Felt Colbornes Team

Felt – Colbornes Cycling Team

This weekend saw the launch and start to a successful 2010 racing season for the Felt Colbornes Cycling Team. Colbornes Group hosted the event at their Camberley Audi HQ, an evening of drinks, cake and men in lycra.

Colbornes Group, with Audi, VW and Skoda dealerships in Guildford, Basingstoke, Camberley, Walton and Woking, have joined forces with Saddleback Ltd, importers of Felt Bicycles, SRAM, Zipp, Castelli, Vredestein and Accerlerade, Roadwheel.co.uk of Fleet and Tiger Communications (Tigercomms.com) to create and support a UK cycling team who will target the UK’s elite racing calendar.

The Racing team have been well tooled for the job, Colbornes Group have supplied and brand new Skoda Octavia Estate car for support in the Premier racing events. Saddleback Ltd has supplied the team, with Felt AR1 bicycles custom specified.

With this additional support the team has been able to add to the rider line up and bring in some real firepower to ensure the team is one of the most competitive on the UK circuit.

The Team Line up:

Justin Hoy – E    Richard Mardle – 1st    Tim Elverson – E    John Wager – E   Lee Smith – E   Duncan Jamieson – 1st   Pete Wager – 1st   Tom Smith – E   James Taylor – 1st   David Curtis’Whitfield – 2nd   Ian Legg – E   Gary Clark – 2nd

Justin Hoy (Rider and Manager) “We would all like to thank our sponsor for which this otherwise wouldn’t be possible, the team and the 2010 calendar is an exciting one, not just for the results we will achieve, but for Cycling as a whole. The profile cycling and racing in the UK has increased over the past couple of years and thanks to this, cycling has become a lot more media friendly. With out this, the level of support available today wouldn’t be about. For the Felt Colbornes Racing Team, 2010 will be a fast one!”

To follow or support the progress of the Felt Colbornes log onto Feltracing.co.uk or pop into any Colbornes Dealership.

This is not so much a post about the race but the extended mission we undertook just to make it to the startline on time.

The story begins with Justin almost losing the van down one of the many man size craters currently plaguing Hampshires roads, putting the faint hiss down to his taste in music he picked Lee up and made it a further 20 miles before being faced with a very flat tyre. The provided inflation kit failed to make any difference so it was time to call in rider/ sponsor  Tim to help out. Tim kindly dropped everything and headed over to remove the wheel, take it back to for a replacement tyre and return to the van.

Whilst this excitement was happening I’d been dropped at the services in Didcot and was still waiting for a lift. When it became clear that it would be sometime before that would happen I had to ride home with no lights, a full kit bag, a wheel bag and track pump on unlit roads and a brand new pair of tubs!

Justin finally made it to mine for 12:30 and we rolled into the hotel at 3:15am for a very welcome 4hrs sleep. Breakfast was a very quick affair before jumping in the van and heading out to the start of the Eddie Soens. This is a very prestigious race with many fine winners over the years.

We were immediately in the thick of the action trying to get into moves with some of the biggest teams in the UK.

Unknown to us the Juniors had made contact with the Elite group and despite numerous attacks they couldn’t be shaken. It was not for lack of trying as the average speed for the 80km race was over 50km/h!

With the finish looming and many unaware they were sprinting for very minor placings all the big teams moved forwards in the hope of placing their sprinters in pole position. Lee made the most of this work to drift between the various trains to pop out of the final corner in the top 10 and finishing a highly respectable 4th.

Come along to the Felt Colbornes Cycling Team Launch this Saturday (6th march), held at: Camberley Audi, 507 London Road, Camberley GU15 3JE

Drinks and Mrs Hoys cakes a plenty!

from 5-7pm

For directions check out: colbornes.co.uk

With the new team bikes arriving just before our looming trip to Gran Canaria a little try out was called for to make sure everything was working.

Ian, Justin and myself made the trip down to a damp and windy Portsmouth track and from the gun set about stamping our authority onto the race. First Ian made the break of 3, I jumped across a lap later and Justin, in his usual relaxed way, decided it was more fun up front and joined us 4 laps later.

We had lapped the field with just 25 minutes of racing completed and continued to press all the way to the end. Ian clipped off the front in a small group forcing rival teams to chase and allow Justin and I a breather before the pace lifted in the last few laps.

First, second and fourth was a great result that owed as much to team work as a fantastically fast new bike.

The team bikes this year are based around the AR1 frameset with a full SRAM Force groupset. This is finished off with a Ritchey WCS stem, Zipp SL handlebars, Zipp bottle cages and a Devox carbon saddle. In this picture I’m running the wheels from last seasons Felt DA, a massive 1080 rear and 808 front running Zipp Tangente 23mm tubs.

