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.
Lea Valley 25 Race Report
The Lea Valley 25 is held on the e1/25b course near Saffron Walden, making it a club favourite for CUCC. Eleven riders signed up, including John Mulvey and Seb Dickson contesting the 2-up category, but unfortunately a bout of flu meant that three riders were forced to DNS including John’s teammate Seb.
Thanks to Mike DF for photos.
Cuppers 2018
On Saturday 10th March, CUCC took to the notorious E33/10 for the annual, inter-college ‘Cuppers’ time trial. A stiff southerly breeze meant that no super-fast times were likely to be posted, but a strong sense of college rivalries and with selection for BUCS just around the corner, it was clear that many riders had showed up in form and with a point to prove. The stage was set for an epic contest.
World Bicycle Relief
We are proud to support World Bicycle Relief, an organisation mobilising people through The Power of Bicycles. The money World Bicycle Relief raises helps to provide specially designed, locally assembled bicycles to students, healthcare workers and entrepreneurs in rural Africa, connecting them with education, healthcare and economic opportunities; as a student cycling club, we know that bicycles can make the world a better place and we’re looking forward to sharing their benefits.
Every £95 raised provides a new bicycle to an individual in need. Each donation adds to this total, so get involved and let’s share as many bicycles as possible!
We will be organising fundraising events throughout the year but you can donate to our appeal any time here, or contact us using our Facebook page if you have any questions.
Varsity Mtb Race Report – Double Victory for Cambridge
An incredibly strong Cambridge team headed to Hadleigh Park on the 25th of February 2018 for the annual Varsity Mtb contest. The race was held as part of the Mud, Sweat and Gears XC series and resulted in a dominating victory for Cambridge in both the women’s and men’s races. We’ll hand over to our roving reporter (and Varsity competitor) Tom Wade for a full breakdown of the race (with thanks to Robbie Blythe’s dad for photographs):
“Despite the freezing temperature and strong, blustery winds, the Cambridge Mountain Bike Varsity team arrived in good spirits at the ex-Olympic venue of Hadleigh Park in Essex. These spirits were no doubt aided by the news that Oxford had a very depleted team. There would be twenty-one Light Blue jerseys tackling the track, but Oxford could only muster five entries, making a Light Blue victory a likely prospect.
Ely Hardriders Race Report
Fifteen CUCC riders signed up to ride 2018’s Ely Hardriders event despite its reputation for foul, cold weather. Perhaps the draw of the cakes was too much to resist? The weather on Sunday morning was clear without a frost, but unfortunately very breezy with gusts exceeding 30 mph. Disastrously CUCC’s resident megawatts machine, Ali Golby, choppered himself on the ride out to the course when some road detritus jammed in his front wheel. Jali Packer and Rob Walker were there to pick up the pieces and even a trip to A+E could only keep Ali from intervals on Bottisham for a matter of hours.
Michaelmas Retrospective – CUCC Hill Climb
04.11.17
The first CUCC Hill Climb in club memory was held on a wet day in early November, but the damp weather didn’t stop 34 entrants lining up to take on the mighty Gog Magog. A strenuous 900m at 4.2% reaching the heady heights of 67m, it’s about the best Cambridge has to offer. Of course, that was no reason to take it easy! However, the committee were disappointed by the lack of vomiting at the top – clearly the racers weren’t trying quite hard enough. Ffion James took the win (and the QOM! (from Laura Massey!)) for the women in 1:53.1 with President Jess close behind in 1:53.8. Alice Bittleston completed the women’s podium. John Hale stormed the win in the men’s competition in 1:32.6, with Espresso Library’s John William Gull 3 seconds down at 1:35.4 – was he weighed down by the Zipp disc? We will never know. Tom Simpson was first club member in 1:37.6.
Honourable mentions go to Felix Barker (6th) and Luke Fisher (18th) for riding fixed, Felix on his pursuit setup for BUCS track and Luke on his Simpson-built machine (shameless plug), and to Tom Wade for riding town-bike.
BUCS Hill Climb Results, Report and Photos
After missing last year’s event in Stirling (lovely spot, a very long way from Cambridge), CUCC were back with a strong presence in 2017. The race was held on October 28th on Pea Royd Lane in Stocksbridge near Sheffield, a steep sub-3 minute climb that was used (in a 400m longer format) for the 2014 Nationals. The women were first up, with President Jess Atkinson coming in 14th and Carrie Bedingfield following in 17th in a competitive field. Felix Barker (8th), Seb Dickson (13th) and Rob Walker (17th) made up the Cambridge men’s team who placed second on the day, while Tom Simpson had their backs in 18th. Toby Cowell was 36th, Luke Fisher 59th, fresher Jack Brown managed 70th despite having his start botched and Seán Irving was 83rd. Full results can be found below.
BUCS Road Race Results
The Women’s Race
The women’s race started at 10am, so Jess and Lottie chose to drive up to York on the Friday night rather than have a 5am start and 3 hour drive pre-race on the Saturday. A course recce on the Saturday morning was rather eye-opening as it had a series of short, steep climbs ramping up to 18% at points. This was to be Lottie’s second ever road race (the first being BUCS RR in 2015), but Jess has a lot of road race experience spanning seven years and this was one of the hardest courses she’d seen. The plan was to stick in the bunch as long as possible and make a call at the end if they were still at the head of the race.
BUCS TTT Results
The Men’s Race
First up on the day were the Men’s B team, hot off the disappointment of BUCS ruling them ineligible to receive a (silver) medal at either the BUCS 10 or BUCS 25. Team time trialling is a difficult discipline at the best of times, but the lumpy course near bath provides a few extra challenges with some tight corners and puncture-inducing potholes thrown in for good measure. Riders Ali Golby, Oli Mytton and Rob Walker had got in a small amount of practice together beforehand, which paid off with a level headed and well controlled ride.