The racing has all finished for the '09 season and I look back on it not sure what to make of it all. Maybe I'm getting too old for this racing lark, maybe it's time to find something else to do.
The season started well and I really enjoyed the winter racing at Hog hill, completing most of the races and coming away with 4 top 10 finishes in 6 races. The final winter race was going really well I was feeling very strong and in a prime position coming into the last lap just as I got a puncture. All…
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Added by Scott Bentley on November 22, 2009 at 12:30pm —
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First race of the season I was marshalling and so didn't race - thank god as there were over 80 riders that night
Race 2 washed out.
Race 3, I was there on time and done all the things I needed to do.
First few laps were fast as per usual, however I'm begining to think actually it's just that I'm not warmed up properly, and it takes a few laps for me to get up to temperature. However after a few laps I found myself at the back of the first group and we had split from the main field. Must have b…
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Added by Scott Bentley on May 5, 2009 at 11:20pm —
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I am a fan of Hog hill, I've never made any secret of this, it has a great surface, a well designed and flexible layout and a testing hill. However my only gripe is that the bottom part of the circuit seems to be prone to flooding with water collecting in the worst possible places. I'm hoping as the circuit matures this will become less of a problem as the vegetation will hold onto the water better. As you can tell from this intro the bottom half of the circuit was waterlogged... Again. So the r…
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Added by Scott Bentley on February 14, 2009 at 9:00pm —
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I was apathetic about this race from the start, in fact I was apathetic about it the day before.
Anyway I gave Eryn a lift to the race this week and we were running late from the start, but we made up time in the car and got to the circuit with the Cat 4's already racing.
I went in to sign on and then realised I hadn't packed my base layer, and with it feeling around 0º with the wind chill I was gonna have a cold race. Then a more important issue raised it's head, I had forgotten my race licens…
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Added by Scott Bentley on January 31, 2009 at 8:41pm —
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Today has been rushed and hassled, traffic seemed to heavier and all the lights seemed to be against me and I had Rach and Fred with me, so the car was full to bursting. On the way I got a call from Mark telling me that only the top circuit was open, but I has half way there by then so I continued to the circuit. It turned out that the bottom section had ice and mud all over it and it wasn't safe to race on. I got there late to be met by Mark running up the hill with a puncture, I leant him my s…
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Added by Scott Bentley on January 24, 2009 at 8:00pm —
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A dry, bright, mild but windy day at Hog hill this week. I arrived a bit later than usual just to see the start of the 4th cat race, and it was great to see so many Dulwich riders lined up on the start line. Well done to everyone, especially Eoin who managed a great ride on his own after an off on the 2nd lap.
Anyway, the 3/4 race was another fast one with people going from the gun, not wanting to see a break happen so early, I got to the front and quickly chased the group down. Probably doing…
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Added by Scott Bentley on January 17, 2009 at 9:30pm —
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After my last outing to "the hill" two weeks ago I thought I'd give it another shot and see if it was just an easy race or a bit of a fluke. I wasn't able to do last weeks due to a cold and I turned up to this race with the remnants of the same cold still lurking. On the way the thermometer in the car read 0º and it never got above that for the entire race, however that didn't seem to deter the entrants as it was the largest field to date, with around 35 in the cat 3/4 race.
After reading the la…
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Added by Scott Bentley on January 10, 2009 at 5:30pm —
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Well I've been saying I'd do this race all through the summer and I thought I should at least have one go even if I rolled in last. I decided I'd try my hand at the 3/4 race first so I rocked up nice and early to get a feel for the place. I was pleasantly surprised, a nice club house for the spectators with a tea bar and cakes, excellent quality track and a video camera there for placings. Just a shame the finish line was on the top of the hill. So to the hill, yes it's a decent one and steeper…
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Added by Scott Bentley on December 27, 2008 at 4:38pm —
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The final Palace race tonight and I am sorry to see it come to an end. It was a short and fast race down to 20 laps for the E,1,2s and 17 for us 3,4s with prizes for the top four places.
