Durham University Cycling Club

Dan celebrates his victory (Copyright Tony Todd 2013)

The last couple of weeks have seen the start of what looks to be a promising season for DUCC (Durham University Cycling Club). At this time of year most of the more seasoned campaigners bring out the ‘too early to start my season’ excuse, preferring to only begin racing a bit later. However January and February is traditionally when local team Velo29 host a winter series of crit races on the Croft motor racing track near Darlington, and DUCC usually field a healthy showing of fine athletes.

With racing categorised into different levels, it’s always a good chance for less experienced riders to get some practice in, either in the ‘Go-Race’ or the ’4th Cat’ race for riders with licences. The action kicked off on Saturday 2nd February, where the highlight was women’s captain and club President Kat Broadbent’s close second place in the women’s race. Unfortunately she lost out in the end in a tactical battle with elite rider Iona Sewell of GB Cycles, but this looks to be the rivalry to watch out for over the coming season. One feels it’s only a matter of time before Kat gets that coveted win; her condition this season appears to be top notch already, despite all that slaving away for her finals.

Two weeks later on the 16th February the turnout was even better however. There was palatinate patrolling the peloton in all three races, so success was always on the cards. The days racing began with the ‘Go-Race’ which is commentated by racing prodigy Ed Nixon:

“Nerves were running high in the clubhouse as the four ‘go racers’ signed up. Alex Reid remained cool and composed having raced the week before and therefore knew what to expect. As for Edward, Chris and Callum, although each of them had trained tenaciously for the race with countless winter miles under their belts, nothing could truly prepare them for race but racing itself. The riders had time to have a quick warm up before the race was underway. At first it the pace was controlled, each rider reading the others, determining who would be the dominant players as the race unfolded. This approach continued with some minor attacks quickly being reeled back in by the semi organised peloton until a defining attack came from the DUCC member Edward Nixon. Thinking this was their chance to shatter the peloton all the fellow DUCC riders followed quickly in pursuit completing the lap in a TTT fashion. Although all members but Chris (who was saving his legs for the sprint) put considerable stints in on the front thus taking the wind, the group was caught by three other riders. The move was still a success, dropping two thirds of the peloton. After the blistering breakaway Edward could no longer keep up with the pace and waved his team through with hopes they could bring in the club silver wear as his chances in the race were over. The race continued with six members in the breakaway for two more laps with no rider willing to make a move, meaning the possibility of a bunch sprint was ever more likely. As the race entered the final half a lap the pace increased significantly but having gone so far, no rider was willing to drop off at this stage of the race. The pace escalated climaxing on the home straight where Chris decided to make his move, with Alex and Callum quickly in pursuit. The finish line was quickly approaching and 1000 watt Chris was leading the pack almost tasting the glory that lay before him with a ‘go race’ victory, but unbeknown to him Jamie Corcoran was locked onto his tail. When Chis began to tire duo to his long sprint down the home straight, Jamie piped him at the line by half a wheel. Although no victory for DUCC in the ‘go race’ results of 2’nd for Chris Mulliner, 4th for Alex Reid and 5th for Callum Stephen was a good yield for a relatively inexperienced team. Hopefully the team can do one better next time and get the win.”

Then it was time for the 4th cat race. We had less riders in this one, but that wouldn’t matter. Dan Bryant is known in the team for his inability to sprint, so he was looking to avoid a sprint finish at all costs. With only a couple of laps completed, he made a daring move and managed to escape the bunch alone. He wouldn’t look back, single-handedly holding off the chasing pack to score his first win on the road, and with it the requisite 10 points to move up a category. Not bad for race 1 of the season.

The Elite, 1,2,3 race would be DUCC’s least successful of the day, unfortunately not managing to place any riders in the top ten. Our best hope was veteran campaigner and former road captain Andy Miles; however despite trying several times to form a breakaway, luck wasn’t going his way, and when the bunch sprint came round at the finish he found himself with no space to manoeuvre.

Elsewhere, the team’s European contingent, led by Ruari Grant in Sicily, has had a slightly slower start to the season. Racing in Italy tends to be slightly more agressive, and so the constant escape attempts can take some getting used to after experience of the often sprint dominated racing in the UK. However   after a 3rd in category result in the season’s opener two weeks ago, the upcoming weekly races provide plenty of competition to build towards.  Visit his blog (here) for more in depth analysis of racing on the continent.

Unfortunately the region’s first sizeable race of the season, the North East Trophy was cancelled this weekend. It usually attracts several fairly big names from the area, and some of more senior members of the team were looking to begin their season there. However it looks like they’ll have to hold off for another week or two until the snow clears!

