N&DCA 2015 Round 2 wrap - 25 April 2015

The team was out in strength again in defence of their 2014 team title in the Northampton & District Cycling Association (N&DCA) 10 mile time trial.

11 of the team's scheduled starters participated in the competition but Hugo Hocknell was ruled out due to illness. This event was based on the N1/10 course near Sawtry. A rolling "B Road" with numerous round-abouts made for good competition.

Leading the team in what looks like to be a strong competition was Andy Roffe. 35 seconds separated him from Martin Jones, Sam Hayes and Chris Rimes. Peppering the top 20 with four riders was no mean feat given the gusty conditions.

Andy Blower made his debut with the team, recording a rock solid time of 24m 58s.

Snaps courtesy of Davey Jones (as ever).

Andy Roffe on the way to a brilliant 8th place.

Martin Jones hot on the heels of Andy for 2nd spot in the team

Chris Hartley sporting a new Cervelo P3

Roy "Ox" Robinson

Results
8th Andy Roffe 22.10
11th Martin Jones 22.14
13th Sam Hayes 22.27
18th Chris Rimes 22.45
34th Simon Doyle 23.49
36th Steve Robinson 23.57
48th Andy Blower 24.58
68th Chris Hartley 26.07
77th David Ledgerton 27.25
97th Stuart Hocknell 31.39
99th Roy Robinson 31.47

Full results: TT Forum

The event was won by friend of the team, Simon Norman of Arbis-Colbert, with a time of 21.09.

St Ives CC 10 - 18 April 2015

"The Engine" revved on at the St Ives CC 10 mile time trial on 18 May, 2015. Pick of the bunch was Chris Rimes' top-ten placing in a very strong field. Chris recorded a time of 22.28.

Chris Rimes blasting to a top ten

Hot on Chris's heals were Andy Roffe and Sam "Bling" Hayes with shared honours in joint 12th place (22.40).

Andy Roffe looking narrow and fast on his way to 12th place

Sam Hayes trying to find that crucial second to pip Andy Roffe. An honourable draw!

Dave Wentworth was in the top half of the results board with a time of 25.11.

In the tandem event Steve Robinson and son, Ben, took another 1st place with a time of 26.41.

Thanks to St Ives CC for promoting the event.

Results are available at VeloUK.

Easter Wrap and N&DCA 2015 Round 1 Preview

To wrap the Easter activities up Christ Hartley competed on the F11/10 course in Hertfordshire to tap out a time of 24.46. The newly chipped road surface on the course was not deemed favourable, let's hope the road surface beds down as this is one of the quicker courses in the region.

Looming large on Saturday 11 April, 2015 is the Northampton and District Cycling Association's (N&DCA) Round 1 time trial. Based on a circuit around Middleton in Northants, riders will face 18.7 miles of technical "sporting course" riding. With TSE taking up 10% of the assembled field the team will be optimistic in terms of bagging points against the Association's other clubs in the 10 race series.

Martin Jones and Hugo Hocknell take the first two seeded places (#10 and #20 respectively), Chris Rimes, Andy Roffe and Sam Hayes take "5" places. Stuart Hocknell, Simon Doyle, Steve Robinson and rookie Steve Franklin make up the rest of the squad.

I don't know what this line up means to our competition but it certainly scares the hell out of me.

Team SalesEngine promote successful open time trial - Easter 2015

Saturday 4th April saw the Team move in to organisational and logistical duties with its promotion of the 10 mile time trial near to Cambourne, Cambridgeshire.

A strong field of 89 riders were announced in the preceding week, with local hot-shots Justin Layne (CC Ashwell), Simon Norman (Arbis-Colbert) and Dave McGaw (Cambridge CC) catching the seeder's eye. 

It was favourite and top-ranked Jason Bouttell (VeloVelocity) who triumphed on the day. Going off at #90 meant that suspense was building at the HQ to see who would prevail. It was to be Bouttell's day, being the only rider to break the 30mph barrier (19.57) to nudge ahead of Layne and McGaw who tied for 2nd place (20.04).

Katja Rietdorf (Team Milton Keynes) captured the Ladies' prize by over a minute from Francesca Rust (VeloVelocity). Team Velovelocity also captured the "fastest three" team prize by 1 second over St Ives CC.

Thanks go to the time-keepers, marshals, HQ staff and unsung heroes and heroines who made the race possible.

Full results can be found via Cycling Time Trials.

More top tens - Martin Jones and Sam Hayes are flying

It's still early season, but the Team Salesengine boys are already racking up a stack of top ten placings.

Martin Jones kicked off his season at the Skegness Wheelers 25.  After several weeks of illness Martin wasn't sure how well his form would hold up, but proving that whislt form may be temporary, class is permanent, he stormed round in 1:00:20 for 6th place overall. Suggests that podiums are not far away...

