Westerley Cycling Club

Sustrans campaigns for London cyclists

2012-02-06T17:01:00.000Z

Read the Spring edition of the Sustrans London Magazine here:
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/assets/files/Publications/the%20hub/Sustrans%20the%20hub%20spring%202012%20london.pdf?dm_i=6EB,OUGH,OT4PD,2068D,1

'Go Dutch' on another must join campaign...

2012-02-04T14:13:00.000Z

Momentum is building to provide fit for purpose cycling routes and facilities in London (and the rest of the UK!), with the Go-Dutch campaign which aims to have cycling facilities in the UK improve to match those in Holland. In this year of London Mayor election (Boris - groan!..., Ken - Oh dear!.. We need a write in candidate, but who?) make your voice heard at http://lcc.org.uk/pages/go-dutch - No rants please, submit only fully costed and detailed plans to prospective candidates for implementation in their first 100 days in office.

Isotonic drinks homemade

2012-02-02T18:11:00.002Z

Here's the recipe fellow members:

AA-Make 1 litre, with fruit squash, diluted with 4-5 parts water, add 1/5 of a teaspoon of salt to every litre.

BB-60g of glucose or sugar make up to 1 litre with diluted low-calorie squash, add 1/5 of a teaspoon of salt to every litre. Instead of glucose or sugar, add glucose polymer powder sometimes called maltodextrin. But increase amount to 100g (instead of 60g).

CC-Pure fruit juice diluted 50:50 with water with 1/5 of a teaspoon of salt to every litre.

It may not keep the cold weather at bay but will certainly fuel you up during and after.

Tom

'The Times' are promoting a campaign for safer cycling cities

2012-02-02T16:15:00.000Z

Click on the logo for today's article andAdd your support to 'The Times' campaign here: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/contact/

Team Quest Reliability Ride, Sunday, 29th January

2012-01-31T23:06:00.000Z

2^nd reliability ride of the “Chiltern Classics” but this time starting and finishing from the Girl Guide hut in Ickenham. The event isn’t timed like the Harp Hilly but you do get a free gel, cereal bar and water bottle instead.

Five Westerley riders turned up at the start [Ian, Malcolm, Roly, Tim and myself]. The start was changed from last year, smaller groups (~10/12), each group based on rider ability (fast, medium, slow). We all started in the same group and made our way out towards Gerrards Cross. The first 20 miles of the course is relatively flat so the group stayed together. The temperature wasn’t too bad but the roads were slippery in places. Roly hit some rough road surface at a bad angle and ended up on the ground. Thankfully nothing was broken but perhaps pride and was able to continue.

The pace slowed down considerably around Cookham, and by the time we got to Frieth Rd the group had well and truly spilt. Malcolm set a fast pace, catching up and passing groups which had started earlier than us. It was about Gr Missenden where the group was finally down to five and stayed that way until we returned to Ickenham. We all did turns on the front apart from the guy from the Twickenham CC who did bugger all apart from the last mile where he was quite happy to ride off without even a thanks for dragging him around the course.

We finished in a time of 3hrs 37 averaging just over 18mph for the course. I have to say that the cakes at the HQ were pretty delicious, I was tempted to go for a second slab but thankfully Ian and Malcolm pulled me away … kicking. It was worth it all just for the cuppa and piece of lemon drizzle cake at the end.

The route heads out to Gerrards Cross via Uxbridge, down Fulmer Rd taking a left onto Stoke Common Rd and takes a rather winding route to Wooburn Green, thankfully dropping down Winsor hill and not up. From here the route goes to Cookham via Bourne End. Up Dean Ln and down zig zag hill until we reach Marlow. Up Frieth Rd, right to Lane End crosses the M40 to meet the A40 towards West Wycombe. It then winds through the hills for a bit via Loosley Row, avoiding the worst parts until we come to the Rignall Rd and on to Gr Missenden. After that it’s Holmer Green, Penn Bottom, Knotty Green, Seer Green, Butler’s Cross, Chalfont St Peter and Gerards Cross, down the A40 for a bit and back to Ickenham via Denham Green and Harefield.

Next Sunday is the Hemel Hempstead CC ride and starts in Nash Mills just like for the Harp. Although not as hilly as the Harp it does include Small Dean lane (with a 1 in 4 section, short and sweet) and Frith Hill. You can view the route here http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/27839270. Currently the forecast for the weekend looks to be pretty cold and given the HQ position, it will be an early start if we want to ride over.

Andy you definitely have no excuses now, if you can stand in the cold for 4 or 5 hours watching cyclo cross you can make this event. Disappointing as it may be, you won’t get any Belgian beer at the end just a cuppa and a slab of cake before cycling home again.

UCI World Cyclo-Cross Championship - Belgium

2012-01-31T11:23:00.004Z

Whilst a number of our riders took to the UK streets in the Quest Reliability ride I am running out of excuses not to attend these early season 100km rides - This week my excuse took me to Belgium where I was standing in a cold field watching others playing in a rather large "lumpy" sand pit!

The Womens race was dominated by Marianne Vos from the go, increasing her lead every lap to come in first 41 seconds ahead of second place, the next 40 seconds saw 8 riders over the finish line.

The Mens race started 3 hours after the finish of the Womens, This meant standing in the same cold place to keep my position as the "euro" way is move and loose your place.

The Mens race saw SIX Belgium riders on the front line of the grid, A great advantage for teamwork from the off. Final result saw the first SEVEN! places with Belgium riders being led in by Niels Albert.

Year of the bike

2012-01-29T16:49:00.002Z

Hi All,

I've just been reading an article in the online Observer. There's a couple of paragraphs that caught my eye:

1. It is only January, but this year has already been christened the "year of the bike". The international success of British stars such as Mark Cavendish and Victoria Pendleton has already raised expectations that the Olympics will result in a cycling boom.

As the countdown to the Games continues, retail sector watchers at investment bank Barclays Capital think 2012 will be big for both Cavendish's professional racing outfit, Team Sky, and the general public, who are embracing the grassroots Sky Ride campaign, which aims to get a million more people cycling regularly by next year.

- so more recruits to the club? Should we up our advertising??

2. Bike shops and websites such as Wiggle are also benefiting from a growing obsession with cycling and triathlons among "Mamils" – an analysts' acronym for "middle-aged man in Lycra" – who have swapped teeing off at the golf course on a Saturday morning for gruelling climbs.

- who's a 'Mamil' then? (thank goodness I'm not, I don't qualify on age grounds!)

3. Ideal for bikers in the capital, London Bike Shop (iPhone, £1.49) quickly finds your nearest specialist if you have mechanical trouble, plus useful locations such as cycle-friendly cafes, and call-out repair services.

- This last one is a phone app, I've got visions of Woolsey's sending Dave out with a puncture repair kit to rescue people!! (What do you think guys?)

Vince

Clubroom Social Events for March

2012-01-29T16:02:00.003Z

7 March 2012: Saddlebag sale at the clubroom
Bring your interesting items:
anything from books and memorabilia to aero helmets and disc wheels!

28 March 2012: Quiz night. Hosted by Chris Parrott
Always popular social event at the clubroom.

Harp Hilly Hundred, Sunday 22nd January

2012-01-24T16:21:00.002Z

After a successful tour of the Chiltern classics last year, it was decided to repeat it all again this year. First in the series is the Harp Hilly Hundred. The website describes it as follows;

The ride starts in Kings Langley, Herts and follows a challenging route through the Chilterns via Chesham, Berkhampstead, Whipsnade, Ivinghoe & Tring. It then returns through Ivinghoe and Berkhampstead to finally finish back in Kings Langley. The major ascents include the climbs of Bison Hill near Whipsnade, Aston Hill just outside Tring and Ivinghoe Hill past Ivinghoe Beacon.

First off was at 8:45AM from the Hemel Hempstead CC HQ, and as several of us had decided to ride out, it was a pretty early start. Ian, Vince, Malcolm, Frank and I all met up at the roundabout at the junction between Victoria Rd and Eastcote Ln in South Ruislip. It was a tad cool but dry and the forecast for the day said it would remain that way.

So our little rabble made its way over to Watford, via Eastcote and Northwood Hills where we met up with Tom and Malcolm at the traffic lights on the corner of Oxhey Park. Tom was showing off his brand new winter bike, and very snazzy it looks too. Nice and clean with no paint scratches, wonder how long that will last after a few more winter rides on our roads? We arrived at the HQ at about 8:30AM, thankfully without incident. Last year I had 3 punctures before I had even started, really I should have just gone home at that point. Chris and Tim had taken the decision to drive out so we met them there; we now had 9 in our Westerley group.

Sign on is pretty quick, we all got our timing cards and arranged to do a bulk “time-out”. The route is pretty well signposted and quite a few people were familiar with the way, so the pace was pretty fast from the off. Our group split and reformed several times, but I think it was a junction near Dagnall where the front riders made their escape. We then hit the first major climb (Bison hill) which although not horrendous is still quite challenging. It was after this hill that I started to have trouble keeping up. So around Dunstable I found myself with just Ian to keep me company. Unfortunately we then did a left turn, to head south-west and straight into a head wind all the way to Tring and boy it was hard work. A large group caught up with us just before the turn for Aston Hill, which although out of the head-wind was a rather hard slog to the top.

I think it was around either the left turn in St Leonards or Cholesbury where “old” Malcom caught up with us again. I was slowing down Ian something terrible. Our group now numbered 5 or 6 but I just couldn’t keep the pace, my legs felt dead. I eased off considerably and let they guys disappear into the distance. With 40 miles were done, I figured I could make the last 22 or so easily enough, albeit at a much slower pace. Unfortunately I had forgotten about Ivinghoe hill, I really did feel like calling a taxi at the bottom, but after some food and a quick drink, the push to the top didn’t seem as bad as expected and actually began to feel much better.

I was now at 49 miles and all major climbs were out of the way, you could almost say it was all downhill from here (ok not quite true but near enough). I managed to catch up with a small group just after Ivinghoe and found staying with them to be relatively easy. We got to Berkhamsted and up Durrants lane, a little bit of leg cramp but nothing major, mile 54 and looking forward to my cuppa and a slab of cake. The legs had returned and I was now back on form (well for me anyway). I was pretty happy when we crossed over the A41 and headed up the Chesham Rd. By the time I turned right in Bovingdon I could almost smell the food and after a few undulations I was finished and back at the HQ.

From what I can remember MalcolmW did the course in 3hr 27 which is about 36 minutes faster than last year and must place him up in one of the fastest finishers. Ian and MalcolmE finished in 3hrs 40, I finished in 3hrs 46 (still faster than last year, so not all bad) and Tom finished in 4hrs 1 min. I’m sorry I didn’t get anyone else’s time but I was too focused on getting my cuppa and cake (which probably explains a few things!). After that all we had to do was head home, only another 15 miles for me.

Next Sunday is the Team Quest 100km reliability ride, starting out from Ichenham, so the ride to the start is pretty short. For anyone interested I found a link to the route but can’t verify its accuracy.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/copy-of-team-quest-reliability-ride-2012

Hope to see you there.

... and here's the London West listing

2012-01-23T20:29:00.000Z

http://www.lwdc.co.uk/Events/Default.aspx

Westerley Sportive 50km and 100km Routes

2012-01-19T18:24:00.001Z

There are now links to the Westerley 50km and 100km route details (.pdf) at http://www.westerleycycling.org.uk/ on the front Page LHS. Think how well you will do on the day if you download them now and ride the route a few times beforehand in training.

Harp Hilly 100

2012-01-18T18:14:00.001Z

How many of us are riding this event? An ordeal in the Chilterns to be savoured.

Cheers Tom

Early season races

2012-01-17T22:22:00.003Z

If anyone is getting impatient, here's a list of the Open TTs on before the end of March:
http://www.rttc.org.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=mCtpI7ryoyQ%3d&tabid=36

Frank

Club run, Sunday 8th January

2012-01-10T15:39:00.003Z

The weather wasn’t bad, no rain and a reasonable temperature so we couldn’t complain too much. A nice group of 7 met up at Harefield pond at 9AM (Malcolm. John, Vince, Roly, Ian, Chris and myself). Quite a few people appeared to be either recovering (slowly) from the cold or thought that they might just have picked it up.

Since there was no predefined route we just decided to do the hilly one, a wake up call after the Christmas break if you like. We made a slight detour from the normal start as Roly “claims” to have seen a “Black Vietnamese pot-bellied pig” on his ride over to Harefield. Not wanting to miss out on such a spectacle we decided to follow his route back to Chalfont St Peter and keep an eye out for said pig. Of course we never saw it but we made the effort which is what counts I suppose. I was quite impressed by Roly’s pig identifications skills; personally I would have just described it as a black piggy thing but no, it was definitely Vietnamese and had a pot belly too. Perhaps it had a pig passport, but no visa obviously as it on the run in the Chalfonts.

Anyway after tootling down Welders Lane, we headed over to the A40, up to Beaconsfield taking Broad ln to Hedsor, down Harvest hill and onto Cookham where we connected up with our original hilly route.

We made it through Marlow (up Frieth Rd), up the hell that is Chequers Ln in Fingest, crossing the M40, through Dell’s Wood to the A40. Here our group split, Roly, Vince and Chris had to get back home via the A40. Well so they said, secretly I think they wanted have another go at finding the pig. They dropped back a bit coming up Frieth Rd to plan their escape, I’m sure of it. Pig roast for next summer’s BBQ? Was Roly’s rear pannier big enough for a pig?

So we dropped down to Radnage via the City, then up to Bledlow Ridge, and then dropped down again to take Upr Icknield Way towards Winchester wood. We dropped down some more but eventually we had to turn left and head up Kop Hill. Suffice to say that we suffered on this hill, we had one walker (who shall remain unnamed) but it is understandable. It was our first real club run this year. After this it was decided to do Longdown hill, if I could have spoken I would have objected but away they went so I just had to follow. After Longdown (which seemed to take about a year to get over) we took the Rignall road to Great Missenden where I made the excuse that I had ran out of water. Honestly I just needed the break and John needed to repair a slow puncture.

So my cold is nearly gone, a few sneezes but should be back on form for next Sunday. Our flat route via Henley is what was being recommended. If you missed our last outing it’s a classic, hope to see you all.

New Years Day Club Ride - If you can't beat em, Take em out!

2012-01-02T10:58:00.003Z

Two of us roll into Harefield an hour later than normal following seeing the new year in.

Well worth watching, amazing, stunning, spectacular - Fireworks not our ride!

Following on from John's Boxing day TT I was clearly thinking about how to keep up with him this year when I decided without looking, thinking or any indication to turn left. Left turns usually have little to worry about, Except that John was on the inside - SORRY JOHN, Very embarrassed about day dreaming left turn, Both of us stayed up and are still friends (I hope!). John reminded me that the reason I should not do road racing this year is the high number of accidents caused by poor riders, Clearly I've entered that catagory - Its about 3 levels below Cat4 !!

The rest of the ride was at fairly constant effort around the local Denham roads - This was in an effort not to get lost! Much shorter than most club runs but a good start to a new year.

Next Sunday is back to the usual start at 9am Harefield pond
(Corner of Northwood Road and Breakspear Road North, Harefield)

First 100km (or 55km) Reliability ride is Jan 22nd, Last year Shane/Malcolm completed this in 4:03 with Roly leading in our second group in 4:34 - Hope that helps set this years targets.

ALL the info you require about this event can be found HERE Click on the map.......

Boxing Day TT

2011-12-26T16:57:00.002Z

The Maidenhead CC traditional boxing day '10' went ahead on the Thicket course this morning, under fine weather conditions. John Sullivan the only hardy soul to fly the Westerley colours high and proud.

With a healthy 25+ field for an off season TT, made up of fun riders dressed as clowns and disc wielding combatants at the business end of things. With the cold headwind there was no shortage of red noses on show.

John didn't let us down with a respectable 23.44 for the clowns and Santa's to beat. Simon Bowler of Eton Tri posted the quickest with 23.40.

There was a friendly gathering afterwards at the results table with mince pies and Jaffa cakes on the go.

Thanks to Peter Bell and co for turning out on a cold December morning to make it a fun event.

(Words from John Sullivan)

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T22:20:00.002Z

A very Merry Christmas to all, Pictures from Westerley Christmas Lunch and ride.

May all you targets be reached in 2012.

The Westerly Christmas Club Run 2012, Sunday 18th Dec 2012

2011-12-22T12:23:00.000Z

After a quick look out my window, any thoughts of an early start and doing Tom’s hilly route with Malcolm et al. quickly dissipated. What had I been thinking? It looked icy out and decided on another cuppa instead, probably just as well as I was dreading Kop Hill Rd.

At 10AM our ride out group of 6 consisted of Roly (chief organiser a.k.a. silver haired sprinting fox), Chris (our moon gazing traveller), Malcolm (actual sprint demon), John (who is just really, really old but now owns a cat which is nearly as old, in cat years anyway), Andy (He’s seen crocodiles and taken photos of strange blue things whilst also looking at the back of the moon, apparently.) and me. The omens were bad, just as we left Harefield it started to snow AND Andy was on his self-build cyclo cross bike. What could go wrong? The snow quickly stopped and Andy kept going, perhaps not that bad after all.

A few signpost sprints and hills (namely out of Chalfont St. Peter, Winchmore hill and Bryant’s Bottom Rd.) on the way out to the Red Lion kept us warm. The roads were pretty icy in places so it made for a slow pace on the way out. However this didn’t stop us getting lost between Heath End and Hatches Lane, we’ve only done this route about 10 times this year. There are several theories as to why it happened, perhaps too many GPS devices (4) plus Roly and his infamous maps (They briefly made a road side appearance). Personally I think it had more to do with the fact that we let Andy go to the front of the group and well we all know just how “legendary” his directional skills operate. It’s a wonder we didn’t end up at the bottom of Kop Hill Rd.

After a bit of kerfuffle we got to the Red Lion in Whiteleaf. Roly claimed that for some reason we are always exactly on time for the Christmas lunch which when you consider who is saying this, it is truly amazing. Saying that all the lights were out when we got there, perhaps they were expecting us… I swear I heard someone shout "they're here" just as we arrived. It was just a power cut, the welcome was warm, the beer flowed and we were seated in a cosy corner away from normal people. We all had roast dinners followed by ice cream, as you do. The electricity may have been out but the gas was most definitely on.

Roger and Paul met us there for lunch and the conversation flowed. Roly trying to persuade us all to go to various pantomime/choir shows even singing a few lines to keep us amused. Apparently this is what people in posh places like to do. Andy regaled us with tales of woe on his latest venture into darkest Africa where he battled raging flood waters, wrestling alligators (yeah, I know!!!!), looked at the wrong side of the moon and promising to publish all his holiday snaps on line (mostly of blue wriggly things, ladies try not to get too excited). Oh and he was slumming it, ... 5*. Trying to figure out if we all see the same phases of the moon at the same time was a tad bizarre, does anyone know where did that come from? The rest of the conversation was somewhat lower is tone so I think the less said the better but John, Malcolm, Albert, what are you like?