All told, this has been one of the most successful openings to a season DUCC has had in recent years, so all bodes well for the rest of the season. With any luck this promise will gradually start bringing in more BUCS points; something essential to the club in its ever-present search for funding from Team Durham.

Today, Durham University Cycling Club braved the roads of Spain for the first time since 2011. Starting at the top of a hill as always, the 13 members of the club, including a couple of alumni and Adam Radford of Citrus Cycling, attempted not crash on the first descent of the day.

With the temperature a cosy 21°C, the club breezed along the coast hoping that they wouldn’t be stopped by yet another traffic light. With repeated calls of ‘We’re going too fast’ from first year Rob ‘almost as tall as Claytes’ Lambton, soon to be joined by GreenEdge rider Tomas Vaitkus. The pace didn’t let up, with Miles and Haynes attacking the climb from Denia to Xabea, and Kat Broadbent beating Alex Claytonup the hill… with a little helping hand from Vaitkus!

Other notable moments included, Jakob ‘Jens’ Reichart’s two pieces of cake and Matt Wilson getting something in both eyes at the same time. Alex Humphries did his level best, and managed it, to not be the last one home, by repeatedly dropping Nathan ‘I’m missing gears so I’ll have to go slower’ Edwards on the run in, and managing to beat him and Wilson back to the villa.

Not everyone has managed a mention, but I’m sure they will get some in the next few days.

Taken from British Cycling

GS Metro Road Race
Middleton, Northumberland, 65 miles
Event: 7th August 2011
Report: Snowdon Sports

Durham University student Will Haynes showed his class to power away from his two breakaway companions on the finishing hill and take a merited victory in wet conditions for GS Metro’s 65-mile road race in Northumberland.
The decisive move came on the firtst of eight laps of the main circuit when Haynes, Colin Ash and Chris Mark went off the front.
It was the last the main field was to see of them… (read the full report)

Very pleased with the result, having been lacking form through July it felt great to be going well again and getting the win was icing on the cake. With the 30 points boost 1st cat is suddenly looking a lot more achievable again if the legs can hold out for another few months!

Will Haynes

Will Haynes concluded another successful week of racing for Durham Uni – AURA Cycles with a fine victory in the Regional A. Middleton Bank Classic on Sunday.

Earlier on in the week Andy Miles and Will Haynes once again raced the TLI Pursuits down at Croft. With a strong headwind down the finishing straight the racing was made a lot tougher and riders had to remain alert at all times to avoid splits opening up. The strong wind also increased the likelihood of a break getting up the road, and this became the case with about 5 laps to go. An 8 rider group, including Haynes, got off the front and never looked likely to be brought back. Once established, the break immediately started attacking each other, and this continued right to the finish. Not feeling at his freshest, Will rolled home in 8th place, whilst Andy won the sprint in the sizable bunch to stick both Durham riders in the top 10.

The wind once again made for tricky racing conditions at Newburn on Thursday night, with Sam Walsh joining up with Haynes and Miles for the 40 lap points race. It was decided to change tactics slightly from previous weeks and go all out for the sprints, instead of trying to form a breakaway. This proved to be a good move, as Andy put points on the board in every sprint to come 2nd overall with 25 points, ahead of Will in 3rd with 16 points. Only some very strong sprinting from eventual winner Craig Anderson from Blackhawk Cycles prevented the Durham boys going one step further.

Clayton, Haynes and Miles raced the Middleton Bank Classic in Northumberland on Sunday, a tough 100km, 8 lap race featuring some tricky climbs and strong crosswinds before a 5km run in to the finish on top of the steep climb of Middleton Bank. The field of 60 included some very strong 2nd cat riders, and the racing began in earnest as soon as the flag was dropped. The decisive break went clear half way round the 2nd lap, with Miles being the sole Durham representative. However, sensing the danger from behind Clayton put in a big effort to help tow Haynes up to the break. With 2 riders now present in the 15 man move, which was now working well together, Durham had a real chance to pull off a result. With 2 laps to go, the attacks started coming from the break, but nothing was making too much of an impact. This was until the final lap of the circuit, when two riders went clear, Michael Dales of Velo29 and Matthew Robinson of All Terrain Cycles. The duo worked well together and looked like they could hold on for the line, but once off the circuit and onto the run-in to the finish, Haynes put in a big dig with Thomas Bustard of Sportscover to try and get across. Hitting the foot of the final climb, Haynes had the leaders in his sights and immediately set about chasing them down. With a fantastic display of strength, Will was able to cruise past and take the biggest win of his career by a good 20 bike-lengths. Andy struggled home with the remnants of the breakaway to take 13th place, whilst Alex came home 3mins down to take 20th place.

