Juniors

1. Colin Mantle 6 Laps
2. Ryan Skeats 6 Laps
3. Josh Murad 5 Laps
4. David Archer 4 Laps

Ladies

1. Mandy Burchett 6 Laps
2. Diane Mantle 6 Laps
3. Jean Poole 5 Laps
4. Wendy Dorling 5 Laps
5. Amanda Archer 4 Laps

Men

1. Matthew Mantle 11 Laps
2. Peter Clements 11 Laps
3. Marc Bowers 11 Laps
4. Barry Archer 9 Laps
5. Martin Skeats 9 Laps
6. Mark Burchett 9 Laps
7. Max Dorling 9 Laps

Elena Gough is the clear winner in her age group in the Eastern Region Youth Road Series (ERYRS), with 235 points having ridden five qualifying rounds of the seven in the summer long competition.

Her elder brother Adam finished 15th out of 42 riders in the Youth B boys section, with 65 points from just two rounds.

In the Youth D Boys category, Colin Mantle finished 10th with 75 points, again only having ridden just two rounds.

the final ERYRS League tables, that include Mildenhall CC members.

Mildenhall CC members Colin & Matthew Mantle made the long journey to Langdon Hills near Basildon for the final round of the Mud Sweat & Gears (MSG) mountain bike race series on Sunday. They were both leading their respective categories: Colin the 'Grommets' (U12s) and Matthew the 'Warriors' (1 hour Vets), so were within a shout of overall honours.

According to Matthew, "The course was described by the MSG team as "a scenic combination of woodland, open fields, forest paths & singletrack - your fitness will be tested by a number of lung-busting climbs & fast technical descents." And they weren't wrong! Training on the few hills in our home area of Thetford Forest did not prepare us for the length & gradient of the climbs.  It was fortunate that the weather was dry & fine, making the track predictable to ride."

Colin, having warmed up in the usual excellent British Cycling (BC) training session beforehand, flew up the hills to finish a comfortable second in the 4-lap race behind the 10-year-old series winner who won all four events he had entered. This put Colin second in the series, behind Thomas Timberlake (Cyclelife Dunstable), for which he received an engraved glass tankard trophy from BC coach Mark Wyer. Third was Olly Ford (Chelmsford Youth CC).

Matthew made a good start in the Warrior race but the long hills on the 4-mile long adult course were hard work. He couldn't keep pace with his two series rivals who pulled away to finish ahead. He overtook the fourth placed rider on the last lap, but was caught at the finish and was lucky to keep 3rd place after slipping off his pedals & (accidentallly!) blocking the challenger's path. This gave him 3rd in the series, and a tankard! First was Peter Barton (Chelmer Cycles) with Martin Backes (Bike Trax) runner up.

Colin and Matthew pictured right are proudly wearing their medals and showing off their engraved glasses.

Congratulations go to new member Josh Murad.  While not attending the final event, he has also achieved an excellent result finishing in 7th place in the series.  This follows three top 10 finishes earlier in the year in his first season of racing.

Another member, Pete Clements, was racing in the 2 hour race. After a small practice lap incident, he too struggled with severity of the climbs & decided to stop after doing 3 laps in around an hour. He finished the series a respectable 38th out of a total of over 160 senior men including some of the top Cyclo-Cross riders in the region.

Matthew added "This marks the end of the 2011 Mud Sweat & Gears series.  It has been a great experience and is highly recommended, particularly for aspiring young mountain bikers. The 1.5 hour BC children's training sessions before the races (included with race entry) are exceptional and the Go Ride races are run on proper mountain bike courses, often using parts of the adult courses. Watch out for next year's first event in April"

Below are some pictures from the final MSG round taken by Matthew, but he says "the photos aren't very good: Colin was too fast!! "

With just two rounds remaining of Mildenhall Cycling Clubs Off-Road Championship, three members are in pole position to win the 2011 senior competition.