With lunch over we were all pretty reluctant to make our way outside; it seemed even colder and had started to rain too. We eventually made it over Longdown hill and the ride down Rignall Rd to Missenden seemed to last forever. Sleet, wind, bike and too much food and drink are not a good combination. We made it back to Harefield about 3PM ish. Sorry no idea of mileage, temperatures, speeds or anything else remotely techy, suffice to say that they were all pretty low.

Definitely have to do it all again next year.

Route: Harefield Pond, straight thro’ R-about, down the hill and over the canal, up Chalfont lane and on to Chalfont St Peter, cross the R’about taking the High St. and up Nicol Rd., Right onto Grove Ln – Narcot Ln, Right at the R-about near The White Hart Inn onto Deanway and left onto Back Ln, Left and up Bottrells Ln until we came to the Amersham Rd. Left and then an immediate right up Magpie Ln we headed up to Winchmore Hill, thro’ Penn Street and left at the A404. Then Holmer Green and onwards to Heath End via Spurlands End Rd. Down Hatches Ln the up Bryant’s Bottom Rd taking Peter’s Ln to White Leaf where we stopped for lunch at the Red Lion. After lunch up Longdown hill, Missenden Rd, Rignall Rd to Great Missenden, up the Hill towards Chesham, Right to Hyde Heath, Amersham, Little Chalfont and back to Harefield pond via Swillett.

Andy's Cover Pic

2011-12-16T11:32:00.001Z

From Andy's Cover Pic

Cyclocross end of Season update inc Southern Champs

2011-12-13T13:54:00.008Z

The last three weeks I have (yet again) missed our club runs to ride round muddy fields.

November 27th - The extra helping(s) of pudding I had consumed the prior night at the Westerley Presentation Dinner are the excuse I am going to use for my result in this event. I tip my hat to Dave Micklewright (Hillingdon Tri) for both his tactical and physical efforts in this event which placed him ahead of me and out of sight at the finish line. This was a blow as that put him directly ahead in overall rankings. Dave finished 56th overall and 21st in Vets, I followed in 61st overall and 25th vet. That changed the overall series rankings pushing Dave to 21st and me 24th with only one race in the series left.

December 4th - Southern area Championships.
Very few central league vets signed up for this event - In fact the rumour is three of us and one did not finish. The final results for the central league champion has not been released (delay in results from event) Hope I place in the top two !!! I did find out today that I finished 36th overall Vet in this event which I am very happy with. The course was not as demanding as I would have expected for a "Champs" course, there were four long straight sections and no dismounts this may have helped me as the entire course was ridable by someone of my limited technical ability.

December 11th - Final round Central League Cyclocross.
Quote from Central League website......
"The final round of the Central Cyclocross League Championship take place at the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit. On a brisk and breezy day, those racing were met with a highly technical and challenging parcours that levelled the playing field between the strength merchants and those with a flair for bike handling in challenging conditions."

My opinion of the course as follows.
If the switch back after switchback after switchback turns didn't leave you dizzy, or the off camber rise and falls didn't check your balance ability, if the sleeper staircase or slippy sleeper step over didn't cause concern then just maybe you were a spectator! Even the "straights" which on other courses I have been able to calm my heart rate had evil little zig zags placed with non uniform spacing. The design of this course gave you the occasional flash of the tarmac track just to tease you. Without doubt this was a fantastic end to the Central Cyclocross Series.
To put actual figures of how hard this made me try I hit 107% of my max threshold twice in this event, and seven times I went past my known instant heart rate max. Being on "Home Turf" maybe I made an additional effort, I still parted company from the bike twice (once in warm up!).

This time I managed to hold Dave Micklewright off and placed 27th vet and 51st overall.

With the final results for the series worked out at lightning speed the series prized were presented directly after this race and posted on the web prior to us leaving the track - Well done to all those behind the scenes, especially the cake makers.

My first Cyclocross season and I managed 7th overall vet in the final Central League rankings. Very pleased with that, I believe I have gained some improvement in my balance and technical ability (not much!) but above all it has been a fun group of events.

Provisional 2012 Dates

2011-12-13T11:07:00.004Z

Your Low Calorie food for thought festive holiday reading !

Below are some dates to consider for entry into 2012 events. Please note these should be considered as provisional dates, Whilst I have done my best to check these are correct some of the events later in the schedule might move and of course please check in case of snow falls !!!

Sunday 22rd January - 9.00am
Harp RC
100km & 55km
HQ - Hemel Hempstead CC Clubroom
Nash Mills Lane, Kings Langley
Entry fee £10

Sunday 29th January - 9.00am
Team Quest
100km
HQ - Ickenham Guide Hut
Community Close, Ickenham

Sunday 5th February - 9.00am
Hemel Hempstead CC
100km & 50km
HQ - Hemel Hempstead CC Clubroom
Nash Mills Lane, Kings Langley

Sunday 12th February - 9.00am
Edgware RC
100km & 50km
HQ - Hemel Hempstead CC Clubroom
Nash Mills Lane, Kings Langley

Sunday 19th February - 9am
Westerley Spotif

CLASH WITH ABOVE:
Sunday 19th February - 9.30am
Willesden CC
100km & 60km
HQ - Ickenham Guide Hut
Community Close, Ickenham

Sunday 26th February - 9.30am
CC Luton
100km & 40mls
HQ - Edlesborough Village Hall

March 4th WLC10 H10/2 9am
March 18th WLC25 CC114 8am

April 11th Westerley 10 Series, Hillingdon Circuit 7.15pm
April 14th Westerley Road Race, Hillingdon Circuit
April 15th WLC25 CC114 7.30am
April 25th Westerley 10 Series, Hillingdon Circuit 7.15pm
April 29th Westerley Club 10 CC180 9am

May 9th Westerley 10 Series, Hillingdon Circuit 7.15pm
May 20th Interclub 25 CC001 (Fifield) 9am
May 23rd Westerley 10 Series, Hillingdon Circuit 7.15pm
May 27th WLC cc114 7.30am

June 6th Westerley 10 Series, Hillingdon Circuit 7.15pm
June 10th Westerley Club 10 C083 (Windlesham) 9am
June 20th Westerley 10 Series, Hillingdon Circuit 7.15pm
June 24th Westerley/WLC 50 H50/4 7.30am

July 4th Westerley 10 Series, Hillingdon Circuit 7.15pm
July 15th Westerley Club Sociable 10 CC180 9am
July 18th Westerley 10 Series, Hillingdon Circuit 7.15pm

August 1st Westerley 10 Series, Hillingdon Circuit 7.15pm
August 12th Club 10 CC109 8.30am
August 15th Westerley 10 Series, Hillingdon Circuit 7.15pm
August 26th Club open 25 H25/2 7am
August 27th Club Open 10 H10/2 7.30am

September 2nd WLC25 CC114 7.30am
September 16th WLC10 CC180 8am
September 30th Westerley Club 25 CC001 (Fifield) 8.30am

October 14th WLC Hillclimb Windsor Hill (Wooburn Green)
October 21st Westerley Club 2 up 10 CC180 9am
October 21st Westerley Club Hillclimb Longdown Hill 11.30am

WLC - West London Combine events

Subs

2011-12-09T16:35:00.001Z

Does the club claim Gift Aid on our subscriptions. Or should I have filled in a form to allow our treasurer to do so?

CP

Turbo training, Wednesday 7th Dec

2011-12-08T20:43:00.001Z

Last night was the last turbo training session before Christmas and if you weren't there you missed a great evening’s entertainment or suffering, depending on your point of view.

Tom set out a hard turbo session for all involved, namely, Malcolm, Dave, Ian, Roly and myself. We had quite a few onlookers who I'm sure were just kicking themselves that they had "forgotten" their turbos. One unnamed individual claimed he couldn't take part because his speed sensor had fallen off, a likely story! Anyway the club room was buzzing with activity whilst Tom put the merry few through their paces, shouting words of encouragement above the sound of the massive fan and counting down the minutes during the session. Although quite how I was supposed to put in more effort when a small lake of sweat appeared beneath me is anyone’s guess. Everyone agreed it was a hard session and worth the effort, for anyone who missed it and wants to replicate it, the details are as follows;

Warm up --- 12 mins (or less)
53 X 16 --- 10 mins (cadence between 90 & 100 RPM)
Easy pedalling --- 2 mins (could be increased to 5 mins)
53 x 13 --- 10 mins (cadence between 90 & 100 RPM)
Easy pedalling --- 2 mins (could be increased to 5 mins)
5 mins, cadence 100 RPM or greater in max gear you can hold
Cool down and stop !!!

Many thanks to Tom for organising the evening, as always it's much appreciated. After quick showers, recovery was aided by slices of pizza, guzzling beer and swapping unlikely stories next to the bar.

Hope to see as many as possible on Sunday for the club run. It’s the hilly route so lots to look forward to and given the recent turn outs for the club runs , we should have a sizeable bunch. See you at Harefield pond.

Turbo Training

2011-12-08T19:18:00.002Z

Hope everyone enjoyed themselves last night, if that is the correct term?

As mentioned for the New Year, Weds 4 Jan, to see where everyone fitness is at this stage, I'll run a 10mile turbo night.

Please ensure your turbo's are set up as standard, in other words calibrated so you can repeat the test, so tyre pressure is correct etc.

Cheers Tom

Shimano STI 8 speed levers/shifters

2011-12-06T12:34:00.003Z

Hi all.
I'm finally going to bite the bullet and get replacement levers so I can get my Cannondale back on the road again.
Thanks to you guys who found info before (Frank and Ian, I think). But I can't find those levers (including Microshift) now on eBay or anywhere else. The best I found was Shimano ST2300 (£85). They look slightly kid's-bikey, having 'optical display' of gear position - but maybe that's ok. Having said that, it looks like these are only for a double chainset... mine's a triple.
Any advice please? And you bike shop people - can u get me something suitable, please?
Or would I be better getting a complete new lever/mech combo, or even a new groupset? (But bearing in mind the budget as I want to get a new tt bike too!)
cheers, Roly

Turbo Time - Weds 7 December

2011-12-05T21:13:00.002Z

Its turbo time this Weds folks. don't forget to bring both turbo and bike for the session.

I'm planning of doing some core work so please bring a box or something to rest your vacant foot on whilst pedalling with the other.

CR Winter edition is out and Bob K will bring with him for distribution. So those of you who are not taking part in the turbo session please come along to collect your copy and save the club postage.

Good turn out yesterday, 9 of us on the road at one point. Good spirit good ride.

Cheers Tom

Do you think I can claim on the warranty?

2011-12-04T15:57:00.002Z

See the crack across 2 of the bars on the flange? I'm not at all happy with the lifespan of this hub, after all I only bought it in 1969 and its only done 50,000 miles or so. Do you think the warranty has run out yet?

I thought I had a loose spoke or similar on coming home from work the other day, as there was a definite 'ticking' noise from the front wheel. Spinning the wheel though showed that the hub flange had a kink in it. Suspect building the wheel with radial spoking and then using it for commuting where you're more likely to hit a pothole may well be a factor.

Oh, well, off to ebay to see what I can find for a replacement....

On a different topic, good clubrun today with 8 out, plus new joiner Richard. Nice steady pace with Frank on his motorbike tyred tourer and Tom and I on fixed. Hope Shane, Ian & co didn't get too bored!

Vince

Club run, 27th Nov

2011-11-30T18:10:00.000Z

It was a late start on Sunday, 10AM instead of our usual 9AM because of our Xmas dinner. Even so a rather merry bunch of 6 met up at Harefield pond, Tom, Roly, Chris, Malcolm John and myself. A quick splash of rain sent us on our way but it was over pretty quickly and after that the rest of the day remained relatively pleasant.

Dropping down from Harefield, we headed towards the Chalfonts, but took a right in West Hyde onto Robert's Ln and headed towards Horn Hill, skirted past Chalfont St Giles turning right onto the B4442 and continued until we came to the R'about at Litttle Chalfont. A nice route and one I hadn't done before so it made a pleasant change. It was about here that Tom and Chris decided to break away. The rest of us headed around Amersham and onwards to Hyde End, crossing the Chesham rd (B485) to South Heath, the Lee, St Leonards, Bucklands, Cholesbury, Hawridge and back to Chesham. From there it was the Latimer Rd (flippin' worst road surface ever) back to Chenies, crossing the A404 towards Chorleywood, on to Heronsgate and returned to Harefield.

A pretty quick route, a few nice inclines but nothing major. About 50-ish miles in total at 17 mph av speed. For the most part the weather was good, even a few sunny spells so nothing to complain about.

The exact route can be found here; Thanks Malcolm! See you all next Sunday morning.

2011 Westerley Presentation Dinner

2011-11-30T12:44:00.002Z

The new venue was a great choice and a 100% success. The main room had two focal points, The Trophy table and Rolling projection presentation. Our thanks of course go to those who set these up with special thanks to Ann Woolsey for the amazing shine on all the Trophies.

This year has seen a number of club records fall in both individual and team efforts.

The team 10 record fell 3 times this season firstly on 22 April with 1:08:55 by team riders Ian McNally, Vince Dey and Malcolm Woolsey.

It then fell twice more to the team of John Sullivan, Malcolm Woolsey and Andy Halliday first on 11 may with 1:08:44 then 20 July with 1:07:22.

The Tandem Team of Dave Newman And Malcolm Woolsey have also been busy this year gaining two major club records in both the 10 and 25 mile. Completing the 10 in 20:32 and then the most amazing time of 49:44 for the 25. Just in case the 49:44 did not ring bells for you that's over 30mph average !!! At that event a number of us watched their incredible fly by the HQ.

The track "Kilo" time trial has also had some attention this year, Falling twice. First on 5 June in 1min 22.45s and then 7 August in 1m 18.25s Both to Andy Halliday.

Your votes for "Club Person of the Year" went to Roger Woolsey, A thank you from all for the time you give to the club. There are so many that help out at events, without them all it would not be possible - Thank you to everyone from everyone!

Chris Parrott
Won this years "old Crocks'Trophy" and 1st Handicap 10 on 12/6/2011

John Sullivan a member of the winning team in the inter club against the Willesden, 1st scratch 10 on 6/3/11 and 18/9/11, 1st Pair 2up10 24/10/1011.

Ian McNally winner of 12 Hour Trophy in 221.188 miles, 1st Handicap 25 20/3/2011 and runner up of the Mens TT Championship 21.285mph

Frank Proud 1st Handicap 10 on 7/8/2011 and 18/9/2011, 1st Handicap 25 25/9/2011. Also took part in 2011 PBP, see previous blog posts for full details.

Dave Newman a member of the winning team in the inter club 25 against the Willesden and 1st Scratch 12/6/2011

Shane Townsend 1st Handicap 25 22/5/2011, 10/7/2011 and 4/9/2011, 1st Handicap 50 26/6/2011, 1st scratch 10 24/7/2011, 1st scratch 25 10/7/2011 and 4/9/2011, 1st pair 2up 10 23/10/2011 and winner of Les Ames Shield, Norman Ware Trophy and Percy Marks Trophy.
Shane has also achieved the fastest 25 time in 2011 with the added title of second fastest EVER 25 recorded by a cub member in 54:48

Malcolm Woolsey a member of the winning team in the inter club 25 against the Willesden, 1st Handicap 10 24/4/2011, 1st Scratch 10 on 13/3/2011, 24/4/2011 and 7/8/2011. 1st Scratch 25 on 22/5/2011 and 25/9/2011, Winner of the Hillingdon Circuit Series Trophy and HL Kennedy 25 mile Trophy

Rolly Collicott Road Race Champion 2011

Andy Halliday 1st Handicap 25 10/4/2011 and 8/5/2011, 2nd Scratch 10 24/7/2011, 1st scratch 25 on 20/3/2011,10/4/2011 and 8/5/2011. 1st Scratch 50 26/6/11 and holder of 2011 Presidents Trophy, W Harrison 10 mile Trophy, Charlie Allen Memorial 50 Mile Trophy, 100 Trophy, Hillingdon Circuit series Handicap Trophy.
Short Distance Champion 25.779mph and Club Champion 22.489mph

Photos can be downloaded and saved from here

Saturday 26 November

2011-11-27T20:09:00.002Z

Super day for the WCC mainly down to Roly. In the morning, some members attended the RAF Uxbridge bunker the main communication post used in the Battle of Britain.

Former fast man, Stan Chandler who is a volunteer along with his colleague, presented a fascinatining account of the activities that went on here during the second world war. And apparently Winston Churchill for the first time made the famous comment "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"

Moving on later, the dinner in the evening held for the first time at Stanmore Golf Club was an excellent affair. Good food, super service and witty cross toasting. And the staff were very friendly and efficient. Many thanks to Roly for organsing both events.

The following day, 6 of us met at 10am for the clubrun. Shane, Malcolm, John, Roly, Chris and myself. Shane and Malcolm like strutting stalions fancied a more challenging pace as we headed to Wendover on a wonderful sunny morning, Chris and I dropped of the pace and rode more sedately but still ended up with nearly 50 miles in the saddle.

An excellent weekend for the WCC.

Don't forget, its Turbo Time on Weds 7 December and I shall bring CR with me. Its closed now for any further copy and my thanks to Chris Parrott for his LEJOG contribution.

Club run, Sunday 20th November

2011-11-23T15:23:00.002Z

The penultimate club run for November and it was a foggy start to the day. The forecast had promised it to clear later in the morning but it wasn't to be, we rarely saw the sun all morning but we had other things on our minds, mostly where did those hills come from? I did at one point hear someone scream "I thought this was the flat route" followed by laughter.

Anyway 6 people turned up at Harefield pond, Malcolm, Dave, Chris, Tim, John and myself. The start was relatively quick as we headed off towards Chalfont St Peter, down Welders Lane, turning left until we met the A40 and straight through Beaconsfield. After Beaconsfield we turned left onto Broad Ln whereupon we noticed we had dropped Chris. He was feeling a little under the weather and decided to call it a day.

We continued towards Hedsor down Harvest hill, left onto the A4094 [Ferry Ln], through Cookham, Cookham Rise and ober Cookham Dean, then winding over to Pinkney's Green. Crossing the A404 to Burchetts Green. We took a winding route to Henley via Cockpole Green. Malcolm easily winning this sign post race, he did seem keen for some reason.

After Henley we hit some new territory (for me anyway), in Lwr Assendon, we turned right onto Dobson's Ln and headed towards Fawley. It's not the cleanest road, a bit rough too, and on Sunday proved to be very greasy. However it was the killer hill in the middle which stopped all of our conversation. It was lowest gear, aching knees and screams of protest all the way to the top, where thankfully we stopped for a breather. The worst part was that trying to stand up and cycle just resulting in the back wheel slipping. After that we made our way over to Frieth rd and down to Marlow, where Malcolm did a quick puncture repair.

Any thoughts of an easy tootle to Bourne End and home via the A40 were dismissed as mere fantasy as Malcolm (aka the route meister) informed us that all we had to do was go up Winter Hill/ Zig Zag hill and drop down to Cookham again. Oh and from there up Harvest hill to Hedsor, meander around Burnham beeches and back to Harefield via Fulmer.

