Preview: Places still available in Archer RR
Stuart Benstead writes… In the Chiltern Hills on Sunday 17 April, the 60 mile Archer Spring RR has attracted some elite competitors along with a number of young riders aspiring to follow in the wheeltracks of such Olympic, world and Commonwealth stars as Bradley Wiggins, Steve Heffernan, Roger Hammond and Matt Stephens, who are all former winners in their early days, as was Graham Webb, winner in 1963 and world amateur champion in 1966.
The Archer Spring RR was first held in 1957 so is one of the longest running races in the country. In fact now in its 55th year, it is older than the Archer GP for which it was formerly a support race. It returns to the route of the main race by being held on the sporting 15-mile Hughenden Valley circuit that takes in the Hughenden, Longdown and Whiteleaf hills, but with intermediate long stretches of flat to recover or sustain a breakaway. And the good news for ambitious but disorganised riders is that there may be places in the field to be filled with 15 available at the time of writing.
There is unlikely to be such an opportunity in the 45-mile Inverse/CyClaim RR for 3/4 cat riders in the morning with only two places available at time of writing. It is most unusual for Central Region to not have full fields at normal closing date, but Thames Valley Police permission was very late in being granted and this doubt had been rumoured. They were insisting on formal road closure to cover a tricky descent but finally accepted that a diversion involving a right turn was acceptable.
After the initial insistence on road closure for this grass roots event, the BC Central Regional Development Officer had been negotiating an apparent new system of road closure suggested by Buckinghamshire County Council officers at a Safety Advisory Group meeting. This appeared to be a positive move and Central Region had allocated £2,000 to enable it as an example of what might be acceptable across the country. It proved impossible, however, to achieve this for logistic reasons within the timescale for this event. Negotiations continue with a view to training a team of Central marshals and NEG riders to an acceptable standard to operate the system of rolling road closure.
The efforts for arrangements at the moment are just at a single county level and would not supercede national negotiations currently taking place. If successful, perhaps they may prove more economic than the existing rolling road closure systems.
EVENT DETAILS
HQ: Hughenden Valley Village Hall, Coombe Lane, Hughenden Valley, High Wycombe, HP14 4NX
Race 1: Inverse RR Start time 10.00hrs
Race 2: Start time 13.30hrs – Archer Spring RR
Riders: Archer Spring RR
1 Tom Kruger 45 Road Club
2 William Macke A W Cycles
3 Douglas Coleman Anders TMG Horizon RT
4 Paul Caton Anders TMG Horzon RT
5 Stuart Sergeant Arbis LLP/Roy Pink Cycles
6 Duncan Thorp Arbis LLP/Roy Pink Cycles
7 Luke Souter Banbury Star CC
8 Paul Crook Beyond Mountain Bikes
9 Thomas Durno Cambridge University CC
10 John Peters CC Luton/Bandon/Eddington
11 Mike Jackson CC Luton/Bandon/Eddington
12 Andrew Marsh Dinnington RC
13 Tom Smith Felt Colbornes RT
14 Andrew Hasting Finchley RT/Paul Simon Magic Homes
15 Alistair Slater Hargroves Cycles/Trant/Specialized
16 Rob Jackson Inverse RT/Cyclaim
17 Simon Dawson Inverse RT/CyClaim
18 Neil Heffernan Inverse RT/Cyclaim
19 James Clark Inverse RT/Cyclaim
20 Niall Digby La Fuga/Sigma Sport
21 Luke Wallis La Fuga/Sigma Sport
22 James Stratton London Dynamo
23 William Slack London Dynamo/Prologue
