Can it be a Bank Holiday?

A distinctly unofficial SWRC group left Banstead at a very civilised 1000ish this morning, in fact so unofficial was it that the only bit of SWRC kit I spotted was Ted Collins in a pair of old style SWRC shorts (and he was there bang on 1000!). An almost inevitably lumpy route took us over Farthing Down, Bletchingly and Crowhurst. It was at this point that we encountered several miles of near stationary traffic making its way to the Lingfield Show (there must be better things to do on a Bank Holiday than sit in a traffic jam!), once past this, Cliff Dent and his slightly bigger half of the group headed south on their way to Duddleswell, an excellent if potentially busy tea stop. Mandy, Geoff, Sabin and I turned eastwards heading for Westerham, this took in a few more ups and downs and as you can see in the picture Mandy and Sabin decided to sample the “fruits of the forest” on Crockham Hill by picking blackberries. I admired the view, something I seem to have missed in the past (probably too busy trying not to get dropped on the climb) while Geoff kept a respectable distance as blackberries could cause terrible stains on his all white kit!

We arrived at Westerham to find Dudley, Dave Pinder and Bill McCombe who were already exploring the cake menu. Unbelievable for a Bank Holiday the sun was out and we sat outside, a first for Westerham, it always seems to be a mid-winter destination and we are usually very glad to get inside out of the cold – not so this time! Our return journey took us over Boltey Hill, again more picturesque than I remember, probably the absence of a fierce icy headwind that we normally get in the winter helped.

The remainder of the return was uneventful, in Coulsdon Mandy and Sabin headed towards town while Geoff and I meandered our way back westward. All in all, the perfect Bank Holiday, and back in time to sit in the sun in the garden! I hope the Duddleswell set had a similarly excellent ride.

Marvellous Midhurst

Saturday saw another very good turn out for the club runs.The Wandsworth strollers arrived at 9.31 to see the first group leaving the car park -wow very un SWRC like -usually there is so much chatting no chance of a prompt departure.

The Alphas had been due to go to Liss but with our newfound laissez faire approach of making it up as we go along - and Mark Packman saying he felt knackered as he has been out drinking too much during the week ( poor lamb) - we decided to go to Midurst instead.

At least 3 of the Groups all set off on the road with Staples Lane waiting to burn off the cobwebs before the As went off towards Albury.Despite Sabin and the rest of the Group all asking to have the chance to loll up Bexley Hill Mark Pack(ed) man was having none of it and even though it involved a 20 mile detour he managed to avoid BH.

With Andy Mac ,Simon and Dave all feeling v frisky we kept up a good pace all the way to the Old Teapot -with the predictable increase as we neared the caff ,just as I was being dropped my Garmin fortunately leapt off the bike to save my blushes.We subsequently decided that the fitting is very poor and 3 of the 4 of us who have them all have had the same problem of the mounting coming apart.

Lashings of beans later Mark finally relented and let us go over Bexley Hill -the easy way -perhaps stung by the local we had just met in the tea shop who proudly showed us his Garmin profile proving he had climbed up and over BH 3 times that morning giving him 6 climbs in all.AND he had had the same problem with his Garmin as well!

A lovely ride back followed through the densely wooded lanes around Midhurst with Mark showing his perfect knowledge of the route. All went well till John ( the comeback Kid ) Harris and Sabin hijacked the route round Ewhurst and dragged us over White down.
A fine day out -186 kms for the Wandsworth members.
Sabin -after a rumoured visit to see what the rest of us are sure is another one of his girlfriends who lives above Dauphin -apparently got home just as it was getting dark.

Strangely quiet today without our cameraman Mr P.
Sorry no photos -problem with our computer.

Nick A

British Time Trial Championship 2009 - Wiggins V Hutch

Get your chance to see TDF and Olympic Gold medalist star Bradley Wiggins come up against domestic TT supremo Michael Hutchinson (National Champ. at 10,25,50 & 100 miles) Other Olympic riders Emma Pooley, Wendy Houvenaghel against home grown Julia Shaw (Also National Champ. at 10,25,50 & 100 miles) sweeping all before her plus other assorted stars from the professional and international bike racing scene.

