in depth and more to come. This caps a wonderful week for the club, as we have just benefited from Hey Ewe sponsorship.
LSCC's Women's Development Programme
Last year, Loughborough Students' Cycling Club (LSCC) launched a unique initiative in Women's cycling. Through a partnership with Trek UK and funding received from our Alumni, we are able to provide brand new racing bikes to women who do not necessarily have any previous cycling experience but who have aspirations of sporting success. The club which boasts one of the most successful male cycling teams has unrivalled support of coaches, facilities and equipment and the most successful Athletic Union in the country. The British Cycling Federation (BCF) has this year established a World Class Performance Centre at Loughborough recognition of how important Loughborough is to cycling. For the woman in particular there will be the opportunity of input from members of their staff. If you are interested or would like to find out more, please contact the club committee @ lsu-lscc@lists.lboro.ac.uk, visit the club's web page via the Athletic Union website www.lborosu.org.uk/au/, or alternatively contact the Athletic Union.
LSCC reap rewards at Isle of Man International
Last July LSCC made the 4th trip of what has become an annual pilgrimage to the Mecca of UK racing that the Isle of Man International Cycling week. The week includes National Teams from all over Europe and some of the best riders in the UK and consists of a variety or road races, time-trials and kermesses (town centre races).
James Reeves got the club off to a great start in the opening Hill-Climb finishing 6th not far behind National Hill-Climb champion Jim Henderson, a feat he repeated the following day.
On the first real day of racing though, LSCC had a point to prove. Last year in the Willaston International, they finished as first team, but were not awarded the team prize on a rule technicality. This year the team fought back in style with Ben Randall, Matt Brindle and Paul Mace bringing the team home first against a strong international contingent, thus making LSCC the first student team EVER to win the prestigious title.
The Willaston was obviously going to be a hard act to follow. The kermesses proved to be a tough challenge with the typically 10-20 minute long races being contested by 60 riders on unimaginably tight courses. LSCC regularly managed to squeeze riders into the top 10 with Mace being the most consistent overall. Despite the danger these courses provided, it was to be the spacious Curwen Clague course that provided the scares, the 30mph, 50-mile race saw a host of crashes including a nasty pileup in the windup to a 45 mph sprint. Reeves having manoeuvred into a good position to challenge for his category, was caught in the periphery of the mayhem that ensnared the riders in front of him, many of whom were brought down. He escaped with the exception of a costly broken wheel, but he was considerable more fortunate than some of his American competitors!
The final day provides the ultimate challenge for cyclists. The riders race over the same Mountain TT circuit as used by the motorcyclists who average over 100 mph for the 37.5-mile loop. Three races take place; the Manin Veg 1 lap, Viking Trophy 2 laps and the Manx International 3 laps (112.5 miles)! With 8 riders in the Manin Veg LSCC had the largest team and were naturally looked towards to drive the race. The field of 90 riders largely stayed together until the first cash sprint. There, two riders broke free off the front. Shortly after Kirk Michael, James Lloyd went clear of the main bunch, but was unable to bridge the gap to the leaders on the road. After being joined by two other riders, the trio stayed clear until after Ramsey and the slopes of Snaefell. A group of 5 LSCC riders Reeves, Randall, Brindle, Leon Marshall and Jonny Aspinall moved to the front of the chasing Peloton at the expense of a deteriorating Army team. The peloton of 40 remaining riders was further whittled down over the top of the 6 mile Snaefell climb, to just seven riders and with only 8 miles left and a descent with tops speeds of 60 mph, tactics were to be of prime importance. As the group approached the finishing straight, they were unaware that the two riders who broke clear early into the race had not been caught and therefore presumed they were sprinting for first place. Matt Brindle took the sprint with Ben Randall taking third in the group to finish 3rd and 5th respectively overall. Reeves, Marshall and Aspinall produced fantastic performances to pack the top 20 places gaining substantial recognition for a student team. Catherine Hare racing alongside the men and having returned midweek from a magnificent 5th place in the World Triathlon Championships, took 3rd place over the women's one lap race and become the first woman racing for LSCC to take points in the Isle of Man, hopefully the start of something much greater due to the recent influx of woman to the club.
In the Viking Trophy, Paul Mace underlined his trademark determination with a gritty 22nd place in the arduous 75-mile race. The hero of the day though was Loughborough's Paul Watson. The multiple BUSA Gold medallist in his final year took part in the 112.5 mile International with over 30 miles of pure climbing in it. Against a field of whom the majority were internationals, Paul battled around in strong heat to finish 31st ahead of many top riders and a large number of riders who succumbed to Britain's toughest road race.
The efforts of the team meant that the 10-strong squad finished 5th in the overall team classification against some squads as large as 25. The support of High 5 who supplied all the energy needs of the riders for the week was of great benefit and with an excellent crop of new talent breaking through, the club has its eyes on even greater honours and defending its BUSA title.
24hr Mountain Mayhem. Sandwell Park, Birmingham.
Graham Jones - LSCC Mountain Bike Team Captain.
Now the UK's biggest single Mountain Bike Event, the Mountain Mayhem 24hr Endurance Race attracted nearly 2000 racers and thousands more supporters and spectators in its biggest ever year since it's explosive introduction into the racing calendar four years ago. LSCC fielded 2 teams in their second year of competing in the event and hopes were high that the University Category could be won.
The 1st team of four riders entered the Pro-Elite category, against the cream of the Britain and some of the Worlds best mountain-bike race teams.
Our 2nd team would be racing in the mixed category, a team with both male and female riders allowing for a team of 5 instead of the 4 allowed in the pro-elite.
Last year the elite team were pipped to 1st spot by Birmingham, who had won the category every year since its inception four years ago, so revenge was the aim.
The format of the race is that of a team relay around a purpose-built course, taking turns to complete as many of the 13 mile laps as possible within 24hrs.
In the end, LSCC's first team home finished 15th obliterating last year's position of 75th! A remarkable improvement and just behind the Gary Fisher professional race team having completed a gruelling 32 laps. Birmingham were completely thrashed by a long margin, but a strong entry from Durham wasn't anticipated and they snatched the University title. Our mixed team came a fantastic 11th out of over 100 teams in the mixed category and were only 2 laps down on the pro-elite riders!
A fantastic achievement for the club and a credit to all involved. The club are especially grateful to High-5 who supplied all of the energy bars and drinks that fuelled the riders and kept them literally going all day and night!