In the latest two rounds held on Sunday, members raced against the clock in the Uphill and Downhill rounds in Mildenhall Woods in bright autumnal sunshine. With the current leader Barry Archer on time-keeping duties, one of his closest rivals Dave Bowers was third fastest up and down giving him 16 points, taking him to 61 points, just two behind Archer.

Both of them have competed in eight events, while Matthew Mantle who was competing in the final round of the Mud Sweat & Gears series, already has 60 points but from just six events. The competition is held over 12 rounds with the best eight counting,

The fastest senior up and downhill was Marc Bowers, while in the Ladies section, with Mandy Burchett unwell, Jean Poole took full advantage to take maximum points.

One of the Mildenhall Club's newest members, Ryan Skeets was the fastest Juvenile up and downhill.

Results from Round 9 - Uphill

Seniors

Ladies

Juveniles

Results from Round 10 - Downhill

Seniors

Ladies

Juveniles

Mildenhall Cycling Club's annual Rough Ride Championship attracted a bumper entry on Sunday.

The fastest around the 18.5 mile circuit out into the fens and back was Barry 'Sturmey' Archer in 1 hour 15 minutes & 18 seconds, closely followed by Mandy Burchett.

Following the club's trend this year of attracting younger members and their parents, there were two families taking part. The quickest of those was Ryan Skeets in a time of 1 hour 39 minutes and 56 seconds, over three minutes quicker than his Dad Martin. The youngest rider was Jack Tuffs who did very well to get round in well under two hours.

Although not that long the course consisted in parts of the concrete fen road, which for anybody who's been on them will know they are anything but smooth! Add in the additional factor of a strong south easterly wind and it became quite a testing course.

Results

Juveniles

1. Ryan Skeets (1hour 39minutes 56seconds)
2. Jack Tuffs (1hr 51m 17s)

Seniors

1. Barry Archer (1hour 15minutes 18seconds)
2. Mandy Burchett (1hr 17m 44s)
3. Dave Bowers (1hr 22m 05s)
4. Mark Burchett (1hr 23m 10s)
5. Martin Skeets (1hr 43m 05s)
6. Karen Skeets (1hr 47m 05s)
7. John Tuffs (1hr 51m 17s)
8. Marc Bowers (1hr 54m 01s)
9. Sue Tuffs (2hr 10m 40s)
   

The final round of Mildenhall Cycling Club's Off-Road Time-Trial series took place tonight on a course based in the forest near West Stow.

Results

Juveniles (short lap)

1. Colin 16m 21s

Seniors (short + long lap)

1. Matthew Mantle (34m 16s)
2. Barry 'Sturmey' Archer (38m 20s)
3. Dave Bowers (42m 33s)
   

The Club's latest round of their Off-Road Championship was held yesterday with prospective member Matthew Skeets, taking the honours. He narrowly beat the much more experienced Moe Milstead, who having ridden out to the event, started slightly behind the main group of riders.

Results from Round 8

Seniors

1. Mathew Skeets (12 laps)
2. Moe Milstead (12 laps)
3. Barry Archer (12 laps)
4. Dave Bowers (11 laps)

Ladies

1. Mandy Burchett (5 laps)
2. Jean Poole (5 laps)

Juveniles

1. Ryan Skeets (5 laps)

Colin Mantle (no.285) and potential new member Josh Murad (no.283 pictured left with white helmet on the start line) received the usual high standard of training on a purpose-built BMX track at the park.

Colin's Dad Matthew said"They then had a tough 4 lap race around a mainly grassed track, partly into a headwind and with a long climb. The winner of the previous races was absent which left Colin to race against his nearest rival.

He put in a big effort and lead most of the race, but he couldn't pull out a gap. But Colin (pictured below earlier in the race) managed to keep the lead and just crossed the line to win the race in an exciting sprint finish! They finished a minute ahead of the 3rd placed rider!"

Matthew then rode the 1 hour race - 3 laps of a grassy course with lots of climbs & open windy sections. He finished 3rd veteran, 50 seconds behind the winner and over a minute ahead of the 4th placed rider.