Emma Pooley in action


The North Bucks RC are promoting the combined Cycling Time Trials/British Cycling National Time Trial Championship next weekend (6th Sept) at Botolph Claydon (F5/11) near Aylesbury. The 10 mile circuit (3x for Seniors 2x for the rest) been used for the Rudy Project series in recent years, and looks like giving the field of over 300 riders a decent 'test' comprising Masters (9.00am), Juniors (13.30), Espoirs (14.10) Women's (14.47), and Seniors (15.28)

Your club time trial representative (that's me!) is the fastest in my age category (D) so gets one of the fancied slots (2 minute intervals) at the tail end of the Masters at 11.29 so no pressure then!

Map of Course

I get a run out down South on the Bank holiday in the a3crg... '50' on the A3 between Petersfield (Hillbrow) and the Ham Barn roundabout, I start number 35 kicking off at the unsociable hour of 7.05am which means a 4.30 wake up at Wimbledon (thanks Al - no wonder your going away for the w/e!)

Performance

Remember to pump up your tyres and oil your chain.

Sunday Times letters page

Cycling seems to be in the news quite a bit at the moment. Here is yesterday's Sunday Times letters page and there is a letter from a Cobham resident.
Click on the image to read what he had to say.

Interesting reading for all you B group riders!

SWIFT '100' - To The End

Shakespeare knew a thing or two about performance "Stiffen the sinews" said Henry V in his speech at Agincourt made famous by Lawrence Olivier in the 'Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George!' and I felt under siege at the weekend as I tried to improve my BBAR average in the Team Swift '100' on the A168/A19 up near Dishforth . I've been feeling off colour on the bike and Fiona and I travelled in hope rather than expectation up the M1 as the wind blew, I was also anxious as I had a new bike and 100 miles a long way on an as yet un-tested position (23 minute '10' on Tues night!).
The last fast '100' of the year usually in September but brought forward to get a better field but many of the fast men stay away as they have ridden the National/Breckland 12 last week and not liking the look of the day, a long way to travel for a pasting and I was thinking how slow would I have to go in the first half to justify packing if I'm taking a good hiding out on the roads over the exposed North Yorkshire Moors? Fi has come to support my ride and while I don't like to DNF at all to do so when we have come all this way (leave at 11.30am back home for 11.00pm) a bitter pill to swallow.
A five mile ride to the start from the HQ in Ripon where the race (of the horse variety) have made for extra traffic and delays, the wind from the SW makes for an easy start so I will use the first 17 mile leg of this 3 lap course to give me an easy(ier) beginning to four hours of effort on the edge of madness. Bike feels OK I have two 20mm spacers under the stem and it still feels a bit low at the front, all that weight on your arms, could make for an uncomfortable time but for now I just try and get in 'the zone'
I have a caffeine gel early at 15m before I turn into the wind to numb the sensation as 'the zone' is a bit elusive and I am anticipating a battle, I use my 50 (inner) instead of the 56 but feels a bit on the low side and not as bad as I anticipated, saddle is a bit wrong angle and I figit to get the most comfortable position, front or back? saddle (a Flite - I use the same one off the 'Sigma' for luck) a bit on the long side now I have such an upright position and bangs on the back of my legs out the saddle (in the most back position!). My arms and back register the minute differences to the previous position I've used for 3 seasons, a twinge of recognition for the body when the legs are what get you through the race, but so far no harmony
Fi is at the far turn and then back at the Dishforth turn (34m) and offers a bottle but I've drunk 500ml before the start and carry 750ml and its not such a hot day so refuse, I have the second downwind section to the halfway point, its not been so bad
and I went through 25m in 57:15 and push onto the far Northallerton turn 1:54:45 making the 2nd 25m 57:30. A PB is out the question and improving my BBAR (3:47:55) unlikely as I always go slower in the second half but I decide not to stop as I'm not suffering and the wind is dropping and my bad patch is over, a bad patch can be mental or physical but usually a bit of both as you struggle to focus and 'the zone' is like the Bermuda triangle everybody's heard about it but can you find it when you need to? I had a second caffeine gel at 55m, some riders eat these like sweets "I had six gels before half way!" apart from being an expensive way to get around an event I try and make them do a bit more work than just a funny taste in the mouth. (have you tasted 'Powerbar' lime - Eucchh!) Fi gives me 500ml of warm coffee as I get rid of my glass's but a mix up with hands means I take the bottle from Fi (on the left) with my right hand! I only have the one bottle cage now so have to down it while negotiating two roundabouts and allot goes down my front and over the bike, a baptism of sorts for my new bike

