At a loose end?

If you're at a bit of a loose end, have a look at my cycling wesbite which I've been working on over the past couple of months (http://pronews.weebly.com)
Andrew

As easy as ABC?

The various club run groups were all over the place this Saturday. There was an attempt at the start to get a B+ group going - an excellent idea but in the usual melee at Cobham car park I'm not sure if it got off the ground. The A group set off, lost a couple of guys to the B group vanguard at Shere, but then gained another when we re-encountered them at Wonersh. The C group almost merged with the B group at Shere when they arrived at the same time. And someone has suggested creating (bad programmer's joke coming up) a C++ group.

Anyhow a good ride was had by all on the first dry day for months, though how on earth the 25-strong B team all cram into a cafe is anyone's guess. Outstanding performance of the day must be the Cs who did a whopping 67 miles - Compton and back via Newdigate of all places, thanks to routemeister Barbara who lives nearby. That could well be more than the B mob and isn't much shorter than the Roundhurst Farm trip of the As. M says she would have had 5 pieces of cake at the cafe (instead of her usual 4) had she known the return leg was going to be so long.

What happens on a typical clubrun.

Clive Walker

I have known Clive since he joined the club an we all used to race at Herne Hill velodrome.
For the last couple of years he has been a graduate of Sports Injury & Rehabilitation and will qualify this year. Therefore Clive's your man if you've got any aches or pains and has already massaged many pairs of legs.

Barry Harwood

We haven't seen Barry much, out on the club runs this winter, so he found it hard when the pace went up on the return leg. When I worked in Hounslow a few years ago I would always be bumping into Barry around Richmond on his daily commute to Isleworth from his home in New Malden.

I had a dream ...

... during the week I had a dream that I was chaffeur and had dropped into the midst of a group of cyclists. Then I woke up and like all dreams I can only remember bits, Riders were talking about A group, B1, B2, hilly, flat .... So organised. Then today I went to Cobham car park and joined the Zzzzz group. I must have missed something!

Tuesday mtb rides

During the winter I normally ride the mtb with Roger on a Tuesday. Roger is skiing in Courchevel this week, so Dave P asked me If I'd like to join them on their usual ride. We met up at Ryker's cafe nr Dorking, their numbers a little bit depleted by holidays and work etc.

Dave led us up over Denbies vineyard to Ranmore common, then down via Hackhurst to Abinger, around the back of Shere, out to Albury Heath then Albury Downs via Water lane to the tea stop at Newlands. He kindly managed to find us more mud than I knew existed in Surrey :-) After tea, we came back across the north downs way and dropped down to Shere via a cheeky trail (a footpath) off Coombe Bottom. From here we climbed back over the roughs and Deerleap to Dorking. There was very little mud on the return journey.

There were a couple of comedy 'offs' with soft landings :-)

It was a beautiful sunny day and nature has started to do it's stuff. Bluebells were beginning to push through the forest floor and we saw snowdrops and crocuses in sunny places.

Spring is coming...hurrah!

marin winter series round three

The forecast was for lots of rain, but lining up on the start line at 15'C it seemed more like summer. I gambled on wearing arm warmers and leg warmers, short sleeved shirt and no gilet.

The klaxon sounded and we set off on a wide fire road in to a fierce headwind for about 500m then a sharp left and into the first singletrack, which was very slippery. I was fighting for control here as my rear wheel went sideways on every bend.(I was using a quite worn Bontrager revolt, which has minimal tread to start with.) Back out onto 100m of fire road and a sharp right into the bombhole, more of a steep drop in and a low exit really. The next singletrack was the best of the whole course, it was slightly uphill, very smooth, bermed with a tailwind!! It was so fast that it was difficult not to brake into the bends :-). As I leave the first section of singletrack, I realise how hot I am! My shirt is open to the waist, I've rolled down my armwarmers, but my legs are hot! I never get hot legs, must remember to shave them for the summer ;-0

Out onto another fire road and into more singletrack and so on, á la Thetford. Most of the fire roads are into head winds and the singletrack is very hard going and boggy. The last section of singletrack is spectacularly muddy and it's deep. A couple of guys in front stall and have to run, I find a way through the trees, but this always risks a puncture. Then onto the last fire road into the arena, the tailwind instantly lets me shove the chain fully to the right! As I pass through the timing area I look back and see Paul on the opposite side of the arena about 30s behind. I'm sticking to my plan of keeping it steady for the few laps after blowing up in the previous Thetford race. In fact my horoscope this morning said. "Your energy levels are high dear Sagittarius, but don't burn yourself out!"