Looks out for pics of my brothers pimped out AR1 complete with Vuma Quad crankset, coming soon from sunny GC.

john

The new strengthened Felt racing team from 2009 is for 2010 the Felt-Colbornes Race Team. With five new riders and two new sponsors the team is ready for 2010. Joining the team as a headline sponsor is www.colbornes.co.uk the Audi, VW and Skoda dealerships in Guildford, Basingstoke, Camberley, Walton and Woking. They have stepped in as the main financial backing and vehicle sponsor making more us competitive with the full time teams in the Premier and Tour Series events. Also www.tigercomms.com the global leaders in call management technology have boosted the financial help. As well as continued support from www.roadwheel.co.uk tyres and exhausts great deals in Fleet Hants.
With the more help from Saddleback ltd the distributor of Felt, SRAM, Zipp, Castelli and Vredestein. We are able to add an additional seven riders including the 2006 National Circuit Champion James Taylor, and brothers Matthew and Richard Kipling, Tom Smith, Ian Legg, Peter Wager and Garry Clark.
The key part of the team is we all get on well, and all having fulltime jobs whilst not full time professionals, the superb past results and strong team spirit means that the Felt-Colbornes Race Team expect to be competitive with the UK’s best and aim to cause a few upsets along the way.
At the end of February we are planning a training camp in Gran Canaria to prepare for our season starting off at the Severn Bridge RR on the 7th of March as this is sponsored by Saddleback. Full list of riders below please come say hello during the season and have a look at our cool team bike

Justin Hoy (Team Manager)
Tim Elverson
John Wager
Lee Smith
Richard Mardle
James Taylor (former PCA rider)
Tom Smith (AW Cycles)
Ian Legg (Owen Cycles)
Matthew Kipling (Team Kenesis)
Richard Kipling (MTS Cycle sport)
Peter Wager (VC Meudon)
Garry Clark (Banjo Cycles)

Saturday the 15th saw the coming together of the Big Dog’s of Cycling. Magnus Backstead,  Yanto Barker and the Big Dog Himself….Me! For the Brighton Big Dog Mountain bike race.

Pairing up with the local Caravan expert of the Cycling world, Paul Hopkins of BMV Leisure….plug… We competed in the 6hr Pair. The course was excellent, great climbing, amazing single track and dry! With an MTB Jumble from Retro bike, cakes and propercoffee the event was a true mountain bike festival with a great atmosphere.

The Race! Paul started and came through in 2ndplace not far down off 1st. We pushed on with one lap on, one lap off for the duration, taking the lead on lap two and building on it. We finished 1st and just missed out on clocking up another lap come the finish….a great day out. We cleaned up, packed up and got some chicken from the Barbecue before the prize presentation. A great effort for the ceremony, podium girls, goodie bags and sparkly stuff, you had to make the most of it! Also over the course of the day, I picked up the prize for thr fastest lap and received a very nice model sterling engine which has kept the office amused this week and the kettle on permanent tea duty! 

So, rosette in hand, I am now the official “Big Dog” of Brighton….. Life’s complete.

Will deffinatly return next year: http://www.brightonbigdog.com/

With the speed in which times seems to tick of late, it feels like I’ve been racing and living at 100mph… Where do I start!

The 27th of June, a sunny Saturday morning, in a peaceful part of the new forest, bliss… Then the gun went! Round four of the national Mountain bike series was a go…. Seven laps of the fast, dry course entertained. With a total of 5 SIS smart gels my rocket fueled performance stunned even me! Pushing to the line and finishing 6th, a great result! UCI points and cash to boot!

It’s all about preparation…apparently! The Toucham House Grand Prix road race on the 2ndof August was on the back of an already long weekend of training….in vino consumption! Justin, John, Lee and myself traveled down to Canterbury looking to contend for the £1000 1st place prize. With a pot like that though, so had most of the other “Big Guns” of the UK scene. The Race was punchy from the start, with a great rolling course wand only two little climbs, the laps felt as if the course had more negative flat that up. Perfect! We had some guys in all the breaks, while I sat comfortable in the bunch trying to shake the hang over and eating most of my energy products, well, Haribo. Into the last 20 miles I started to feel fruity and made my way to the front of the pack, just in time to make it into a break, the break! working hard we opened some healthy time into the pack, with the help of the remain (Just Justin, the others felt tired and pulled out!) felt boys covering, the break held! Coming to the line my legs broken, cramp was due any moment, turning left into the finishing climb it struck me down. I pulled myself up over the climb to the finish holding 11th…out of an eleven man break….nice. Then off to Starbucks!