Grrrrrr!

Beginning to pick up a bit and at the end of my second lap my average speed has gone up from just over 26mph to 26.3mph and something very strange is happening, I begin to go better on the downwind leg but almost no wind now at 6 o'clock so no great benefit, I begin to go much better and my body is well into the race as I become one with my bike, it sounds like a cliche but this is my form returning in the middle of a race, I pound the tarmac eating it up at an alarming rate, the climb up from Thirsk which I'd done at 20-22mph the previous two times I cruise up at 25mph I feel amazing as I press the pedals into orbit
I have not kept track of what the opposition are doing but at the final turn with 12m to go I find myself about level with Andy Jackson (Pedalsport) 15m in front and we are usually close in the result, triathlete Philip Graves (Clifton CC) the eventual winner has caught him for 10m but this has not been my usual type of ride so all I can do is make the finish at the best speed. I usually get cramp here as the speed and the big gears combine to play havoc with the thousands of muscle fibres twitching to do their best under the pressure of the ultimate effort as you urge the maximum out of your limbs but no cramp here and I've long forgotten about my arms and back.
The remains of the race a bit of a blur but the finish just after the Topcliffe services so visible from a long way out and I'd long since stopped looking at my computer except to see that I was travelling at well over 30mph most of the way. I stopped the clock at 3:46:20 a mere 25 seconds off a PB although I did not know that yet, I had done the second 50 miles in 1:51:34 a negative split by over 3 minutes making nearly a mile per hour difference in the two half's, as I sit here typing this it almost seems impossible as I know how my race plan pans out and this makes for very unusual reading

New Bike - Baptism of fire (& coffee)

Graves the winner 3:33:56 from Nik Bowdler (Farn & Camb CC) 3:39:29 and Barry Charlton (Lyme RC) 3:41:27 Andy Jackson pipped me for 6th by 39 seconds, it was dark by the time we set off for home.

St. Ives, East Sussex.

I thought I'd just make sure you didn't think we rode up to Cambridgshire, or down to Cornwall for our cup of tea & cake this week. I hadn't been to this little tearoom before as it's probabley only suitable for summer rides, and in previous years I have always spent the summer racing somewhere or other. Situated a mile or so outside Hartfield in East Sussex, down a gravel road, at St Ives farm.

Earlier we had left the other SWRC groups in Cobham to what I thought were better destinations, with the B's heading down the coast to Worthing & the C's having an away-day to Hampshire. But who need fantastic destinations when you've got Simon's back wheel to try and hold onto. Yes it was another high speed chase thought the country lanes.

I'm not sure whether anyone had told Simon that there was no requirement to catch up any lost time spent fixing his puncture. Please remind him next time!

Apart from that, all went well and we arrived in good spirits ready to devour the whole menu.....twice. And Mark very nearly did, ordering three, yes 3, slices of cake. A new record on the A's ride although probabley not that bigger deal to any of you B's group riders reading this!

So we had a pleasant time eating, drinking & chatting away about all the main topics of the day. Surrounded by lovely countryside and the odd pheasant scratching about in the flower beds. I can say this was one of the nicest stops I have had and definatley the cheapest at £2.50 for tea and cake.

