Location: Virginia Water, Surrey
Event: 15 April 2012
Natalie Creswick (Mulebar Girl) raced to an emphatic victory in the Twickenham CC Dave Peck Memorial Ladies Race.
On North Surrey roads often used for road racing, the 2nd round of the Women’s National Team Series was held on Sunday 15th April, organised by Twickenham CC.
After a number of crashes, including a serious accident last year, the organisers were considering not running the event this year, but after the death of Dave Peck last year, a guiding light in Twickenham CC and of this event, it was felt that the Dave Peck Memorial, as it has been renamed, should continue.
The day dawned dry and sunny, although with an increasingly cold wind blowing the race rolled out from the HQ at Virginia Water. Almost immediately after the neutralised section 2 riders broke away, Annabel Simpson (Matrix Fitness – Prendas) and Natalie Creswick (Team Mulebar Girl), gaining a 30 second gap.
The 2 girls worked well together, each taking their turn at the front, and despite various efforts from the bunch to bring it back, a noticeable one from Amy Roberts (Scott Contessa), the break was maintained at around 30 seconds for the 13 laps around Valley End, which the bunch just could not pull back.
The race then moved onto 5 laps of the Staple Hill Circuit, and on the first climb of Staple Hill, into a strong headwind, Natalie gapped her breakaway partner Annabel, who was soon after caught by the bunch.
Some confusion then ensued within the bunch as to whether anyone else was away. By the time they realised, Natalie had pushed on to put 2 minutes into the bunch, which she then continued to increase to nearly 3 minutes.
Despite a concerted effort by the bunch Natalie maintained the gap and crossed the line in a solo victory, a long way ahead of the 2nd place sprint, which was won by the Junior Women’s World Road Race Champion, Lucy Garner (Node 4) from Amy Roberts (Scott Contessa).
Dave Peck - Twickenham CC
Dave was a true inspiration, always there to greet every single member, he always found out when members were riding their first road race and went along to cheer them on, with his eloquent long emails rallying members to take part in, or marshal, races being sorely missed as well as his helping hand when riders were struggling on a club run.
Dave's partner Sol Findley rode the race in his honour as Dave always wanted her to race. With the rest of the Twickenham team they lead out the peloton as a mark of respect for Dave. Sol turned to cycling about 4 years ago where she then met Dave.
Dave will be missed as a dear friend, his laughter and camaraderie giving a welcome lift to your day and his support on race day will be very much missed but his legacy lives on at Twickenham CC.
Results:
E/1/2/3/4:
1 Natalie Creswick (Mulebar Girl) 2:13:00
2 Lucy Garner (Node 4 Giordana Women’s Team) @ 3:19
3 Amy Roberts (Scott Contessa Epic)
4 Elinor Barker (Scott Contessa Epic)
5 Corrine Hall (Node 4 Giordana Women’s Team)
6 Gabriella Shaw (For Viored)
7 Sarah Reynolds (Matrix Fitness - Prendas)
8 Mary Evans (High Wycombe CC)
9 Emily Kay (Scott Contessa Epic)
10 Molly Weaver (Scott Contessa Epic) all @ same time
British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.
