Pain at the Catford and suffering at the Bec.

James Jackson rode two of the toughest and most established hill climbs in the country today, taking on the Catford and the Bec, and rode strongly to finish them 13th and 22nd respectively.

Riding his track bike, James exploded away from the start of Catford CC's hill climb and flew up the first steep section, recording one of the fastest times at the first split. As the gradient levelled out for a brief respite, he kept up the pace and hit the final steep section hard. The only problem was the 20% final section hit back and sapped all James had in his legs, but he managed to grit his teeth and grind it out to the finish.

In true James Jackson style, holding nothing back at all and giving it 100% effort, he finished the climb and had to be lifted off his bike and sat down to stop him collapsing. After a while getting his breath back though, he was soon back on the bike warming down with a smile on his face. No rest for the wicked though, as he was then off to the Bec CC's hill climb where he repeated the all out effort to finish 22nd, and to end the very tough day's work very well, a credit to himself and the team.

It takes two!

Without teamwork, James Whatling would not have gained his 1st Cat licence today at the Finsbury Park RR. Without James Jackson's fantastic efforts, burying himself to close gaps and to lead James out for the final sprint, the race might have got away and the points gone. The Ciclos Uno Race Team raced hard today and showed their true colours, working together to get the result needed.

In the final Eastern Road Race League of the season at Steeple, Essex, James Jackson and James Whatling had one aim, to get James Whatling the points he needed for his 1st Cat licence. A good strong field started the race and, with the ERRL riders championship wide open, the race was always going to be fast and full of attacks. The Heron Cyclesport team were riding hard to get the win for their rider Andy Lyons, whilst API-Metrow were defending the lead of Kevin Chambers and the race would often yo-yo as first one team would attack and then the other would counter.

At about half distance, a group of 16 got away on the fast section of the course and both of the James' missed the move. There was no way they were going to let this race slip away from them and, although the breakaway gained 30 seconds, the Ciclos Uno Race Team hit the front of the bunch in the headwind section of the race, put their heads down and pulled the group back. With the race back together, the attacks began again and as the main teams sent rider after rider up the road, only to be pulled back again, Phil Hetzel (Ipswich BC) slipped away and was never seen again by the bunch. On the penultimate lap Andy Lyons was very unlucky to puncture and, with Kevin Chambers safely in the race and the winner of the ERRL, the race slowed, with almost everyone happy to wait until the finale to make their moves.

Martin Smith (AW Cycles) and Alastair Kay (York Cycleworks) escaped on the final lap to take second and third place respectively while behind them, the bunch were readying themselves for the sprint up the finishing climb. As they rounded the final corner, James Jackson hit the front, with James Whatling glued to his wheel and, pulling at over 35mph, he lined out the whole field to deliver his team mate to the bottom of the climb in the lead. James Whatling took over and, despite suffering from cramp in both legs, managed to hold on to finish 15th, enough to gain his 1st Cat licence for 2008.

Results:

1.) Philip Hetzel: Ipswich BC
2.) Martin Smith: AW cycles
3.) Alastair Kay: York Cycleworks
4.) Chris Moores: Norwood Paragon
5.) Raphael Deinhart: Loughborough Students CC