Congratulations to Will on a brilliant ride! Photos to follow…

Another busy week of hard racing for Durham Uni – AURA Cycles has lead to some more excellent results for the team. It has also been great to see 10 different riders racing this week, a clear indication of the strength in depth and the progression the club has made this season.

Will Haynes and Andy Miles were again in action down at Croft on Tuesday evening for the TLI pursuit series. A tough race saw both Durham riders in the thick of the action and on the offensive, however with a strong field of riders nothing was getting away. The results were decided in a bunch sprint after a few hectic laps of jockeying for position. Both Haynes and Miles missed out on the top ten but were happy nonetheless with a strong showing and some solid race speed in the legs.

Sam Walsh joined Miles and Haynes for the TLI Newburn Crits on Thursday evening in Newcastle, again run as a 40 lap points race. The Durham riders were well marked throughout after Will’s victory the previous week, and a break never looked likely to succeed. Instead, it was left to the powerful sprinters to mop up the majority of the points, although consistent riding by Haynes saw him pick up a few minor placings throughout the race. Some strong teamwork also contributed to Will bagging the final sprint after a good leadout by Walsh and Miles. A great team performance that saw Haynes finish the race in 4th place, only a single point off 3rd.

On Saturday, the North-East Criterium League returned to Hetton, with a 30mins 4th cat race followed by the 3rd/4th cats. Representing Durham in the first race were Kat Broadbent, Matt Leake, Rory Macleod and Matt Parry. Leake was unlucky to puncture early on, whilst Kat had a solid ride to hang with the bunch for most of the race. In a brilliant sprint up the finishing straight the remaining Durham riders narrowly missed out on the win and had to settle for 2nd (Rory) and 3rd (Matt), two very good results.

Alex Clayton, Pete Hudson, Matt Leake and Andy Miles were racing the 3rd cat race, with all riders keen to get some more points on the board. Durham were attacking from the off, before Miles managed to get away about half way through with Mike Bell of MTS. After working well together for a few laps, Andy then attacked again and soloed to a well deserved victory. Great teamwork from behind saw Clayton, Hudson and Leake blocking any dangerous counter-moves. Pete was unlucky to puncture towards the end of the race, whilst Alex (6th) and Matt (8th) bagged top-ten results in the final sprint.

A strong Durham team competed in the prestigious Ballantyne Memorial Trophy Road Race on Sunday, a very tough 3rd/4th cat race around Northumberland. Attracting some of the top 3rd cat riders from the North-East and Scotland a hard race was on the cards. The four Durham riders racing were Rich Abraham, Alex Clayton, Nathan Edwards and Andy Miles. Edwards suffered a nasty crash early on but thankfully sustained no serious injuries, and worked well in a small group to the finish. Miles rode an aggressive race throughout, initially in an early break bought back at half way, and then in a solo effort to bridge up to the leading break. Unfortunately he didn’t quite make it across and was joined by a select group on the final climb of the day, which included Clayton. This group worked well together to the end, finishing about 1.30mins behind the leading trio. Miles claimed a respectable 5th whilst Clayton came home 13th on the same time. Abraham rode a good race to stay with the peloton until the last few climbs and eventually rolled home about 5mins down.

This week will see riders in action at Croft, Newburn and then a return to Northumberland for a tough Reg. A road race on Sunday. The Durham Uni – AURA Cycles riders will hope to build on this successful week and pick up some more good results.

The first week of summer term has seen Durham Uni – AURA Cycles riders competing both locally and nationally, with the BUCS 25 Championships in Cambridge marking an end to the BUCS time trial series and a fitting climax to an excellent week of racing.

Will Haynes was the sole Durham representative at the TLI Croft series on Tuesday night. Despite there not being any BC points up for grabs, an impressive field of 90 riders still turned up to test their legs in this popular summer series, including local stars such as Team Raleigh’s Matt Kipling. Run as a handicapped race, Will was in the scratch group, with 2 further groups up the road to chase down. Not wanting to risk getting caught up in the large bunch, Haynes immediately attacked the peloton when the junction was made between the scratch group and the now combined first and second groups. A further 3 riders joined the head of the race, however this was soon whittled down to 2 as the pressure was applied up front. An impressive ride by Will and his breakaway companion Michael Dales (Velo29) saw the duo sprint for the victory, with Will marginally missing out on the win to take a brilliant 2^nd place.

