Eagle Road Club

Hot X Bun Randonee

Nikki and Glenn Grant have informed that they are happy to provide lunch for us again on this year’s Hot X bun Randonee to be held on Easter Monday 13th April 2009. We will ride the usual route roughly 65 miles. The start will leave the Eagle club house at 9am VERY SHARP, with a mid morning stop near New Market for buns, tea and coffee. Then we will continue on to Nikki and Glenn’s at Shudy Camps for lunch then head back to the club house for tea and biscuits.

The Cost of lunch will be £7.50 ….A Bargain!!!! Route sheet included. Can you let me know if you will be riding and if you require a vegetarian meal ASAP so I can advise Glenn of the number of lunches for them to prepare?
Kind regards
Cippo

Simon Hook Memorial - "Per Vincere Insieme"

1st,  2nd,  3rd and 4th for the Eagles

Hog Hill, 14/03/09 - The Eagle Masters team of Chris Baldwin, Dave Farrow and Damien Foy are all old enough to remember back to that Sunday in April, 1996 when Team Mapei went 1, 2, 3 at Paris Roubaix. The motto for the Mapei squadra was "Per Vincere Insieme" (Winning Together), and the lessons learned fit the day for the Eagles at the Simon Hook Memorial races last Saturday. "Winning Together" is what it should be about, and let the privateers go their solitary way.

It was all go from the start, with Chris taking on his first task of setting up a brisk pace on the front to try to unsettle the group. This carried on for about 10 laps until Dave, sensing the right moment, shot out from the group on the climb on the first major attack of the day. He was covered by Huw Watkins (London Dynamo), while Chris and Damien kept an eye on the bunch. Half a lap later, and after realising that the Eagles were not going to chase down their own man, Kevin Ibbetson (Fietsen Tempo) jumped and with a quick nod between Damien and Chris, off went Damien on his wheel. They were gaining ground on Dave with Kevin driving and Damien cooly sitting in the draft and watching his man work.

Chris was in charge of controlling the group, but not for long. It appeared that the lead group of four were getting all the action, and the group didn't have the appetite to send another man to chase. Chris sensed the chance and went on a solo bridge to the frontrunners. In fact, when he arrived and saw everyone marking each other thought it might be interesting to shake things up and went straight through. Dave and Damien saw the move, covered their guys and Chris was away. The lead held to the finish with Huw deciding to concede first place and hold back for the sprint. In the end, it was Chris 1st, Huw 2nd, Dave 3rd and Damien 4th with Kevin 5th. Past World Champion Tony Woodcock (and former Eagle) was in the finishing group, adding experience and class to the field.

So where does the 1, 2, 3, 4 come in? Liz Chittenden, of course. Not to be outdone by the men, she put everything into an early attack and managed to hold the lead position for at least 15 miles of her 20 mile race. Fellow BC East teammate Anna Grundy of East London Velo (Liz now has a duel role representing both Eagles and BC East in the Womens National Series)  saw an opportunity and put on an all out chase to go by Liz on the hill climb leading to the bell lap. This move created a gap that Liz couldn't close, and she finished a very commendable 2nd.

Phil Hersey managed to get back on the horse following his illness of the past couple of weeks, and used the E123 race to test his fitness and show off his as yet unshaven legs to the crowd. No podium on the day, but it clearly worked as he went on to win the Hilly 25 on Sunday.

Many thanks to Gino Howe for organising the event. It was a great tribute to Simon Hook who was remembered by his parents, twin sister and several relatives on the day. And watch out for the young Eagles Matthew Farrow and Nell Baldwin next week as both have been seen training for the last day of the San Fairy Ann Crits.

Hilly 25 Photos

I only managed a few photos before my sim filled up, but here they are.  Hope you enjoy them
Steve, before he met up with the road race

Mick O,Malley with his game face on climbing on the small ring
Damien, going so fast I almost missed him; and finally
Gary in need of some blue and gold racing gear.

Hilly 25 result

A fine turnout for the Eagle's fist time trail of the 2009 season, and unlike last year we even had the weather on our side. Warm, Spring sunshine, with a slight breeze from West set the day up perfectly.

Some thought we would have more helpers than racers, but we had twenty entries for this very competitive pipe opener.

The day could have been mistaken for a summers day, but despite us being blessed with these glorious skies of blue the road surface was greasy causing Graham Masters & John Skinner to crash and sustain cuts & bruises. As did Chris Baldwin when he crashed with Ben Preston making a turn in the road, which left Chris having hospital treatment. However, Chris is comfortable now and not seriously injured. Liz had to give up her race to take Chris to the hospital.  Derny Eastwood made his apologies for not starting due to a family illness which meant an early departure from his trek to the clubhouse.

As a marshal at various points along the coarse it was pleasing to the eye to see all our contenders gritting their teeth and grimacing their faces of determination over the lumpy 25 miles with all at their varying levels of fitness producing respectable times.

There were a few Eagles throwing down their gauntlet stating they were going to win, & despite Phil Hersey recovering from illness and losing nearly a stone in weight didn't deter him from taking 1st place with a fine ride of 1:05:23.   Joe Lambert surprised the handicapper taking the handicap prize and healthy 60 points towards the Arthur Batty handicap contest, with a time of 51:57 (on handicap) - all on no cycling!