Back into the bomb hole and into the fantastic singletrack I'm riding at the back in a group of four. They are three big guys and they are holding me up in the singletrack, onto the fire road and the guy on the front hammers away. I struggle to stay on and we're back into the next singletrack and they're holding me up again. On the next fire road, I hear Russell Grant's camp voice full of admonishment in my head " your energy levels are high dear sagittarius, but.........." So I let them go and get back to keeping it steady and at the same time reassuring myself with the old " I get you later when you blow up" line :-)

Next time through the timing area Paul is only just entering the arena, so more than a minute adrift. So, I keep lap three steady too and this time at the end, I don't see him in the arena at all.This startles me a little and I think that he must have had a problem. Maybe he's punctured or broken his chain? So, I decide to start pushing hard, the reason is that: Paul is three points below me in the overall as we go into this race. The points for the series are taken as a best of three from four races. The problem is I forgot to enter the next race in the series and it's full. Paul is entered though! So this is my last chance to get a lead on him. :-) By pushing hard now I hope to get as many people between me and him to 'soak up the points'. The course is drying out quite a bit now and a lot of the singletrack is getting faster, some parts especially the very muddy one is much worse. This time through on the fourth lap lots of people are walking it, some are just standing staring wondering where to go. Luckily I managed to skim across the edge on some slimy roots without dropping in to the quagmire. I continue pushing hard for the next two laps and manage six laps 66km in 04.09. Paul finished in 04.18. I was 7th vets and he was 10th. The big boys managed seven laps.

Another great Thetford race :-)

Essex weekender

Out training at the weekend, My efforts to do a long ride on Saturday were thwarted by the weather as I set out South from Leicester. I had planned to stop for lunch in Bedford with friends but 'packed' in the town after a soaking with the river Ouse ready to break it's banks and the roads gridlocked in chaos. Fiona and I continued to Essex in the car as the rain fell into the evening, I feel I had made the right choice to save it for tommorrow
We were staying with returning cyclist Adrian who was now a member of the Shaftsbury CC and going out on the weekly club ride the next day. Sunday morning greeted us damp and windy but surprisingly warm no rain though so we were off to a good start. The ride set out from Mountnessing on the A12, in the 70's we used to start the super fast E8 '10' here where we saw the great Alf Engers with his oxygen mask and cylinder on his back before racing to amazing times (the oxygen to psyche out the opposition I feel)

There was an A and B group but one of the latter had broken his chain so there was a delayed start while that was fixed. And then the first hour of the ride was punctuated by three 'flats' to the same rider on a sub-standard machine (some people never learn but every club has one!) but the 'three and out' law of the road left him roadside with his mobile to call for assistance from the emergency services (the wife)
The ride for the remaining seven over the flat lands of Essex, we zig zagged in the windy conditions avoiding the traffic on minor and B roads. The tempo was good as we all shared the work in difficult conditions and only one major climb of the day at ?
this was the territory where the GP of Essex used to kick off the road season finishing up Halstead high street
Over the last quarter riders peeled off and only three of us returned to the start after a good workout and in need of some grub

Mark Williams

Here is another rider who makes up the A group rides. Mark was going well up the climbs today and is planning to do a few events in the Alps this summer.

Where we meet.

Here is my first attempt at putting some photos in a short movie. It's taken me all evening!
What do you think?

Winter riding Part II

Another good ride for the A team today - Petworth and back on a day that threatened rain but didn't deliver, and with positively balmy conditions for the time of year which saw some people out of winter gear and into shorts, fingerless gloves and arm warmers. The pace was high going up Sheepleas and as happened last week we lost a couple of guys. They went past us as we fixed a puncture (Andy coming down to the sharp bend at the top of Coombe Bottom; not the best place for it) and that was the last we saw of Les while Sabin only rejoined us at the tea stop. We split on the long drag from Shere up towards Ewhurst with Paul and Richard taking the honours, but from thereon stayed together with a good pace set by Paul, Richard, Alan, Trevor and myself. Dave peeled off at Alfold, Paul at Kirdford and the rest of forced our way through the strong wind to Petworth.

After talk of this summer's upcoming rides, the pros and cons of Compact and triple chain sets, and much video work from Alan (So, here we all are) Parkinson, we set off via Bedham Hill, Kirdford (puncture number 2 courtesy of Mark) and Cox's Green (number 3 from Andy who did a nifty swap which saw him get my new tube while I ended up with his knackered one). We went over the hills via Holmbury St Mary and White Down (Alan, for the record, says he was first to the top) and then fast back to Cobham. Only January and everyone seems to be in good shape already.

Back home Mariana reported that she had done 53 miles on the C group to Redhill aerodrome, which faces the threat of being closed down and, more importantly, losing the cafe.

The picture has absolutely nothing to do with the ride but is a nice shot of unofficial club photographer Paul Carpenter at work at last year's Tour de France prologue in London.

mallorca 06

I thought we could do with some pictures of riding in the sunshine.

This is a video of the 'el blobby tour de Mallorca 2006'

Muddy faces

Here's some of the clubs A-group together with muddy faces at the tea-stop in Frencham.

Will we ever make it compulsory for mudguards in the winter, together with hard hats?

