Location: Hillingdon Circuit, London
Event: 24 September 2011
Report: Graham Robins -
Dulwich Paragon's Arjan Planting secured victory in the fifth round of the Inverse/Cyclaim Race Series at the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit in London on Saturday.
Held over 36 laps of the popular circuit, the main race for 2nd and 3rd category riders was action-packed from the start.
Straight away Ben Moores (Norwood Paragon) attacked and over the first two laps managed to get a lead of 12 seconds, but being all alone he was soon picked up by the bunch.
Over the next few laps there were many riders attacking, getting small gaps but being swept up by the attentive bunch. On lap 10, two riders - one of whom was Chris Snook (Banjo Cycles) - got a gap and within two laps had increased it to 15 seconds.
At one third distance there was a small group of five away, including Chris Snook and Gavin Ryan (London Dynamo), but once again this only lasted a couple of laps and the bunch all came back as one again.
For the next six laps the bunch was all together again, and then three riders - Francis Cade (Kingston Wheelers), Ben Moores and Arjan Planting (both Dulwich Paragon) slipped of the front and soon had a gap of 18 seconds.
Over the next five laps this lead increased lap on lap and at one point it was 60 seconds. With these riders now lapping in 2:10 the bunch were not closing the gap.
With four laps to go the three leaders started to allow the bunch back and the gap slipped by half. At the bell the gap was down to just 20 seconds and at the finish it was down to 12 seconds.
Earlier in the afternoon was a race for 4th cat riders. After the initial first couple of laps a group of seven riders attacked of the front and soon started to build a large lead.
Two of these were dropped after two laps leaving a group of five. These five riders - Callum Hughes (Reading CC) Ken Buckles (Reading CC) Callum Oliver (Rapha) Tom Elliott and Julian King (Welwyn Wheelers) - stayed away building a large lead which they kept until the last lap.
Next up was a women's race over the same 40 minutes plus five laps. After 30 minutes the race was still all together, several had tried to attack but each time they were pulled back. And as all the riders took the bell there was nothing covering the front and the back rider.
Results:
2/3 Cat:
1 Arjan Planting (Dulwich Paragon)
2 Francis Cade (Kingston Wheelers)
3 Ben Moores (Norwood Paragon)
4 Gareth Purrey (Welwyn Wheelers) @12sec
5 Chris Snook (Banjo Cycles)
6 Ashley Holding (MS Tina)
4th Cat:
1 Callum Hughes (Reading CC)
2 Ken Buckley (Reading CC)
3 Callum Oliver (Rapha)
4 Tom Elliott (unattached) @13sec
5 Julian King (Welwyn Wheelers) @1:45
Women:
1 Jane McInnis (London Dynamo) 53:45
2 Karla Boddy (High Wycombe)
3 Rohan Battison (ForViored)
4 Claire-Jane Beaumont (Rapha Condor)
5 Emily Bignall (Kingston Wheelers) all @ same time
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.