Tour of the Surrey Hills 16/08/09

The weather was looking great and we had a good SWRC turnout with Anne Marshall, a couple of other guys (who I sadly didn’t manage to get before I wrote this), Vero Bringlow, Dave Reynolds, Nick Allen, Mark Williams, Mark Packman, Myself and Ralph Swallow for early support. My Wife, Kids and Parents were once again en route to take photos and provide support.

This year was a new route – as follows..
Start .. Shere – Coombe Bottom – Ranmore – Westhumble – Box – Pebble – Dorking – coldharbour – Ockley – Leith – White Down – West Horsley – Sheepleas – Shere – Peaslake – Holmbury hill – Ewhurst – Pitch – Albury – White Lane – St Martha’s – Blackheath – Shamley Green – Farley Green – Winterfold – Horseblock Hollow – Shere .. End.



All Bar 3 SWRC riders started in the 10:00 group. We immediately cranked up the pace over Coombe and up onto Ranmore. Sadly Mark Williams had a broken rim on the descent to WestHumble.

Onto Box and the remainder of the SWRC 10:00 starters were still together making good pace. Down Pebble and on to Dorking where we caught the faster 9:55 riders.
Up to Coldharbour, we passed Anne Marshall and our group whittled down to Dave R, Mark P and myself. Leith and it was just Dave and I. We stuck together to Peaslake where Dave started to show a chink in his armour on the climb up Holmbury hill.

From here on it was just me and a couple of Cycling Weekly guys – I managed to stay with them until the final Climb, Horse Block – but no worries, they started in an early group and I knew I’d make up some time on the descent of pitch..

After the final dive into Shere and the finish – 4:14 for the 115k, 2250m – later confirmed as being joint fastest time on the day!

Thanks to all the SWRC guys who helped the early pace and Dave for helping me keep the pace later.. Sorry Dave for poisoning you..  but I did need to ensure I finished before you!

Trevor Lenthall

A & B's visit Southwater

The newly crowned European Points Champion was out on Saturday's clubrun, were the A's & B+ groups joined together to make a massive group of 20 riders. With that number of riders out it's only Southwater country park that can cater for all those hungrey cyclists.

South Downs Way in a Day.

I have been wanting to cycle the whole length of the South Downs Way for about 10 years now. Previously I had ridden it in two days with TRAILBREAK, who run an event in September that splits it into a 65/35 mile weekend stopping at Truleigh Hill YHA. I have ridden parts of it but and attemped to ride it in one day before and failed so it was like, I had unfinished business with the SDW, and last Saturday was the day I choose the tackle it.


The day starts early with a 5:30am train from Wimbledon to Winchester. On the train were a couple of South Africans who were planning to ride the route over the weekend as later that day they had a appointment with a pub and TV to watch the Tri-nations rugby. During the day I probably caught 6 groups who were riding the SDW in two or three days.


All I had with me was what I could carry in my jersey pockets, which as the forecast was good wasn't much. I had a lightweight cape, just in case, camera, phone, money, 3 bars, 3 gels, powder for 4 bottles and a sandwich.



Trying to get out of Winchester can almost be the hardest bit and you don't really want to start by going the wrong way. I had spent the previous day uploading the route onto my Garmin 705 GPS so couldn't go far wrong and it wasn't long before I saw my first sign. What I did notice was that there had been some new hardwood sign errected along the path, and it wasn't until I started to write this post that I found out that the SDW is to become BritainsNEWEST NATIONAL PARK and so presumably need to improve signage.



The first 20 or so mile covered are in the rolling
Hampshire counrtyside, through field of wheat
and along the grassy paths that surround them.
Here you get wet feet from the dew but you
can't be too bothered as there is still plenty of
miles to cover.







The first indication of how I was getting on was at 25 miles and getting to the Queen Elizabeth country park. I was hoping to get a drink but it was too early and the cafe was still closed. I only have as single bottle cage on my mountain bike so it was imperative to keep my bottle filled whenever the oppotunity arrose and luckily one of the park wardens was able to point me in the direction of the nearest tap. So it was straight back on the bike and off again eating my sandwich on the hoof, no time to spare.



