On Saturday, Jamie Lowden splendidly represented the Lewes team in the CC Basingstoke promoted, Surrey League road race for second & third cat riders. The event was run over eight laps on an undulating course near Petersfield. This testing circuit includes a challenging 20% climb near the end of each loop.
On the second lap Jamie attacked on the climb with a group of about ten forming at the top. Jamie attacked again and got a healthy gap which he held for the next four laps. He was joined by three other riders with two laps to go. Reaching the final climb the chasing peloton had closed the gap to about 20 seconds, so Jamie and one other rider launched themselves off the front and they were level with 200 metres to go, when Jamie started his sprint taking a brilliant win, his first at this level.
Sunday saw a thrilling battle unfold in the ESCA two-up time trail which resulted in a closely fought battle between the Lewes pairings of Tom Glandfield and Peter Morris, Nick Dwyer and Rob Pelham and the very strong Eastbourne Rovers team of Iain Brogden and Matthew Wood.
The two-up discipline demands a symbiotic understanding from the pairings. Ideally both riders should be of equal ability and pace each other around the course, each taking turns to lead whilst the other rider takes shelter and recovers in the draft. If the workload is equally shared the mutual benefits to each rider will be significant.
Unfortunately, this egalitarian state seldom exists, for in most instances one rider is stronger than the other. In such cases team work and continual communication are vital, for if the stronger rider is not aware of his fellow rider’s weaknesses the elastic will snap and the pair will not perform to their maximum potential.
The route followed an undulating circular course from the top of the Broyle to return via Earwig corner with the Baltic conditions calling for fortitude from all the riders as they battled against the near freezing weather.
A thrilling denouement to the race saw the Eastbourne pairing reverse the result from last year to earn a well-deserved victory crossing the line in 53:35. In second spot were the Lewes pairing of Glandfield & Morris who gave their all to finish completely spent in a time of 54:12. Pelham & Dwyer were close on their heels in time of 54:43, with James Ryan & Rob Rollings coming home fourth in a creditable time of 57:18.
Other Lewes times were: Duncan Fuller & Dominic Lowden 59:16, Neil Midgley & Michael Turner 59:55, John & Kate Mankelow 1:16:12. Alan Lloyd rode a solo ride in 1:05:23.
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