Major road racing and mountainbike on one day was always an ambitious event,
which was successfully delivered thanks to the help of very many people. The
event really was blessed with good weather even when a very heavy shower broke
to bring the most spectacular rainbow right at the end of Eastway’s last ever
MTB event.

A rainbow closed the day

Road
Youth road races managed by the Lee Valley Youth CC were a little down on numbers
owing to selection and Talent Team camps during half-term week but the quality
of racing remained high as the young riders put on a good show, giving it their
all. On a drying track racing was largely free of incident, though a tumble
in the u14 cat B race brought a good performance from the winner Oliver Rossi
as he recovered and chased down the two who were away. Dominic Schils, under
16 winner after a cat-and-mouse late lap went on to finish a respectable 17th
in a field of over 90 3rd and 4th cat adults.

Adult road racing run by the Eastway Supporters League brought large numbers
and lots of socialising.

The 3rd and 4ths saw many attacks which ultimately came down to a break of three
with Ciclos Uno riders James Jackson and Craig Stevens unable to overcome Steve
Nunn of the Arctic RC.

The Elite race was waved on its way by Magnus Backstedt, visiting Eastway one
final time with the purpose of introducing his young daughter to racing for
the first time. [Her first races on road and MTB were another Eastway success,
so watch out for a budding talent with a famous name in years to come.] Early
attacks led to several breaks which eventually settled to two small groups away
from the main field. A notable chase by local rider Andrew Griffiths of Glendene
CC was cheered on.

The race’s end brought a searing breakaway by Matt Seaton of Rapha Condor
and Chris McNamara of Wildside RT which they sportingly brought to a close by
crossing the line hand-in-hand for an arranged dead-heat. Coming in at around
twenty seconds later, James Taylor brought some consolation for a strong Plowman
Craven presence by taking third place ahead of Rapha Condor‚s Ben Price
with Rafal Radziej of Eastway-based Team Economic Energy and Jason Edwards,
a Wildside RT team-mate of the joint winner. Just behind them in the sprint
came Glendene’s Andrew Griffiths to take first Junior spot alongside team-mate
Alex Dowsett. It finished with two away, chased by ten riders and the pack at
over a minute led in by Daniel Rudd of DeLaune.

Podium presentations were made by Ian Brazier, Eastway‚s first ever winner
when he was an under-14 and Dee Doocey, GLA Chair or Culture Media and Sport
who has sent her thanks for a most enjoyable visit to an Eastway where the buzz
of a thriving sport community was so evident.

Then it was over to the off-roaders organised by Beastway. The circuit had to
cleared of Elite riders almost immediately as the u12 race took off on a short
course with lots of close racing and the largest u12 field ever seen. The Youth
race ranged over possibly the longest ever Beastway course. Having taken fourth
in a road race MTB Youth race winner and Juvenile rider Hugo Humphreys came
home in 28 mins 6 seconds, over a minute ahead of leading Youth Rowan Miller.
Trying not to be partial, race organiser Michael Humphreys has made the Combined
Award to his son Hugo pending a claim by any rider to a better combined result
than first and fourth in events. The Award will be on show at Hog Hill, waiting
to be won the next time when such an event can take place there.

Beastway MTB
The adult Beastway race brought over 150 riders to the line in various starts.
The length of circuit meant that 76 riders each completed four laps in the hour
allotted, with David Miller API/Metrow being first Expert just ahead of Marcos
Schier of Team Torq/Kona and Mick Bell of London Fire Brigade taking first Master’s
spot with third place only a minute down, having passed all earlier-starting
Expert riders apart from two in with fourth placed master Stuart McGee of Evans
Cycles.

With many more signing-on than expected it was good to have so many willing
hands. Apologies from the organiser for delays in obtaining result sheets, from
the ESL for not having enough change and from the café for running out
of cakes not long before the end of the day. These faults were simply the signs
of an incredibly busy day. A big thank you to everyone who helped make the Evans
Cycles Eastway Closure Finale such a success. See you at The Royals in Docklands
on a 1km road circuit from February until we move to the high pastures of Hog
Hill in the autumn of 2007.

With youth and junior prospects such as we’ve seen from Eastway’s great 30 years,
we have every reason to look forward to a fantastic build-up to the London Games
and beyond. 2012. Bring it ON!

