BUCS 10 2024

By Matt Davison

The 2024 BUCS 10 mile TT was rescheduled to the 8th of June, after the original event was cancelled last minute due to heavy rain. The CUCC squad took a second trip up to Nottingham, on what promised to be a much nicer day. This involved the standard faff, including pre-race swapping of brake calipers and a pinched latex tube. The wind was less favourable than 2023 resulting in a hard TT to pace: a fast outward leg and a hard uphill headwind for the last few km.

The women were off first, perfectly coinciding with an unexpected rain storm. Despite this, Freya Taylor set a strong time of 24:32, Lucy Havard 23:39, and Maddie Angwin set a very impressive 23:06 for third place. This was enough for Maddie and Lucy to secure second in the team competition.

Then came the men. The early starters still got a bit wet, but the weather cleared up towards the end. The team of Tom Wade (21:26), Joe Adlam-Cook (21:14), and Matt Rizzo-Naudi (20:31), got second in the overall team prize, and Matt Rizzo-Naudi came third overall.

A successful day out for the club, and great to see Matt and Maddie’s dedication to time trailing pay off. (Has Matt had an aero-fit? Will Maddie ever give back her coach’s aero helmet? Who knows). Full results here.

The BUCS 10 squad

BUCS Team Time Trial 2024

by Will Lowden

The 2024 British Universities Team Time Trial Championships took place in Wiltshire, on the 10th of March, with racing held over 13.5 laps (40.5km) of the Castle Coombe motor racing circuit; a 3km loop with smooth tarmac and 17m elevation gain per lap.

With racing starting from 13:30, the meeting time at the University sports centre was somewhat civilised and negated the usual bleary-eyed morning start synonymous with most BUCS events. The three-hour drive westward proved uneventful, and even the grey palled drape of a sky, failed to put a dampener on the [ever optimistic] CUCC spirit. But miracles do come true, and the day at Castle Coombe, whilst not sunny, proved to be dry and still, despite the rather wet and windy weather to be found everywhere else.

The CUCC BUCS TTT men’s 1st team, with (left to right): Joe AC, Matt Rizzo, and Will Lowden

Upon arrival, the six-team strong CUCC squad unloaded the van and set up an organised base of operations, with bikes, turbos and wheel bags quickly sprinkled liberally around the area, rather like sheep speckling a distant Exmoor landscape. Having sorted out wheels and other paraphernalia (we all know the best time to test equipment is just before a race), the teams began their warmups before making their way to the start gate for the allotted race time. First up was the CUCC women’s team, consisting of Sannah, Phoebe and Maddie. Having braved rain and wind in previous weeks to practice for the TTT, the women put in an excellent performance of power and teamwork, alongside a show of cosmopolitan sporting skill by Sannah, throwing her helmet mid-race. With aero-a-plenty, thanks to Maddie’s rapid Boardman and Phoebe’s fancy helmet, the women averaged an impressive 40.7 kph, completing the course in 59:19.4 for 5th place. Perhaps next year, we can persuade the organisers to include athletic field events mid-race?

The CUCC women’s TT team in action, with (left to right); Maddie Angwin, Sannah Zaman, and Phoebe Barker.

Following the Women’s race, the CUCC men’s teams were off in quick succession with team 2 (Tom Hale, Tom Wade and Francis) stopping the clock at 51:42.6 for 9th, team 3 (Mantas, Harry and Ben) at 55:03.1 for 17th, followed closely in by team 4 (Lucas, Josh and Janik) at 55:44.4 for 18th, and team 5 (Mattis, Ilya and Matt) at 59:04.9 for 24th.

Finally, it was the turn of the Cambridge men’s 1st team. The pacing started conservatively, the aim being to ride a negative split, with the speed increasing steadily throughout the race. Minute turns were taken on the front with consistently smooth pulls and changes from all, and as the lap counter climbed, so did the pace. With two laps to go, the throttle was wide open, and the afterburners ignited, with Lowden driving it on the front for the final few laps. Averaging 50.1 kph, the clock stopped at 48:11.8 which placed second overall, at just 10 seconds off Loughborough’s winning time.