24 Russell Falder Mammoth Lifestyle RT/Specialized
25 Martin Ford Mammoth Lifestyle RT/Specialized
26 Paul Londons Python RT/Smartest Energy
27 Mike Wragg Python RT/Smartest Energy
28 Mark Jervis Python RT/Smartest Energy
29 Joe Harris Reading CC/Hale/Mar
30 Sean Taylor Rollapaluza CC
31 Russell Childs RT 316
32 Jamie Caldwell St Ives CC
33 Richard Da Silva Stevenage CC
34 Simon Henley Tm Corley/Cervello
35 Roy Chamberlain Tm Corley/Cervello
36 Karl Freeman Tm Corley/Cervello
37 Andy Sanders Tm Giant/Radlett
38 Rob Yeatman Tm Jewson/Thule/Kinesis
39 Richard Wood Tm Milton Keynes/Abbeygate
40 Marc Wilmot Tm Quest/Bike Shop
41 Sean Dines Tm Virgin Active/Powerbar
42 Ian Holmes Tm Virgin Active/Powerbar
43 Tim Carter Tm Virgin Active/Powerbar
44 Campbell Noon Tm Virgin Active/Powerbar
45 Henry Peacock Tm Zappi
46 Adrian Chaplin Tm Zappi
47 Tim Gallacher Welwyn Wh
48 Josh Maynard Welwyn Wh
49 George Farrell Welwyn Wh
50 Alex Anderson Welwyn Wh
51 Tony Gibb www.Cyclepremier.com/Metaltek
52 Jason White www.Cyclepremier.com/Metaltek
53 Scott Merrilees Wyndymila Maxifuel
54 Luke Merrilees Wyndymila Maxifuel
Riders: Inverse RR
1 Matthew Melville A W Cycles/Giant
2 Harry Strudley A W Cycles/Giant
3 Andrew Connington Anders Electronics/TMG Horizon
4 Stuart Sergeant Arbis LLP/Roy Pink Cycles
5 Paul SimpsonArbis LLP/Roy Pink Cycles
6 Mark O’Brien Archer RC
7 Rudie Marais Archer RC
8 Kieran Brady ASFRA Racing
9 Gavin Rumbles CC Luton
10 Gavin Morton Charlotteville CC/Shiny Cufflinks
11 Michael Norris Crest CC
12 Jeremy O’Sullivan Crest CC
13 Max Brown Didcot Phoenix
14 Thomas McLaren East London Velo
15 Brad Lamb Glade CC
16 Hamish Floyd GS Henley
17 James Archibald GS Henley
18 Mark Gibbon GS Henley
19 Ernest Marais GS Henley
20 Mike Simpson GS Henley
21 Tim Hyde GS Henley
22 Joe Clark High Wycombe CC
23 Adam Brittain High Wycombe CC
24 Richard Collins Imperial RT
25 Sebastien Greenwood Inverse RR/Cyclaim
26 Philip Wege Inverse RR/Cyclaim
27 Mark Lawn Inverse RR/Cyclaim
28 Darryl Green Inverse RR/Cyclaim
29 Nils Gustafson Inverse RR/Cyclaim
30 Ian Cardy Inverse RR/Cyclaim
31 Richard Fairholme Kenilworth Wh.
32 Graeme Davidson Kenilworth Wh.
33 Charles Brown Kenilworth Wh.
34 Andy Lack Kingston Wh/Sigma Sport
35 Jared Spier La Fuga/Sigma Sport
36 Dylan Kenneway London Dynamo
37 James Fettiplace London Dynamo
38 Adam Stone North Road CC
39 Colin Bailey North Road CC
40 Ben de Wet Oxford University CC
41 Vaughan Luff Private Member
42 Christopher Lyon Private Member
43 Josh Lawless Private Member
44 Edward Ashby Private Member
45 Roland Chuter Private Member
46 Simon Jackson Putney Cycles
47 David Corregan Putney Cycles
48 Jon Halfhide Putney Cycles
49 Matti Lehto Putney Cycles
50 Chris Smith Python RT
51 Tim Kearley Rapha Condor CC
52 Simon Notley Reading CC
53 Jason Painton Rides on Air
54 Andrey Padiy Rollapaluza CC
55 Sam Lawson Spirit RT
56 Andrew Brown Spirit RT
57 Tom Caldwell St Ives CC
58 Jeremy Read Swindon Wh
59 Mickael Metayer Thames Velo
60 Paul Buckley Thames Velo
61 Julian Mills Tm Corley Cycles/Cervello/Alpha RC
62 Adam Elderfield Tm Quest/Bike Shop
63 Mick Fuller Tm Quest/Bike Shop
64 Samuel Price Tm Synergy
65 Campbell Noon Tm Virgin Active
66 Nick Hinze Tm Zappi’s
67 Gunther Zechmann Tm Zappi’s
68 Roger Prior Tm Zappi’s
69 Henry Latimer Tm Zappi’s
70 Matthew Derrick Tm Zappi’s
71 Simon Parker Tm Zappi’s
72 Declan Higgins Twickenham CC/Evans
73 Vaughan Moseley Twickenham CC/Evans
74 William Rudgard University of Birmingham/Cult
75 Joe Holloway VC10
76 Kevin Holloway VC10
77 Mike Betts Vegetarian C&AC
78 Mathew Wakeford Wyndymila Maxifuel