I was caught a bit off guard and for the first few laps I was quite far down the pecking order in about 20th, I also didn't notice that I hadn't started my computer. The laps seemed to be ticking away a lot faster than usual and it looked like there were a lot of strong riders out for a last hurrah. I had almost…
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Added by Scott Bentley on August 26, 2008 at 10:46pm —
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After not competing at Palace last week I was ready to go racing again at our local circuit. I had decided to brave it and bring Cervélo #2. For those that don't know, Madison were very kind in replacing my last frame which had suffered a broken rear seat stay.
I had put the bike back together but given the job of installing the BB, checking the headset and setting up the front and rear mechs to Edwardes the previous weekend, a job it seemed that was outside of their abilities.
Anyway after much…
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Added by Scott Bentley on July 31, 2008 at 12:30am —
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Back on the horse as they say…
I hadn't done a SERRL race since my adventure down 'the Dulwich ditch' and my first one back was the same place I had hobbled from only a month or so earlier. This time I decided not to bring my best bike but the trusty Canyon which thankfully hasn't been requested back. (I'm hoping they've forgotten about it)
A sold out race promised a field of 60 riders but as we rolled away from the scout hut I would have been surprised if I counted 40.
The first lap was unevent…
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Added by Scott Bentley on July 28, 2008 at 11:55pm —
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I'm sitting behind the London dynamo guy, just beaten by Max from VCL
Looking at the start sheet I was feeling quite confident, however after signing on, spinning round the track a few times and lining up I saw a number 60 on someones back, so there was a decent turnout to this race…
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Added by Scott Bentley on July 19, 2008 at 8:34pm —
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With the forecast looking miserable all week I thought there was no point getting ready for the race at Palace that evening, so I went to work totally unprepared. When I looked out of the window at about 4 it was clearing up and the sun was slowly putting his hat on, so i thought I'd chance my arm, nip home and get changed.
Dressed in my shiny new Dulwich kit I turned up to sign on to find barely anyone else there, good I thought the possibility of some points, at last.
On the start line we were…
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Added by Scott Bentley on July 9, 2008 at 10:49pm —
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After a slightly disappointing race last week I really wanted to prove that my top 15th place a few weeks earlier wasn't a fluke and I could mix it with the top 3rd cats again. On the way to Palace though my legs and back had other ideas and my body was saying 'go home, no one will
…
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Added by Scott Bentley on June 26, 2008 at 2:00pm —
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I need me one of these
My first race since the ditch incident at Kenardington and I was slightly nervous about getting back on the bike in a race situation. However I turned up early as part of my new routine and signed on, then rode off and did a few hill reps to get some…
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Added by Scott Bentley on June 18, 2008 at 7:37pm —
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SERRL 12 Kenardington. I really fancied this race, Guy was saying how much he enjoyed riding this course and how it should favour the both of us. Guy and I travelled down to the race start and signed on, I got my number '21' which added together gives my lucky number of 3 - a g…
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Added by Scott Bentley on June 1, 2008 at 5:00pm —
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Today was a good day… It was the Cervélo's first race tonight and she didn't disappoint, however how much of tonight was down to the bike and how much was down to the preparation we may never know.
This week I made sure I didn't get cold, I got there early as before, registered, had my…
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Added by Scott Bentley on May 20, 2008 at 10:30pm —
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I have no excuses, today everything leading up to the race was done as it should, I got a to Palace early and signed on, had a nice chat with the other Dulwich riders and got couple of laps warm up in before positioning myself on the front of the 3/4 group. I went into the first corner about 10th and exited about 14th, went…
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Added by Scott Bentley on May 13, 2008 at 11:18pm —
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The day started with dropping off all the bits for the Cervélo build at Edwardes and then scooting over to Guy's to pick him up for the Cat 3 race at MOD Chertsey. I've never raced here before so Guy was giving me the lowdown on the circuit and previous races he'd done here. So it was good to get a bit of an insight, as well as this Guy did say that he'd never seen a break stay away here before, so with that in mind I decided to just keep in the front third and wait out the sprint.
We were told…
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Added by Scott Bentley on May 10, 2008 at 9:52pm —
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Oh yes! It has landed and it sitting by my side as I type this. Already booked into Edwardes to be built on Monday with full DA groupset, DA wheels, lightweight cassette and chain from CarbonTec and Ritchey finishing kit.
It's first outing could be as early as next Tuesday at Palace, i…
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Added by Scott Bentley on May 8, 2008 at 3:43pm —
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