The solid performance of the women meant that CUCC also placed 2nd in the combined competition and the great performances by everyone a testament to the hard work put in training, in the weeks preceding the event. Overall, a successful day out all-round!

Full results for the BUCS 2024 team time trial championships are available here

‘Great Success!’

CUPPERS 2024

By Matt Davison

Botty 10, 1pm, a Saturday in early March, what else could it be but cuppers? The weather had looked miserable all week, with rain and strong winds forecast, and the unlucky riders in the first half of the race had to endure a hailstorm. This, however, had mostly cleared by the second half of the race leaving only a bit of a crosswind.

With the keen racers safely away in Newport for BUCS track, so once everyone made it to the start line (In classic CUCC fashion about 1/3 of riders missed their starts…) cuppers was anyone’s race for the taking. This lead to some very strong performances across the board (full results here here). Lucas Beghein took the men’s TT bike category, sneaking under 23 minutes with a 22:58. Maddie Angwin carried on her winning streak from Ely Hardriders, winning the women’s race despite a missed start in 26:28. The road bike categories were won by Francis Schofield (also on a post-Ely winning spree) in 23:39, and Freya Taylor, on her TT debut, in 31:33.

Lucas Beghein on his way to victory, photo thanks to Nordin Catic

Inspired by the new CTT road bike category, the scoring system was adjusted for this year. The fastest rider in each category, road and TT bike, for open and female, was awarded 8 points, then 7 points were awarded for the next rider, decreasing by 1 until a minimum of 1 point was won by every rider that competed.

The overall win was taken by St John’s, with a team of Maddie Angwin, Naomi Jennings and Josh Kershaw. Trinity came in a close second and Kings third.

The Winning John’s Team, and a frankly embarrassing amount of rowing stash.

The day concluded with hot dogs and snacks in the Bottisham village hall, and a slow spin back into town. Thanks to Louis for organising a great event, and on to the rest of the race season! Photos from the day can be found here, with thanks to Nordin Catic.

All competitors and marshals

BUCS TTT

By Maddie Angwin

BUCS TTT. 5 teams. 1 sketchy course.

Maddie Angwin, Zoe Burrell, Miranda Clements on the start line

I’ll spare the typical details of the inevitably early drive over to Castle Combe and the rubbish weather as they seem to be a staple of CUCC’s racing experience. The course, however, is worthy of some explanation. Tales of its sketchiness proceeded it. We had already heard of Rob Walkers encounter with a bush a few years back and Jack Kellam’s team getting lost twice in the same race, therefore hopes of all our teams surviving to the finish line were low.

Off first for CUCC were the road bike team of Matt Davison, Tim Bodey and Lucas Beighein, wearing an eclectic mix of skinsuits which really showed that style is CUCC’s … forte. Whist Tim Bodey’s pride in his white ‘skinner’ is unparalleled, the team’s time of 56:28 was extremely impressive given their one training session and putting them comfortably near the top of the road bike category.

Up next the ‘low riders’ team of Luke Andrews, Jacob Lewis and Matt Rizzo-Naudi sped round the course in 53:37 and without disassembling Luke’s headset, fixing Jacob’s bike or stopping at the café mid-ride, an impressive feat indeed.

The ‘tall bois’ team of Joe Adlam-Cook, Tom Wade and Harry Weedon put down the watts to get round the course in 50:29. However, Joe decided to take his time on a short magical mystery tour at one of the junctions just to ensure that they got the most from their TTT experience. A great race from the team but unfortunately, they narrowly missed out on the podium, coming 4th by one second.

On the women’s side the runner (Phoebe Barker) and the rowers (Jo Matthews and Imogen Grant) united to make a team of big hitters. Playing to their strengths they decided to have Phoebe on the front for all the hills, Jo for the downhills and Imogen for the flat sections. Whilst not typical for a TTT this method worked extremely well for them (except for Jo’s brief encounter with the verge) as they came away with a 56:48 and 1st on the podium!

Setting off three minutes after Oxford’s first team, Miranda “went on a rampage” Clements, Zoe “please Miranda slow” Burrell and Maddie “Ease Miranda, EASE” Angwin put in a strong effort to claim 2nd with a time of 58:01, making the podium (majority) Cambridge Blue (with an unfortunate but unavoidable tint of Loughborough purple).

