A cold, crisp but sunny morning saw our riders, including several new additions to the club, set off from Dorking up the Coldharbour side of Leith Hill only to find someone had driven a 20 ton logging truck down one of the sweetest climbs, turning it into a mud slide and the singletrack into er… a lot more than single. Not to be put off we headed for the Summer Lightening downhill track once more only to come to an abrupt halt as the same loggers had flattened it and half the forest. Still undaunted we found our way back on track and climbed up and down Leith, Holmbury and Pitch Hills with some tough, loose, muddy climbs and nice, fast and steep technical downhills, taking in the Redlands trails and a couple of stops on Leith Hill and Peaslake. A good time was had by all. The Phoenix men’s and half the women’s prospective Bonty24 Hour teams got the feel of each other (not literally) and there was some good endurance training through the stiff muddy sections for a total of 1200m climbing and 55km.

(Good news too that plans are afoot already to rebuild Summer Lightening)

A misty morning in Potters Bar saw Phoenix riders, David, Abi, Jane, Neil and Simon gather for the 100km Finsbury Park Reliability Ride. A slightly chaotic start saw us putting in a hard effort in the first few miles to maintain contact with what we thought was the slow group, this may have been a misjudgement as we went on to complete the 4.30hrs ride in under 4 hours!

We headed north on dour Hertfordshire lanes for a couple of uneventful hours until I hit the front of the group of 20 or so and confidently led the way to Baldock. Which was miles off-route. Lost and confused in Baldock gave way to lost and grumpy in Hitchen before we eventually picked up the route again.

A fast run south had me predicting an easy roll home, so sure enough we turned off to hit the hilliest part of the day. Baggyshortsandhugegear guy (every ride has one) wound up the pace and the first sign for Potters Bar saw us all racing for home in the traditional ‘not at all competitive’ manner. Certificates were awarded, tea and cake was consumed, ah yes.

An excellent turnout by London Phoenix at the London Team Cyclo-Cross Champs, held on 5th February at Eastway Cycle Circuit in East London, saw the women’s team of Jane Kilmartin, Emma Wood, Kelly Campbell and Abigail Armstrong engaged in a close battle for the women’s team title with Team Active – VC Deal. The Phoenix women started off in awesome fashion with Kelly Campbell and Jane Kilmartin setting a fast pace ahead of the VC Deal Womens team. Unfortunately 4 laps into the race a lost pedal meant Jane Kilmartin had to pull out and so the LP women had to settle for a gallant 2nd . The men’s team came a credible 14th in a field of over 20 teams.

Individual results were

Neil Simpson, 27th (7 laps)
David Steele, 56th (6 laps)
John Kelly, 58th (6 laps)
Barry Allen, 65th (6 laps)
Kelly Campbell, 74th (6 laps)
Abigail Armstrong, 80th (5 laps)
Tom Silverlock , 82nd (5 laps)
Emma Wood, 87th (4 laps)
Jane Kilmartin, dnf owing to a mechanical.

Neil Simpson , 27th (7 laps)
David Steele , 56th (6 laps)
John Kelly , 58th (6 laps)
Barry Allen , 65th (6 laps)
Kelly Campbell , 74th (6 laps)
Abigail Armstrong , 80th (5 laps)
Tom Silverlock , 82nd (5 laps)
Emma Wood , 87th (4 laps)
Jane Kilmartin, dnf owing to a mechanical

The final event in the Thetford Marin Winter Series was a joy – well, at least for the first few laps until pain and exhaustion kicked in. Great flowing single track with not a slop of mud in sight. David elected to do it on a singlespeed, declaring it “absolute masochistic mayhem!”

League Results – Final Rankings

Veterans
Neil Simpson 15th vet (5 races)
Danny Berry 23rd vet (7 races)
David Steele 27th vet (6 races)
Barry Allen 33rd vet (5 races)
John Kelly 46th vet (2 races)
Chris Reed 58th vet(2 races)
Mark Wyer 62nd vet (1 race)

Women
Emma Wood 4th woman (6 races)
Abigail Armstrong 6th woman (5 races)
Liz Rice 15th woman (1 race)

Seniors
Graham Berridge 83rd overall (3 races)
Luke Cutler 148th overall (1 race)

More results at London Cyclocross League

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