Weekly Round-up: 21 May 2023
All the latest news, events, and results from NFCC Members from this week’s two-wheeled adventures…
NFCC Ten Series Rd.4: P128/10In contrast to last week’s TT being cancelled for a lack of entries, this week a bumper crop of 22 riders made it our most popular event of the season yet… find out how everyone got on by CLICKING HERE. A big thanks to everyone involved, including the riders, for making the evening a success. |
Goodwood Summer Series Rd. 3Phill Brown escaped the forest again for an evening riding around in circles at Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit in round three of the Goodwood Summer Series. A sell-out field of over 65 rides crossed the line at the start of the race and despite his best efforts, Brown didn’t manage to escape the pack with every breakaway attempt being chased down by the bunch. Using every lap as practice of how best to navigate the final chicane, Phill got himself into a good position on the final lap and managed to power his way through the riders ahead of him to cross the line third for some well earned points. |
Bournemouth Arrows Thursday Evening 10Jon Chadwick extended his reputation for only riding on courses with the elevation figure in single digits and joined the Bournemouth Arrow’s Thursday Evening 10 mile TT on P311/10 this week. Describing it as “spicy Thursday” – he finished 11th on the road just under four minutes off the fastest time on the night. |
Saturday Club RideA sunny day with a fresh start for this week’s club ride which was planned for 120Km. By the attire worn by the rider’s, opinion was divided on what to wear and choices varied greatly. Sixteen riders set off in two groups for a ride to Hatchet Pond then northwest to the Chalke Valley for coffee. Extra kudos for Rupert who hadn’t ridden on the club rides for a while but volunteered to ride in group 1 to even the numbers up. Good prep for the Tour of Cambridge so chapeau and thanks Rupert. All was going well as we rode across Furzey and eagle-eyed Phil J spotted that Barry’s brake pads were rubbing on his rear tyre. Mechanical problem swiftly fixed. The problem was that he had changed wheels and brake blocks the day before and not fixed the QR properly and without Phil’s timely intervention could have lost his back wheel. So this mea cupla means that it’s Barry’s turn in the barrel this week with his entry for the Phil Harris mechanic of the year award. Talking of things Harrisesque, a mention in despatches for Matt K who followed wheels along the Chalke Valley and then popped out at the last minute for the coffee shop sprint to ensure he was first in the queue. |
 As usual we were helped by some mighty turns on the front from Sean. However, perhaps inspired by watching Graham F’s Bill and Ben video the other week he indicated a right turn with a signal that looked like an audition for Saturday Night Fever. Despite the film coming out in 1977 Sean claimed it was not the inspiration for the funky signal. But he has promised to watch the film as it is due to be shown at the Craggy Island cinema soon. (Sorry for the very old references to the younger club members but they’re the only ones I have!). After coffee the ride continued up Bowerchalke with a considerable difference in pace due to the gradient and all regrouped in Sixpenny Handley. Group 2 rode some new to us around Edmondsham which added a few Km but made a better route back. Thanks Matt K for that advice. As usual the pelotons started to disperse as we got close to Brock. A number of riders then rounded up to 100 miles plus as usual including Michael, Robert and Reece. Barry. |
WightLink WightMountain IoW Road RaceNFCC fielded what could only be described as a “team” with three riders heading over to the Isle of Wight for the inaugural Cat 2/3/4 Regional A WightLink WightMountain Road Race. Ben George, Joe Shepherd and Phill Brown all committed to the 90km race around a circuit on some the finest roads the Island has to offer. The race departed the HQ at Chessell Pottery in a southerly direction to Brook before joining Military Road in an anti-closkwise direction. The course headed back inland at Chale before looping towards the start through Kingston and Brightstone to complete the first of three big laps. At the end of lap 3, the route diverted to a finishing circuit which took riders over a brutal set of climbs before popping out at Freshwater for an up-hill sprint finish back on Military Road. The sun was shining on the island and a reasonable north-easterly breeze made for challenging conditions on some of the exposed sections of road, pair that with 75 adrenaline filled cyclists and you’ve got a serious race on your hands… |
 It was a day of mixed fortune and emotions for the trio… Joe found himself in a group that got detached from the main peloton before the end of the third lap and Ben was squeezed against a curb by another riders, who’s rear QR Skewer took out the spokes of Ben’s front wheel on the final run in to the line, both of their races drawing to an unexpected early conclusion. Phill managed to stay out of trouble and found himself in the perfect position for the final climb to the line having earlier completed a recon. of the finish, but the rider in front of him suffered puncture though the final turn and the front few lost momentum to the line, Phill just missing out on the final point in the Regional A race, crossing the line in 16th place. Special mention also goes to ex-NFCC Member Charlie Hill who joined the boys on the island and found himself well positioned into the finishing circuit, only to be defeated by a few of the final inclines, crossing the line 33rd. |
The Reading MTB Race – Southern XC Rd.3 2023Jay Tarrant (affectionally known as Fenton on the ClubRides) continued his fine form at the Southern Region XC Race Series this weekend with a huge effort on the technical course at Reading. Gridded in 15th place, Jay got his head down and pressed on to catch and pass the rides ahead of him, crossing the line on the final lap in 11th place in the Mens Veterans (40-49) 6 lap race. |
Get Involved:If you find yourself out and about representing NFCC, don’t forget to jot down a few words, snap a few photos and send them over to press@newforestcc.co.uk. |