Overall an excellent route, it will have to be done again soon-ish, it wasn't overly long circa 70 miles for me, not too hilly although there was a few very steep parts which hurt and we did gain about 4600 ft. Surprisingly the temperature was quite low [min. 2 C and mx 7C] although it is November I suppose.

Thanks to Malcolm for publishing the route online, you can find it here if you want more precise detail and stats.

Next Saturday is the Christmas dinner and I think our club run starts at 10AM rather than 9AM. So no excuses for anyone, we need >6 people and it will be short due to the late start. Hope to see you there.

Club Record

2011-11-23T08:59:00.002Z

This closes next Weds 30 November and apart from me writing the entire magazine so far I received zilch from fellow members.

I'd really appreciate receiving something from you all before then or I'm sure you will be fed up from hearing from me.

Thanks Tom

Cyclocross 20 November

2011-11-22T10:54:00.002Z

Last week my high hurdle position photo seems to have been a highlight for many riders, I got great praise and compliments from many riders and even those behind the cameras.

Although some did point out I should have tried harder the rest of the race as I clearly had too much energy left over.

Those behind the lens know I like to show boat for the camera, I have not found the photographer who took this weeks "Andy in Action" photo, But rest assured many other riders are trying to track the photo down.

Er! this week a slightly different photo angle, the image will be of me sliding down a bank on my rear, legs and arms in the air, bike going in another direction. I really hope we find that picture.............

Last weeks ride had the low point of a puncture as I rolled a tyre over the rim and set the air free again, tubeless tyres have this possible issue in high grip corners with low pressures. So this week I was a little cautious and pumped the tyres up more than usual, this reduces grip so I changed to the full mud tyres, with the hope the overall effect was similar grip with reduced chance of puncture or burping the tyre.
That concept seemed to work well and I got through the race without tyre issue - although the higher pressure did lead to a couple of sliding moments, one leaving me on my back, the fog not thick enough for me to hide behind.

The call up to the line procedure has changed in the last two weeks and is getting ever increasing numbers of complaints from riders, last weeks number 3 was called up after 20 places, I ended up "in the rest" at about position 40 on the start line, This leads to being stuck in the first bottle neck and you loose time to those who got away fast.

I would say that the field was stronger than other races, the laps longer as well about 10 mins a lap for me instead of 8 mins. The ground was also the roughest so far, thick grass and constant bouncing without any flat sections. Maybe 4 climbs per lap that were testing, one forcing dismount with a hurdle near the top.

Tactics in the last two laps paid off for the first time, One rider in direct competition to me sprinted and caught me with a lap to go, he sat on my wheel for a short while (good tactics from him), last lap bell leads into three reasonable long straights which I would usually have tried harder on and then struggled up inclines or technical sections, I decided to hold a steady pace and concentrate on my breathing, he decided to attack and went ahead until the next incline where I did my best to try and increase power at a very steady rate allowing me past him, and then trying to hang on on the decent, holding things as steady as I could manage and then sprinting for the line held my lead over him.

I did not place as high as I would have liked, the start did not help, but the course was the hardest ground type so far, last weeks was the toughest technical climb sections.

Overall race position (all ages) 43rd
Vets race position 21st

This leaves me
97th National ranking - Gonna have to fight hard to stay in top 100.
33rd Central League overall (all ages)
12th Central League Vet (6 races count, 5 completed)

I have completed 5 races with two in the series left, Others have 6 or 7 completed so I still have a chance to finish in top 10 Vets, that is currently my aim, with my next target of a VC10 rider in 11th place.

I missed the rest of the team in our weekend club rides, great to read about them, I hope to catch up with you all at the Club Dinner this weekend - Club kit will be available to purchase.

Time Trial Position

2011-11-17T08:26:00.002Z

Hope everyone enjoyed last nights demonstration and discussion on TT position. We seemed to have ironed out a few issues on this subject.

Now everyone has to go faster next season no excuses! My thanks to Malcolm W who brought along the allen keys, and Dave Spragg and Roly for the loan of their turbos aiding setting up. And of course to everyone who attended making this a rewarding evening, I enjoyed it.

The next Turbo session at the clubroom is Weds 7 December - not Weds 30 November due to a Rugby event. Does anyone have a preference for the turbo activity on this night? I've a few ideas but would welcome comments please.

Don't forget the quiz next Weds 23 Nov.

And finally, Club Record closes end of Nov, so welcome articles especially Chris's LEJOG article.

Cheers Tom

Sunday Club run, 13th November

2011-11-16T11:48:00.000Z

Sunday was a nice and dry morning and after a flurry of e-mails (well that's what it appeared like to me anyway) I was a little surprised to find only Malcolm and Ian at Harefield pond. It was the Tom's hilly route for us and given the conditions all was looking good.

The start is pretty much flat, so we set off at a good pace. The first real hill doesn't come until we get to Terry's Lane in Cookham but after that it "undulates" a lot. I'm conveniently ignoring Freith Rd here as well Malcolm just set a blistering pace which I couldn't hold onto and would rather forget. The first killer hill has to be "Chequers Lane" out of Fingest. Fortunately I was at the top before I noticed the puncture. I think this is the 4th I've had on this hill. For some reason I always seem to forget about the hill on Bigmore Lane, and pushing a slightly softer tyre up it wasn't fun. If anyone knows why everyone else seems to be able to climb so much easier than yourself please let me know.

We crossed the A40 and after a quick stop for remembrance day continued via Radnage to Bledlow ridge. Pushing on we eventually made it to Kop Hill Rd, it's short-ish, doesn't look too bad from the bottom but I can promise when you get to the top you'll be glad it's over. Ian had mentioned that he had missed the club hill climb and not wanting to disappoint him we turned left down to Whiteleaf so we could go up Longdown Hill. He looked pretty happy at the top of Longdown so Malcolm and I felt a little happier too. We tootled down to Gr Missenden against a slight headwind and up the hill towards Chesham before making our way home via Harefield again.

It's Tom's TT bike set up session tonight, and given the interest and number of e-mails going around it looks like a full house.

Westerley Cyclo-Cross updates

2011-11-14T18:48:00.005Z

I have been away for the last couple of weeks on Safari so I missed the Hillingdon Cyclo-cross event and the inter area event. By all accounts the inter area event had a large number of ex national champs and was mega hard with numerous massive climbs in each lap - More of hill intervals than your usual cross race.

BUT for those that may have watched the Hillingdon event we did have a Westerley rider flying the club colors, Dave Newman.

Sunday's cross race for me did not go as well as previous events. 8.5 hours on a plane, arrive 6am, home 8am in car to race 10am was not the best start to the day.

A large technical section with drop downs and short rises caught many (including me) out time after time, on one tight bend I must have tried too hard and pulled the tyre from the rim - I was running tubeless so lost air and front grip. This meant I had to rely on my running skills for quarter of a lap to get to the pits for a wheel change - Not a pretty sight, I ran for a bus once in about 1985 - Never again !!!

A long pit stop as I considered if I should continue or call it a day, reminded that finishing was better than a DNF I got back on for the last couple of laps. Last lap and I spotted the event cameraman near the hurdle, giving it everything I leapt the hurdle way higher than I needed to which got a great picture and appears on the central league event write up 'front page' - Probably under the how not to take a hurdle................

My 2 week break means I have slipped down the National rankings to 93rd, and my finishing place will mean I slip back in the central league results as well - I am told next weeks has similar banks and climbs as this week, I hope to sort better seals on my tubeless wheels.

Upper Thames 200km, 5/11/11

2011-11-08T20:57:00.002Z

There being no takers for the Saturday club ride, I managed to get myself a late entry to the Upper Thames audax - my first one since PBP. It goes in a big loop which starts near Didcot, loops down to the Chilterns (going up the ridge at Berins Hill), skirts Henley and heads back up to Christmas Common. Then it goes across to the Cotswolds with a stop in Chipping Norton before looping back towards Didcot. Here's the route: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/438336

With half an eye on the 24 hour, I decided I would crack on on on this ride, aiming to finish in daylight, which would mean getting back by 4:30 (7:30 start so 9 hours). Also I wanted to see how I got on with eating while on the move so I decided I would only stop for the two controls and only for the bare minimum of time. One advantage was that I did the ride last year (first time I've repeated one) so I knew the route. While it's not terribly hilly, there are some exposed sections and it is a good bit over-distance at 214km.

It was also the first time I'd used a heart rate monitor on an audax and it was interesting. I was surprised how much higher my heart rate got compared to on time trials, sometimes for long periods (I'm actually a bit worried that it means I've not been trying hard enough in TTs!).

During the first part of the ride I mostly rode 3-up then 2-up at a fast pace. The heart rate monitor was very handy for this as I could use it to guide when I could up the pace and when to drop off. A fair bit of this stage was done into the headwind so it was good to share the burden.

I finished the stage about 10 minutes under 3 hours. This was by far the hilliest section so I was well on track but I knew I would slow down as the day wore on. I also lost my partners (one to a puncture, the other to an early lunch) and, being near the front of the field (of 70-odd riders), there were no others near me.

The next stage was therefore quite hard with a bit more headwind and the long pull up from Bicester to Chipping Norton. I had to make a couple of stops - one to buy water and another because, amazingly, a friend riding in the opposite direction recognised me, shouted out, and we had a quick chat. Eating on the go was going well. Sausage rolls, bananas and muffins were all going down smoothly, with only one minor reverse - I'll spare the details.

This ride coincides with peak hedge trimming season and, as last year, there were loads of punctures. I was pleased to pass the spot just before Chipping Norton where I'd got mine last year. I was also pleased to get into Chipping Norton at 1:35 - only 5 minutes down on my schedule despite the stops. Leaving at about 1:45 after buying more drinks, I had 2hrs 45 minutes to do the last 73km. I felt quite confident as, although it was slightly longer than the other legs, and I had been going all day, there was going to be a tailwind and some long flat sections.

It worked out to plan. I had to keep pushing and my heart rate was still hitting high levels on every climb, but I got in at 4:28 - two minutes ahead of my objective on a 9-hour ride! Two others passed me in the last few miles, having the same objective, and I was fourth rider to finish.

A good day out. I enjoyed doing an audax after a few months off, achieved my objective, and feel happy about eating on the go, but it was nowhere near the sort of speed I need to maintain to get a decent 24hr distance. Weather and hilliness permitting, I'll try and have a shot at one on my time trial bike soon and see how that feels for speed and comfort.

Mountain bike ride. 6th November 2011

2011-11-07T07:27:00.006Z

I hadn't used my MTB since Wales in May, so I lavished a bit of rare TLC on the bike on the Saturday. Four of us met on Sunday at Harefield: Malc Woolsey, Dave Nemwan and Shane Townsend. As we set off at a high pace across the fields out of the Colne valley, I realised this was the same group of four who'd done the turbo session on Wednesday night. Me and the three head-bangers; a high proportion of the top Westerley talent. I hung on. The conditions weren't bad, despite some recent rain. The trails were slippery enough be fun, without being impossible.

There isn't a lot of choice of route, sticking to bridleways, but we don't do this too often so it's always reasonably interesting. Crossing the M25 and Denham Lane, there was a fun section (i.e manic and fast) down to the Amersham road. After a road section to Seer Green we were back on three miles of tracks through woods. Straight across the A355, then more wooded tracks. Here's the three speedy-legs:

After a section which is often muddier, we were back on road to Winchmore Hill and Penn Street. After going on the track through Penn Wood, it was straight across the A404 and into Toby's Lane, which, after a flattish section, descends hairily into the Misbourne valley at Little Missenden. There's a great photo of this track here: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2612035 But I couldn't seem to add it to the blog.

Here's one of Shane, near the bottom of the track.

Malc had suffered being whipped by a bramble. Needless to say, his whip injury provided extra fuel for the incessant banter that featured on this ride.

The pace had been high all the time, which was good because I wanted to complete this circuit down via Little Missenden and get back by lunchtime (unlike when I'd led a similar 'morning' ride before and by the time the West Londoners got home it was nearly dark). We went a short distance along the valley towards Amersham, then up a jolly interesting section (i.e. quite a technically-challenging ascent of a rough and fairly steep track) before essentially re-tracing our route back. Re-tracing isn't a problem when riding off-road because everything is so different. The ups are now downs and vice-versa and the views all seem new.

Malc wanted to dress his wounds at my house, so we stopped for a cuppa. All that much fun and it was still only 11:45. Thanks for coming along, chaps. Made a good change from the routine rides. Can't wait for the next one! Maybe when it snows?

Cheers, Roly

Winter turbo at the club room

2011-11-03T10:39:00.002Z

With the clocks falling back to GMT and dark evenings for everyone, it could only mean one thing, Tom's Winter Turbo events have returned. Only 4 victims for this session (Dave, Malcolm, Roly and myself). We did have quite a few onlookers so the club room was pretty noisy and full, but we had a spare turbo machine ready for someone to use. Frank, Ian ... you big Jessies, you know you want/have to.

Anyway a change of format this year, so no 5 mile races, instead we were treated to a turbo training session with Tom commanding events, giving suitable encouragement as needed or just laughting at our grimaced faces. Tom called this session the Russian steppes for obvious reasons and from what I can remember the format was as follows;

Warm up -- 10 mins (opt ext to 15 or even 20 if really cold I s'pose)
5 X 30 sec sprints -- 4.5 mins (at end HR should be about 85% of max)
1.5 min Recovery -- so easy spinning
4 min at 80% of Max HR followed by 2 min recovery
2 min at 85% of Max HR followed by 2 min recovery
2 min at 90% of Max HR followed by 2 min recovery
1 min at 95% of Max HR followed by 2 min recovery
1 min at 100% of Max HR followed by 2 min recovery
1 min at 95% of Max HR followed by 2 min recovery
2 min at 90% of Max HR followed by 2 min recovery
2 min at 85% of Max HR followed by 2 min recovery
4 min at 80% of Max HR followed by 2 min recovery
Warm down -- 5 mins

I may be mistaken with some of the above timings (I was a little occupied at the time!) but I'm sure Tom can correct me. In total the above takes only 56 minutes but is not easy. Trying to maintain cadence at 95%+ of max HR is trying to say the least and I know that I definitely wasn't able to get my HR above 95% last night so I'll have to try again, just not too soon.

General Tom reminded us that the next Wednesday clubroom event will be on Wednesday 16th Nov. The subject for discussion will be TT position and bike fitting, so we will need to take measurements from bikes before the event and bring our TT bikes with us.

This Sunday will be Roly's annual mountain bike bash around the Chiltern's, usual meeting point, 9AM at Harefield pond for anyone interested.

By the way if you weren't at the clubroom last night, you missed out on the highlight of the evening, the club photo albums. There was even a picture of Tom with hair!!!! I never knew they had photoshop way back in the golden days of cycling.

Club run, Sunday 30th October

2011-10-31T11:25:00.000Z

The clocks went back and it was dry, what more could you ask for? Nice temperature and it didn't rain. Only 4 turned up at Harefield pond, Malcolm (W), Tim, Roly and myself. There was a Westerley wind blowing (I've waited ages to use that, sad I know) and since we were planning to do a flat route Roly suggested heading out in the direction of Windsor. Tim was riding fixed (nutter) so he dropped off in Windsor to make his own way home with a nice wind pushing him gently home. Crossing Windsor Great Park was a tad harder than expected, wide open and slightly uphill but with the three of us working on the front it wasn't too bad. Just outside of Ascot Roly decided to head south to meet up with "some women". Maps were consulted and away he went in search of hills in the downs apparently. That just left the two of us to wind our way home. It was mostly flat until harvest hill but that doesn't last all that long. We were back in Ruislip about 12:30ish. In total I did about 70+ miles, average speed just over 17 mph so not too bad. See you all on Wednesday evening for Tom's turbo night special.

The route or what I remember of it is as follows;

Harefield, Denham, Fulmer Lane, Hawkswood Ln (thro' yucky ford!), left up Alderbourne Ln, Pinewood Rd, thro' Iver Heath, onto Wood Ln, Right at the Red Lion in Shedding Green, follow the B470 thro' Langley, Cross the A4 taking Ditton Rd, onto Riding Ct Rd, Right at the T jun with the london Rd (B470 again), following the B470 thro' Datchet towards Windsor, into Windsor, up my the castle and pass the crookedhouse (Roly pointed it out!), Followiong B3022 (Thames St + Sheet St) and left onto Kings Rd, thro' the R-about following King's Rd (A332) and across Windsor Gr Park, At the R-about Sunninghill Rd to Cheapside, Left onto Watersplash rd, left onto Cheapside Rd and left at the T-jun with the A329 (heading towards Ascot), Right onto the A330 outside of Ascot and cross under the race course, following the A330 thro' Brookside, Winkfield, Maiden's Green, Hawthorn Hill, Right onto Drift Rd. I'm a bit vague here but I think we did Cannon Ln to Waltham St Lawrence then Milley Ln to the T-jun with the A4, right on the A4 thro' Knowl Hill, left onto Burchetts Green Rd, left at the R-about with the A4130 taking the Henley Rd, Left onto Pinkney's Dr towards Pinkneys Green, Left onto teh A308 and right onto Winterhill Rd, Cookham Dean, Cookham Rise, Cookham, Hedsor, up Harvest Hill, Wind around Burnham Beeches, Farnham Common, Fulmer and right at theA40, Denham and back to Harefield (although not up the hill!)

Westerley 2up 10 mile Time Trial, Hill Climb, Cross Race results 23/10/2011

2011-10-26T10:03:00.006+01:00

On a cold windy morning (it must be Winter now) riders gathered in the Great Missenden car park to prepare for the 2up 10 mile time trial. Westerley teams included Malcolm & Dave (often together on a tandem - remember records they have set this year), Roly & Vince and a last minute pairing of John and Shane. Could John hang on to Shane who has been on amazing form riding the fastest 25 this year with a 54 minute 25. For me I was on a personal mission to ride a solo 22 minute 10, I was well on schedule getting to the turn (wind assisted) only a few seconds over 10 minutes. I was testing a number of new ideas/items and sadly the fully ceramic bearings gave out at the turn race over. Those that heard them cruch at the start line may have guessed it was not going to be long until I retired. Although I missed the head wind return journey I am confident I would have achieved my goal - But you have to finish to count.....

The Savage family (Willesden CC) were out in force with many others from Willesden CC.

Thank you to Tim & Ron for the photos of both events.

The results as follows:

Shane Townsend & John Sullivan 22:38
Malcolm Woolsey & Dave Newman 23:23
Roly Collicott & Vince Dey 26:53

Gill Reynolds & Pete Cookson 26:12
Alex Kilm & Alex Wheeler 28:18
Tony Savage & Kirsten Savage 29:08
Niki Savage & Lauren Savage 35:46

Stuart Birnie (solo) 24:24

Riders then headed to the Deep Mill Diner to stock up on energy reserves prior to the Westerley Hill Climb. I did want to give this a go to see if I have improved on last year but a change of venue for the Central League Cyclo cross race from near the hill climb out to Oxford meant I had to leave and miss this lung buster event.

Domonic did not disappoint and turned up to climb the hill faster than anyone should be allowed! Times in brackets are last years at the same event.