Success!

The strong performance by Phoebe, Jo and Imogen paired with Joe, Tom and Harry’s wattage gave Cambridge a combined time of 1h47, resulting in Cambridge winning the fastest overall team medal.

It was a great day out. Zero crashes. Three podiums. Twelve medals. Back for Matt and Joes birthday bash.

BUCS 25 RACE REPORT

By Maddie Angwin

BUCS 25, which happens to also be our Varsity match, saw CUCC put out 26 riders. On a variety of begged and borrowed (no stolen) equipment our riders were ready to face the infamous botty triangle. In typical Cambridge style, the morning of the race was wet and windy which led to a few of our rowers getting confused into thinking that botty was a river and therefore turning up in wellies. 

After Miranda Clements had realized that she was in fact racing a bike not a boat, she rolled over to the start line as the first woman off. I feel bad for her minute man as she put in a staggering time of 01:00:40. Up next for Cambridge women was Imogen Grant. After storming round the course in 01:01:41 she dashed off to commentate the Boat Race, leaving all of us wondering whether rowing at the Olympics or smashing it around botty for an hour is more enjoyable. Maddie Angwin was up next, putting in a strong performance for 01:04:54, knocking 5 minutes off her time from last year’s race. President Zoe Burrell, sped round in style for 01:04:08, with Women’s Captain Phoebe Barker following on with a 01:02:37, taking 2 minutes off her time from last year. Last but not least, Jo Matthews smashed round the course in 01:00:37 to claim 3rd overall. An incredibly strong performance from the women’s side led to Miranda Clements and Jo Matthews coming 2nd in BUCS 25. Imogen Grant’s impressive performance meant that the women’s side (Jo, Miranda and Imogen) won the women’s Varsity match for the first time in 9 years. Maybe rowers do make good cyclists after all. 

Jo Matthews on the Botty Triangle

The men’s side saw equal success, but unsurprisingly more CUCCups as well. Tom Hale was the first rider off for Cambridge putting in an impressive time of 56:31. In fact 56 appeared to be a popular number for CUCC with Tim Welsh (56:16), Tom Wade (56:20) and Matt Rizzo-Naudi (56:36) creating a CUCC cluster high in the results table. Joe Adlam-Cook decided he didn’t want to be part of the 56 gang, digging deep to achieve a 54:07, taking nearly 2 minutes out of his time from last year, and gaining the coveted award of fastest CUCC. 

The road (bike) men put in a strong showing – so aero Dan Bigham would eat his heart out – with Colin Krawchuk putting in a 01:01:27 to become the fastest CUCC roadman.  Special mention must go to our speedy freshers Harry Weedon (59:49), Louis Stuart (01:06:14) and Lucas Beghein (01:08:14) for their first whack round the triangle. The biggest CUCCup must go to Lucas for arriving 45 minutes late to the start after a delayed train and a puncture, but what’s a CUCC race without a bit of stress? 

Luke Andrews getting areo

Congratulations to the men’s team of Joe Adlam-(over)Cook(ed it), Dr Quadzilla (Tim Welsh) and Thomas (the Tank Engine) Wade for their third-place team medal. It was a great day to be part of CUCC.  The full results can be found here.

Taking home silverware (Tom Wade, Tim Welsh, Miranda Clements, Jo Matthews, Joe Adlam-Cook)

Ely Hardriders Race Report 2023

Race report by Maddie Angwin

Defying all odds, thirteen CUCC riders made it to the Ely Hardrider’s course on Sunday without any crashes. A remarkable feat in the club’s history. Despite promises of snow in the two-week forecast, the weather turned out to be surprisingly pleasant by Hardriders standards. Very little wind and no rain – it looked set to be fairly perfect conditions for the course. However, it would not be in the nature of Hardriders to be easy, and it was the roads rather than the weather which proved a challenge for our riders this year. Extremely greasy corners would see four of our riders ‘take a little mid race nap’, with a further five non-CUCC riders inspired by this trailblazing recovery practice. However, the awful road conditions and associated CUCCup’s didn’t get in the way of our riders with Joe Adlam-Cook taking home second with a time of 57 minutes 46 seconds despite his mid race power nap. A strong performance from Tom Wade (1 hour 19 seconds) and Matt Rizzo-Naudi (1 hour 55 seconds) won the men’s TT bike category with two of the three riders staying rubber side down – a doubly impressive achievement.