New member, Pete Clements rode the 2 hour race and came in 24th out of 43 finishers, after rain changed track conditions to mud at the end of the race!

Colin added, "the last round is even further away at Langdon Hills near Basildon in September. With Colin in with a chance of 2nd place in the series & me in with a theoretical chance of a series win, we will probably be entering."

Mildenhall Cycling Club were well represented with three of their younger riders competing in West Suffolk Wheelers & Tri Club Grass-Track meeting at the weekend.

Colin Mantle & Elena Gough competed against one other boy in the freewheel omnium, and Adam Gough rode in the U14 Juvenile fixed wheel omnium.

"After a fall in the first race, a 2 lap sprint, Elena bravely got back on to compete in the rest of the afternoon's events. Colin won the 2 lap sprint, Devil & final 3 lap handicap. Elena's best results were a win in the 1km handicap, and a 2nd in the 3-lap handicap & Devil. Colin was 1st overall and won a Go-Ride cycling top! As usual, Adam was up against older competition including several U16s. His best result was a 4th in the Devil race where he worked hard to maintain his place in the bunch" reports Matthew Mantle.

"Best of all was the team sprint which was a timed event with 3 riders. Elena led out the team for 1 lap, followed by Colin for the 2nd lap and then Adam rode the final lap alone. They looked very professional (pictured right, at the start) with better teamwork than the adults! This could be a result of training given at the club Go-Ride sessions. They did very well to finish only 20 second behind the fastest adult team (West Suffolk Wheelers) who did the 3 laps in just over a minute. Not bad for a team with a combined age of 30!" he added.

The Lotus Cars Go-Ride League has finished with Mildenhall Cycling Club's Colin Mantle winning the 8-10s class.

The summer long competition consisted of a Match Sprint, Criterium, Keirin, Handicap, Madison and Time-Trial events. Colin, one of the youngest riders in this group, won three of these (Match Sprint, Criterium & the Keirin) and finishing second in the Madison to give him 37 points.

Dad Matthew said "He has a trophy and a medal and is very pleased!!"

Under 8's Results:

1. Colin Mantle (Mildenhall CC) 37 points
2. Jacob Hannan (No Club) 33 points
3. Tom Gorman (Iceni Velo) 31 points

The Mantle family represented the Club in the latest round of the Mud, Sweat & Gears competition at Danbury Park in Essex.

Eight year old Colin's group had another session of excellent training from the BC coaches, followed by a 3 lap race around a small but not insignificant course. There was a bit of climbing & some technical corners.

After finishing 3rd in the previous two rounds to the same 2 boys, Colin (pictured above right) did brilliantly to finish 2nd this time! He was in the lead on the penultimate lap and only lost out by 5 seconds at the end. The photo of the start (pictured above left) shows the popularity of the U12s race!

His father Matthew (pictured left) said "I did the 1 hour race and started in the right group this time with the top 16 vets. He led from the start and finished 1st by over 90 seconds!

The course was very tricky with open grassy Cyclo-Cross sections, leading to bumpy rutted tracks in the woods with slippy mud, puddles & roots everywhere.

The challenge was to keep upright on these tracks and make up time on the easier tracks & climbs. There was many a 'slidey' moment but it was all good fun! "

He added "Diane was 'support crew' and initially missed not doing the race when she saw the easy tracks around the start-finish area, but was later glad after hearing stories of 'incidents' in the wooded sections! "

Also representing the Mildenhall Club was Pete Clements who did well to finish 22nd in the 2 hour race, who is moving up the results in every race!

The Mantle family also rode the Action for Children charity bike ride around Snetterton race track on Friday evening. Their target was 100 miles between them in about 3 hours, but they achieved 113 miles!

Colin stayed with Diane to do 22 miles non-stop in 1-1/2 hours, Diane went on to do a total of 40 miles in 2 hours 41 mins, and Matthew did 51 miles in the same time. It was great to be on such a smooth wide track, and the weather was good too - sunny & only slightly windy. Diane said "It was the best cycling event I've has done, so far! It would make an excellent club run"

Round three of Mildenhall Cycling Club's summer Off-Road Time-Trial series took place tonight on a course based in the forest near West Stow.