Domonic Bond 2:15.2 (2:40)
Stuart Burnie 2:44.7 (2:41)
Malcolm Woolsey 2:45.2 (2:56)
Shane Townsend 2:48.2 (3:19)
Dave Newman 2:49.5 (3:08)
A Hegadus 2:52.5
Roly Collicott 3:06.1 (3:11)
Tony Savage 4:00.6
Kirsten Savage 4:07.2
Lauren Savage 4:16.4
Niki Savage 6:51.4

Lunch at the Red Lion.

Whilst these lung busting efforts were going on I was driving around Oxford trying to find the new (and maybe secret!) location of this weeks Central League Cyclocross race. Got there in time to unpack bike and ride two test laps prior to the start. Good news for me, No woodland areas included this week, infact it was more of a grass track route in some places round the edge of an active golf course, although I would say much less technical than last week it still had many tight 90 or narrow 180 degree turns and as each lap goes by the favoured route goes from griping grass to soft mud.
It appears I have been doing fairly well as I got placed second row again on the start line, The start was very fast and a good number of riders came past me, I did not battle to stay in front this week, I was tired from my warm up and 5mile TT! I picked a pace that I thought I could maintain, the course was such that there were no real 'bottle neck' places so it was about who could hang on the longest. Two tough long grass sections were to drain energy at a rate I struggled to maintain. I held off being lapped by the leaders longer than I had in any other race, this meant that as they lapped me on their last lap I did not get a last lap bell, infact the chequered flag came to me one lap earlier than I expected. Something more to learn about in these races.

I placed 20th overall and 6th in Vets.

As one of the vets is not "affiliated" this meant I actually got 5th place vet points, that added another 7 to my British Cycling points bringing my total to 15 points, This also pushed my National Cyclocross ranking from 108th to 83rd.
I guess I will slip back in the rankings as I won't be racing for 2 or 3 weeks as I take a break.

Trophy and Award Winners 2011

2011-10-24T21:44:00.001+01:00

Below are is a table with all the trophy winners etc from 2011, Congratulations to all the prize winners.

Westerley CCTrophy and Award Winners List 2011

Club Champion			Andy Halliday		22.489 mph
Runner Up			Ian McNally		21.285mph
Vets Champion			Bob Hornsby		+61:38
Road Race Champion			Roland Collicott		5pts
Short Distance Champion			Andy Halliday		25.779mph
Presidents Trophy			Andy Halliday		51 Points
W. Harrison 10 Mile Trophy			Andy Halliday		21:20
HL Kennedy 25 Mile Trophy			Malcolm Woolsey		56:24
Charlie Allen Memorial 50 Mile			Andy Halliday		2:01:58
100 Trophy			Andy Halliday		4:32:35
12 Hour Trophy			Ian McNally		221.188 Miles
Hill Climb Trophy			Dominic Bond		2m15.2s
Old Crocks Trophy			Chris Parrott		21.41 (6 Mins)
Les Ames Shield			Shane Townsend		59:31
Norman Ware Trophy			Shane Townsend		80 Points
Percy Marks			Shane Townsend		1^st Hcap WLC 50 2.08.37
Clubman of the year			TBC

Hillingdon Circuit Series Trophies
Overall			Malcolm Woolsey		240pts
Handicap			Andy Halliday		223pts

New Club Records 2011
Club Tandem 25 Record		Malcolm Woolsey, Dave Newman						49:44
Club Tandem 10 Record		Malcolm Woolsey, Dave Newman						20:32
Club 10 Team Record		Malcolm Woolsey, Ian McNally, Vince Dey						1:08:55
Club 10 Team Record		Malcolm Woolsey, Andy Halliday John Sullivan						1:08:44
Club 10 Team Record		John Sullivan, Malcolm Woolsey, Andy Halliday						1:07:22
1000M Standing Start Track Record				Andy Halliday		1m.22.45s
1000M Standing Start Track Record				Andy Halliday		1m.18.25s

Interclubs
Willesden Interclub 25	Westerley CC Malcolm Woolsey, John Sullivan, Dave Newman						2.59.58
Hounslow, Twickenham, Westerley, Weybridge 25	Twickenham CC M. Mansoori, A. Toghill, W. Henry						2.37.53 (Based on handicap)

End of Season Westerley 2up 10 and Hill Climb

2011-10-22T12:08:00.003+01:00

Check Back soon for post event info.............

Pre Event info

Sunday 23/10/2011

1st event 2up (or solo) 10 mile time trial on the Great Missenden HCC180 course.
first rider off 9:01
Meeting in the car park on Drift Road, Gt Missenden - NOTE this is the car park with the toilet facilities opposite the memorial hall.

Then after the 2up (or solo) event we head to the Deepmill Diner about 10:15 - 10:45
for some fantastic milk shakes and breakfast.

Then its on to the Hill Climb at 11:30 on Longdown Hill

Final event of the day is lunch at Red Lion, Whiteleaf at 12:00

Entry on the line for each event, Private and other club riders very welcome.

Club run, Watford, Sunday, 16th Oct

2011-10-18T22:45:00.001+01:00

Last week Malcolm (W) and I followed Tom's hilly route. It was tough but enjoyable, or at least the rain stayed off anyway. So wishing to take it a little easier this weekend we decided to meet up with Malcolm (E) in Watford. It's been a while since we met up for a club run and well I was kind of hoping that I would be in better form than on our last encounter. I mentioned this to several people last Wednesday evening but apart from Malcolm (W) was a little surprised that there wasn't more interest. I mean Malcolm (E) did say that he wouldn't be pushing hard. Tired? Age finally catching up on the old fellow?

For anyone interested here's a quick listing of the route;
Sandy Lodge Ln (Filling station)-Watford, Moor park, Rickmansworth, Loudwater via Rooks Hill, Sarrat, Belsize, Chipperfield, Tower Hill, Nash Mills, Hemel Hempsted, Piccotts End, Gaddesden Row, Studham, Holywell, Whipsnade, Eaton Bray, Northall, Slapton, Ledburn (under the Gr train robberies bridge), Wing, Cublington, Aston Abbots, Wingrave, Long Marston, Gubblecote, Wilstone Green, Little Tring, West Leith, Dancers End, Buckland Common, Cholesbury, Hawridge, Ashley Green, Orchard Leigh, Flaunden, Belsize, Chandler's Cross, Rickmansworth hill and home via Northwood hills & Eastcote. [Thanks to Malcolm for recording the route and posting it at Hell via Wing]

No it's didn't rain, yes it was tough and no I won't be doing it again any time soon. Well perhaps the weekend after next. There was a fair amount of hills but none as hard as the week before but it was about 20 or so miles longer so I really felt it afterwards. Malcolm had a bit further to go than me so I think he did 152km (~95 miles) in total. We both came the following conclusions; first, it was a tough route and probably worthwhile/enjoyable doing it, second, next weekend we will only have to race 10 miles and go up a meer hillock in comparison, third, if this is what Malcolm E calls not pushing too hard (sorry non combative in his words) someone really needs to drag him to one side and explain a thing or two as I'm only 21 years younger. On this final point I hold out little hope of any success. Oh and no he wasn't tired and age STILL hasn't caught up with him.

So we can report he is in fine form and still on a mission to mash us into the ground. No sportifs for me this year, far too easy. I can't wait for the next installment with the beast from Watford instead.

16th October Cyclocross

2011-10-17T23:56:00.003+01:00

97 riders signed on for this event run by Hemel Hempstead CC. 87 finished.

The course was more demanding than last week with many steep off camber sections and several long forest sections (better for the MTB's).

As I have learnt the start is very important. Start grid is 8 riders wide, usually the high ranking riders are called to the grid and then the order "and the rest" join on as fast as they can get there. Until now I have been in the "rest" of the riders. Due to my finish position last week I got called up to the second row (riders 9 to 16) - To be honest this was a scary place to be, I can sprint in a straight line fairly well but in this position my worry was causing a pile up with my cornering skills.

First lap (6min 52sec) I gained and lost places, I expected to slip back but did well to hold a good position, Lap 2 (6:46) just got faster and red line for heart rate, lap 3 (6:35) even faster, lap 4 (6:34) still faster, But now pushing my skill level, lap6 a minor unwanted excursion from the bike as I was clearly getting tired, Lap7 and a very bad decision by me to pass a less skilled rider in the single track section (Note to self - Its called single track for good reason) ended up with a direct hit with a tree, as the trunk was over a foot thick it did not give way, winded, hurt pride and steering slightly! out of line I got to the pit area, straightened steering and kept going 7:07 for that lap. next lap 6:39 back on track and thinking more, A pleasure to hear the last lap bell ring as I was on this lap, last lap started and trying to ignore back pain, sprinting as much as I could manage between corners, lost a place to the winning lady in the last 1/3 lap as she took the log jump much better than I did - this had been trouble for me every lap. Last corner was through trees with very low branches, I took a real risk here and rode through the branches starting my sprint, passed 3 riders in the last 40m and completed the lap in 6:30, my best lap.

The log jump I took very wrong every lap, rolling up to it then dismounting with no momentum jumped over the log to try and remount, should have been off the bike quicker and run over the log in a smooth action - easy when you watch others but now I know how I should have done it. The ground was very rough and I don't think I could have done it 'correctly' . Spent more time on the drops and found this better cornering and stronger braking ability, I'm still at the sprint then brake sharp stage rather than flowing motion in/out of technical sections, but learning lots as I go.

Overall I finished 23rd, with a 10th place in the Vets

Very happy with the result, Still need to avoid unplanned dismounts, as my elbows and legs now have injury on same injury and sting.

This Sunday is the Westerley 2 up 10 (or solo) followed by our Hill Climb event then a local pub lunch.

Cyclocross 9th October

2011-10-10T11:50:00.008+01:00

My third attempt at Cyclocross. I would like to think I was getting better at staying on the bike but that's just not the case.

Last week I would have been on a bike that I built most of myself to teach me more about what's required in a bike build. One reason for this is MTB and Cross races require more than just get on and ride, they frequently require on the fly maintenance or quick fixes, So I though it about time I learnt a little more.

Bike build went very well, This was a bare frame build so everything needed doing, Many thanks to Neil (Beyond MTB) and Chris/Mark/Gavin (Specialized Concept Store) for checking my work, and doing some of the setup - mainly the gears. Its the gears that I got really stuck with, No matter what I did I was unable to get smooth changes with the rear mech, changed chain, cassette, cables, even the mech, was about to change the lever as it seemed to only change well in one direction. TIP: When you take frame from box check the gear mech hanger alignment! This would have saved me hours of work, But I don't claim to be a bike builder/mechanic. This was not done in time for last weeks race so Sundays race was its test ride, Bike was great, gears changed perfectly, Rider came off 3 times in different locations and it appears I have bent the gear hanger! At least I know what to do this time..............

This race I also tried the quicker remount technique of jumping onto the saddle rather than foot on pedal step over method, which although easier is slower, I did revert back to this method for the last lap and even stepped over the jumps as I was tired and needed to hold my position rather than fall for the fourth time!

My Off's: First one my fault, Tight corner kept pedalling caught pedal on ground and threw me - Silly mistake. Second off (my fault) I came into a corner on leaf covered tarmac section way to fast - Off and slid, this hurt and left me marked, third off (....my fault) in the "long jump sand pit" which experience would have told me as this got cut up and deeper as the race went on I should have dismounted and run through, Instead front wheel dug in and over the bars I go. Afterwards it turns out many came off in the sand pit - lesson learnt. On top of this I have a rather nice burn mark on my neck - This was not my fault, In the high winds some of the course marking tape broke and got stuck on my neck as I rode, bit of a worry at the time, I have a burn on my neck from this. Many thanks to Twickenham CC rider for checking I was OK. He is the same rider who I kept passing only to give him the best view of me in my next "oops! off again", He was behind me all four times, It was great to chat with him after to hear his view/opinion of each fall.

This was my first ride in the Central League which I intend to ride more and hope to team up with Tom for a few events.

I finished 16th overall - You race seniors, vets, women in one race.
I placed 6th in my group (No Ian, not the women's group!).

I am very happy with that result, many of the regular riders may well have been at a national event so this will have helped my place, But as always you need to start and finish any race to place.

It may have been windy but it was still warm and dry, fingers crossed for next weekend........

Club Run, 9th October

2011-10-10T10:56:00.000+01:00

Malcolm and I met up at Harfield pond, no one else was around so we decided to do Tom's A route a.k.a. the hilly one as I quite enjoyed it when Tom and I did it a few weeks ago. We made a small change to the route, right at the top of Kop hill to drop down to Whiteleaf and back up Longdown hill.

Malcolm set the scene early pushing a big gear, by the time we got to Frieth Rd, he had left me in the distance. No matter as I knew that the route out of Fingest is enough to slow down even the fastest of us, i.e. him! My legs just felt heavy on the hills, and I think I hit max HR on the following hills, Fingest-Chequers Ln, Radnage-Bledlow Ridge, Kop Hill (quelle surprise), Longdown hill and of course Denham hill on the way home.

All in all a great route (thanks Tom), the rain stayed away so it wasn't unpleasant just hard going in places.

The route as far as I can remember is as follows;

Harefield, Gerrards Cross, Beaconsfield Services (via Hedgerley Ln), Hedsor (via Burnham Ln), Cookham, up Terry's Ln and down Winter Hill to Marlow, Oxford Rd then Frieth Rd to Fingest, Chequers Ln to cross over the M40, Bigmore Ln to A40, Bledlow Ridge via Radnage, Wigan's Ln, Upr Icknield Way, Woodway, Wardrobes Ln, Brimmers Rd, Kop Hill Rd, Left to White Leaf, Right to Upper Ickneild Way, Right on Cadsdean Rd and up Longdown Hill, Missenden Rd, Rignall Rd to Gr Missenden, Frith Hill and home as normal via Chesham Bois, Amersham, Denham.

It was about 70+ miles for me so probably 80+ for Malcolm. Needless to say but my legs are still heavy.

See you all on Wednesday evening for Tom's end of season racing chat. Hopefully next Sunday we can get a few more people out and perhaps do a flater route.

Hillingdon CC 25, H25/4, 9/10/11 + Farnborough & Camberley H25/88, 8/10/11

2011-10-09T15:35:00.005+01:00

Hillingdon CC 25, Sunday 9th

The overnight rain stopped in time for this event and the temperature rose making it another warm October ride. However, the wind got up and the conditions were not as good as last weekend.

Recent weeks have seen nine Westerley riders at Great Missenden for events but today it was just Dave and me, showing that season is coming to an end. If there had been one other, we would have defended the team victory from last year, as no other club managed a three. As it was, the team prize went to the organisers, Hillingdon, as they had the fastest duo.

Dave was off three minutes before me and looked to be going very well whenever I saw him near to the turns. However, he said that he faded near the end to end up with a still reasonable 1:01:35. I managed 1:03:50.

[Winner tba]

I was not unhappy with this as I'd also raced on Saturday and was a bit tired, and sore (see below), from that race.

Farnborough and Camberley 25, Saturday 8th + photos from other events on the A31

I decided to have another ride on the A31 on Saturday as there was a Farnborough and Camberley club event on the H25/88.

As with every other time I've ridden down there, there was a stiff breeze from the west. My ride went well. I was hoping I might get a "1" (this was my target beforehand and it would also have given me a set - in the seven races I'd done so far this season I'd managed one of each of a 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 0). But I didn't quite make it - 1:02:09.

I decided not to buy a lottery ticket, but I was still pleased with this time as it was over a minute faster than when I did the same course in September, was a relative improvement against the three other riders who had been in each race and is my second-best 25 time.

As some had noticed, I've been trying out a strange-looking Adamo saddle recently. This was very comfortable during the race yesterday but, as I eased up after the finish, it felt as if I'd trapped a nerve. It was too painful to lift my left leg up in order to pedal; I then had to ride the mile or so back to my car standing up, and I could hardly move my legs properly for the rest of the day. I've now got a lightly-used Adamo saddle going cheap!

When looking at the results afterwards, I saw that the Farnborough and Camberley web site had some pictures from the September race. Here are a couple of me (copyright: Derek Jordan)

I also came across some of Roly and me from the North Hants RC ride on the same road (H25/8) the following week (copyright: Apex Imaging and Technology).

The first couple might provide some useful input to the TT bike position discussion in a few weeks time, while the next one shows Roly moving out to pass his minute man!

End of season racing chat next Weds 12 Oct at the clubroom

2011-10-08T17:59:00.002+01:00

Look forward to seeing you all next Weds, start time 8.30.

Hopefully you've had enough time to answer the all the questions honestly and will bring them along with you. Should be an entertaining evening and very enjoyable.

I'll ask Pete to organise some snacks. Good luck tomorrow to those who are racing.

(Please note, no need to bring TT bikes along, that is another session for possibly Weds 16 November).

Best Tom

2/10/2011 Cross event

2011-10-04T16:41:00.003+01:00

My second attempt at a cross race was in the London league, Which took me to my first visit to Herne Hill velodrome with its nice new tarmac top. With all the recent building works at this site the infield area was not as flat as previous years - I wouldn't know! but everyone told me........

The outfield area was to be honest more like a rough building site in many places. One very steep bank to run/crawl up but very dry with the high temperature.

140 riders in total in one mass start. Maybe 40 of these ended up with first aid attention it was so dry there was little grip. Overall First place completing nine laps was Steve Adams (Sigma Sport Specialized) a senior, First Vet (5th overall) Mick Bell London Fire Brigade.

I placed 14th in the Vets race (59th of 140 overall). I started in about 90th position.

More fun in the sun next week!

VTTA event on the H25/2 course at Marlow, 2 October

2011-10-02T14:31:00.004+01:00

The continued wonderful late summer weather meant that we were all looking forward to today's TT at Marlow. With a 7:43 start time, not only was it dark when I left the house but, when Ian, with his new 'go-faster' hairstyle, and I, arrived at Marlow it was still dark, and even a bit chilly!

Sunrise brought a rapid warming and, having looked forward to this race for a few weeks, we were optimistic of some good times.

Firstly, apologies as I didn't take note of the times when out there so the ones that follow are from memory (and therefore subject to adjustment)

I was first off but it wasn't my day. Power and heart rate were well below normal levels and I was trying to work out why riding more slowly than of late could feel so much harder than going faster had done. Finding no answer, I sat up after the turn and limped home in 1:05:25

John was off eight minutes after. He passed me shortly before the finish and was clearly flying. His time, 57:03, was just a few seconds off his personal best.

Mark came in next. By coincidence, he recorded exactly the same time as me (1:05:25), but at least had the excuse of having lost his bearings and done an extra lap of the Thickets roundabout. Despite the extra distance, he improved by a couple of minutes from his ride on the August bank holiday weekend on this course

Ian followed shortly afterwards. He slashed over two minutes off his personal best and came within touching distance of going under the hour: 1:0:12. The new hairstyle worked. I don't think it will grow out before Wednesday!

Roly also had a strong ride. His 1:02:55 was his fastest 25 time since the equivalent event back in 2000 - to go with his long term best over 10 miles from the start of the season.