Aside from the prize winners there were some other notable performances. We didn't see much of Paul de Ritter last year racing wise, but a very respectable 1:07:36, just two minutes behind the winner, was a fine ride. James Sale has wintered well and with a time of 1:09:23 wil be "knocking on the door" once he has a bit more racing and speed in his legs. Good to see Ben Preston back on the bike and competitive after his broken collar bone from snow boarding. Dave Youell is obviously doing a bit of riding after a long absense from real racing.  Finally well done to all the riders and apologies if you didn't get a mention;  let's see how things develop at our next club event the Spring 25.

The camaraderie back at the club house after the event was electric with Peter B announcing the race results, with the riders giving a vote of thanks to the time keeper, officials & marshals who helped with the event.   So despite some misfortunes it was a fantastic start to the Eagles time trialling season.

  

Position	Rider	Time
1st	P Hersey	1.05.23
2nd	D Foy	1.07.24
3rd	P De Ritter	1.07.36
4th	J Sale	1.09.23
5th	S Hewins	1.10.15
6th	B Preston	1.10.49
7th	D Youell	1.13.41
8th	J Lambert	1.14.02
9th	S Hodges	1.15.17
10th	G Evans	1.16.14
11th	J Skinner	1.17.01
12th	G Masters	1.17.51
13th	M O'Malley	1.21.28
14th	C Stenning	1.21.47
15th	G Douglas	1.25.17
16th	A Paolino	1.26.06
17th	D Wright	1.35.53
DNS	C Baldwin
DNS	E Chittenden
DNS	I Eastwood

Sad news

Sad news for those that knew Romany Dick, who died last week in Addenbrokes hospital.

Dick had lived in the woods by the start of the E1 25 course for more than 40 years.  He was known by everyone around Quendon and Rickling, and was a true one-off.

2009 subscriptions

The new club treasurer would like to remind those members who are yet to pay their 2009 subscriptions that they are now due (£20 for senior members and £30 for family members). Please send a cheque made payable to Eagle Road Club to Phil Hersey. The address is in the handbook.  Alternatively, bring your cheque book (or cash) to the Hilly 25 and pay in person.

Club Clothing

Just to let you keen members know - Damien is organising our club clothing this year.

We will be offering the usual range of items: racing shorts, jerseys, skinsuits, training tops.  All in medium, large and extra large sizes.   If you need extra extra large, you'll have to talk to Damien extra extra nicely!

And for the first time ever, socks and mitts in Eagle colours. Huge debate over this but socks will be offered in blue only.

Please give Damien a heads up, your waist and inside leg measurements.  You can email him by emailing him here.

As the man himself says "Always wear Eagle".

Open time trials - London East

For those of you looking to race at the festival there are some open time trials on the festival courses which would be good practice:

1. Saturday 28 March 9.00am, Course - E91/10 (Leaden Roding - Great Dunrow), ECCA.  Also has tandem and 2-up events.

2. Good Friday 10 April 8.00am, Course - E9/25 (Chelmsford - Great Dunrow), ECCA. Also has tandem and 2-up events.

There is also an event on the ultra fast E2/25 (Newmarket - Four Went Ways) on 11 April 2.00pm, Lea Valley CC. Also has a tandem event.  This will be good for riders aiming for standards or the club championship this year.  

Please ask Phil Hersey if you need address details for your entries.

Eagles at the San Fairy Ann Circuit Races

Hog Hill, Saturday 7 March - Big fields with over 200 riders and four Eagles (and one Eagle in waiting) made for an action packed day of racing as riders tested their winter fitness.

Eagle Dave Farrow charging over the top of the hill on Saturday with Chris Baldwin in the background

In the 3rd Cat race, Dave, Chris and Damien stayed in the thick of it from a furious first lap to the sprint finsh with two riders off the front. Damien took his big chance with 6 laps to go and held off the bunch for a lap, then it was Dave's go with about 4 laps, and finally Chris had his shot on the Bell lap (again). The sprinters proved too strong, with Dave getting 17th and Chris 24th. While no points were scored, it was a good day for seeing each other's strengths and weaknesses. Big plans for next week, and it's early days yet.

Liz had a go in the Men's 4th Cat to gain experience in group riding, and soon to be Eagle Nell Baldwin (riding for Slipstreamers) won the Girl's Under 8s.  Nell and Matthew Farrow led the cheering squad by shouting for the Eagle riders in each race, and were well looked after by Ian and Phil in the pits.

Eagle Hilly 25 this weekend

This weekend sees our first club event of 2009 - the hilly 25. 

At our AGM the members voted to modify the rules of this race, by only allowing "road race legal" bikes and equipment - so no tri bars, aero helmets, and disc wheels.  It should make for a fairer event, although most of our top testers are accomplished road men.

Phil Hersey won the event last year in a time of 56:14.  But he had some close competition will both Chris Baldwin and Garth Evans getting within a minute of our then club champion.  This year we have a new club champion, will he start the season off with a win?

The course starts just outside Henham and winds it's way to Thaxted, then returning to Debden, back to Thated and then back towards Newport.  It is a good event to watch for a time trial because you can see the riders several times on the circuit tackling the hill up into Debden.

Last year the weather was awlful, with parts of the road flooded resulting in a shortened course. Fingers crossed I think the weather will be kinder this year, and we are all expecting a competitive, lung bursting, opener to our season.

Hope to see many of you there.