Charging along the route gets more hilly and more challenging. Somehow I didn't notice this and came a cropper at the bottom of this little decent near Beacon Hill and ended up in this puddle. I'm sure the path was a lot steeper than my pictue shows becaue the puddle certainly was a lot bigger as I couldn't avoid it!!!


This is pretty typical of the whole middle section. Rolling hills, that run down to a road and then climb back up onto the Downs again.
I continued to fill my bottle up at every oppotunity as at every tap there was a sign that told me how far it was to the next tap, usually 6-8 miles. Lunch was a quick sandwich and a cuppa at Amberley, which is exactly half way. I reached there in 5.5hrs so gave myself half an hour break, after all it wasn't a race.
Soon I was back on the bike and heading to my previous stopping point of Truleigh Hill YHA. This time my legs were not cramping and I rode past knowing I sill had 1/3rd to ride. Not long after you pass Ditchling beacon and the climb thousands ride up on the London to Brighton event.





This is another well known section of the SDW, the pub at Devils dyke, which I decided not to stop at, but then stopped only a few miles later on at Saddlescombe farm for some tea and cake, which I hoped would see me to the end. I'm never that keen on shovelling in bars & gels.


Towards the end and the hills keep coming. There is no let up along this route and this is were you need to have got the miles in. One of the main things I changed for this ride was to swap my off-road (egg beater) pedals for my road pedals. The egg beaters are great in the mud but I get a lot more power through my road shoe/pedal combo. The only problem comes when opening the gates, of which there are 100+ along the SDW and on occasions this is where the grazing cattle have stood, so can be muddy. Still it was well worth doing as the route was generally dry.








Nearing the end I stopped and got some walkers to take this pictute. They were sitting down, having a bite to eat and admiring the veiw across to North Downs. It was pretty spectacular and I stopped for a few moments too.
The long man is quite near here!





Arrival at Eastbourne 13 hours after leaving Winchester, and after a fish & chip supper it was time to catch the train back home to Clapham Junction. Arriving back in London is a real shock to the system, after being out in the beautiful countryside you are suddenly confronted with hoards of people heading out for a Saturday night on the town.

Data from my Garmin shows I had climbed 3400m / 11,000ft.

Tour of the Hills

Just a brief note to say how good it was to see so many SWRC riders at the Tour of the Hills Audax/Sportive ride today. It's so excellent to see the club participating in a local event wearing club strip. I should add condolences to club members who failed to finish for technical or other reasons (David Williams?). I didn't see Gordon Bowser so maybe he's also in the same category.

I hope you all enjoyed it. All the best, Jerry

PS I was asked where SWRC was based. Bristol? West Country?

NEW BIKE!

My new bike has finally arrived, during my week off I spend a bit of time to build it up but there are some new bits to buy like one of those under bottom bracket brakes that I've never seen before

London to La Rochelle

To mark my 2 oldest children finishing GCSEs and A levels I suggested a few days away -walking ,climbing ,windsurfing etc..My son's immediate response was -and you will just have to take my word for this -"Let's cycle to the Ile to Re ( an island just off La Rochelle where we have had several great holidays staying with friends who own a house there)." After much profound consideration ,taking at least 5 seconds,I said what a great idea and that was that.Until my daughter said she definitely wanted to come too.Since the furthest she has ever cycled was once round Richmond Park about 10 years ago and is not too keen on physical exertion that would help her on a bike, her participation could have been a bit of a challenge.But then I had a brainwave -a Tandem!

Even if Jess was not that fit -it could not be that hard me doing most of the work could it? My only previous time on a tandem was about 12 years ago when my wife and I did the London to Brighton on a borrowed tandem the frame of which had been carefully crafted out of old scaffolding.It was only en route through France that I was to recall that getting up Ditchling Beacon -without getting off -on that tandem ,wearing trainers on a hot ,crowded Beacon ,was perhaps the hardest hill I have ever cycled.At the top ,with the veins on my forehead sticking out about 3 inches ,my heart about to leap out of my jersey ,my wife uttered the wonderful words that were to haunt me for some time to come " Well that wasn't too bad ,was it?"