Jacob Lewis at Ely Hardriders

The men’s road bike category saw equal success (and fewer stacks) with Quadzilla (Tim Welsh) winning the course with a time of 1 hour 1 minute 24 seconds. Colin Krawchuk (1 hour 2 minutes and 23 seconds) and Matt Davison (1 hour 4 minutes 35 seconds) both whipped round the course to win the team road bike victory as well. 

Men’s Road Bike Team Victory (left to right: Colin Krawchuk, Tim Welsh, Matt Davison)

On the women’s side Miranda Clements smashed her first 25-mile TT putting in a time of 1 hour 8 minutes and 20 seconds and winning the women’s road bike category. Nadja Nolte came second with a time of 1 hour 9 minutes and 36 seconds, whilst Maddie Angwin came second in the TT category with a time of 1 hour 9 minutes 56 seconds. Great results all round for the team and equally impressive cake consumption afterwards. The full results can be found here.  

A team effort (left to right: Jacob Lewis, Matt Rizzo-Naudi, Maddie Angwin, Colin Krawchuk, Matt Davison, Harry Weedon, Miranda Clements, Joe Adlam-Cook, Louis Stewart, Tim Welsh, Nadja Nolte, Tom Wade)

Varsity and BUCS 25 2022

A report of the Varsity Road race and BUCS 25 event by Women’s captain Zoe Burell

On Sunday 3rd of April, while most eyes were focused on the Cambridge-Oxford boat race, BUCS 25-mile TT returned to the roads of Cambridgeshire. With one-hundred-one students competing from universities across the country, it looked set to be an exciting race on CUCC’s home turf. Furthermore, with Oxford able to attend this year, BUCS 25 doubled up as the cycling varsity match. Cambridge came prepared for the challenge putting forward a strong team of eighteen men and four women.

The day started with the women, the first rider off for Cambridge was Maddie Angwin. Completing her first 25 mile TT, although, with a couple of hilly TTs under her belt (helpful on the last brutal straight of the Botty triangle), Maddie put out an impressive time of 1:09:34. Next up was Phoebe Barker who despite being on a road bike set-up put down the power and achieved an absolutely rapid time of 1:04:31. Experienced racer Charlotte Brass, was Cambridge’s third rider completed the course in 1:11:47. Zoe Burrell was the final rider of the women’s team narrowly making her start, she finished with a time of 1:04:11. This gave the women’s team a competitive time of 2:08:42, just 3 seconds off a podium position. There was also individual success for Maddie, Phoebe and Zoe who also achieved their half blue!

Maddie Angwin taking on Botty Triangle (@kanelssmith)

Next off were the men! Ryan Gilfeather, Neil Ibata and Jacob Lewis were looking speedy, finishing their two laps of the course with times of 1:08:55, 1:04:39 and 1:01:37 respectively. Joe Lunn, one of our two events secretaries, carried out an impressive juggling act. When Joe wasn’t at HQ helping to organise the event he was smashing the course, finishing with a time of 1:00:10. Time differences were tight between Luke McCarron (59:33), Matt Rizzo-Naudi (59:28) and Tom Wade (59:23), they completed the course with just 10 seconds between them! Going faster still was Jack Shuttleworth (59:11), Fabio Albertani (58:51), Tim Welsh (58:20), Luke Andrews (57:55) and Tom Hale (56:29).

The Cambridge men’s B team this year were well equipped with new TT bikes making an inaugural appearance for Joe Adlam-Cook and James Cummins who achieved times of 56:03 and 55:49 respectively. The team was completed by Jack Kellam who flew round, completing the course in 54:37, this gave the trio a team time of 2:46:29.