Results

Seniors (short + long lap)

1. Matthew Mantle (32m 48s)
2. Barry 'Sturmey' Archer (37m 39s)
3. Mandy Burchett (39m 41s)
4. Dave Bowers (40m 42s)

Richard Carrington has been rolling back the years as he has been competing in his first love, time-trialling.

In the East District CC's 10 mile time-trial held on the old A11 course based near Morley, in Norfolk, he finished in the top 15 recording a time of 21 minutes 52 seconds. Richard commented "It was held in good conditions, if a little windy but I'm very pleased with that time. It's my fastest '10' for seven years!"

The event which was won by Nino Piccoli in 19m 28s, was also nominated as the Mildenhall Club's 10m Time-Trial Championship, so Carrington will be guaranteed one trophy at the 2011 Prize Presentations!

He then competed in his first ever 50 mile time-trial and was very pleased to beat the magic two hour mark at his first attempt. He stopped the clock in the Godric CC event at 1hour 59minutes 14seconds. It was held on a good day with light winds, with the winner Barry Charlton (Lyme RC) recording 1:44:53.

Carrington came up against the Lyme RC rider a few days later in CC Breckland's 10m event. Reflecting the cooler conditions compared to the recent weather, even the flying Charlton was unable to ride inside 20 minutes, recording a 20:14. Richard was very disappointed with his time of 22:59, feeling he should have been 1 minute to 1 minute 20 seconds faster compared to other riders, saying " I think Sundays '50' was still in my legs!"

Then most recently, he competed in yesterday's Norwich ABC's 25 time-trial to finish just outside the top ten. Reaping the benefits of his training and competition so far this season, he finished comfortably within the hour benchmark over this distance. Commenting on his time of 55m 30seconds, he triumphantly said "that's my fastest '25' for 17, yes 17 years!"

The event was won by Russell Hampton (a former National Junior Road Champion) with a time of 50m 33seconds.

Three intrepid members of Mildenhall CC bravely took on Gas Hill In Norwich and lived to tell the tale.

The Gas Hill Gasp has been around since the 1940s as classic Hill Climb Time-Trial and was revived this year as an opening event of the 2011 Lord Mayor's Celebrations.

The organisers described the race format as unique, producing fast and exciting racing with heats every couple of minutes and was run as a knockout competition with four riders in each race. To reach the final the competitors had to race four times up the punishing hill!

Matthew Mantle finished a very creditable fifth in the 'Hopefuls' category, while his son Colin finished fourth in the Under 12's category. Matthew said afterwards "It's a pity Diane (his wife) ran out of steam in the Ladies race otherwise we'd have got a 3rd (Diane), 4th (Colin) & 5th (me)!! "

Gas Hill was packed with spectators for the entire length and near the top it resembled a Tour de France mountain pass with the spectators crowding into the road, cheering and clapping each rider.

At the half-way stage of the Club's season long Off-Road Championship the Mantle family are leading way, literally!

Matthew Mantle is the clear leading rider in the Seniors category. After six events he has a maximum sixty points having won every stage so far. His nearest rival is Barry 'Sturmey' Archer with 44 points, having also ridden six events.

In the Ladies section Diane Mantle is currently leading the way with 56 points, again like her husband Matthew, having ridden every one of the six events so far. While Mandy Burchett, only having ridden four events with 40 points is pushing her very hard.

While in the Juveniles section, eight year old Colin has achieved one point short of the maximum 60 possible in the six events so far. David Archer is his closest rival, who again having ridden all six, has notched up 48 points so far.

The final winners in each category will be worked out on the best eight rides of the 12 events in the competition, with the last stage being held on Sunday 23rd October.

