New album

I have uploaded pictures of the youths racing at Angmering Raceway.

The full results will appear on London Cycle Sport soon.

Full team results from Angmering

I am indebted to Mike Marchant who provided a full set of results for Southdown Velo from Angmering on Tuesday.

Mike writes... "I managed to get to the youth racing at the Oval Race track for the first time in 4 weeks. There must have been 20 youth there which meant an extended program for senior youth & junior youth.

Ben Stirling came along and gave us a display of cycling stunts the like of which has not been seen since Djamoladin Abdujaparov invented body skating along the Champs Elysees in the early 1990s - well done Ben!"

The results are as follows:

Race 1 - Junior Youth, 5 lap scratch
Ben S 5th

Race 2 - Senior Youth, 10 lap scratch
Chris B 2nd
Alex S 10th
Joseph M 11th

Race 3 - Junior Youth, 1 lap TT
Ben 6th (inc. excursion onto grass!)

Race 4 - Senior Youth, 2 lap TT
Chris 1st
Alex 11th
Joseph 12th

Race 5 - Junior Youth, 5 lap scratch (Joseph & Alex changed cats)
Alex 3rd
Joseph 5th
Ben 8th (inc. spectacular sprint finish!)

Race 6 - Senior Youth, 10 lap scratch
Chris 2nd

Race 7 - Junior Youth, 2 lap scratch
Joseph 4th
Alex 7th
Ben 8th

Race 8th - Senior Youth, 'Devil take the hindmost'
Chris 2nd

Another win for Velo

Hot off the press! Toby Neave has scored his first win for Southdown Velo at Portsmouth track in the E123 race. Toby writes "After lapping the field twice in a group of 6, and taking loads of prime points, the bunch was all together for the last lap. I was on the front (safest place to be) waiting for the sprint to open up when Shaun (Smart) let rip from the back and gave me the best lead out ever, helping me win by a few lengths from track man David Sinclair.

Mark (Trevis) did well to help control the pace, and only finished a lap down in what was a very aggressive race."

Congratulations Toby. Let's hope it's the first of many.

Club night

This coming Sunday, 2 September at 8pm is the club night in Chichester. Location to be agreed. Lloyds Bar in City Gate has been suggested. I will ensure a decision is made and communicated beforehand.

Racing at Angmering

I finally made it to Angmering Raceway on Tuesday to watch our youth riders in action. The Raceway is an oval slightly banked track about a quarter of a mile round. Within it is a twisty and undulating circuit which is where they hold the youth races. I think it is best described as challenging. It demands good bike handling skills and if you don't posess them you have to learn fast. I was very impressed by the general standard.

The numbers have been as low as five starters, but last night there were about twenty with a fair few from Brighton way. One girl comes down from Newbury. Due to the numbers and the tightness of the circuit the riders were split into two groups by age. They all took part in a number of events: scratch, time trial and devil. It was certainly exciting stuff as the circuit allows little room for error.

Southdown had Chris Burningham, Jospeh Marchant and Alex and Benjamin Stirling. They all gave their utmost in the short but hard races.

Young Benjy provided the highlights of the evening when he overshot a bend in the time trial and mounted the grass bank before hopping off and quickly back on again to finish. A career in cyclo-cross beckons. In a later race he dived past a competitor on the inside just before the line, lost control and hurtled off the track onto the grass before completing a neat somersault! Ace Benjy! Fortunately his bike was not damaged. Oh, and yeah he was OK too.

All of the riders at Angmering will eventually be more than prepared to move up to the bigger fields of senior racing.

Old boy wins race

It just goes to show what racing in Belgium and a diet of beer, steak and frites will do for you.

More success for Southdown Velo

Sunday's support races to the Surrey League Five day at Goodwood provided another chance for Southdown Velo to shine. In the Elite, 1st and 2nd category race veteran Tim Costello took his first win in a British Cycling organised race for six years. On the second lap of the 45 mile race, he and Toby Neave joined the early leaders in what would prove to be the race winning break. Hoping to set Toby up for the counter attack, Costello attacked at the bell. The rest of the break dithered as they wondered whether to chase and thus provide Toby an easy ride to the finish. In a demonstration of perfect team work, Toby watched whilst Tim rode clear to win. Toby finished fourth after he was satisfied with a team win.

There is no truth in the rumour that Tim had to call out the AA and Saga to help him make it home on the ride back from Goodwood.

Chris Burningham was an excellent second in the youth race and George Phillips finished third in the two lapper race on a very windy day.

In the 3rd category race Shaun Smart finished 10th with Mark Trevis not far behind with Tom Spreckley riding well to finish in the bunch.

Earlier in the day our oldest member, Eugene Bardwell, finished the 4th category race.

Club TT Championships update

In case you missed it, the last posting included an item on the first club time trial championships which is open to all members, fast or slow.

When: 08:00, Sunday, 2nd September. Where: Rowlands Castle Village Hall. Entry: £2 on the day. Course: Roughly Rowlands Castle to Chi and back (15 miles).

There will be prizes for fastest and slowest, etc.

Retire afterwards to the Cafe in Rowlands.

No rants please we're British.

Just to make certain, I have renamed this the Southdown Velo New Service. It is not intended to be a personal Blog so you won't find me ranting ... too often. If anyone else would like to add their own rant, please let me know!

Racing calendar

I have updated the Southdown Velo cycling calendar with cyclo-cross races to the end of the year. I have only included those that are within "reasonable" travelling distance.

I will be joining us to the Wessex Cyclo-cross League so that we can score points.