 

Matt R-N on the overtake! (@kanelssmith)

Even faster were Joris Wistok, George Spooner and Theo Weinberger who made up the men’s A team. Joris zipped round the course with an impressive time of 54:03 just three seconds off George Spooner’s time of 54:00. George had already had considerable success in BUCS events this season coming second overall in the Hill Climb late last year and had spent the evening before organising the delivery of a huge pile of skinsuits for all those racing. Fastest rider for Cambridge was Theo Weinberger with an undeniably quick time of 53:19 placing him an impressive 10th in the individual results. We won’t mention that was just eight seconds slower than brother and Oxford student Harvey Weinberger! This together gave the men a collective team time of 2:41:22, just two seconds off 3rd place on the men’s team podium!

As the day came to a close and the award ceremony was completed, there was Varsity Dinner to look forward to and Varsity results to announce. Unfortunately, this year it was not to be with Oxford taking all of the wins in the Varsity match, their super strong team of both men and women putting down some amazing rides across the board. Despite this, I am sure all involved would agree that it was a fantastic day with great results and an amazing atmosphere. It would not have been possible without the huge effort from all the volunteers, in particular James Quigley and Joe Lunn whose unparalleled organisation skills saw that the day was a smooth success!

Autumn Racing Round-up

With the darkness now drawing in ever earlier, the racing season for 2021 has come to a close for CUCC’s time triallists – with only this weekend’s club hill climb up Gog Magog left to finish. It’s been a strange, abridged season, but club riders have nevertheless managed to achieve some fantastic results in the two months since the last update.

In September, the club sent a good contingent to the National 25 Championships on a quick course in the Midlands. Standout ride was Dave Bell, who finished first of our riders in 40th with a 51:13. Close behind were Ali Goby (48th), Jack Brown (49th), and Euan Tebbutt (64th), showing the strength in depth we’re beginning to develop.

Up in the North East, on the 4th October, Jack Brown and alumnus Rob Walker both took part in the National 50 Championships. On a greasy course, with a number of tumbles for competitors at roundabouts, both stayed upright to record superb results. Rob managed 9th with a 1:43:34 while Jack was 11th with a 1:44:40.

The string of high placings at Nationals continued on our home course, the E33/25 at Bottisham, where the 2020 Circuit Championships were held at the end of the month. Elspeth Grace took home a brilliant 10th in the women’s category, while Rob Walker stormed to another top-10 position in 9th. Men’s race captain Jack Kellam took home a solid 29th, accompanied by a number of strong performances from riders in the separate road bike event that day – topped by Emma Andrews winning in the women’s field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, George Spooner and Craig Rogers managed to sufficiently avoid getting trapped in self-isolation to head to the National Hill Climb Championships on Streatley Hill – a short, sharp brute of a climb for this year’s course. In a frankly massive field of riders, both put it storming runs to take 14th (Craig) and 15th (George) respectively, separated by only tenths of a second! Both will be heading to the club event on Sunday with a score to settle…

Freshers’ Time Trial

Kicking off CUCC’s return to Cambridge after a longer than usual summer, filled with plenty of time-trialling successes for many, what better way to start the academic year than with our Freshers’ Time Trial! This year saw an unprecedented turnout of over 60 keen cyclists of all experience levels eager to test themselves around our customary 6 mile loop between the villages of Newton and Little Shelford.

Unfortunately the weather did not remain on our side during the event and left many of our riders battling the rain as well as the clock as they powered their way around the course. However, this didn't stop some truly impressive times being recorded on the day.

Joe Adlam-Cook and Daniel Slater both recorded blistering sub 14-minute times, 13:45 and 13:56 respectively on the men's side. The remainder of the 49 strong field were certainly not far behind and was strongly competitive across the whole range of results with lots of ties and mere seconds separating many with highly respectable times all round.

The women’s side also saw fierce competition for the podium spots with only a handful of seconds between places; Clare Jackson, Zoe Burrell and Charlotte Brass recording outstanding times of 16:00, 16:05 and 16:26 respectively. In addition, the competition remained strong beyond the podium with outstanding times across all 11 riders in the women’s field.

Overall, CUCC are very pleased with the event and especially the amount of interest in trying out cycling given the stellar turn-out, something which has extended to our weekend club rides recently also. Plenty of amazing times on the day and lots of strong riders with lots of potential. We hope that it was enjoyable for all despite the conditions and that many of you continue to enjoy cycling with the club throughout the year. See you all at the Hill Climb next week!