Results from Round 6

Seniors

1. Matthew Mantle 11 laps
2. Pete Clements 11 laps
3. Moe Milstead 11 laps
4. Matt Skeets 10 laps
5. Barry Archer 9 laps
6. Mark Burchett 9 laps
7. Max Dorling 9 laps

Ladies

1. Mandy Burchett 5 laps
2. Diane Mantle 5 laps
3. Amanda Archer 4 laps

Juveniles

1. Colin Mantle 5 laps
2. Ryan Skeets 5 laps
3. David Archer 4 laps
4. Josh Murad 3 laps

Mildenhall Cycling Club's Max Pendleton, who now seems to organise more events than he competes in, recently competed in the National Masters Track Championships at the Newport Velodrome where he completed in four separate track disciplines. 

He was disappointed with his 5th place ride in the 500m time trial, but matters improved later on the Saturday when he won the 65-69 years Scratch Race which was run over 10 Km.  Riding his usual attacking style Max and Michael Allen from the Belpher CC managed to lap the field, Allen then got a puncture leaving Max ahead of all the other riders by a lap. 

Sunday began with the 2Km pursuit and Max started in the final seeded heat with his breakaway companion from the previous day, in this case the decision went to the Belpher rider with Max picking up the silver medal. 

The final event was a 10Km points race, Pendleton was marked out of this event with every attack being matched by one rider or another from the field, the final place was 6th.  Pendleton said afterwards "It was however an interesting weekend, one National title and a silver was a pleasing result."

Eight year old Colin Mantle, pictured below left & middle, rode off from Bedford with wins in all the races he entered!

This included a Cyclo-Cross, a GoRide heat & final and a Mountain Bike race over obstacles.

While dad, Matthew, who said "I hadn't intended racing (hence the baggy shorts! see picture below right) but had taken my bike & felt encouraged to do so as most of the other entrants looked like serious racers & not novice GoRiders.

I won the adult 45 minute Cyclocross, and the adult Mountain Bike race - 3 short laps over the same obstacle course as the children."

We came home with 2 gold medals, 3 helmets, 2 multi-tools, and 3 glass trophies!! They were glad we supported them but did make fun of us winning everything we entered! he added.

Full details of the days racing can be found on the Bedfordshire Road Cycling Club website with more pictures from the event available here

Juveniles

1. Colin Mantle 7 laps
2. Jack Tuffs 6 laps
3. Josh Murad 6 laps
4. David Archer 4 laps

Ladies

1. Mandy Burchett 7 laps
2. Diane Mantle 7 laps
3. Jean Poole 6 laps
4. Viv Bowers 6 laps
5. Amanda Archer 4 laps

Seniors

1. Matthew Mantle 13 laps
2. Barry Archer 11 laps
3. Dave Bowers 10 laps
4. Max Dorling 10 laps
5. John Tuffs 10 laps
6. Mark Burchett 9 laps

Seniors

1. Moe Milstead 32m 27s
2. Matthew Mantle 33m 19s
3. Barry Archer 39m 22s
4. Mandy Burchett 40m 01s
5. Diane Mantle 50m 22s

Under 16's

1. Colin Mantle 17m 08s

Colin and Matthew Mantle took part in the third round of Mud Sweat & Gears at Tunstall on Sunday.

"Colin had some excellent training, courtesy of John Stockwell. He practiced cornering & hill climbing on sand since it was so dry, and then a slalom with calling & overtaking. In the 20 minute U12 race, he got baulked on the final (third) lap by a much younger rider (with Dad pushing!) but came third again, behind the same two older children from the previous round at Thetford" said his Dad Matthew.

"I went well and enjoyed the '1 hour' race, but it didn't work out as well as it could. After failing to line up with the top 16 vets at the start since my name 'wasn't on the list', I had to fight my way through 'traffic' to get to clear track. It was a 4 mile lap, mostly single track with little opportunity for easy overtaking. At the end of the 4 lap race, I had lapped some of the tail-enders but had no idea of my finish position, he added.

"We came back as soon as we could to compete in the club Off-Road Champs race in the afternoon so I only found out the results that evening on the internet. Unfortunately, the electronic timing system had 'missed' me finishing my second lap so I was listed as a lap down in 37th! he continued.