Last off of the Westerley posse was Shane. We waited around at the HQ, mostly speculating on what sort of time he might have acheived.

- Could he get a new PB?

- Might he even challenge the 56s that John and Malcolm set in Wales earlier in the year?

- Was a 55 out of the question?

In fact he blew all of our estimates away: 54:48! Our first thought was 'Is it a club record?' Not quite: that mark still stands at 54:24, but none of our little group felt the urge to bet on it remaining there next season. We did, however, feel the need to burst into spontaneous applause as he walked into the HQ. Fabulous ride; well done, Shane!

25/9/2011 Cyclo Cross Event.

2011-09-26T22:06:00.018+01:00

For the last couple of weeks I have been spending some time in Whipendell Woods, Watford on my tricross bike, this is very new to me, I have a full suspension mountain bike so why would I want to ride round the woods on what is really a road bike with fat tyres and on occasion jump off, pick up the bike and run with it! Only to jump back on and start again?.....I don't know either.

I have not run for 20+ years so to help I have done a couple of very short duathlons in the last couple of weeks - one week apart has given me enough time for my body to recover from the pain of the week prior ready to do it again. I won't publish my time to run a mile - All I will say is that team member Roel mentioned that his 5 year old daughter ran a very similar time at the weekend for a mile - its not that I am slow, she is just fast for her age!

This weekend was due to be the first day of the central league cyclo cross events but the first event was cancelled. So I headed over to Chelmsford to enter the eastern league event.

Two things I have found out in preparing for this event. ONE I am considered a VET in du/triathons, TWO I am considered a VET in cyclo cross. I was hanging onto the thought that I am a vet next year in the eyes of the Vets time trial association.

Actually I have found out far more but those two items start the ball rolling for pain and upset!

My second mass start event and although cautious I was able to make some places up prior to the first turn, just like my MTB ride a few weeks ago these places are very important as the first bottle neck and you are loosing time to those that got away quickly. The start is grided and you are placed at the start line in a ranking order, for me I was in the last 15 ish riders as I had no previous results. 80 people in my race.

The course was not in any way considered technical but did include three dismount/remount points per lap, each lap took me about 6.5 minutes to complete.
One lap took me slightly longer as I created my own unofficial dismount or 'spectacular off' as spectators called it!

I was lucky for my first cross event the day was hot and no mud to be seen, bike held up very well and I placed 31st out of 80 riders.

My thanks go to Neil from Beyond MTB who has put up with me for the last few weeks while I learn to get on/off the bike! He also took the pictures - Thank you.

Interclub Sunday 25 September result

2011-09-25T13:26:00.002+01:00

Malcolm Woolsey 59:15
John Sullivan 59:27
Dave Newman 1:1:16
Frank Proud 1:2:28
Vince Dey 1:5:56
Roly Collicott 1:6:16
Tom Newman 1:8:21
Chris Parrott 1:9:08
Mark Saye 1:17:01

Westerley team time 2:59:58

Willesden CC team time 3:28:52
With counting rides (only 3)
Stuart Birnie 59:44
Ray Kelly 1:14:20
John Wheatley 1:14:48

Mark unfortunately went off course hence the long time so bad luck there. Super cakes afterwards courtesy of Anne Woolsey much appreciated.

Westerley Interclub Pre Event Info

2011-09-24T13:20:00.002+01:00

Event Info:

Course HCC114 25 mile Time Trial

Course HQ: Great Missenden Memorial Hall, Link Road, Great Missenden (Usual HQ)

This is a CLUB event so additional riders can sign up at the HQ, £4 per rider.

Rider Order (rough) which can be changed to suit additional / DNS on the day......

Westerley
Mark Saye (8.31)
Frank Proud
Dave Newman
Tom Newman
Vince Dey (8.35)
Malcolm Woolsey
Chris Parrott
Shane Townsend (Marshall/Ride TBC)
Roly Collicott
John Sullivan (8.40)

Willesden:
Ray Kelly
Stuart Beanie

High Wycombe:
Gordon Wright
Paul Morrissey
Phil Crouch
James Hunt
James di Rico
James Norris
Geoff Powell

Hillingdon Triathletes:
David Knight

Middlesex & District CC:
Ed James
Gurpal Panesar

VC10:
Chris Starling

Heads up, Enjoy the ride,

Andy.

VTTA 25 on H25/2 (2 October)

2011-09-20T15:37:00.002+01:00

If anyone hasn't got round to entering this event, Rocco is holding entries for a day or so. Get entries to him by Thurs. Cheers, Roly

Time Trials - Sat/Sun 17/18th Sept 2011

2011-09-18T12:26:00.007+01:00

A busy weekend with 12 Westerley entries spread across three events.

As it's now a month since PBP, I was feeling that my legs had recovered from the effort and that I had managed to hang on to the fitness boost from that long ride. I therefore realised that I had a probably once-in-cycling career chance to beat both my 25 and 10-mile PBs in the same weekend.

H25/8 (Bentley), Saturday 17th

On Saturday, Roly and I headed down to the open event on the H25/8 starting from Bentley.

It was a windy day with showers forecast. Unfortunately we had been timed to start at opposite ends of the field - Roly was off an hour and 20 minutes before me, so he had to get ready for the start straight away, while I was able to cheer him on a bit, do a full warm-up and chat with other riders at the HQ.

During my warm-up and during Roly's race there was a shower but it didn't amount to much. Roly was waiting for me at the start and said that he felt that the course was riding well, he'd had a comfortable ride, the wind wasn't so bad and that I should be on for a PB. With that encouraging endorsement of my ability to hit my goal in my ears, I set off, and the sun came out!

Realising that I'd often gone off too quickly in races and then blown up, and also seen my speed drop right down on hilly sections, I had decided to try a couple of things I hadn't done before:

- Attack the hills hard - there are three or four short, punchy hills on the course - and back off on the long, fast sections to conserve energy

- Use average speed as a guide to help me pace.

Both of these things went well.

- I was able to keep my speed above 18mph over the entire ride. The previous Saturday, on the similar H25/88 course, my speed dropped to 14 on one of the hills common to both courses.

- Having a pacing strategy meant that I was able to hold back at certain points in the race - especially just after the start - confident that I was on track overall.

Before the ride I had set a couple of targets. While I would really like to beat my PB (1:02:28), I would still be very happy with a '2' and that getting a '1' would be a stretch goal. But things went far better than I could have hoped, I rode what was by a long way my most comfortable TT and got round in 1:00:57, to beat my PB by a minute and a half.

Roly did 1:05:35. Not as fast as he was last year but still a decent time given he hasn't trained so much recently (and he also confessed to having had a rather 'sociable' party the night before!)

The winning time was 50:53 by Martin Williamson of London Dynamo. I was 41st and Roly 60th out of 90 finishers.

Roly snapped me battling into the wind on the second outward leg

F15/10 (Luton Wheelers) Saturday 17th

Also on Saturday, Andy did a fast 10 on an 'experimental' course to come 6th out of 86 riders in a strong field.

He reports as follows:

With the wind behind all the way to the turn I only left 55/11 gear for about 12 seconds! Average 30.9 to the turn. This of course meant a fight against nature all the way back. Max speed 46.8 mph - The wind did this not me, pure tail wind out. Very happy with my time and placing.

Andy Halliday 22:25

Winner: Ian Cammish 20:31 (Planet X)

WLC10 (Great Missenden), Sunday 18th

A field of nine Westerley riders assembled for this race. I'm not sure if that is a recent record but don't think I've been in a larger group from the club.

It was an unusual day on the Amersham Road as there was hardly any wind! And while it meant that riding out to the turn was pleasant, boy, did we miss it on the way back!

Congratulations to John who was fastest round in 23:07. Initial reports of his time being 33:07 were found to be incorrect! Andy and Malcolm also managed 23s; Dave and Ian got 24s, I did a 25 and Vince, Roly and Mark did 26s, to round out a good all-round performance - 9 riders all under 27 minutes.

Although my legs were feeling the effects of my 25 the previous day, I managed to beat my PB by a few seconds and also the handicap. Given I've not done many 10s, these were less challenging objectives than my 25 PB, but it was a great feeling to clinch the weekend 'double'.

Results are:

John Sullivan 23:07

Andy Halliday 23:21

Malcolm Woolsey 23:42

Dave Newman 24:10

Ian McNally 24:42

Frank Proud 25:02

Vince Dey 26:32

Rolly Collicott 26:48

Mark Saye 26:53

Overall fastest time was Neil Elliott (West Drayton) with 22:44

President's Trophy points here

Westerley times with handicap:

Frank Proud 21:52

Mark Saye 22:53

Dave Newman 22:55

John Sullivan 23:07

Ian McNally 23:12

Andy Halliday 23:21

Malcolm Woolsey 23:22

Rolly Collicott 23:28

Vince Dey 23:47

And finally...

Andy in 'dirty mountain biker' mode on last Sunday's Brecon Beast

Words from the Photographer as follows

"Jim Margetts was up by 'The Gap' for most of the day. He was wet and knackered and was nearly blown backwards by some of the 60 mph gusts of wind. I saw riders further down the track literally getting blown sideways into the ditch, the weather was just horid! This years event most certainly lived up to its name...and then some!. Anyway, fortunately a Brecon Mountain Rescue vehicle was also there and took pity on me and allowed me to take refuge within their Land Rover".

Frank

Good n Bad news !

2011-09-15T11:41:00.003+01:00

Some Good News:
Sunday's Brecon Beast MTB ride results are in.

I placed 29th out of 423 riders on my course (all ages) with a time of 4:09:00
1st Place James Heaton & Haydon Wood 3:18:00

I placed 10th out of 149 riders in my age group 18-39
1st place Ross Farley 3:19:00

I hope some pictures of my efforts will follow.......

Some Bad News:
The ECCA made mistakes on BOTH Westerley riders 12 hour distance estimates.

Estimated were Roel 218, Andy 225 ish.

Actual official results are Roel 205.08 , Andy 213.42

The official reasons given were an additional circuit B credited to Roel and an additional finishing circuit credited to me. This changes the current places in the club 12hr rankings. Rather a shame that I had to be told these new figures by Malcolm whilst he was supporting Ian on his 12hr ride rather than by the ECCA. I do hope Ian's 12hr estimate is more accurate, Malcolm agrees with it so fingers crossed for Ian.

That means the Good News (not for me!) after this correction is Ian's 12hr distance gains him the 12hr Trophy. Well done, an excellent ride.

Another Westerley report from last Sunday.........

2011-09-13T17:31:00.004+01:00

New member Mark Saye as well as time trials likes triathlons,

These words from him about last Sunday's event.....

"Just to let you know about my participation in the Weymouth Sprint Triathlon on Sunday Sept 11.

I took part in the Weymouth Sprint Triathlon at 7am on Sunday morning (Sept 11 2011) down at Bowleaze Cove in Weymouth. We had lucked out with the weather, as heavy rain had been forecast. Nevertheless, strong winds contributed to a rough sea swim (750m) which I completed in about 22 minutes, swimming breast-stroke to avoid drinking each wave. The bike course started out of transition with a very steep hill - pushing a 39x27 gear at 5mph was all I could do to keep the pedals turning. I managed to avoid getting blown off my bike in the gusty winds, and completed the 20k in about 46 minutes, averaging 276 watts (very close to my TT level). I finished off the 5k run in about 25 minutes, again with the steep hill at the finish. Despite the slow swim (6-8 minutes below current lake pace), I still managed to beat my time from the Blenheim Palace Triathlon back in June, so happy with the result. Final results: swim 22:36 (40th), T1 2:39 (28th), bike 46:15 (16th), T2 2:16 (44th), run 24:59 (36th), overall 1:38:45 (33rd) out of 51. Winner did 1:10:47.

Mark Saye."

KCA 12

2011-09-13T11:55:00.002+01:00

Ian's provisional distance has finally gone up which is 221.188, this is about what I made i on the day, so not expecting it to change. He also came 12th overall, which is a fine ride, coming strong towards the end as alot of other riders were fading away. Also give him the 12 Hour trophy.

Chapeau that man

Very long 51 for me, 25 miles in Wales at the weekend...........

2011-09-12T21:16:00.007+01:00

What a weekend! Loads of different events for the Westerley riders.........

Four people head to wales with the 'aim' to camp out under the beautiful stars, well rested we would race on the Sunday..........To take on the "Brecon Beasty MTB ride".

We achieved the 'head to wales' part of the aim.

We drove in very bad rain - Sounds like Chris was riding in the bad rain, Got to the camp site and set up tents in between rain storms. The original idea was to walk to the local pub for evening meal, but drive was the best option. So carb loaded and head back for the night under the stars.

The nights sleep was not great, the wind played tunes all night on fly sheets, That stopped every so often for the rain to hammer the tents like drums. Ear plugs did not cut the noise out!

Up and ready for the 9am start. This was my first ever mass start event with around 500-700 MTB riders all behind the police and race pace vehicle. These would lead us into the local town. I was there with Neil from Beyond MTB and he is very experienced in these races, So we were close behind the pace vehicle. Not used to multi rider events this was a worry start for me.

Holding around 20mph the pace vehicle headed off, This was a struggle to hold, Neil was already 20m ahead and with the top riders. The tarmac climb prior to the off road section was hard, several people fell back I tried to hang on and kept in the first 30-40 riders, usually this would be a bad idea to go all out at the start, But it turns out in this style of ride that is the better option, Once off road it was pretty much single track and no room to pass, again a killer first hill. The rain just meant nothing had grip so this very quickly turned into a line of walkers pushing bikes. That was very hard for me, I don't run and walk very little so calves were very quickly like lead and difficult to lift legs up. Neil had very kindly waited at the end of this section for me but it was clear I was not doing anywhere near as well as him. One little "oops" in the next section and a nice mud bath for me. Pleased that I was not the first to go down and that was my only proper off of the ride.

The aim was to do the 90km route the other option was 60km, At the first route choice point I carried on up the 90km section, I checked my time and looked at the weather turned back and took the 60km route - Whimp out? Call it what you like but this was my fourth MTB ride of the year, about 2 hours being the max I have been on a MTB this year and that's really local woods not slate/boulder covered welsh mountain with a river running against you. (At the finish I was sure this was the correct option for me). The link section took us across the most demanding section of the course, the rider ahead of me suddenly fell out of view - This was single track path so where did he go ??? His head popped up out of the water !!! the side of the route was a ditch which we could not see, deep enough to hide man & bike! I was now lead rider in a small group thinking gotta be my turn to swim soon! But I kept head above water so to speak.....One section split 2 ways so one rider clearly faster and better bike skills than me split left to come round us, I'm happy to let anyone pass, it allows me to watch the line they take - He never made it in front, the "grass" area was really a bog now and he sunk.

I reached the 25 mile point in a very long 51 minutes, 2 hours and 51 minutes to be exact. So glad I was on the short course. It got a better ride after this with some wide areas, Stuck in middle ring for some time I had to really work on one hill, This is a totally different concept for me, Mechanical failures are expected, Riders were washing bikes in any large puddles, Neil used chain lube on three occasions first washing the drive train with his energy drink - Might be worth a try! Rode through every deep puddle I could find to try and clear mud off the bike, Got the gears working of a fashion.

Second feed point with about 10 miles to go and then we hit a tarmac section, Very weird but MTB riders who fly past on the technical sections seem to slow on tarmac, So I do well on these sections, Two sets of RED Traffic lights were not a help, I should have got off and walked the bike round but I took a rest instead.

Back into the off road section which the wind had brought branches down as added obstacles, Then one final Tarmac section which I knew was within 1.5 miles of the finish so I gave it all.

60km completed in 4 hours 9 minutes - Brecon Baby Beasty tamed !

I'm waiting the final result sheet and some photos, some of the 90km riders completed ahead of my 60km time - Serious rides from them.

I think I placed in the top 30 maybe much higher - Maybe much lower! but waiting the
final results.

Other riders mentioned a "good" target time was 4:30.

Neil did the 90km in 5:20, the other two in my group did the 90km in just over 8 hours - Very happy I did the 60km route, hard but a good result. 90km would have brecken me! (poor pun but best I can do).

Andy.

What Chris was up to on Sunday - LEJoG update

2011-09-12T21:09:00.002+01:00

Message from Chris:

Sunday - I did Annan to Kilmarnock (75 Miles) last half in heavy rain (2 changes of gloves and 2 of socks) - but nice following wind

Monday - Kilmarnock to Crianlarich (73 miles) torrential rain all the way - 3 changes of gloves - gusting following wind, floods alongside Loch Lomond, waterfalls across road.

tomorrow - Crianlarich - Glencoe - Fort William- Fort Augustus. Heavy rain and head wind for first 25 miles forecast. But no midges.

Port Talbort wheelers R25/3

2011-09-11T23:11:00.000+01:00

I manged 56.24 on the famous welsh course. Having decided near the start the wind had calmed down a little I put my front trispoke in, I realised this just before I started and didn't have time to change it to a shallower rim. The bank is fairly protected until you go over the river bridge, I actually freewheeled over this and hung on to the tribars for grim life. as you head down to the floor of the valley, you criss cross the river numerous times, and every bridge was as bad as the last. There was a horrible head wind out to the turn which on this course is 16 miles. So I new it would be much quicker for the final 9 miles. but creeping along at 20mph, didn't give me much hope of a fast time. The average speed was dropping, from the bottom of the hill, but looking at my current speed not as quickly as the I was expecting. The way back was quick, but not as good as you seem to expect. when Slogging in to it. My minute man didn't start, and being the slowest man in the fastest event, was expecting to be caught by all and sundry (2 events with 240 entries). I got to about 23 miles when no 90 caught me for 6 minutes and left me standing. Micheal Hutchinson usually manages short 46's on this course but today only manged along 47 (arrh). I was happy with result as I was nowhere near last place on the overall result.

Time Trials - 10/11th Sept.

2011-09-11T19:52:00.003+01:00

Tom said "...where were the rest of you?"

Well John and I were tackling a Maidenhead CC 25 on a very windy Fifield course. I thought the wind was from the West and slogging along Drift Road was quite hard. But then I turned left, up the hill, and the wind seemed to come from the South. And so it went on; I am sure there must have been a tailwind somewhere, but I was never sure that I'd found it!

I got round in 1:07:44. I didn't get John's time as, although I hung around in the car park for a while, he must have got chatting to people at the finish so I didn't see him afterwards.

John mentioned that he'd heard Malcolm had had a good ride in Wales this morning. Look forward to hearing details of that. I think Andy is also there so I expect he'll be along shortly.

Probably the highlight of the day was that there was an apple tree right by where I had parked which was laden with extremely ripe and tasty red apples!

I went a bit better on Saturday. I went down to the A31 to a Farnham and Camberley CC event on the H25/88 (variant of the H25/8 which misses out the busy roundabout at the Farnham end but adds a couple of loops of the Alton by-pass to make up). It was another windy day where the course rode very differently coming in from going out. I managed 1:03:19.

