Our first Full Blue of 2018 goes to Felix Barker. Felix earned a road Half Blue with John Mulvey and Jack Brown at Varsity this year and Felix has met the remaining criteria to fulfil the Full Blue. These were:
Sub 54 minute 25 mile TT 1 – Varsity 2018 – 49:56
Sub 54 minute 25 mile TT 2 – Hitchens Nomads – 52:28
National TT top 50 – National Open Circuit TT Champs – 10th
Congratulations Felix!
A slightly belated congratulations to Jess Atkinson and Carrie Bedingfield for taking the women’s 2-up 25 mile TT record in 1’02″54 last weekend, on Sunday 20th May, at Great Yarmouth CC 2-up 25. A rapid time on a hilly course!
On Saturday 12th May a CUCC team made up of Jack Brown, Toby Cowell and Ali Golby set some blistering times on the VC Norwich Open 25 on the B25/8 course to take the club 25 record for three riders racing individually in one event from John Mulvey, Felix Barker and Jack Brown who rode a combined 2:30:31 at Varsity this year. Jack recorded 48:57, Toby 49:03 and Ali 49:24 to set a new combined time of 2:27:24.
2018 has seen some great racing from the Light Blue. Top placings in our Varsities have earned many Cambridge riders Half Blues, with the possibility to add Full Blues as racing continues. In fact, Varsity 2018 was so successful that it has seen three club records fall, in addition to a national BUCS record!
This weekend Oxford hosted the BUCS 25 mile Time Trial, which is also used as the Varsity Match between our two Universities. A strong Cambridge contingent (Over 10% of the startsheet) turned up, with 12 Men and 4 women ready to compete along the course just outside Cumnor. 5 of our riders had never taken part in a 25, and with a fast course on the cards, we were expecting a lot of new PBs, and after dominating both the 10 and TTT, were confident for another good set of results.
CUCC have competed in two BUCS events already this Easter, but the 25 mile TT holds extra importance as it is also our Varsity competition with Oxford. The aggregate fastest three times from each university decide the winner, and as Cambridge has won 45 out of the 60 total men’s events including every race since 2011 we’re feeling confident! Our women’s and men’s teams are made up of previous BUCS medallists, rising stars and promising freshers – scroll down to meet the teams.
Many thanks to Sean Irving (seanirvingphotography.co.uk) for photographs.
Cambridge had a successful day at the BUCS TTT, with the Men’s A team winning with a new course record and the Men’s B and Women’s A teams both placing third and setting times that would have seen them win previous events. Read on for a race report by Ali Golby.
The second BUCS cycling event of the Easter break is the TTT – Team Time Trial. Teams of three riders will take on the U601B course near Bristol in the Bath University-organised race. All three riders must complete the course and the time of the last rider clinches the result – there’s nowhere to hide! However, CUCC is no stranger to heroic feats of teamwork: last year not only did the Men’s A team take the overall victory, but the Cambridge B team recorded a faster time than every other university to place second. Cambridge are fielding two of the strongest women’s teams in recent years and the Cambridge defenders for 2018 carry a combined 9 medals already so are certainly favourites for this year’s title. Meet the riders below:
Photos: seanirvingphotography.co.uk
BUCS 10 was a huge success this year with highlights including John Mulvey taking Silver, leading four CUCC men into the top ten including Seb Dickson only two seconds back in fourth and Jess Atkinson placing fourth in the women’s race. The Cambridge women’s A team (Jess Atkinson and Carrie Bedingfield) took home Silver while the men’s A team (John Mulvey, Seb Dickson and Felix Barker) took Gold – second place in the team competition was occupied by none other than the Cambridge B team (Ali Golby, Rob Walker and John Grenfell-Shaw)!
Toby Cowell picks up the story:
“Saturday 7th April proved to be another successful day for Cambridge University Cycling Club, both in terms of the race results and the success of the event (organised by CUCC events sec Ryan Pringle) as a whole.
The weather forecast had looked worrying throughout the week, but as the fifteen riders descended on Cambridge the roads were dry and the wind favourable. Many (the Northerners in particular!) had made epic journeys to make it back to Cambridge to ride in the event which Ryan Pringle, Trinity College, organised with apparent ease. This was despite the nightmarish walls of admin and slow email replying standing in his way (cough cough BUCS cough cough). The course was the E33/10 which starts in Bottisham, to the north-east of Cambridge – this gave everyone the chance to beat their times from cuppers five weeks previous.
BUCS 10 mile time trial – the first of the BUCS races this Easter – is coming up soon on Saturday 7th April. While our riders are completing their final preparations for the race, which, this year, will be held on the Bottisham E33/10 course, we’d like to introduce you (in no particular order) to the 2017-18 BUCS 10 team. Many thanks to Sean Irving (seanirvingphotography.co.uk) for photographs.