London Phoenix riders Sarah Northall and Stuart Lockyear raced the Three Peaks cyclocross race on Sunday 24 September. Regarded as one of the hardest cyclocross races in the country, if not the world – 68km over three big climbs in North Yorkshire. Despite this, Sarah goes back every year but for Stuart it was his first time and he completed the course in 4 hours 36 minutes. Stuart said “I was hoping for a bit quicker but mainly I just wanted to finish alive”. Asked whether he would go back next he replied “probably, but it’s utter, utter madness.”

Regular London Phoenix MTB marathoners Abigail Armstrong, David Steele and Simon Pemberton along with 1,000+ others took part in this year’s round of the Merida MTB Marathon in Ruthin, North Wales. With around 2,500 metres of climbing, the 100Km ride proved an epic with David finishing in 6hrs 15, Simon in 7 hours 5 and Abi finishing in 7 hours 13.

For Simon it was his first major MTB ride after his enforced lay-off with a broken collarbone following a crash at the Builth Wells Merida event in June. This time for Simon the sound of broken bones was replaced with the sound of a snapping chain. He snapped his chain in the first kilometre and then continued to snap it at regular intervals until he had removed so many links it left only a couple of gears useable. However Simon showed considerable patience and determination in finishing the ride, spinning the pedals at a phenomenal rate.

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This was the last Merida marathon this year but already we are looking forward to the 2007 series which includes two new events – one in Cumbria and one in Aviemore, Scotland. See the Merida marathon website for details.

London Phoenix turned out in force on Sunday 10th September to take on the Trailbreak Southern Sportive. The red phoenix train worked well together but found time to appreciate the fine views, punishing climbs and rest up at the three checkpoints along the 150km route. Most completed the event in five and a half to six hours. The photo above shows the group before setting off.
Results are on the Trailbreak website.

Jane Kilmartin raced well in the Ras Na MBan in Ireland on 10 September. It was Ireland’s first international Women’s stage race with trade teams from Poland, Germany, Holland etc. Jane came joint 7th out of 76 riders. The photo below, courtesy of www.irishcycling.com shows Jane attacking on the climb.

It’s cyclocross season again! Come along and join us on Sunday 16 September as London Phoenix hosts the first round of the London League at Temple School at Strood.

It’s a great day out, an opportunity to meet our club members, finding out about cyclocross & an opportunity to watch and cheer on the racers. We will be putting up the course from 9am and the races will start at 11:00 (under 10s), 11:15 (under 12s), 11:45 (youth), 13:00 (juniors and seniors, veterans and women).

Contact London Phoenix cyclocross co-ordinator: Neil
London League information – London Cyclocross Association

This summer has seen plenty of London Phoenix team action – starting with several teams and pairs in the Bristol BikeFest mountainbike 12 hour event in June, followed by the Saab Salomon Mountain Mayhem twenty four hour mtb event later that month. In July, we entered a men’s and a winning women’s team for the Bontrager2412 twenty four hour mtb team event and ended the month on the road in the Surrey League 4-up Team Time Trial Championship, again with a men’s and a women’s team. Finally, we formed two teams for our last ever Beastway mtb race. Read our accounts of these events on the OnRoad and OffRoad pages.