Sunday 11 Sept

2011-09-11T19:06:00.002+01:00

Today was a hilly Chilterns special with fast man Shane today. We covered over 60 miles with nearly 4,000 feet of climbing in a tad under 4 hours. Just the 2 of us where were the rest of you?

Don't forget this Weds at the clubroom to discuss the format of Sunday clubruns so please bring all your ideas along and lets get something organised.

Cheers Tom ( I'm going for a lie down now!)

Ians Q12hr

2011-09-08T12:01:00.003+01:00

Short version from Ian of his 12hr...........Full version will be printed in the next Club Record.

"The Q12 was probably the hardest yet most enjoyable ride I have done, it is not like other TT’s I have done this season and I think I got it all right in the end. The day started very still and with this in mind and the target I had in mind I set off at around 21 mph keeping this as my average. The first section went well and I then got on to the Camber circuit, where the wind had started to pick up a little, half the section was in to the wind and the other wind behind. I got to 100 miles in 5.07.18 ish . After 4 laps of Camber on to the Ivychurch circuit which is were I really struggled my legs were like jelly, my average speed dropped and I it started to rain and I was not enjoying it after 2 and a bit circuits my legs started to come back to me again after this wobble between 130 and 150 miles, then I got a puncher, a quick fix then a wheel change and on to the finishing circuit. I had 163 mile on the clock my legs were feeling quite good again so I knew I could get 50 miles in for the last 3 and half hours surely, so I went for it. I was going round really well, the wind was not as bad as it had been all day and the sun had come out so all was good. Malcolm was really pushing me at this point and he did get told off by one of the other helpers, which I found quite amusing when he told me. I am still not so sure on my finishing distance but on my computer I had 221.4 so it is still TBC…"

Words by Ian McNally.

12 hour

2011-09-06T13:01:00.001+01:00

Ian On the Finishing circuit, with far to much energy!!!

WLC 25, Welsh 25, Ians 12hr

2011-09-04T20:11:00.002+01:00

Lots to talk about today!

First the West London Combine 25 4/9/2011

The course has had a new top layer of tarmac just laid as you get towards the second turn. Once that's worn down it could make the long return leg a better ride, Today was dodge the flying stone from the new surface. Wind was strong today but we did miss the heavy rain that fell shortly after the event.

Westerley Rider times as follows, President points in brackets
Shane Townsend 58:28 (3rd overall) (6)
Dave Newman 1:00:30 (5)
Andy Halliday 1:01:36 (4)
Frank Proud 1:04:09 (3)
Vince Dey 1:07:16 (2)
Roland Collicott 1:07:44 (1)
Tom Newman 1:8:14

2011 President points can be found HERE, Someone? is now ahead and uncatchable with 2 events to go ;-)

Westerley Handicap times as follows
Shane Townsend 58:28Dave Newman 59:50
Frank Proud 1:00:39
Andy Halliday 1:00:56
Roly Collicott 1:03:44
Vince Dey 1:04:06
Tom Newman 1:00:44

Welsh 25
Jeff Jones, Chippenham & District 49:26 1st Overall
John Sullivan 56:56 PB
John mentioned a very strong headwind all the way out and then 28-30 mph all the way back.

Ian completed his Q12hr doing around 221 miles. This needs to be confirmed after checking. Support from Malcolm. I'm sure we will have more in depth info from them soon.......

Westerley Weekend Series 25 & 10

2011-08-29T13:58:00.017+01:00

This years Westerley Bank Holiday Weekend Series saw an excellent level of entries, Bucking the trend for lower "open" event entry levels reported by many this year.

Sunday morning and an early start for Roger Woolsey putting out the signs at just after 5am.

Vince / Malcolm had been working in advance of the event to produce a PC based time sheet that was projected onto the large wall at the front of the hall. Vince's laptop did not like the early morning start but after a few words of encouragement it woke up. Many thanks to Vince and Malcolm who were organisers for this event.

For me the most welcome sight is the cup of tea and cake available post ride. I am sure this sentiment is felt my many. So the LARGEST THANK YOU for this event goes to three people, Anne and Amy who kept the tea and cakes flowing, behind the scenes a number of people made cakes (I think that's the right term!). Winner of the "BEST post ride cake EVER" at any event I have been to goes to Kelly and her "cycle sign" cake.

Malcolm was first off with the aim to be back early for other 'duties'. I was off number seven. I was suprised when I passed Malcolm! To be fair he was comandeering a marshalls car to put his punctured bike in and return to his 'duties' . That said he drove over the finish line shouting "ONE!" at just over the hour.

Three Westerley PB's to report.
Mark Saye recorded a time of 1:07:19 in his first 25 TT. His realitic aim was to be below 1:10:00 so great news for him to achieve this goal.
Andy Halliday: Legs were feeling OK after last weeks 12hr but I could not be sure if they wanted to carry me at speed. Happy to report 44 seconds off my PB and arrived in a time of 58:41 . My first 58 for a 25.
Shane Townsend Back in April of THIS YEAR shane did one of his first TT's and turned in a time of 1:04, How things have changed !!! Sundays ride brought an amazing time of 57:21 . Again I would say Westerley ride of the day goes to Shane AND with that ride Shane currently holds the fastest 2011 Westerley 25 time.

Full list of Sundays results in rider order can be found HERE

Results in position order can be found HERE

Westerley rider times in the Open 25
Shane Townsend 57:21 PB
Andy Halliday 58:41 PB
Dave Newman 59:10
Ian Mc Nally 1:02:40
Chris Parrott 1:06:23
Tom Newman 1:06:43
Roly Collicott 1:06:47
Mark Saye 1:07:19 PB
Jerome Walters 51:52 (La Fuga Sigma Sport)

The course starts on a downhill section and I was dissapointed to feel the head wind - Hit 42mph in this section, The downhill leads you to the first roundabout and then is really a climb all the way to the A4 roundabout, this then follows slightly more than the H10/2 course includng places like Knowl HILL, Notice the clue in the name, your gonna be climbing again! Despite the climbs this is known to be one of the local faster courses, as long as the wind stays away!

Monday and the 10 TT from the bottom of yesterdays downhill section climbs pretty much all the way to the turn, The return leg seems to bring you into a roundabout near the finish at full throttle a cruel road design if you need to slow for a car/house box or lorry at this point, as when you get round its a steady very slight gradient until you can see the finish. This drains anything you have left, usually to empty to soon.

Results in rider order from the H10/22 can be found HERE

Results in Place order can be found HERE

Westerley Riders as follows
Shane Townsend 22:33 PB
Andy Halliday 22:53
Dave Newman 23:38
Malcolm Woolsey 23:39
John Sullivan 23:43
Ian MC Nally 24:03
Frank Proud 25:13
Mark Saye 25:58 PB
Tom Newman 26:11
Chris Parrott 27:08
Adam Topham (High Wycombe CC) 20:07

As the two time trials are a series overall series positions can be found HERE

An excellent number of entries for these events, A BIG thank you to all those who helped out and marshalled which allowed so many Westerley rides to compete.

Dates for your Diary in September :
4th West London Combine HCC114 and Ians 12hr
11th - TBC
18th West London Combine HCC180
25th Westerley Interclub HCC114

PBP pictures

2011-08-27T16:32:00.005+01:00

1. Queuing up before the start

2. At the top of a sharp climb in the heat on the first evening

3. Passing through a village in Brittany just after lunch

4. On the second evening, heading for my half-way stop at Carhaix

2011-08-27T13:30:00.002+01:00

Paris Brest Paris, 21-25 August 2011

A. Prologue

1. Riding out

Leaving London on Wednesday afternoon (17th August) with a full load of camping gear, my audax bike felt very different as I wobbled down my road. I did a lap round the block, debating whether to dump half of my things but decided that I would get used to it and pressed on.

Recalling that PBP begins with a 220km ride before the first control, I decided to ride the 70-ish miles to Newhaven without stopping, only putting a foot down at traffic lights or junctions.

The group coalesced between the car park at Sainsbury’s in Newhaven and the queue to get on the ferry. I met Tom, who I knew from having ridden a couple of his events in East Anglia, Jonathan and Emma on a smart tandem, George, visiting from Australia (and with a handlebar moustache and gap in his teeth which made me think of Terry Thomas), Brian, Andy, Julian, Alison and finally Steve / Teethgrinder – who has probably ridden as many miles as anyone in the UK over the last decade.

We had a comfortable night on the ferry and a jolly ride down, spread over two days of fine weather. I enjoyed this, getting to know the others better, getting into the spirit of cycling in France and acclimatising.

Tom, Steve, George and Brian had all done PBP one or more times before and I used the opportunity to get lots of tips and advice from them. I soaked up tips which were to prove useful to me, such as:

Danish cyclists in particular tend to ride in their own groups (‘Dane Trains’) and are generally skilful cyclists
There can be long queues for food at early controls until the ride spreads out
The route through Brest goes on for a long way

As we approached Paris we stopped for a beer in Trappes before people split off to the places where they were staying, with Tom, Andy and I heading for the official event campsite. The site turned out to be excellent so I cancelled the hotel room that I had provisionally booked for the night before the start to ensure I would have a good sleep.

Near to our tents we spotted a yellow velomobile. Chatting to the German owner, he told us that he was aiming to get round in 45 hours and that he regularly topped 100km/h using his top gear of over 160 inches (72x11 with 26” wheels)

2. Music and fireworks, thunder and lightening

On the Saturday night there was a concert at the roundabout where PBP starts and finishes, followed by a wonderful firework display. As we rode back to the campsite, a big thunderstorm kicked off. Although we escaped a soaking, the high humidity and flashes and bangs long into the night disturbed our sleep. I knew I would be starting the ride short of sleep and regretted not having kept the hotel room.

3. My approach

As this was my first PBP and first ride of more than 600km, there was too much uncertainty for me to think it was worthwhile having a detailed plan covering things like where and for how long I would stop and sleep. However I did have a few principles I would use to shape my ride.

Do the fastest time I was able to. I didn’t have a target and, while I would be happy to get round in the 90 hours, I would be even happier if I could do it in under 80.
Keep up my momentum. On a long ride this is most important to me. I decided I would make only the shortest stops and only when I absolutely needed to. This meant I rarely put a foot down between controls and carried food with me from the start so I could avoid the long queues which I expected to find at the first controls and get through quickly. I wore more layers but used zips, hat and riding speed to regulate my temperature and, if necessary, put up with being a bit too hot or cold until the next control rather than stop. I would only ride, eat and sleep – nothing else. Conversation with other riders was most welcome but only when it can be combined with riding or eating.
Eat lots to keep my energy levels high: big meals and always carrying some snacks on the bike.
Ride when I feel good and sleep when I am tired.
Co-operate with others, not compete. Mainly this involved drafting whenever I could find a suitable wheel to follow and re-paying by taking my turn at the front – but not over-doing it.
Being only a modest climber but a passable time triallist, I would adopt my usual approach of allowing myself to drop down the group on the climbs but work the descents to keep in touch.

B. Day 1 – 500km out to Carhaix

1. The start

On Sunday afternoon I headed out to the start with Andy. We were queuing from around 4:30pm until our start at 7:40, mostly in hot sun and it was good to have a partner to talk to and hold bikes while we went to find essentials such as water and toilets. We chatted with other riders in the queue and the time passed quickly.

2. Catching the Dane Train

As we moved up to our start I noticed that there were several Danish riders in our group. I said to Andy “I’m going to stick behind them.” We set off, the Danish peloton formed at the front of the group and, along with a lone Dutch rider, a couple of Germans and a few Americans, Japanese and various others, I rode along behind them for almost a hundred miles.

I noticed that several riders were a bit erratic, pedalling furiously then freewheeling, then standing up for no particular reason. I sought out the steadier wheels to follow – which were mostly Danish, German or Dutch.

The start was fast – adrenaline powering us along smooth, flat, closed roads. In every village there were people out applauding us, cheering us on and, importantly given the heat, re-filling our water bottles. I drunk six bottles that evening as we powered on, overtaking dozens of slower riders from earlier starting groups.

After one re-fill stop I lost my group and tried to sprint to get back on. An American rider then passed me at high speed and we two-upped, then picked up two more riders. Riding through-and-off, we easily moved back up through our group and out to the front. But as I was about to pull over after a hard turn at the front, my American partner bolted forward. The other two tried to chase him but couldn’t and our group collapsed. I then had the first of perhaps half a dozen such conversations I as to have over the course of the ride on the poor riding skills of most of the field: the erratic wheels, inability to work together to go faster and pointless attacks.

As the first night wore on I decided that it was safer to stay out of large groups of tiring cyclists and rode more on my own. I was now getting passed by others and, as dawn broke, realised I was getting very tired. Had it not been raining, I would have stopped for a nap. But all the bus shelters were taken so I pressed on. From my night riding experience, I knew that the wave of tiredness would pass. It did and I continued but at a moderate pace

3. Power napping

Eventually the sun came out, the grass dried and I started to see lots of cyclists sleeping along the route. Feeling I would benefit from half an hour, I pulled into the grassy entrance to a field. I lay down with my head on my saddlebag and the thought entered my head that a tractor could turn into the field and run me over. Right on cue, I heard one coming, and scrambled up just in time for it to pull in and start dusting the field down with what looked like lime. I found a better place to sleep on the edge of a wood a mile or so down the road and, when I got going again, felt much stronger from the rest – once more overtaking more people than were passing me.

4. Brest or sleep…?

The weather stayed pleasant into the evening. For a bit of fun, I was tracking to see how many miles I would cover in the first 24 hours. I got to 308, which was a record for me. This split between 184 in the first 12 hours and just 124 in the second – when there were far more stops.

I started to think I could make it all the way to Brest that night and that, if I could, I might be able to do a fast time. I reached Carhaix, the penultimate control, at 9pm and it was still daylight so it was possible to do it, and most of the group I was riding with seemed to be pressing on. But the ride to Brest would be a hard stage involving the biggest climb of the whole route – the 330m Roc Trevezel. It was also a long stage – almost 100km. I was feeling sore – saddle sores but also feet and shoulders. As I deliberated, I looked up at the sky and it looked full of rain. So I opted for a hot shower and booked myself a camp bed in the hall. Given I’d had a hard day, covering 328 miles (500km) and with a poor sleep the night before, I decided I would allow myself six hours, rather than the 2-4 that most riders were limiting themselves to.

While showering, I started to think how my ride might shape out. I started to think of aiming for 400km the following day (Tuesday) leaving me 300km for the Wednesday and a finish some time in the early hours of Thursday. If things went well, I felt I still had a chance of beating 80 hours.

Day 2 - The longest day

1. Over the Roc to Brest

Back on the road at 4:45 the next morning, fully rested and fresh, I realised what a good decision it had been to stop. It was a mild but wet and misty morning and the roads were very wet. As I climbed, I saw lots of riders lying under space blankets but on wet grass – those who had tried to reach Brest and failed enduring a miserable night.

Someone shouted my name and I saw Tom. He’d also stopped at Carhaix and we rode together. His company was a big lift for a couple of hours up the big climb. We chatted about things, like the woeful standard of lots of the riding, the extravagant outfits of, especially, the Italian riders (with one in an all white outfit, including overshoes, riding nearby) until he stopped for a mid-stage break and I pushed on.

When I got to Brest after 4 hours I realised that those who had pressed on last night had ridden through a bad thunderstorm. Two phrases mentioned more than once were ‘biblical proportions’ and ‘the heaviest rain I have ever ridden in…couldn’t see the road’. Those who made it through that had taken six hours.

2. ‘I think I can do that’

Leaving Brest just after 9am, I met a young French rider. Only 23, he was on his second PBP and told me he was aiming for a time of 65 hours. Having started on Monday morning he had reached Brest on only a couple of hours sleep. We rode together for a couple of hours. He was low on energy and welcomed the chance to ride with someone who was fresher and I enjoyed riding with someone with a steady wheel and consistent speed.

He explained his strategy to me which was to get back with only a couple of naps to arrive by 10pm on Wednesday night and hit his target. I thought about it. I was much fresher than him having had a full night’s sleep. I asked myself, could I do that, too? I thought about it. It would mean riding the remaining 443 miles (700km) from Carhaix to Brest and back to Paris in a long, 36-hour day: nine stages – the equivalent of nine club runs – one after the other. But I was already into stage 2 with over 100km done and feeling fresher all the time. ‘I think I can do that’ I said to myself, and decided I was going to try.

I worked out that if I could finish by 5:40pm on Wednesday afternoon I would be below 70 hours. This would be almost a day ahead of the limit and something I could feel really good about. It was now my target. I knew that all I had to do was ride at my benchmark audax pace of 20 km/h or 12.5 mph (including stops) for the 36 hours, and eat as much food as possible to keep my energy up.

Back at Carhaix, I shook hands with my young friend, and we wished each other good luck as I went off to eat a big plate of food in the control and he sought out his support crew.

3. Spinning through Brittany

I started the next stage, which was a fairly hilly one through Brittany, gently, digesting my meal and playing myself in for another long innings. I was being passed by other riders on the climbs, but would generally overtake them on the descents. It struck me that very few others seemed to bother pushing downhill with many freewheeling down, perhaps to rest before the next climb.

Watching a German cyclist pass me at a high cadence, I realised that I had got a bit lazy about changing into my small ring to climb. I decided I’d make a point of changing down and upping my cadence. I found myself climbing much more quickly and was now overtaking lots of others, both on the uphills as well as downhill sections. I overtook a triplet ridden by three German brothers. The previous day this had swept past me and I had not been able to stay in touch.

I really gained speed and reached the next control at Loudeac in just three and a quarter hours – well above my expected riding speed. The only bike that had overtaken me was a tandem ridden by two UK riders – Aiden from VC167 and his partner Hugh. I hadn't been able to get on their wheel as it was on a sharp hill and they climb very well.

Loudeac was my favourite control with the evident enthusiasm of the locals running it giving me a real lift. I went into the restaurant to eat another big three-course meal and was very pleased to see Jonathan and Emma. I chatted to them until they left, exchanging stories of weather and other experiences.

4. Why don’t Italians pedal downhill?

On my next stage I once again started slowly. After half an hour a group of four Italian riders passed me and I decided to tuck in behind. It went well for a while but I was finding it hard work on the climbs and was having to brake to stay behind them on the descents as they freewheeled down, chattering away, before grinding up the next hill in something like 39/23. I decided this was hard work and, on the next climb, I let them go. I spun to the top a few hundred yards behind them, then pedalled hard on the descent and caught them on the next climb, my momentum carrying me past them at twice their speed. Pleased to have re-discovered my own style, I left them in the distance.

5. Drafting with tandems

I was now on the flattest section of the ride. Happily there was a tailwind and I was able to float along riding on my drops at over 20mph for mile after mile. I had done almost 200 miles that day but felt really good and each stage was going better than the previous one. I was wondering what could possibly be better?

Just then, Aiden and Hugh passed me again, with a couple of solos in tow. This time I was able to get onto the back, and my speed upped to 25mph plus as they led us on a furious chase. After a few miles, we passed Jonathan and Emma on their tandem and they joined in, helping to up the speed a couple of notches! Drafting behind two top UK audax tandem crews was one of the highlights for me as we flew past other groups of riders (some of whom I recognised as having passed me earlier) and got big cheers from the spectators. All of my aches and pains disappeared as I focused only on staying on.