This was later corrected and Matthew was awarded 4th place. Pete Clements, did the '2 hour' race finishing 32nd out of 62 senior men, completing the 7 laps in 2 hours 20 mins.

Juveniles

1. Colin Mantle 4 laps (pictured below left)
2. Jack Tuffs 4 laps (pictured below right)
3. David Archer 3 laps

Ladies

1. Diane Mantle 4 laps (pictured below left)
2. Jean Poole 4 laps
3. Amanda Archer 3 laps

Seniors

1. Matthew Mantle 10 laps (pictured below left)
2. Moe Milstead 10 laps
3. Dave Bowers 9 laps (pictured below right)
4. Barry Archer 9 laps

Eight year-old Colin Mantle (pictured below right) finished second in the Under 10's race at the second Woodbridge Criterium race last Saturday.

Dad Matthew said "We had re-engineered Colin's bike after the first event to get his gearing spot on the restriction for his age group, since he had lost out at the first race by being severely undergeared. The U8s, U10s & U12s all raced together for 20 minutes since there was a lower turnout this time (see start pictured left).

"Diane & I did the 45 minute Go-Race event. Diane's chain came off before the first corner but a friendly marshall helped her get going again. She went very well and was pleased to catch & pass one of the veteran men! The official results list her as 18th out of 29 but she thinks they must have missed one of the groups - it was more likely to be 28th.

I was going well up until 30 minutes when I had a puncture. I rode slowly back to the start and watched & cheered Diane (pictured left) on, and joined half a dozen others who had also punctured!

There had been a lot of grit & sticks blown onto the track. It was mostly dry but very windy, so slipstreaming was essential up the far side of the course, then we were blown along the finish straight!

Looks like we'll be tempted to go down to Redbrige (for the first time) on July 16th " Matthew added.

Results:

Juveniles

1. Colin Mantle (3 laps)
2. Jack Tuffs (3 laps)
3. David Archer (3 laps)

Ladies

1. Mandy Burchett (4 laps)
2. Diane Mantle (4 laps)
3. Jean Poole (4 laps)
4. Viv Bowers (4 laps)
5. Amanda Archer (3 laps)

Mens

1. Matthew Mantle (9 laps)
2. Moe Milstead (9 laps)
3. Barry Archer (8 laps)
4. Dave Bowers (8 laps)
5. John Tuffs (7 laps)
6. Mark Burchett (7 laps)
   

Some of Mildenhall's younger members had to contend with strong windy conditions when they took part in the Bank-Holiday Monday racing organised by West Suffolk Wheelers in Ixworth.

Eight year-old Colin Mantle racing in the Under 10's category gave 100% as usual. He began the race very well, catching a group in front of him and was ahead on the penultimate lap but they out-sprinted him up the hill to the finish.

Adam & Elena Gough were racing too in the Under 12's and 10's respectively. Elena struggled with gears throughout her race Adam had a struggle of his own - against much older competition but did have a close race with the girl competitor he caught, as seen right.

Results:

Juveniles

1. Colin Mantle
2. David Archer

1. Diane Mantle
2. Viv Bowers
3. Amanda Archer

1. Matthew Mantle
2. Peter Clements
3. Moe Milstead
4. Barry Archer
5. Dave Bowers

The first round of the Club's Off-Road Championship, held in Thetford Forest, attracted a bumper entry. It is encouraging that number of members competing in the Juniors and the Ladies sections, both out-numbered the Seniors!

Results:

Juveniles

1. Sam Bingham
2. Colin Mantle
3. George Aves
4. Jack Tuffs
5. David Archer

Ladies

1. Mandy Burchett
2. Diane Mantle
3. Josie Aves
4. Jean Poole
5. Vera Staines
6. Amanda Archer
7. Jean Bentley

Mens

1. Matthew Mantle
2. Peter Clements
3. Harvey Wright
4. Barry Archer
5. Mark Burchett