Lets be honest, the weathers been pretty pants this summer, but to be fair, we’ve often escaped the worst of it at Darley. However, on arrival I thought our luck had run out as it was a very gloomy morning.
In fact, our first group of brave riders kicked off the days racing with a damp track and threats of showers. The early pace was cautious, especially into the hairpin and despite a few digs from various riders, nobody could snap the elastic until late into the race when Alex Moss (CCC) made the decisive breakaway and solo’d to victory.
To be fair, he’s got form as it turned out he won recently at Curborough so now moves up to Cat 3. The bunch came hurtling behind sprinting for BC points places 2- 10 with Jonatan Morszner (Reading CC) and pocket rocket Dan Jones (Lyme RC) making up the podium. Notable mention also has to go to Thomas Callear with his 4th place meaning he also gained his Cat 3 license in his first season.
Track weapon Ryan Clarke (Ilkeston cc) claimed the Full Gas Coffee Prime and Alex also won the Vetta cycling socks.
After the podium ceremony, next to line up was the Cat 3/4 which had 50 (yes 50 racers in august) on the start line. We saw a very similar pattern to the earlier race with nobody able to make a break stick, despite Josh Marsden’s (Stolen Goat RT) best attempts. We did see friends Ashby Ivanhoe, return to the track, and maybe it was their participation that encouraged the sun to make an appearance. As the weather brightened up, the track dried out just in time for a blistering sprint finish.
West Midlands answer to Jasper Philipsen, Josh Williams (Clee Cycles) pipped Josh Marsden and another track superstar and one half of the nicest father/son duo in cycling, Jack Baugh (Ilkeston Cycle Club) to the podium spots. Josh W had a great day and split the Prime prizes between himself and Zack Gregrory
There was only one way to follow that, with the racing snakes of the E123 cat. In true, rip up the playbook form, the field was splintered into numerous groups with Carl Stubbs (Moonglu Race Team) out on his own at the front. Unfortunately the track conditions were not as good as his legs and he slipped coming out of the hairpin to lose his hard fought 30 sec advantage.
From that point on, the race was made up of 3 main groups, all trying to either stay away from the group behind or chasing down the one in front. The lead group of 5, included previous winners Bernard Galea (SPRNT) and John Archibald (HUUB Wattshop) who were strong enough to stay away and ended up contesting the sprint for the podium.
Points hoover Bernard came out on top, with newly crowned Welsh Champ Sam Llewelyn (Team PB Performance) and Peter Cocker (Richardson Trek) edging out John and Grant Bigham (HUUB Wattshop). John and Peter also claimed Prime prizes from Full Gas Coffee and Vetta Cycling respectively.
Vetta were represented in the bunch by founder Jono Hornblow who finished in the points and we’d be remiss not to mention posterboy Freddy Pett. Before he was pulling wheelies, he was unlucky to pick up a flat, but it did mean we were able to watch the fastest pit change in Darley history. Doing our best tennis crowd impression at sign on, Freddy whizzed past in one direction, only to return a few seconds later and join the back of the pack with a newly inflated wheel. Some people believe it never would have happened if he was on Vetta wheels but there’s only one way to find out 😉
Rounding out the day and making the most of the days best weather was the Women of the 234 race. Now, we’ve always been honest with you and it was a little disappointing to only get 9 entries meaning we could only offer reduced BC points for the top 3. We’re fully committed to women’s racing and will put on a race no matter the numbers but it would be amazing to offer full BC points for every race. Do get in touch if you think there’s anything we could do….?
Anyway, back to the racing and a return to the days playbook. It was always going to be difficult to sneak away from a main group of 8, even with the Prime sprints disrupting the field. This meant we were treated to another blistering sprint finish which saw Harriet Evans (FTP Racing) edge out Ella Tandy (Tofauti Everyone Active), who took both Primes and local racer Cerys Greaves of Lichfield City CC.
All that leaves me to say is thanks again for everyone who raced, my daughter tells me to say the vibes were impeccable. Full results, pics, links to amazing photos and even some youtubes are below. And don’t forget, our final race of the season is rapidly approaching so book yourself in now – Click here for full info
Have a good one. Till next time..
Haus Race Team
Now here’s all the social links –
Photo Galleries –
If you haven’t checked out our insta thats a must – there’s some great reels even if I do say so myself.
And here’s the youtubes from Craig Goes Cycling who’s been on a rollercoaster this year!