Winter riding

A cold but sunny day for Saturday's ride. There was a good gathering at Cobham - around 30 people which is pretty typical these days. The C group went to to Mayford, the Bs to High Beeches, while 11 of us set off in the A group to Frensham. The route was modified to avoid the worst of the lanes following a few wet days but it was still very mucky out there. We dropped one guy on the first fast climb of Sheepleas, which Andy Hicks took in style, and a second left us in Hambledon. Trevor declined the tea stop and carried on home for a non-stop 60 mile ride - his winter training has begun. We were made welcome at the garden centre cafe at Tilford, following a poor reception on the previous visit. On the return leg, Paul Gadd drove us along at a fast rate of knots despite obviously bogus claims of not being well. At Shere he went up Newlands; Andy, Kay and Bob the Taxi t0 Dorking; leaving Sabin, Alan, Dave and myself to tackle Coombe Bottom. On the fast ride back to Cobham I started to get cramp and had to let them go, though Alan waited for me at Cobham and we went back to my place for a quick cup of tea and Mariana's (her bike as usual parked up in top gear following her final pedal down our driveway!) debriefing on her ride.

In a worrying development, Trevor, Sabin, Alan and I have been registered for the Fred Whitton Challenge - 112 punishing miles around the Lake District and taking in the Kirkstone, Honister, Newlands, Whinlatter, Hardknott (a knee-breaking 30%) and Wrynose passes. Just 4 months to get those climbing legs working. And after that the Marmotte. Watch this space.

nueva ruta - nueve!

Rutas tres y nueve
On the island there are a series of off road and road waymarked cycle routes. The routes are between 12 km for the shortest off road and 92 km for the longest road bike ride.
Today Jane has cobbled together two of the mountain bike routes to make one slightly longer and more technical route. Ruta tres- route three is an old favourite of ours and has some great technical, rocky climbs and descents. It also has a couple of road sections used to join the off road section, while these are nice quiet, beautiful minor roads, riding off road is more fun on an mtb. :-)
So, after enjoying the best bits of the first section of ruta tres we turn onto ruta nueve- route nine near the halfway point. After half and hour of nice rooty, rocky trails, the path kicks up at 20 % and becomes very loose boulders and slab rock – these trails are sandy with a matrix of baby head size boulders, but spaced throughout the trail are huge flat slabs of grippy rock, up to a metre across. Jane excels on this stuff and I have difficulty following her lines. The secret seems to lie in pedalling like crazy across the loose stuff to one of the rock slabs, grabbing a breath or two and dropping off the other side back into the loose stuff.....and so on. Hard work but very rewarding to make it without the dab of a foot. Descending is great fun too! Weight back, unload the front wheel and surf the rocks. Ruta nueve turns out to be a real hidden gem!
ramón

2008 here! Lets get going.

After a wet ride on New Years day, we had a much better time of it today on the first Saturday ride of 2008. As usual on the first w’e of the month we met up at Betchworth and as happens some rode out and some had taken to driving out.
The A group was made up of 8 riders, a reasonable size for the quiet lanes, and we set off at a fast pace. The route was pretty flat with only a long drag out of Faygate towards Colgate, to split us up. First to the top was Andy Hicks & Paul Alderson, followed by Jonathon Thomas, Sabin, me, Battersea Bob, Mark Packman & Les Baillon. For the rest of the ride down to Camelia Botnar tearoom, we all kept together and arrived in time for some lovely cakes at our reserved table.

The reurn journey was again a flatish route, so we decided to take a detour up Coldharbour which streched us out again. From here on the group started to deminish as riders turned off & headed home. Me, Sabin & Mark did one more climb up Ranmore before we had had enough and headed home.

Planning a major Cyclosportive in 2008

Father Christmas brought me a set of DVDs - The Trilogy Vols1,2,3 which provide guidance by Michael Cotty for riders intending to accept the challenge of La Marmotte, Quebrantahuesos and Maratona dles Dolomites. So if any one fancies taking a look at one or all the DVDs do let me know.

Xmas Ibiza training camp

Today me and Jane joined the Santa Eulária CC Sunday club ride. It was a chilly six degrees centigrado when we rolled up just before 9 am at Kandani Bikes in Santa Eulária. We were amazed to see several riders already there! The Ibizencs are not keen on punctuality, the start time is usually only a suggestion :-) Once previously, we had to tour the town knocking on doors collecting sleepy riders and picking up forgotten bits of kit. Today though, incredibly, we were away by 9.30 in a group of 25 plus riders.
Winter mountain bike rides on Ibiza are fairly sociable events and the first hour is very steady and totally avoids any climbing; not easy on Ibiza.- although not mountainous Ibiza is very lumpy. The hombre on the front was not unlike Davido Pindero and for an hour the highest thing we climbed was a speed bump. The rest of the ride was a delightful tour of the many caminos (rough unmade farm roads, just wide enough for a Renault 4 full of goats) and quiet roads. The highlight of the day was a new years feast laid on at a finca (farm) by some friends of the club. They had made lots of recuperas fuerzas (food!) such as: hot soup, hot chocolate, pan dulce (sugared bread) and buneulos (doughnuts).....plus fanta and coca cola for the foreigners :-)
ramón

Colin Parkinson

I was staying with Colin in Leicester over Christmas, so when the sun came out we had to go out on our bikes. We did a 70 mile ride down into Warwickshire where he knows all the lanes and some very picturesque villages.