Michael Humphreys
Organiser
Chair, Eastway Users Group

ESL RR’s
Elite 1 2 road race – Duration 60 minutes
Joint 1st Matt Seaton/Chris MacNamara RaphaCondor/Wildside RT
3rd James Taylor Plowman Craven RT
4 Ben Price Rapha Condor
5 Rafal Radziej Tem Economic Energy
6 Jason Edwards Wildside RT
7 Andrew Griffiths Glendene CC (first junior)
8 Alex Dowsett Glendene CC
9 Chaz Hollosi Gemini BC
10 Russell Hampton private
11 Philip Fizzel Ipswich
12 Daniel Rudd DeLaune
13 Adam Norris Plowman Craven RT
14 Bryan Taylor VC Londres
15 Sam Humpheson London Dynamo (first 2nd cat)

3 & 4 road race – Duration 50 minutes
1st Steve Nunn Arctic RT
2nd Craig Stevens Ciclos Uno
3rd James Jackson Ciclos Uno
4 Vincent Davison Victoria
5 David Farrow Eagle
6 Tony Smedley Private
7 Paul Martin Easterly Roads
8 Trevor Burke North Road
9 Nicholas Stacey Evans Cycles RT
10 James Conway Victoria
1st 4th cat Nick Stacey Evans Cycles RT
1st Junior (Youth A) Dominic Schils – Interbike RT
1st Woman Susan Wood ˆ Southend Whls

Youth RR – Organised in conjunction with Lee Valley Youth CC
Youth E race – 3km
1st David Barnes Team Keyne
2nd Lauren Murphy Team Keyne
3rd Tristan Price LVYCC
4 Dytan Gray private
5 Thomas Newton LVYCC

Youth D Road Race – 6km
1st Gabriel Parle Brighton Mitre
2nd Tom Franklin GS Avanti
3rd Andrew Bird LVYCC
4 Samuel McGowan LVYCC
5 Joe Murphy LVYCC

Youth C Road Race ˆ 8km
1st Edward Bird LVYCC
2nd Josh Green LVYCC
3rd Daniel Murphy Team Keyne
4 Daniel Young LVYCC
5 Alex Minting Sheffield Phoenix

Youth B Road Race ˆ 12km
1st Oliver Rossi LVYCC
2nd Jack Waller Interbike RT
3rd Will Meadows IBC
4 Hugo Humphreys LVYCC
5 Brock Duncumb Rogers PPYCC

Youth A Road Race ˆ 16km
1st Dominic Schils Interbike RT
2nd Adam Gent Sussex Nomads CC
3rd Jake Butler Sutton CC
4 Mario Morais Team Economic Energy
5 Joe Nash LVYCC

MTB – Organised in conjunction with Beastway Structureless Tyranny
U12 MTB SC ˆ Duration 15 mins
1st Andrew Rogers
2nd Alex Minting Sheffield Phoenix
3rd Josh Green LVYCC
4 George Wood Southend Wheelers
5 Emily Barnes Team Keyne
6 1st u10 David Barnes Team Keyne

Youth & Juvenile MTB XC
1st Hugo Humphreys (J) LVYCC
2nd Rowan Miller (Y) Larkfield Cycles
3rd Thomas Humphrys (Y) Sutton CC
4 Stuart Stares (Y) ? (and we still have your prize)
5 Taylor Johnstone (J) Herne Hill YCC
1st Juvenile Hugo Humphreys LVYCC
1st Female Samantha Bryant Marin UK

Beastway Results from www.beastway.com
1 David Miller API/Metrow 1st Expert M
2 Marcos Schier Team Torq / Kona 2nd Expert M
3 Mick Bell Corridori 1st Master M
4 Stuart McGhee 2nd Master M
5 Shawn Blakey Ride Beyond 3rd Master M
6 Rowen Smith 3rd Expert M
7 Sylvain Garde Addiscombe CC Master M
8 Paul Beales Orange Monkey Expert M
9 Allen Orange Monkey Master M
10 Sam Humpheson London Dynamo/Cyclefit Master M
11 James Lyon De Laune CC Expert M
12 James Price Chelmer CC Master M
13 Joel Kirkwood Master M
14 Mark Neill Ride Beyond / Springhead Master M
15 Nik Pullen Marjislarge Master M
16 Carl McDonagh BrixtonCycles 1st GrandVet M
17 Peter St.Amour NWMBA Master M
18 Paul Troughton London Phoenix 1st Sport M
19 Matthew Lewis West Drayton MBC/Specialized/Beyond Master M
20 William Thompson Expert M
21 John Cordery Basildon Timber 1st Veteran M
22 Russ Jones Mosquito Master M
23 Tom Underhill Ride Beyond Master M
24 James Watson Master M
25 Matt Gallagher PCA Ciclos Uno Master M
26 Stuart Lockyear London Phoenix Veteran M
27 Paul Wilkinson Team Torq Bar Sport M
28 Tony Cavender Gemini BC Master M
29 Nathan Miller Ipswich BC Sport M
30 Graham Pentney Mad Cow Racing 1st Singlespeed

Adam Towers Lee Valley Velo 1st Junior
Sarah Owan Ride Beyond 1st Sport F
Abigail Armstrong London Phoenix 1st Veteran F
Matthew Burgess 1st Novice M