At the next control it was getting dark. I thanked Jonathan and Emma for the tow and they said they were going to stop for the night. It was a logical place, with about 340km done for the day and 360km to go. I said I was still feeling strong and so was going to press on to the next control. Jonathan looked at me and said ‘You’re going all the way to Paris aren’t you?’ I said I would keep going while I felt good.

6. Drafting with recumbents

It was a shame to leave the control into the dark night. There were far fewer riders on the road with many having opted for sleep. I passed a few, then saw torches ahead. It was a couple of locals who had decided to spend their night guiding riders across a main road junction. I crossed, thanked them and continued.

Towards the end of the stage a fast recumbent passed me. I noticed it had quite large wheels and the rider was high enough off the ground for me to draft behind him, if I got low on the drops. I did, and upped my speed a fair bit. I then did my turn on the front but it was clear that the German rider was not used to drafting and he rode diagonally behind me, so I let him go in front again.

Riding into the next control (Fougeres) at about half past midnight, I recognised Julian’s bright yellow gloves. He said he was stopping for the night. Again, this was a logical place with nearly 400km done for the day and 309km to do the next day. Resting here would have been my earlier plan but, still feeling good, I sought out another three-course meal, ate it and pressed on into the night. A few sums confirmed that, as I left at 1:15am, I was still on track: 309 km in 15.5 hours would have me finishing just before 5pm.

7. A long, dark night

This was to prove a long, dark stage through the dense forests of Normandy on a cloudy, moonless night. I took it slowly out of town and several riders passed me. Just before the top of an incline, I jumped onto the back wheel of one. For some reason, this irritated him and he accelerated and tried to shake me off. But we were now at the start of a long, gentle descent and ‘bang, bang, bang; click, click, click’ and I was now past him and speeding along in a high gear and didn’t see him again.

I kept my speed, and my spirits, up on the flat sections. But later, there were some big climbs to be done and the descents had to be taken more carefully. The stage seemed to be taking forever. My average speed dropped and I took nearly 5 long hours to do the 88km to the next control. Doing some sums while I ate I worked out that, leaving at 6:40am, I now had exactly 11 hours to do the 221 km to hit my sub-70 hour target. It was still possible if I could get back to 20km/h average but I’d lost all of my time buffer on that tough night stage.

The other notable thing that happened on this stage was that, for the only time in the entire ride, I was overtaken on a descent – by a French rider

8. Making up time with the 80-hour riders

I had a big lift on starting the next stage from seeing the sky starting to get light. A second big lift came from realising that I was descending from a plateau so could expect several high-speed miles. I got into a group following a German and a Belgian cyclist. The German was big and strong and my speed rose following him. I noticed that these were steadier wheels to follow and realised from their numbers that they were 80-hour starters.

On a downhill section I did my turn, with the German rider drafting me closely. He then left me on the next climb. However, I caught him again on a later descent. We then picked up a French rider then a Spanish rider and worked well together as a four across the rolling countryside. I would make sure I started my turn on a descent. I had to freewheel a bit to check the others were on, but I could then use my momentum to carry us half way up the next hill, before handing over to someone else.

After a while I realised that we had dropped the strong German rider. Then the Frenchman disappeared too. I took care to keep the Spanish rider with me, easing off on a long, slow climb, to make sure he could continue to help me. Eventually, though, there was a long, steep climb and I shouted thanks and waved him on.

A few miles further on, I managed to get another two-up partner for a flat section of several miles which we did at 20-25mph. This had been a great stage for me – one of my fastest of the whole ride and I reached the next control 45 minutes ahead of schedule.

9. Who put all those hills there?

I knew that the route would get hillier as I approached Paris and that this would slow me down. Immediately after the next control, at Mortagne, I was into a series of about half a dozen significant hills. They seemed much bigger than they had done on the way out, and my speed feel significantly. After two hours I had only done 20 miles, so my new buffer was slipping away.

I had a near-disaster in one town. Trying to get past a group of Italians who were good climbers but slow between hills, one of them lurched suddenly to the left to avoid a manhole cover just as I overtook him. As his front wheel came within inches of mine, and I had visions of a tumble and a broken collar bone, I cried out a warning. ‘Mi scusi’ he replied, sheepishly.

10. The AUK train

Eventually the hills stopped and we were into beautiful meadowland with a gentle downward slope. I raced on, on my own, for mile after mile, keeping my speed above 20mph. Eventually I found a partner, but he was reluctant to work with me. Without a common language we couldn’t communicate but he hung back from my wheel then attacked hard when in front to leave me. I was now feeling tired and decided to let him go.

A group of three past me and I made no attempt to get on their wheel. I felt that I’d made up the time I’d lost on the big hills and so I was now happy to just keep my speed ticking over above 12 mph. Then another group passed me. I saw an Audax England shirt at the front, and a couple of UK club shirts following. I was going to let it go, but the riders kept coming – there must have been about 20. Even though I was tired, this was too good to miss and I had time to get my speed up and just scrambled onto the back. With the continuing tailwind and steady downhill, this peloton was moving at 25-30mph. I wanted to stay on as I knew it would halve the time it would take me to the next control. But the last couple of riders in front of me were a bit erratic, alternating between sprinting and freewheeling and often coming out of the line, making it much harder work to stay on than, say, following the tandems the previous day.

After a couple of miles I had to drop off. I realised that I was now seriously tired. As I limped into the last control I felt both my feet go numb and my legs were heavy.

11. Digging deep for the last stage

In the last control I knew I badly needed to refuel. I found myself a big plate of lasagne, a banana, a pains aux raisin and a can of coke.

I got back on the bike, then got off it after a hundred yards to try to massage my feet back to life. I freewheeled down a bumpy road, turned a corner and had to do a sharp climb. My legs would not get going: in bottom gear I could just turn the pedals round. My thumbs were also numb and saddle sores were biting, as about a dozen riders passed me within a hundred yards.

With four hours in had to knock off the final 65km, I realised that, if I could get going, I only needed to do 10mph to make my 5:40pm target. But if it was a hilly stage, I was going to struggle and might need to rest up. There were a couple more gentle hills to be endured, then a descent and a long, flat section. This allowed me to do the first 10 miles in about an hour and I was on track. I gradually got stronger and picked up speed from there and although there were more hills, fewer people were overtaking me.

On one of the final, steep climbs, my young French friend from Brest passed me and said ‘Hello again’. I could only manage a grunt in reply but was very happy for him as he looked on track for a sub-60 hour time – 5 hours better than his target.

12. The finish

The roads flattened out towards the finish. I found myself in a line with four others, who seemed to be looking for a sprint. Feeling better, I thought that might be fun so I hung on to them as best I could for a few miles. However, there were several red lights. At one set, while the others waited 10 cars back, I deployed my London commuting skills, weaved my way to the front, did a track-stand, got away sharply and didn’t see them again.

I expected there would be a good crowd at the finish so decided I would make sure they had something to cheer. I zipped up my jersey, got onto the drops and picked up speed so that I hit the final roundabout at 20mph, and enjoyed the applause as I guided the bike into the tunnel.

My time was 69 hours and 2 minutes – far better than I had ever expected beforehand. I was helped by good conditions but needed to be willing to try to ride as hard as I could for 443 miles in 36 hours without stopping apart from at the controls. It was not only my longest, but also my best ever, day of cycling. It had everything, from cheering crowds to challenging climbs and high-speed descents, drafting fast tandems and trains of solos, riding with friends and with strangers. I didn’t get tired so I kept going. My only error was to let my food intake drop towards the end and, while this probably cost me an hour, I was already close enough by then that it didn’t matter.

D. Epilogue

The bad thing about finishing so much earlier than I expected was that there was no-one I knew in the hall to welcome me in as virtually all my friends were all still riding. So, feeling zonked, I left, showered, ate and was asleep by 7pm.

The good thing was that I was well-rested to go back and watch others finish the next day. Tom, who had finished overnight, and I headed back in to cheer people home and enjoy a few drinks. I cheered in Els and was then chatting to her in the hall when I turned round and was delighted to see Eddie Kehoe, who’d ridden down from Dieppe, along with Dave Burke, to see the finish, and we headed off to a local bar for a few drinks.

Back at the presentations I met Rimas and joined him in doing full justice to the closing buffet, before heading off for a few more drinks at another bar in town. Kindly, but unnecessarily, a Breton we got into conversation with paid our bar bill.

Andy and I had a final adventure as train problems meant we had to get off at La Defense and ride into town with me in danger of missing my Eurostar. Our first challenge was to find a road in that concrete jungle. The second was to avoid being swept onto the A14 motorway and the third to head the right way to get into Paris. With persistence, we managed, and sped up the Avenue de la Grande Armee, round the Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs Elysee and on. I just made my train and got home for a wonderful sleep.

Ians new 50 PB and Franks update

2011-08-23T11:05:00.003+01:00

Ian smashed 13 minutes off his 50 PB at the weekend.

His new 50 PB is 2:11:38
Winning time by Chris Goodfellow of Bicester Millenium in 1:48:30
Oxonian CC 50 on H50/17

Frank is half way in his PBP ride, His time from Paris to Brest is 37hr 29 mins. He is now on stage 8 of 15 heading back to Paris.

ECCA 12hr

2011-08-22T18:50:00.005+01:00

Andy Halliday at 88 miles - Big smile for the camera

Roel Jansen on the finishing circuit

Whilst you read this and whilst we were on the road give a thought to Frank Proud on his PBP ride, He is now over 21 hours into the ride with an average of over 21 kph - Keep them legs spinning Frank. Check HERE for details how to see his progress.

Roel rode an excellent ride finishing 218 miles (50 in 2:26:04, 100 in 5:06:55). His "Nike" mind set of "just do it" kept him going. His ride in this years La Marmotte was his only training for this 12hr event. Roel rode a normal road bike with no fancy bolt on aero bits. Every year he sets himself on goal to push himself - Last year was e'tape tu tour, Iron man next year, Maybe?

For me I set a benchmark last year of 220 miles, My aim this year was 230 with 240 if it was a perfect day and I rode with little time off the bike and that was unlikely.

33 miles into the ride and a front puncture, Very lucky that the support car drove past minutes later and a wheel change and off again. Completed first 50 in 2:13:26 happy that I had not over cooked it from the off, 100 in 4:35:59 take off the wheel change time and that could well have been a PB for my 100. I changed to road bike for the next few hours, I think this was a good decision as it allows a number of positions easing back pain, this year I had no shoulder/upper back pain which was a vast improvement on last years 100/12hr. Back onto the TT bike and was doing well until at 9hrs I got stung by a wasp on the neck. Things went OK for a little while longer, In hindsight I think this was because I could feel no pain. By 11hrs by entire body was tingling, my chest was very tight and breathing was awkward, felt very faint and was unable to make simple decisions, both feet were starting to feel very hot. Once on the finishing circuit is was pretty much all over at 11 hrs 15 mins where I got off the bike curled up in the shade of the support car and stayed there for 30 minutes in a bad way. The next time point was about 100 meters on so I rode to it and walked back to the car. I appear to have done 225.28 miles which although I am dissapointed in myself not being able to keep going for 12 hrs I am happy the distance with 10 hrs 55mins of ride time. Spoke to my Father today who agrees in the state I was in I was better off safe on the road side.

MASSIVE thank you to My Father and Alex (Specialized Concept Store Ruislip) for their help and support of both of us in the ride.

Nick Bowdler did 299.95, We all wish him a speedy recovery he was driven to hospital and stayed for tests over night (To see if he is actually human!)

The final distances need to be confirmed.

Andy Halliday "Finished"

Sorry if any of what I write does not make sense! Still in recovery......

Minet Ladies Charity Marathon - Friday 19th August 2011

2011-08-22T16:03:00.000+01:00

A great success with 2443 laps ridden and counted using the Westerley electronic timing kit for which we have been thanked by organiser Nici Savage. I was interviewed by the local radio station who asked how all of this high tech kit worked. He didn't ask too many follow up questions which makes me suspect that my answers were a bit too geeky. Nici says that she mentioned the help from the Westerley to the local press reporter so check out the report if you get the Hillingdon paper. You can get the look and feel of it all here Note that hours have been stripped off the total time results column (one of life's mysteries that I have failed to solve). A highlight was Callum Oliver being cheered to the finish when he finished riding a 100 laps (94 miles) in 4h 41m 35s.

Brompton World Champs 2011

2011-08-22T12:11:00.002+01:00

Great day yesterday check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZNNh_-W-tw

I finished in a time of 28.04 and positioned 149th out of 800 riders. Winner was Michael Hutchinson in 21.15.

Brompton racing is as competitive as anything else i've ever done. Difficult circuit with 2 fairly substantial hills, I was on single speed and struggled on the gradients compared to the geared bikes. But gained on a lot of downhill stretches and cornering.

Super weather, I'll do a bit of a write up for CR due out soon.

Tom

Westerley Circuit Series Race 10 of 10 17/8/2011

2011-08-18T18:43:00.013+01:00

Race 10 and the last race in the 2011 circuit series.

First and most important a very large thank you to all helpers who make this possible and all riders who have taken part.

For the Westerley riders this year saw a change in the overall trophy points scheme. The best 8 of the 10 possible rides will count towards the overall trophy. 30 points for each first place, 29 for second and so on. The overall will not include the addition of attendance or handicap points, This we hope will be a more representitive result of the actual overall winner - I believe we have achieved this.

Malcolm Woolsey managed an amazing set of rides being the only Westerley rider to achieve a 23 minute time, He managed this four of his eight counting events. He finished first place in all eight counting events giving him the maximum possible score for the overall trophy of 8x30=240 points. Dave Newman regularly placed second and myself third overall.

Malcolm Woolsey 240 Points Overall 2011 Westerley Circuit Series Trophy
(Points to be checked & confirmed)

The overall results for the 2011 Circuit Series can be found HERE

Malcolm has also helped streamline the results data which has been a great help to me getting results on the blog often within hours of the event.

Lap times for ALL races can be found HERE
Tabs at the bottom of the spread sheet show each of the 10 races

The poor conditions for this last races showed at the fastest lap time was 2:08, Done by me but Malcolm punctured in the closing laps and had to back off otherwise im sure he would have been faster.

Westerley Handicap calculation has also had a change this year. These 8 of 10 races count allow for mechanical failures, holidays, off days etc and we hope allow a more even playing field for all riders.

Handicap points can be found HERE

These need to be checked and agreed but for now it looks like the following

Westerley Circuit Series 2011 Handicap Winner - Andy Halliday with 223 points.

Results above 200 points looked like this, very close final result.

Andy Halliday total 247, counting 223
Ian McNally total 222, counting 222
Dave Newman total 236, counting 214
Malcolm Woolsey total 232, counting 208

Best season improvement goes jointly to Richard Burton and Frank Proud, Both knocking 1:22 of their times

Thank you again to all those who took part, With special thanks to all helpers.

PBP - tracking the progress of riders

2011-08-17T12:54:00.002+01:00

I’m just about to head over to France for the start of PBP

If anyone is interested, this year there is a website where you can track the progress of riders:

http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/pbp2011/index2.php?lang=en&cat=randonnee&page=suivi_participants

You need to put in a frame number. Mine is which is 5649 and there's a full list here

Of course it will give the name of a small place in France, which may not mean very much, so here is a decent map of the route:
http://cyclo-long-co...cours-pbp-2011/

I start between 6:00-7:20pm on Sunday evening (21st Aug). I expect to be at Brest very late next Monday night and to finish either late on Wednesday night or Thursday morning. The deadline is midday-1:20pm (90 hours after I started) on Thursday (25th).

Frank

Brompton World Champs

2011-08-16T15:01:00.003+01:00

Just to let you all know, I've entered the above event, which is this Sunday held at Blenheim Palace.

2 x 6.5 kilometre circuits (8.2 miles) around the grounds. It's a Le Mans type start where you have to dash over to your folded bike assemble it jump on and then get racing.

Each competitor must wear a collar, tie and jacket and either shorts (long) or trousers. You can wear lycra but must be hidden by what's on top. And of course a helmet sits on top of your napper.

Should be fun.

H25/1 14/08/2011

2011-08-14T15:18:00.005+01:00

After a riotous week of kids on BMX's the weekend brings the grown ups out to play.

Nice to see an honesty box full of golden coins and and notes next to the fantastic assortment of cakes and high carb offerings on the post race trolley.

Photo above of Dave & Andy both sub hour guys today on the H25/1. Dave is clearly standing on a tall box and I'm definitely modelling the "helmet hair" look.

Dave rode 92" fixed today, Gears for me. Which ever way we all agreed the wind was a one way battle.

Reading CC H25/1
Andy Halliday 59:28 (11th of 43)
Dave Newman 59:53 (13th of 43)
1st Place Antony John Hough 56:14

Getting ready for PBP – August 2011

2011-08-11T12:17:00.012+01:00

Several club-mates have asked how I have been getting on in preparing for Paris Brest Paris (PBP), so here is a summary of my season to date.

What is PBP?

If you’re not familiar with it, PBP is a 1230km ride from Paris to Brest and back again which dates back to 1891. This makes it the oldest cycling event still being run, predating the Tour de France (originally devised by the same organisers as a more spectator-friendly version) by 12 years.

Until 1951 it was a professional race. The record time, set in 1951 by Maurice Diot is just 38:55 (Diot could have been slightly quicker but famously waited for 20 minutes just outside Paris while his breakaway companion fixed a puncture, before being rewarded for his sporting gesture by taking the final sprint). But the professional entries declined thereafter and it has since been left to amateurs. Nowadays it is run every four years, under audax rules. Entries have increased in recent times to 5,224 for this year. The UK generally provides the second largest contingent.

There are still some fast riders who ride with little or no sleep, such as John Warnock from Twickenham who got round in 50 hours last time (compared to the fastest time of 44¹/₂ hours) to be the fastest UK finisher. But most take from 60 up to the limit of 90 hours. Like most riders, I’ll be happy just to finish.

My schedule

To prepare for this, I’ve done around 6,500 miles so far this year. I’ve been broadly following a ride schedule set out by Simon Doughty, the former Willesden rider, in his Long Distance Cyclists’ handbook in which he recommends a week-by-week schedule over the year to prepare for a long distance event. I admit that I only started following it properly in May but was pleasantly surprised to see that, when I looked back at what I had done over the year, it tied in closely with his schedule. This both gave me confidence that I was on the right lines and comfort that it shouldn’t be too great a hardship to commit to following his recommendation thereafter!

Super Randonneur

I’ve done a variety of riding over the year but the most important bit has been audax rides. To qualify for PBP it is necessary to do a Super Randonneur series (SR), consisting of one of each of a 200, 300, 400 and 600km ride, within some broad time windows from February to May. I chose the following rides for my SR.

1. Redhill Beach Trip: a 215km loop from Redhill down to Beachy Head and back. I rode this on a glorious sunny but cold day in February, mainly with Chris Beynon from Willesden, and we got round in around 10 hours. Beachy Head was very pretty, but getting two punctures within a mile at Seaford was a pain.