Haynes was again in action on Thursday night, this time joined by teammate Andy Miles at the 2^nd round of the TLI Newburn Riverside Criteriums. On a short, fast course around the local business park, the race was run in the form of a 40 lap points race, with 8 sprints in total being contested every 5 laps. From the off the Durham riders were active at the head of the race, taking turns to get in the early moves. On lap 11, after the 2^nd sprint, a break did eventually stick, with Haynes being joined by 3 other riders. This proved to be the decisive move and the group, eventually whittled down to 2 stayed away to contest the remaining sprints. In an impressive display of domination, Haynes comfortably mopped up all but one of the remaining sprints to stick 39 points on the board, 22 more than Sports Cover’s Collin Humphrey in 2^nd place. Once the break was established, Miles had a fairly straightforward race controlling proceedings at the head of the bunch, eventually finishing 8^th.

After the recent successes at the BUCS TTT and 10 Champs, Saturday marked the return to the crazy world of time trialling, with bikes and bodies once again modified to trim away the seconds and find those extra watts at the 25 Championships. Representing Durham Uni – AURA Cycles were Rich Abraham, Alex Clayton, Andy Miles and Will Haynes, with Kat Broadbent flying the flag in the woman’s event. A reasonably tough course was made tougher by a heaving north-easterly wind funnelling down the lumpy finishing straight, a world away from the speedy course used last year in Oxford. Riders covered 2 laps of a 12 ½ mile triangular circuit, with a fast wind-assisted straight followed by a nasty cross wind stretch before the treacherous run-in to the finish. First off was Kat, who recorded a 1.16.29 to finish in 16^th place amongst a strong field dominated by Cambridge riders. Rich then posted a respectable 1.03.34 to come home in 47^th before Will (16^th), Alex (19^th) and Andy (20^th) all had good rides to come home in under the hour. Haynes recorded an excellent 57.47, whilst for the second week running Clayton finished a handful of seconds ahead of Miles with times of 58.38 and 58.57 respectively. As a team this put Durham in a pleasing 5^th place behind Birmingham, Oxford and two strong Cambridge teams.

This week sees another busy racing schedule with Durham riders competing at Croft on Tuesday, Newburn/Prissick on Thursday then a double header at the weekend with Hetton on Saturday and the Ballantyne Trophy Road Race on Sunday. Let’s hope for another fruitful week, race reports to follow next weekend…

With the possible exception of the training camp in Spain, today was my highlight of the year with the club. Not because we won something, we didn’t even race, but what the sight of 10 riders resplendent in new kit signified.

For one, I think the new kit heralds a new era of development for the club. Our partnership with AURA Cycles promises to benefit both parties as club and business develop. Plus, the kit looks swish! Thanks to Matt Wilson (Joint President) and the guys at AURA for designing such a great kit.

Secondly, the number of riders and the quality of riders presents a huge step up for the club. Though we won’t be gaining as many BUCS points this year as last year, thanks a couple of outstanding riders graduating, to have 10 riders out on an 85km ride at 32km/h shows a major leap in quality from last year.

The race was the first round of a series of TLI races on Anglesey, North Wales. A field of 35 riders turned up, not many but a pretty good standard, roughly 10 2nd cats. The course was 42 miles (3x14miles). The break went on a climb halfway round the first lap, a couple of the “danger” men were in it so quickly made sure I was there. I had a team mate in it with me so we definitely had the advantage. We worked reasonably well for the next two laps pulling out a lead of over 2 minutes on the bunch. My team mate attacked halfway round the last lap and pulled out a good 20-30 second advantage. I sat on while the other three riders tried pretty hard to close it the, seeing them flagging on a steeper section I dug hard and managed to bridge across without dragging them along. From there it was obviously going to be a 1,2 and I just managed to hold on for 1st by 1/2 a wheel. A good race and more importantly that elusive 1st win under the belt.