Shaun Smart third in Pompey series
Following on from Toby Neave's win in the Dunsfold series, Shaun Smart added to Southdown Velo's excellent year with third overall in the Velocity Bikes Circuits series. The season long competition has been running at Portsmouth track every Wednesday. Approximately 80 riders scored points in the very competitive series. Chapeau Shaun!

Mark Trevis finished eighth overall which was achieved on only a limited number or rides.

Let's celebrate
2007 has been an excellent year for Southdown Velo. Not only have we won the Dunsfold series and finished third overall in the Portsmouth series, but the club has continued to grow in numbers. We are attracting a wide range of members (although no girls!) and we can claim to be the premier cycling club in Chichester.

To celebrate our success, I would like to propose a meal to honour Toby's win in the Dunsfold series and our other achievements this year. Somehwere like Pizza Express springs to mind. If we wait until just after 4th September we may also be celebrating Chris Burningham's win in the Angmering youth series.

Racing round up
Chris Burningham continues to burn up the track at Angmering, winning all of the races on 7th August. The final race at Angmering is on September 4th.

Chris was back in action the next day at Pompey track where he finished second in the youth race. Also riding the youth races at Pompey was Benjamin "Benjy" Stirling who was first under 8. Toby rode the elite race and finished 4th.

On the final night of the Velocity Pompey races, Mark Trevis finished a commendable 6th and Shaun Smart 11th.

Southdown Velo TT championships
For a bit of fun, we will hold a Southdown Velo time trial championship on Sunday, 2nd September. This is open to all club members. You do not need a licence to ride. Velocity Bikes are organising a 15 mile club time trial on that day at Rowlands Castle at 08:00. The HQ is the Parish Hall. I have checked with the organiser Richard Pearman and he is happy for us to ride. Entry is a massive £2. Enter on the day. Full information about the time trial here.

I will supply a mystery prize and afterwards we can retire to the Cafe for a post race analysis or, more likely, bitch about the winner.

JP's Sussex Border Race 2007
This is our big promotion of the year. I have been sending out requests for help on Sunday, 7th October. If you have not yet let me know whether you can help or not please do. It is helpful to know who can't help so I can stop chasing you. Only Toby and Mark Trevis are excused duties as they will be riding.

Toby Neave wins Dunsfold series!
Recent re-signing Toby Neave won the season long Dunsfold Park - Atum 22 series on Tuesday night. Prior to the last race, Toby held a 10 point lead over Jason Edwards. A maximum of 40 points were available on the night so it was quite possible that Toby could be overhauled.

The event started on the worst night of the year in torrential rain and this continued for most of the event. Headlights and windscreen wipers were the order of the day. Jason was supported by three team-mates all elite or first cats. Toby had on his side, in the red corner, veterans Shaun Smart and Tim Costello, junior Tom Spreckley and Toby's dad Jon.

On each lap of the three mile Dunsfold circuit points are awarded (3, 2, 1) to the first three across the line. It was likely these would prove crucial as the race would cover 10 laps.

Toby managed to just pip Jason in the first sprint to gain a point advantage. Shortly afterwards, Tim raced clear with another rider to try and ensure that the minimum number of points were available each lap. Eventually a group of eight formed with Tim constantly riding hard at the front to ensure the group stayed away. Incredibly, two of Jason's team mates had made it into the break. They seemed unsure as to what they should do. The logical thing would have been for them to have dropped back to pace Jason back up to the front. Eventually they started to contribute to the break thus sealing Jason's fate.

Meanwhile, back in the ever diminishing bunch, Jason called upon his other team mate to chase. Toby was able to sit back and watch as this unequal pursuit continued.

On the last lap Toby dropped Jason to ensure his overall victory.

Toby wins a titanium frame which will be made for him by Atum 22.

It was a fantastic night for Southdown Velo. The results were: Tim Costello 7th, Toby Neave 10th, Tom Spreckley 20th and Shaun Smart 23rd.

Chris Burningham & Joseph flew the flag at Angmering on 24th July. There were, as usual, 4 races; a 5 lap scratch, a 2 lap ind. TT, a 10 lap handicap & a 10 min scratch. Chris won all 4 races & Joseph came 4th in all 4 races. Well done lads!

Tim Costello as 16th at Dunsfold on 24th July.

Mark Trevis was 7th at Portsmouth in the 3/4 on 25th July.

Toby Neave was 12th at Dunsfold on 31st July and importantly increased the gap on the second placed man in the series Jason Edwards. Shaun Smart was 22nd.

Mark Trevis was 4th at Portsmouth in the 3/4 on 1st August with Shaun Smart 10th. We had three riders in the youths with Chris Burningham the winner (well done again Chris!), Alex and Benjamin Stirling 5th and 6th respectively.

Toby Neave was 13th at Dunsfold with Shaun Smart 20th on 7th August.

Toby Neave pictured in the recent London Dynamo RR/Sigma SE series race where he finished 4th. Hopefully we have now kitted Toby out in a pair of non-see through shorts, which will be a relief to all ...

Your blogger-in-chief has been on holiday to Ravenna, Italy so the blog has been quiet. He is back for a brief moment before hopping over to Flanders for a spot of racing.

The area around Ravenna is perfect for cyclists and there are a couple of events there each year which are of interest, but more about them later. Marco Pantani, 1998 winner of the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, raced for a club in Ravenna and his home town Cesenatico is just down the road.

The big news for Southdown Velo is that Toby Neave has rejoined the club. We now have the very real prospect of winning two of the Tuesday night series. Toby at Dunsfold and Chris Burningham, who I see is back to his winning ways, at Angmering.

Next Tuesday, 14 August, is the last Dunsfold so I hope we will be able to give Toby full support to help him clinch the series.