Winter lanes in Essex

2. The Dean: a 300km ride from Oxford to Chepstow via the Forest of Dean and back over the Marlborough Downs. I rode out to Oxford the night before for this one. I did a fair bit of this on my own but rode one section with Dave Minter, a very experienced long distance cyclist from Australia who has ridden major events all over the world, and who kept encouraging me to pace myself. I got round in 15 hours. There was some great scenery, but a particular highlight was getting back to Oxford, passing the station and diving onto a waiting train which took me straight back to Ealing!

3. Buckingham Blinder: a 400km from Cardiff to Buckingham and back. This was at Easter, when there was unseasonally good weather this year. The ride had been designed to be a quick 400km and had a fairly flat route – apart from crossing the Cotswolds twice and a few undulations in South Wales. I set off in a large, quick group and noted, while crossing the Severn Bridge, that my average speed for the first 50km had been 18.5mph. Although I lost touch with the main group after Malmesbury, I continued going quickly and assumed that I was benefiting from a tailwind. After the turn, it was clear that there wasn’t an appreciable wind – it was just a great day for cycling (at the same time Malcolm, Ian and Vince were setting a new club team 10 record). I rode back most of the way as a 4-up with Matt Haigh, Ian from Cardiff and another rider, and we finished just on midnight, making 18 hours total.

Highlights were the A48 from Chepstow to Cardiff, a glorious undulating, smooth road, and having a look around Cardiff – which was much prettier than I had previously thought.

4. Bryan Chapman Memorial: two lengths of Wales in a weekend; 620km from Chepstow to Anglesey and back with 8,500m of climbing (route here). I was more apprehensive about this, my first 600. But Bryan Chapman is the flagship of the UK distance cycling calendar and it felt good to mingle with the other 120-odd entrants at the dawn start and catch up with lots of familiar faces.

Leading a peloton on Bryan Chapman

I rode in good-sized groups for the first 100-odd km, maintaining a good pace and getting plenty of shelter from the headwinds. At the first cafe control I caught up with Ray Kelly from Willesden who had first suggested to me the idea of doing PBP while riding round a 200km last year. I reminded him of that, thanked him and he immediately apologised!

I rode the next section with Ian from Cardiff, joining with groups for part of the way. Just south of Dolgellau, we got soaked in a shower that was so heavy that I pulled off the road, not to shelter from the rain but because I simply couldn’t see!

At the tea-time stop at Dolgellau Youth Hostel the rains abated and I put on dry clothes. Then the hard bit: to leave the hostel to do a 200km loop up to Anglesey and back. Ian and I set off and I felt ok, but when the hills came I found my climbing legs had deserted me so I had to tell Ian to push on. I rode a fair bit alone, up and over the 1180ft Llanberis Pass, then joined up with another rider from Birmingham in time for another soaking on the descent.

We made it over the Menai Bridge onto Anglesea around 11pm while there was still a last trace of dusk. A hot cup of tea and food improved my spirits, but my new companion was tiring and stayed to sleep, so I had to set off to do the night section on my own. I’ve ridden a lot at night but it is so much darker in Snowdonia than south-east England, and far quieter too. I kept pressing on but more slowly as I got sleepy. I felt that my eyesight was deteriorating as, several times, I imagined that road signs in the distance were other riders ahead of me. This was actually just hallucination, which I later discovered is very common on long rides but it was strange the first time I experienced it. Eventually I made it to Dolgellau at 3:15am, having done just under 400km for the day, to see some of the faster riders already leaving and the sky starting to lighten.

After a couple of hours sleep in a warm bed I felt ready to get up and knock off the remaining 225km back to Chepstow. The second day begins with probably the hardest climb of the ride, to cross the Bwlch Oerddrws at around 1200ft. This took a lot out of me and, despite mainly tailwinds, I found the next few hours hard going. By the afternoon I was feeling stronger and the last few miles down the Wye Valley from Newport, via Tintern Abbey, to Chepstow, were pleasant. I ended up riding this bit with my companion from Birmingham of the previous evening, and we finished together. When we mentioned at the finish that is was our first SR we were both touched by the way that several people rushed over to shake our hands and welcome us into the SR club.

I didn’t realise it, but the hardest stage of the weekend was still ahead of me. After a few celebratory cups of tea and a lot of food, I set off to drive home. I felt fine as I left but it was later than I thought (my watch had stopped) and it got dark not long after I crossed the Severn Bridge. My eyesight started playing tricks again and I slowed right down – doing 40mph on the M4. I wound down the window, put on music, then stopped at a service station for a nap, but continued to feel extremely tired. Eventually I crawled home but vowed I would never drive immediately after a long ride again.

Other cycling

Having completed my SR by mid-May I needed to keep riding to maintain fitness. I did a pleasant 200km audax round the Cotswolds in June, then spotted a couple of events in the calendar which had evening starts. These were tempting as rehearsals for PBP, where I will also have an evening start and ride through the first night, so I signed up.

The first was Mull of Kintyre, a 610km ride to there, starting from Inverkeithing, by the Forth Bridge and on the other side of Scotland (route here). I was keen to tackle another 600 as, while I’d got round Bryan Chapman with a few hours in hand, I had found it tough. But special thanks to Pete in the club room for playing Paul McCartney’s song the Wednesday before to help me get in the mood!

I got the train up on Friday evening and set off, with a dozen or so others, in dazzling evening sun. I lost most of the riders on the first big climb and rode most of the way with Graeme Wyllie, the organiser, and two others who we met intermittently. The short summer nights in Scotland meant we were in daylight until around midnight and it started to get light about 2:30am. And the sun did not come up a moment too soon. The clear skies meant that the temperature, forecast to be around 10 degrees overnight, actually dropped to near freezing before sunrise. At one point, three of us crowded into a red phone box at Inverary to keep warm! We pressed on to Loughgilphead, to complete the first 200km in 10 hours – and feasted on the wares of a Tesco Express – the first shop we had passed since the start.

Setting off again I felt very tired and mentioned this to the others. They all felt the same, so we were on the lookout for somewhere to have a nap. We found what we wanted in the pretty fishing village of Tarbert, where several benches clustered round the harbour and in full sun beckoned. Half an hour’s rest there allowed us to kid ourselves it was a new day and we pressed on, refreshed.

I asked Graeme what Campbeltown, our destination on the Mull, was like. He said he’d never been and that he’d organised the ride because he always wanted to, and it was a way of getting a group together to go!

The scenic highlight of a very scenic ride was the road down the East coast of the Kintyre peninsula to Campbeltown. The Long and Winding Road of the Beatles’ song, it not only winds but has rises and falls steeply in places, with beautiful views out towards the island of Arran, the Ayrshire coast and even Northern Ireland. A real cyclist’s road and I enjoyed going flat out along it.

The road back up the west coast was less pretty but less hilly. I found a short cut (allowed on audax!) which cut off a few miles and then met Graeme again for the leg up to Oban. This turned out to be much hillier than we had expected with half a dozen significant climbs, so we were relieved to reach Oban, where we celebrated by sitting by the harbour in the sun to eat fish and chips. At 9pm I noted that we had managed 275 miles in 24 hours – not bad, but we reflected it was only half of what Andy Wilkinson had done the previous weekend.

We then had an easy 40km leg to reach Dalmally, where we had hired the village hall as a resting point for the night. I remember more stunning scenery as the sun lowered in the sky, then riding along the top of Loch Awe with the midges so thick that they sounded like raindrops hitting my jacket. We reached Dalmally at 11pm. I slept soundly for three hours. We breakfasted and left around 3:30 for the final leg. This was a fairly straightforward run back but it was good to see the scenery – in particular Glen Ogle and Loch Earn – which I’d missed in the dark on the first night.

We made it back to Inverkeithing at 11am on another gloriously sunny day.

The following Friday evening was Hereward the Wake, a much more prosaic 315km ride round the Essex, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire countryside. I’d got a friend along who, although a quick rider (and a strong climber) had never previously ridden much more than 100 miles, so had to take this one a little slower than I otherwise would have done. One highlight was making short work of the overnight headwind section in a fast three-up. Another was sitting on a bench having a snack in a silent and deserted village at dawn. We finished by lunchtime having, once again, enjoyed some great weather.

I had more night rides lined up for the following two weekends. Next was intended to be a double header with a night-ride to Brighton, then back home to sleep followed by the Dunwich Dynamo, to give me another 600km. However I came off at speed on a bad road surface on a roundabout on the way back from Brighton, so limped home and gave Dunwich a miss.

The following weekend was an overnight down to Newhaven followed by the Dieppe ferry and a ride to Paris to catch the finish of the Tour on the Champs Elysee. A wonderful weekend with 300km of riding, plus a very enjoyable spin round Paris on the Monday morning before catching the midday Eurostar home.

Leaving on the ferry for Dieppe

Other non-audax highlights from earlier in the year included:

- An early season week in Gran Canaria which was heaven – wonderful cycling in beautiful mountain countryside in summer weather – in January! I might go back.

- Long-weekend rides from London to Lands End and to Swansea

- Day rides round the Chilterns many times, to Cambridge and back a couple of times, around Kent, around Essex, and up to Norfolk.

- A handful of time trials – a few Wednesday evenings at Hillingdon Circuit and a couple of outings on the Amersham Road.

Final thoughts

I’m now tapering so no more long rides. I’m just trying to organise all the logistics, tweaking / changing things on my bike and hoovering up advice from people who have done it before.

The ride I enjoyed most was, without question, Mull of Kintyre: empty roads across Scotland through beautiful countryside with glorious summer weather which made the fishing villages and white beaches of the western coast look more like Greek islands.

The main lesson I’ve learned is to enjoy the ride and not think about the distance (which sounds like a metaphor for life – maybe it is!). But I now generally turn my computer off, focus on how I am feeling and look at the scenery.

I leave a week from now to ride down to Newhaven for another ferry and a leisurely ride out to the start which is at 6pm on Sunday 21^st August.

(Thanks to Dave TC, Greg Melia and Tim Hall for the photos)

Track "Kilo" Club Record Attempt

2011-08-08T11:20:00.004+01:00

A last minute opportunity to join the Maidenhead & District CC track training afternoon at Reading Parmer Park on Sunday gave me an unexpected chance at the track "Kilo" record again.

My last attempt in June this year gave me a club record time of 1:22.45 so that was the target.

The morning had been a little cold but dry for the club 10 time trial but as I drove towards reading the rain started to fall. One thing I hate is rain, very few things on my hate list but Rain is pretty high up it. The one thing that kept me driving towards reading was remembering several poeple had mentioned the calm following a storm. I drove on in the hope for that calm to meet me at the track.

Reading is an outdoor track with a gentle banking. Inside the track is an athletic track and a few sand pits - The sand seems to migrate to the track very well!
The track is 460m long and part of Palmer Park sports center with lots to offer.

10 or so warm up laps with a light rain got me used to the wind into the turn, without question it was a little whippy!

A great "follow the leader" exercise where you simply follow (you got it!) the leader. This is fun, the leader can go anywhere they want, up/down the banking, any speed, you simply follow that route, OK so this is fun if you have a low gear and the leader wants to ride as slow as possible, not fun if you have geared up (96"). This was followed by a flying lap exercise great to see how you may have improved and to give the coach a good indication of your ability to ride at speed.

This was going well until the order to "STOP" leave the track was given as the rain was now too heavy to continue. No organiser likes to stop any event, I must commend the coaches for giving this order, it is a difficult decision but shows that rider saftey is the prime concern, For which I thank them.

Now as it happens the "Stop" order was so clear that the rain did exactly that seconds after the order was given. So a quick regroup and the remaining riders started to roll round peeling off to do their flying lap.

As the "Kilo" is from a standing start I was given one last chance to check I still wanted to try. I made it clear that if I got into the first turn and felt uneasy I would sit up and call it a day, The sand pits look great fun but I did not fancy landing in one!

I got to see a "starting gate" for the first time, We decided not to use this without any practice but many thanks to Peter/John for showing me this, It looks more like an item of medieval torture and something to try in the future.

Count down and i'm off.......

Out the saddle and weaving over the track! The pursuit line is the shortest and should be followed, but the blue line half way up the track seems so pretty! I felt good and an even pace in lap one, lap two started with a bell (Thank you Jorj) this was also going to be timed as my flying lap. I got half way round and started to tire, Controlled breathing was now a thing of the past......One last effort for the line and into a warm down lap and the wait for the time.

Very pleased to report record reduced by 4.2 seconds

NEW Westerley 1000m Standing start Club Record Andy Halliday 1:18.25
Time keepers Peter Bell & John Percy, Maidenhead & District CC.

My flying lap time was second overall to Jorj.
Jorj James 32.91
Andy Halliday 33.18

The coaches gave me advice on how to improve technique/style. Track training is available at Reading with John Percy on Thursday evenings, A few words from him about that......

"Some of you disappeared rapidly afterwards, no surprise in the rain, so I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that you can all (any age) attend Thursday evening training at Palmer Park up to the end of September. The session signs on at 8 at the desk where you will pay, start at 8.15pm until 9.45pm. You can hire a bike at £5. It helps if the coach (me) knows you are coming as I can get a bike out for you (EDIT: ask Andy Halliday for contact details)

When you've done a few Thursdays you can progress to Track League. You can still hire a bike for it but should really have your own along with a BC race licence not just membership"

Thank you to Peter Bell, John Percy, Maidenhead & District CC for putting this training event on and allowing me the kilo attempt.

Westerley Club 10 HCC109 & F1/25 & Others

2011-08-08T09:39:00.008+01:00

A MASSIVE thank you from all goes to Vince who gave up his ride to marshal at the turn and to Roger for time keeping.

Great to see 15 people sign on for the Westerley club event, Including seven private entries.

I had not ridden this course before. It starts at the top of a hill which is always nice and into a roundabout, I did free wheel down the hill as did several others, The more experienced riders flew down the hill into the roundabout and on. The course should be considered lumpy and care is required at a set of double mini roundabouts you go through twice. The road surface is very bad in places, It was a welcome sight to see new tarmac on a very short section but the rest of the out journey I spent my time weaving large holes and cracks in the surface.

Rider times as Follows, Westerley President points in brackets

Malcolm Woolsey 23:18 (4)
Shane Townsend 23:37 (3)
Dave Newman 24:04 (2)
Andy Halliday 24:04 (2)
Ian McNally 24:50
Frank Proud 25:35
Chris Parrott 27:10
Tom Newman 27:49

Private entries
Rich Berry 23:34
Gareth Batson 24:02
Richard Wilcox 25:40
Chris Pinnell 25:59
Simon Claridge 26:34
Stuart Evans 27:42
Vince Bennell 29:10

Westerley President Points can be found HERE

Westerley Handicap times for this event as follows

0:23:19 Tom Newman
0:21:45 Frank Proud
0:22:58 Malcolm Woolsey
0:24:04 Andy Halliday
0:23:27 Shane Townsend
0:22:00 Chris Parrott
0:22:44 Dave Newman
0:23:00 Ian McNally

Same morning Roly and John headed for the F1/25 open the following write up from Roly Collicott

Finsbury Park 25 F1/25 7 Aug 2011

"John Sullivan and I were the only club members to enter this event. Others were riding the club event on the local 10 course. It’s good that we have the numbers now to be able to support both local events and still ride open events.

As I passed the wind turbine on the M25 it was turning ominously quickly.

The wind was from the south west and it was blowing a bit of a hooley (whatever that is). … Oh, that’s got me going now and I’ve had to look it up…. Apparently, it’s the description given by steamship captains when they were unable to sail up the Hooley River (which runs through Calcutta) due to strong winds.

The course does three miles south, then 12 miles north, before returning south. We expected the first leg to be hard, but my speed wasn’t too bad and I turned with an average speed of 21.7 mph. The northerly leg was pretty fast: often around 25 mph and occasionally high 20s and low 30s. No-one passed me until I was approaching the turn. No. 35 took me for two minutes. Fair enough. Then No. 40 went through like a train. I passed 31, who must have been going well below his best, judging from his seeding. After 41 passed me, I got to the 15 mile turn in 49 minutes and figured that, in the unlikely event that I could only do 20mph back for the last ten miles, I’d be on a nine. Of course, based on my first leg I expected to go considerably quicker on the return, but this was not to be. It was hard and sometimes very hard. I was down to 15 mph in one stretch and often below 20mph.

John Sullivan did a creditable 1-00-19. A few riders did rides outside 1-10-00, while Ian Cammish won the event."
Roly Collicott.

Sunday 7th August Finsbury Park F1/25
Roly Collicott 1-08-31
John Sullivan 1-00-19
1st Place Ian Cammish 53-48

Thursday 4th August Hillingdon Triathletes Evening HCC180 10
Andy Halliday 23:17 (5th of 21)
John Sullivan 23:58 (8th of 21)
1st Place Neil Ellison 22:33

Saturday 6th August Hemel Hempstead F12/10
Tom Newman 26:25
1st Place Steve Golla 20:44

Westerley Circuit Series Race 9 of 10 3/8/2011

2011-08-08T08:49:00.002+01:00

Note for your diary: Last Westerley Circuit 10 will be held on 17th August

About this time last year I wrote the following entry on the Westerley Blog......

"Previously the lap record was held by regular rider at this event "Rocket" Roy Brook with a 2 minute lap.
Well hold on to your hats! that record fell, in fact I think it fair to say was smashed by Jerome Walters, check out the full list of lap times at the end of this post, NINE! laps completed all less than 2 minutes, fastest lap record now 1 minute 56.1 seconds. Can't wait to see people aim for this record next year, but wait we will have to."

The wait is over.........

This week saw the uber fast Jerome Walters sign on and the seasons fastest lap time was going to be smashed for sure. In fact every lap Jerome did was faster than the current season fastest lap of 2.02 held by my overweight underpowered body.

TEN! laps under 2 minutes leaving something to aim for next year.
Fastest lap 1:55.00 smashing 1.1 seconds off last years lap record and an average of 29.4mph for that lap.
Last years 11 lap time for Jerome was 21.42.9, This year 21.42.7

All rider lap times can be found HERE

Overall positions can be found HERE

Handicap points can be found HERE

Weeks Westerley Results

2011-07-31T17:48:00.002+01:00

27/7/2011
Middlesex Evening H10/2
John Sullivan 23:11
Nick Stagg 21:31 1st

31/7/2011
F1B/10
Andy Halliday 23:00

31/7/2011
H25/2
Malcolm Woolsey 57:28
Dave Newman 57:39
John Sullivan 58:27

Those are some fast 25 times! Well done people.

With those 25 times Malcolm is currently the fastest 25 this season - Watch out as I believe a 50 could be added to his list in the very near future......

If you have not already time to get those entries in for the Westerley Weekend Open events on H25/2 and H10/22 on 28 & 29 August - Details in the 2011 handbook or from Vince.

Wednesday this week is circuit 10 at minuet park.

Sunday is Westerley Club 10 on HCC109.

Westerley Sociable 10 - 24th July 2011 - Picture Gallery

2011-07-26T20:39:00.001+01:00