Sunday was the National Master’s Road Race Champs on the Owslebury Nr Winchester. Myself, Tim, John and Warren were out to see how we could go. with the race splitting after 30miles of the 88mile race Me, Tim and Warren all made the front group along with all the other main contenders. Danny Axford was very strong on the climbs of his local course and with 14 miles to go attacked and gapped us quickly getting 30seconds gap with the Corley guys looking at me and me looking at them he soon had 2 miniutes, on the last lap Chris McNamara (Corley Cycles) attacked I jumpped across and we stayed away to the finish. lucky for me Chris can’t sprint so I took 2nd and a Silver Medal, after my 3rd last year.

Tim and Warren unfortunaly had problems Tim punctured and Warren suffered with cramp. Tim came in 7th and John who did the job of slowing the bunch got 10th in the 35-39 age group.

Also last week I won my 13th race of the year at Dunsfold.
Looking forward to the rest of the season now!

With our mid week World Champs suspended for the next 3 weeks we’re having to look further afield for places to conquer. Justin winning on Monday at Upavon, the 4th Felt win in a row there now, the pressure was on.

A quick browse on the British Cycling site and I’d found my target, an hour plus 5 laps round the MK Bowl. The last time I rode this a couple of years ago I had a really hard time so I bided my time until the last few laps when i started cranking up the pressure. Into the last lap and the chase to the lone leader stalled as no one wanted to close the last 100m. As everyone looked around I took my chance and hit the afterburners, catching and then dropping the lone leader to come in well clear of the field.

I’ve not got any pictures from last night but thought I’d include one taken a couple of weeks ago at Thruxton. It’s an ideal place to use the wheels from my Felt DA although the deep rumble makes a surprise attack a bit tricky.

Last Friday saw the 4th and final round of the highly successful circuit race series at Cheltenham Racecourse. Organised by VC Montpellier and generously sponsored by Leisure Lakes, the events have been well organised and supported. With live commentary, drinks and a BBQ, the enthusiastic spectators were kept well entertained.

After finishing 2nd twice, and third in the first race of the series I was totally determined to try and get onto the top step of the podium. The same rider, Perry Bowater had won all three rounds so far, so I decided my aim for the night was to make this race the hardest 1hr bike race his skinny legs had ever experienced. After the neutralised first lap (behind JC in his quality black cab) I put the hammer down almost immediately, hoping to break free and get the first prime. Coming up to the prime line after a lap and a half in the lead, guess who nipped past me to take the prime on the line…. This was war!

Shortly after this a leading break of around 9 riders established at the front of the race. A few riders tried their luck at escaping, and I attempted a few escapes myself, but nothing was staying away from the leading group. The obvious thing in this race, regardless of who rode of the front, I had a permanent annoying shadow in the shape of Perry Bowater. I think he just wanted to follow me around all night, and nip past whenever a prime was available. The angry adrenaline must have helped me in the middle part of this race, as I took 3 primes in a row, winning some cash, and a nice pair of Specialized shades (thanks Leisure Lakes).

With 2laps to go a rider from Echelon Spuik put in a great attack to ride clear of the break. The others in the lead group didn’t seem too keen to chase, so it was down to my team mate Dave and myself to close the gap with half a lap to go. Dave led me into the final climb, and I accelerated with everything I had, going for the line. 10metres from the line a rider levelled with me, and just edged ahead by half a wheel to take the win……Perry Bowater again! That’s racing I guess, but the kid isn’t exactly on my Christmas card list….

As you can see from the photo, close racing for the crowd to witness…..Dave also took third, so two Felt riders on the podium for the second week in a row!

The night wrapped up with the podium presentation and prize giving. It was great to collect a few primes, shades, and enough money for a nice Indian takeaway on the way home. The award of the overall prize however was quite embarrassing to witness. Phil Landry of Leisure Lakes had generously sponsored this series with an overall prize of a 2009 Specialized Allez road bike. As Phil wheeled to bike towards the podium, Perry Bowater seemed reluctant to hold his fantastic prize, let alone muster the strength to pick it up. With the local press there to capture the moment and give Leisure Lakes the press coverage they deserve, the boy could at least have smiled.

 Maybe I had tired him out after all…… 

Despite not quite managing to win a round, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Leisure Lakes series, and hope it resumes next year. I’ll have to practice my sprinting over the winter! Thanks to Phil at Leisure Lakes, and all the boys at VC Montpellier for putting on/supporting a great series.