ELV Winter Series 2020 – Week 1

A flooded track and a layer of ice? No problem, as the ELV broom army got stuck in to clearing the track and soon made track rideable after much unseen effort. Racing was on, as was a bumper field for this time of year across both races. With cash and Kalas goodies as series prizes there was plenty to turn up for, but if you want to get fit without troubling the front, Hog Hill gives you all you need (and a bit more).

4th Cat race

There were many debut racers in the field which was brilliant to see. Better still was that riders dropping off got into groups and plugged away for most of the race, better than Zwift, hell yes! The sun was out and the tunes pumping out from the ELV sound system.

It didn’t take long for a small group to forge clear, with Connor Blackhouse (Kingston Wheelers), Benjamin Flanagan, Aurelien Decagny (Dirty Wknd) and Nicholas Richards to the fore. They hung out for a couple of laps but never got beyond 10 seconds and they were quickly pulled back by an attentive if depleted bunch. There were a couple of spirited attempts at freedom in the remaining laps but nobody was strong enough to hold out and a bunch sprint seemed nailed on. Connor Blackhouse easily took the bunch kick with Michael Stimson (Maillot Noir) next over the line.

234th Cat race

Again, a big field of nearly 40 wanted some early season Hog time. Amongst the numbers were a good representation of junior riders which meant the racing was aggressive from the gun. There were many attacks in the first few laps in what looked like a tough and honest race. Jake Crossley (Tofauti Everyone Active) was solo and looking impressive for a number of laps until he was joined by 4 other riders who formed a strong group that worked well together. The bunch was looking less cohesive and slowly began to leak time – a couple of stronger riders saw the danger and tried to jump, but the gap was too big by that point and the lead riders too strong. Whilst this was going on Max Bolton, Jake’s teammate, had a go at the solo-of-the-race prize and again held out for a number of laps at the pointy end.

With a good gap the leading 5 began to attack each other but they were altogether coming into the bottom corner. Jake Crossley took the win from Jamie Pullen (Maison du Velo – Stork Bikes UK) with Max Bolton (Tofauti Everyone Active) rounding off the podium.

Graham Galvin ELV

A huge thank you to everyone who came and raced, spectated, cheered and otherwise made the first ELV Winter Series of 2020 so awesome. Thanks as ever to all our marshalls, BC Comms and to Kalas who are kindly sponsoring us with some great series prizes.

Full results are below, series standings are here and a host of excellent photos by Ian Lambert are here.

Next week we start our Women’s Series: The Women’s Only 234 runs at 1pm on Saturdays 25th January, 15th February and 22nd February. Prizes available to the highest placed riders overall, highest placed 3rd cat and highest placed rider starting as a 4th cat. Enter before 8pm on Wednesday here and save £5 on senior entry fee. Juniors race for £5.

Enter next week’s 4th Cat only or 234 races here.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more updates and feel free to join us for a bike ride any time.

4th Cat only

1	Connor	Backhouse	Kingston Wheelers CC
2	Michael	Stimson	Maillot Noir CC
3	Benjamin	Flanagan
4	Jonathan	Underwood	Penge Cycle Club
5	Andy	Wakeling
6	Aurelien	Decagny	Dirty Wknd
7	Phillip	Lovett
8	Jasien	Haridy	Penge Cycle Club
9	Grant	Burt	Penge Cycle Club
10	Chris	Lynch
11	Nicholas	Richards
12	Owen	Williams
13	Tim	Leonard	Penge Cycle Club
14	David	Randall	Maillot Noir CC
15	William	Taylor
16	Joseph	Delves	Lea Valley CC
17	Stuart	Davidson
18	Paul	Connor	LFGSS
19	Marco	Datola	Dulwich Paragon CC
20	Daniel	Fowler	Woolwich CC
21	Kevin	Johne	Dulwich Paragon CC
22	Pritesh	Patel	Ashford Road Cycling Club
23	Roger	Crouch	Dulwich Paragon CC
24	Jason	Osunkoya	Dulwich Paragon CC
25	Arunas	Petkus	Dirty Wknd
26	Bradley	Hurr	Hadleigh MTB Club
27	Robin	Shute

234 Cat

1	Jake	Crossley	Tofauti Everyone Active
2	Jamie	Pullen	Maison Du Velo-Storck Bikes UK
3	Max	Bolton	Tofauti Everyone Active
4	Oisin	Murphy	Hillingdon Slipstreamers
5	David	Dalrymple	The 5th Floor Cycle Club
6	Colin	Peck	Athlon CC
7	Matt	Steel	Shaftesbury CC
8	Alex	Jones	Sigma Sports Official
9	Alex	Dale	Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club
10	Adam	Pyper	Rapha Cycling Club
11	Aaron	Sandhu
12	Matthew	Lord	Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club
13	Jake	Towler	Strada 2020
14	Charlie	Johnson	Fast Test Racing Team
15	Aidan	Kerrigan	Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club
16	Oliver	Parsons	Tri UK
17	Colin	Ward	Essex Roads CC
18	Matthew	Davey	Verulam – reallymoving.com
19	Jonathan	McCann
20	Gaurav	Meher	Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club
21	Soeren	Hansen	Lea Valley CC
22	Adam	Colvin	Army Cycling Union
23	Lee	Lavery	Lea Valley CC
24	Sam	Clarfield	Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club
25	Rizwan	Hameed	Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club
26	Damian	Dodd	Barking & Dagenham CC