Well, after months of injuring myself and getting ill, I finally managed to compete in my first race today! May well have jumped in at the deep end a bit though! Having browsed the upcoming Easter races in an and around Yorkshire, and having narrowly missed out on a reserve slot in a race last week- I managed to get a ride at the Pete Gannon Memorial Road Race, at Ledston, near Leeds. This bad boy was a National A. open road race, Cat. 2/3/4, over 55 miles of a hilly course. Knew I was in for a kicking when all the 5 grand bikes and riders in bigger teams (Herbalife Wheelbase etc) started turning up! Never the less I had a good crack at it. Did well for the first few laps (of 12), staying up in and around the front 15 (Will Haynes taught me that one) and jockeying for position with the big lads. Even took a turn on the front on the 4^th lap when everyone slowed down for a bit (apparently most of them had team mates in the breaks- I had no mates!). My little stint on the front was probably a bad idea, though I didn’t exactly rag it. The major climb of the road circuit was a long winding drag up to the start finish line and I was holding my own on this each time round. However, just after said climb, there was a long exposed flat- this is where the powerhouses kept pushing the pace and attacking, it was also where the big crosswinds were lurking. Starting the 6^th lap, just over the crest of the climb, I lost the wheel of the guy in front of me as they all kicked to keep up with an attack, and I wasn’t positioned well (probably in the last 5 of the main bunch). A gap grew, the few lads behind me managed to sprint past and get back on, but I wasn’t big / strong enough to push that pace on my own into the crosswinds and I quickly lost touch (balls!). Well, it’s alright when you’re in the bunch getting pulled along but on your own and into the wind you’ve got no chance of getting back on at that pace- I knew this. The gap grew and I said good bye to the peloton. At this point I’d managed to keep with the rest of them for just over an hour, with an average of 23.3mph- my fastest yet, so I was pretty cool with that. I decided to soldier on, like any good Northerner would, and I wanted to complete my first race. I rode the next hour and a half on my own, and got lapped by all the rest of the field (an 8 man lead break, couple of 3/4 man breaks and the main bunch) by the 10^th/11^th lap. I brought home the lantern rouge in 2 hours 32 minutes, at an average of just over 21mph- my fastest 2 and a half hour ride to date- so I’m well happy! Also, when I got back to the race headquarters- found out from the race commisaire that a heap of other people found the going tough today- 19 people failed to complete the race! Such a high attrition rate only serves to make me happier, by my reckoning that means I came roughly 41^st out of 60. Sick! Sam Walsh (3/04/2011).

Today saw our guys in action in both races of the Velo29 winter series at Croft. First, here’s a report from Will Haynes, in the E/1/2/3 race.

It was a handicapped race with the 4th and 3rd category riders heading off with a 2 minute advantage on the 12 or so 2nd cats and 1 lonely elite rider. We got organised pretty quickly and everyone seemed happy to work and not attack until we’d pulled back the lead group.  We caught them on the finishing straight of lap 5 or 6, (can’t quite remember) and from then on the racing really started. The attacks started coming thick and fast and the pace would be up and down from 30kph to 30mph, everyone was watching everything it seemed and there were a lot of fresh legs in the group.
With a strong north easterly wind positioning was crucial on the bottom half of the course and finally at the end of the 12th lap Kit Gilham, the 1 elite rider, drifted off the front and nobody seemed to fancy chasing. So I attacked and got clear of the bunch and got onto his back wheel. We were a group of 2 for about another 30 seconds as a few rider back in the bunch spotted we were extending our gap and managed to bridge across making it a group of 4 with 2 to go. We worked hard for a lap and pulled out about a 20 second advantage over the main group. On the last lap we eased off a little with the sprint in mind but we could see the bunch chasing hard so we couldn’t take it too easy. Somehow I ended up on the front leading out the sprint and having done a lot of work earlier and in the break I knew I just didn’t have it for the sprint and sure enough with 200m to go the three other riders came past and there wasn’t much I could do about it. Pretty happy overall though with it being my first road race in over a year due to injury and with the same injury, (now on the other side), having disrupted my training throughout January and February. I can’t complain.

And Pete Hudson, on the 4th cat race

Rich Abraham, Ben Crone (DUCC alumnus) and myself (Peter Hudson) took the tarmac for the final event of Velo29′s Winter Series at Croft Motor Circuit, near Darlington. The race took place under grey skies with a brisk but manageable 10mph wind following the riders up the finishing straight.

Rich and I spent the early stages of the race in the first few wheels of the bunch, keeping the tempo high and countering the few breaks that we attempted. The pace slowed and then picked up again for the 4th lap prime. We were all fairly boxed in and weren’t in a good position to contest the sprint, but one rider made the most of the briefly broken field and decided to go for the breakaway.

Over the next three laps, the pace was kept high and gradually the lone rider was reeled in. But with a mistake on the official lap counter, what we thought should’ve been the final lap was still marked out as two to go. The pace slackened on the back straight as the peloton decided that it wasn’t the final lap, and the breakaway was safely away again. Coming through for the bell, all the riders were jockeying for position. One man hit the tarmac out of the hairpin in the slightly damp conditions, but the bunch negotiated this safely. Rich did an awesome job on the front preventing anyone from jumping away. Unfortunately I found myself on the wrong side of the track as faster riders came up from behind through the chicane. Avoiding one rider drifting across the bend by taking to the inside of the rumble strips, I went the long way round and started to sprint early. Although making up ground all the way, I only managed 7th – still one point of 3rd Cat!