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Mildenhall Rally 2009 Report By Alex Eason

Record Chelmer attendance was seen at this year’s Mildenhall Rally held in and around Riverside Middle School home of the rally since 1997. 29 Chelmers stayed over the weekend and with the majority competing in the various events on offer there was bound to be a heady mix of news and views as the Chelmer attempted to make their mark.

Saturday 29th

By the time your author had arrived on the Saturday the Chelmer had already recorded some notable successes with Jordan Denyer, Harry Babbs and Kye Denyer cleaning up with 1st place in the Go-Ride skilful riding team points competition. The significance of this early result was only to become apparent as the weekend progressed with the Chelmer youth leading the way in the Chelmer quest for honours.

Ladies grasstrack racing had already begun but despite valiant efforts from stalwart Annie Shuttleworth the podium was not troubled by another Chelmer jersey that day.

So it was with great anticipation that the Chelmer masses gathered late in the day for the start of the main event proper, the evening barbeque. Many Chelmers took the opportunity to hydrate with liberal quantities of hop and grape, some taking the opportunity more than others as will become apparent. Your author wisely recognising it’s a marathon not a sprint (or was he just a lightweight?) retired before the close.

Sunday 30th

Sunday dawned to clear skies and the morning was spent assembling the various bikes and offerings that were to do battle that day. It was a particularly stressful time for our team manager, Graham Painter, as he attempted to piece together the right combination of bikes and equipment and as a seasoned campaigner on the grass, Graham displayed admirable calm and patience in preparing us all for the rigours that we were to face.

Whilst this was taking place Aaron Freeman was setting the early pace with victory in the 6-7 years duathlon and was ably supported with strong performances from Bobby Babbs (5th), Kye Denyer (2nd), Jordan Denyer (2nd), Ewan Rex (9th), Patrick Gray (11th), Sherilyn Powell (5th) and Catherine Gray (7th) in their respective categories.

As final preparations were made for the grass track racing, starting at noon, it was realised that the Branster was nowhere to be seen. A loose cannon at the best of times, this was not considered unusual but on closer investigation it became apparent that he was still in his tent paying the price for his previous night’s exuberances. Sadly his condition left him unable to compete on the grass that day leaving six brave Chelmers – Graham, Annie, Erron, Chris Boakes, Grant Rex and Alex – to fire themselves up for hostilities that lay ahead that afternoon.

This report is purposely weighted towards the preparations as were it solely to report on the racing and results it would provide somewhat sparse copy. It quickly became apparent that the focus of the weekend’s grasstrack racing was to become the consolation Devil to be held the following day for those rides not winning a prize over the weekend. Despite valiant efforts the only results of note were Chris Boakes’ fine ride to 6th place in the Devil and Alex’s 4th place in the 3k scratch.

Not to be downhearted a quick supper led to the evening’s entertainment in the form of roller racing held in tropical temperatures in the main hall. Renewed enthusiasm led to Daniel Babbs recording a scorching 18.22s in the 500m time trial closely followed by Trevor Walters and Grant Rex. In the subsequent 1000m handicap final Trevor produced a fine ride to record a victory over none other than Mildenhall legend Max Pendleton who could not close the gap on Trevor’s furious peddling. Mitch Powell stormed to victory in the under sixteens 500m handicap much to the disappointment of the young Maldon rider who looked close to tears. Sherylin Powell was 2nd, Mitch 3rd and Patrick Gray 4th in the under sixteens overall.

Monday 31st

A cloudy morning greeted our intrepid band as they rose from their beds with renewed focus for the day ahead.

Yet again the Chelmer youth led the way. In the under 9s cyclocross Aaron Freeman was 2nd, Harry Babbs 4th and Kye Denyer 6th. Mitch Powell competing in the under 12s came in 4th over a testing course.

The big news of the day was the appearance of Director Sportif Paul Newman, a regular Chelmer competitor on hard and grass track over many years, who had arrived to impart his words of wisdom and whip the team into shape.

Inspired by the arrival of DS Newman the grass team was up to full strength for the final day of racing. The Branster returned and rumours that the Captain’s bike, kindly loaned to the team for the weekend, had been sold at the cycle jumble for beer money proved unfounded and so it was with great pride that a record 7 Chelmers lined up to contest the final day’s racing.

First event was the 800m scratch and with a Chelmer rider in almost every heat surely this was the moment. However Chelmer jerseys came and went, dispatched by fitter and stronger riders unsportingly riding harder and faster than anything the Chelmer could muster. Graham and Erron rode strongly and were unlucky not to progress.

The team pursuit is always a highlight and the Chelmer were the only club to enter two teams. Both put in excellent performances riding as a team and each year the team gets stronger.

The final event of the day, the consolation Devil, saw all seven Chelmer riders line up in a last gasp bid for glory. With prizes to 8th surely this was the moment. Chris Boakes set the pace on the front as riders began to be eliminated. With sheer numbers in the event some Chelmers inevitably fell by the wayside but as the pace quickened Alex hung on for 6th and the glory of a £5 note for his troubles. It was a great effort by the team and a fine way to finish the weekends racing.

FULL RESULTS BELOW

Apologies if anyone is missed from the above or any minor inaccuracies. Whilst it’s great to see so many members in attendance it makes record keeping a tough task!

With thanks to Graham and Annie for coordinating the weekend and keeping us all in line. Also to Paul Newman and Antony Stapleton for the loan of equipment to enable as many members to ride as possible.

CHELMER CC RESULTS

100k AUDAX
Chris & Val
Trevor Walters

300k AUDAX
Ed Nevard

GO-RIDE SKILLFUL RIDING TEAM POINTS COMPETITION

1st Chelmer CC (Jordan Denyer, Harry Babbs, Kye Denyer)

DUATHLON

3 – 5 years
5th Bobby Babbs (Age 3)

6 – 7 years
1st Aaron Freeman (Age 7)
2nd Kye Denyer (Age 7)

8 – 10 years
2nd Jordan Denyer (Age 10)
9th Ewan Rex (Age 9)

11 – 13 years
11th Patrick Gray (Age 13)

14+ years
5th Sherilyn Powell
7th Catherine Gray

CYCLOCROSS

Under 9s
2nd Aaron Freeman
4th Harry Babbs
6th Kye Denyer
17th Hannah Rowling
20th Bobby Babbs

Under 12s
4th Mitchell Powell
16th Ewan Rex
18th Sam Rowling
19th Jordan Denyer

MAD MADISON CYCLOCROSS

8th Chris Boakes & Daniel Babbs

ROLLER RACING

500m TT

Under 16s
2nd Sherilyn Powell 24.26s
3rd Mitchell Powell 25.77s
4th Patrick Gray 26.29s

Seniors
5th Daniel Babbs 18.77s
9th Trevor Walters 20.22s
10th Grant Rex 20.49s

750m Scratch Race

Under 16s
2nd Sherilyn Powell
3rd Patrick Gray

500 m Handicap Under 16s
1st Mitchell Powell
2nd Sherilyn Powell

1000m Handicap Seniors
1st Trevor Walters
(3rd Max Pendleton Mildenhall CC)

GRASS TRACK

Sunday – Devil – 6th Chris Boakes
Sunday – 3k scratch – 4th Alex Eason
Monday – Consolation Devil – 6th Alex Eason

Monday – 1 lap Allcomers running race – 1st Chris Boakes

Further news and pictures

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