Summer Racing Round-Up

Since the return of racing to British roads in late July, CUCC members have started to put all of their lockdown training to good use, with a string of great results already on the books – including club records, PBs and national championships – and plenty of competitive action still to come in a busy late season schedule.

Elspeth flying to a new PB on the F2a/25

More time-trialling success

Recent alumnus Rob Walker kept hold of his CUCC skinsuit to record a blistering 19:14 on the F2a/10 just west of Cambridge in one of the first events back at the end of July, powering through conditions so horrific that the race was cancelled shortly after his ride!

Jack on his way to a short 53 at the Bedfordshire CC 25

The following weekend, there was a strong club performance at the Bedfordshire RCC 25, where Dave Bell smashed his PB to record a 51:58, and Jack Kellam put together a decent ride for a 53:03. Not to be outdone though, Lucy Havard rode over 25 miles from Cambridge to the race start at 6:30am, did an impressive 1:05:24 in her first TT, and then cycled all the way home – simply ridiculous.

Lucy at the Bedfordshire CC 25

Meanwhile, Elspeth Grace has been honing her transition from national-level ‘crosser to aero time-trialling machine at her local club events in Welwyn, recording a number of increasingly speedy times, a 23:31 being her PB for the summer over 10 miles.

In the midlands, Euan ‘The Duck’ Tebbutt and Ali Golby have put in a number of strong regional performances, including taking 11th (21:38) and 4th (20:47) respectively in the overall round Mallory Park over 10 miles this August. A 20:58 on the K11/10T a week later also spelled a PB for Euan in an impressive summer’s racing.

Jack Kellam has continued to pick up top ten places at sporting courses around the South East of the country, while Rob Walker recovered from disappointment at this year’s National 100 Championships (where an onset of cramp derailed a promising run) to take 2nd at the V.C.Baracchi 50 mile event in Suffolk.

 

National Championships & Club Records

With CTT National Championships events pushed back to later in the year, after the cancellation of BUCS and Varsity, club riders have been able to focus their attention on new goals.

At one of the strongest fields ever for a National 10 Championships, alumni Rob Walker and Ali Golby donned minty green as our club representation at the H10/3R in Newbury. After a solid 20:58 for Ali, a rapid 19:30 by Rob catapulted him into 21st place which, in an absolutely stacked field of nearly 150 riders, was an incredibly impressive result.

Rob breathing deep to finish 21st at the Nat 10

Vying for ride of the summer so far, however, was Club President Jack Brown’s new CUCC record for a 100-mile TT at the start of September. Coming off the back of a seemingly endless summer of touring, Jack was somehow capable of jumping onto his TT bike and riding at nearly 44km/h for an imperial century to record 3:39:39 and smash a decades-old club record – almost more impressive when his race report reads that he “blew his doors off” with 10 miles to go, and had a full bladder (so to speak) for over three hours!

 

Jack Brown in a world of pain setting the club record for 100 miles

Hill climb season – and the start of term – approaches

With the start of term around the corner, club riders have been returning to Cambridge and its famed training triangle. On the 13th September, the club had a number of starters at Cambridge CC’s event on the F2a/25 course west of the city. On a fast, if blustery day, Elspeth Grace smashed her way to a new PB, recording a 57:20 and finishing high in the women’s category behind winner – and CUCC alumna – Hayley Simmons. Dave Bell ticked off his ‘sub-50’ goal for the season, sneaking under the mark with a 49:57, while Jack Brown did a rapid 48:53 to finish 14th.

Dave firing himself to a sub-50 25m TT

Meanwhile, with the seasons changing, hill climb season has got back underway and CUCC’s resident watts-per-kilogram machines, Craig Rogers and George Spooner, have been back in action. Craig took 6th up Holly Lane at the Ilkeston CC event on 6th September, while George placed 3rd at CC Basingstoke the following weekend. Keep your eyes peeled for their performances at this year’s nationals on a favourable short, steep climb at Streatley near O*ford.

George at what looks like VO2max at the start of his hill climb season

The delayed start to the season means there’s plenty of racing still to come, and with the National Circuit Championships being held on our ‘home ground’ – the E33/25, or ‘Botty Triangle’ course – the club will be looking to impress!