Meanwhile, further in land three of the team were tackling the 19.3 miles of the Icknield Hilly around the tight, twisty and lumpy lanes of Buckinghamshire.  Sam Hayes lead the team home with a strong 46:40 for 7th place overall.

Sam Hayes 

Next up was Steve Robinson who clocked 50:25 for 25th place followed by David Ledgerton with 59:40.

David Ledgerton

Steve Robinson

Eastern Counties Cycling Association (ECCA) 10 Mile Time Trial - 20 March 2015

The Team Salesengeine.co.uk bandwagon rolled out to the wilds of the Cambrideshire/ Suffolk borders to compete in and support the ECCA promoted, 10 mile  time trial on the A11-based, "E2/10" course. 

The team not only fielded a 3 man team in the form of Chris Hartley, Hugo Hocknell and Simon Doyle but were also putting something back in to the sport, with Directeur Sportif Richard Palmer and Chris Rimes pushing off in support of the organisers. Despite being a recently formed racing team, our ethos is always to promote the sport and Chris and Rik gave up their afternoons to support our friends in the ECCA.

Conditions for the riders were cold and blustery with a strong wind whipping in from the north. This made the race a ride of two halves, any assistance gained on the outward leg was neutralised on the homeward leg. The bluster in the wind required maximum concentration for riders on deep section wheels. Hugo continued to progress from his outing at the A5 Rangers event, recording a 23.10. Chris Hartley made his 2015 inaugural ride and notched 25.08, just shy of 24mph average. Doyle continued his early season form (having ridden the Lea Valley CC and Hitchin Nomads CC 2-Ups with comrade Steve Robinson in the preceding weeks) to record 22.34 for the 10 mile distance. 

These performance auger well for the Easter period where several TSE riders will be in action around the sporting course "SPOCO" time trials in the region.

Simon Doyle on the return leg - picture Davey Jones.

Andy Roffe 4th and Chris Rimes 9th at Wisbech Wheelers 10

Cold but calm conditions greeted two of the teams newest (but already fastest) members when Andy Roffe and Chris Rimes made the journey East to the Wisbech Wheelers 10.

Andy managed to record a staggering time of 22:38 on a course that isn't renowned for quick times to bag 4th place on the day, just 40 seconds behind the winner.

After having had several months out last year Chris Rimes demonstrated just how quickly his form is returning with an excellent 23:50 for 9th place overall. It's surely only a matter of a few weeks until Chris is back battling Andy at the sharpest end of the races.

Their times also show how strong the team is becoming, with top 10's are now becoming an almost weekly occurrence, and the new guys fitting in brilliantly and adding great strength in depth to the team.

6th place for Hugo Hocknell at the A5 Rangers

Hugo Hocknell took to the start line of the A5 Rangers 15.4 hilly suffering with the last remnants of a cold and sore throat that has been present for weeks now, so his expectations of a good ride weren't high.

Despite the lingering illness, Hugo managed to record a strong result of 42:47 for 6th place overall against a quality field.  His time was 3 minutes down on his course PB, which shows that he has paid the price for his illnesses, but it also points to strong underlying form once his health recovers.

With the season just getting started there will be plenty of strong rides to come.

Lea Valley 25 - a win for Simon Doyle and Steve Robinson

Warm weather and a robust headwind back from the turn greeted four members of Team Salesengine at the Lea Valley 25 on the notoriously lumpy E1 course at Saffron Walden in Essex.

Simon Doyle and Steve Robinson re-formed their 2-up partnership of 10 years ago to hammer round the course in 1:00:38 to give them the win on the day by 19 seconds.

Steve and Simon enjoying the tailwind and descent to the turn before things got really painful on the return leg.

In the solo event Sam Hayes showed that he has come out of the winter with excellent form, recording 59:59 to take 8th place against a high quality field.

Sam Hayes hammering his way to 8th place.

Chris Rimes looking aero and rapid.

Chris Rimes made his debut in Team Salesengine colours and showed that his form is improving fast after a few months off. His time of 1:01:19 put him right in the hunt and he finished 20th on the day.

The event shows that the team now has amazing strength in depth and it's going to be a rapid year for all!

Top 10 for Andy Roffe and Hugo Hocknell

Most sensible riders are still training in February and waiting on warmer weather to test their racing legs, but the very hardiest decided to start in the last weekend of February at the Kings Cliffe Flyers 12 mile time trial.

Andy Roffe made a strong debut for the squad with an excellent time of 29:46 that placed him 8th on the day. The fact that the very next day he succumbed to a chest infection shows that his underlying form is clearly superb.

Hugo Hocknell was the second member of the team doing battle with the elements, but he was on the comeback from illness rather than about to go down with it! Despite the missed sessions Hugo put in an excellent effort to clock 30:39 for 10th place on the day.

Stuart Hocknell also chose this event to open his account for the year and recorded 41:35.