Fortunately ,I was too busy trying to breathe for some time I was not able to reply .

Where to buy the Tandem? A quick word with my tandem owning friend Colin Lloyd who it is who happens to own the house on Ile de Re and I was straight on to the Tandem Owners website.Within a few minutes I had found 2 perfect sounding machines -one of which was located in Ditchling of all places.Colin lives nearby in Lewes and the next day he was calling me to say it was a beauty. A Swallow Toucan -in British racing green.Made for touring and tho 20 years old in perfect condition.Not so much second hand as shop soiled is how Colin put it. It had not been ridden for about 15 years but was immaculate and Holdsworth struggled to find anything it needed -2 tyres and one new cable was all they could manage as they raved about its loveliness.

So on 6th july with my son on my 21 year old Peugeot ,it was a semi vintage steel departure from home in SW18 to ride down to Portsmouth for the overnight ferry to Caen.I reckoned it would be about 400 miles all told and it turned out to be 415 miles in the end door to door.

The first day was always going to be a long one and it was with us doing 85 miles and taking almost 10 hours to arrive at the ferry-due not so much to slow cycling as to various deviations to sort out money, visits to friends and so on. We had decided that we would stick throughout to quiet roads even if that meant hills or longer distances.So we went via Coombe Bottom down to Shere,over Winterfold before finally arriving at Petworth. Sadly our favourite Cafe that we stop at on our Saturday SWRC club rides was shut on a monday after me telling Jess and Max about how superb it was and how they were in for a real treat all the way down. But we found somewhere else doing chocolate milk shakes and home made cakes so they were happy.

We then followed the south downs through Graffham and Heyshott on a lovely road across to the Midhurst Chichester road to avoid the climb by Goodwood which I thought might be a bit much for our first day ,conscious that we still had a long way to go.Eventually we arrived close to the ferry just in time to eat at Subway where they were shutting so we could not even demolish our delicacies indoors and had to eat perched on the bikes in the dark of 10pm.I was really spoiling them from the off.

Max and Jess as we are about to depart Aunay sur Odon after our first night in France.

After a good but short night on the ferry we set off at 6.30am along the coast to ride past the DDay landing beaches.It was not on our direct route south but I had never seen them.After finding a bakers at 7am just as it opened by Juno Beach ,allowing us to devour a few warm pain aux chocolates ,while watching the sun sparkle on the sea ,giving us a magical start to our ride proper ,we were back on the bikes to Bayeux.15 minutes later it was drizzling,15 minutes after that it was pouring down all the way to Bayeux. More food was called for and we had a very long 4 course breakfast in a cafe which let us dry out a bit. My tactic throughout was never let them go hungry and we just about managed to judge the refuelling right all the way .

After a good bit of sightseeing -how civilised touring can be , we decided that it was cold ,we were tired and so rang a hotel 25 miles away to ensure a shorter day after the long one before.We spent each night in Logis-small ,family run hotels , calling ahead each morning to book a room after we had worked out where we wanted to get to that day.It was never a problem and our accomodation and the dinners we had each night in the hotels varied between good and absolutely excellent.

It was cold enough leaving Bayeux that Jess -on the back of the tandem,was wearing summer jersey -arm warmers ,which they both loved,it was just a shame I only brought 2 pairs so there were never any for me as well,,gillet,light fleece and my SWRC rain jacket.While,I on the other hand had a summer top and a gillet and was still quite warm.What an earth could explain the clothing differential.....?

The next day was another big day ,nearly 70 miles and 1700m of climbing which felt a lot but it was all on very quite roads through lovely rolling country side -along the edge of the region known as Petite Suisse. We did not see that many fruit trees at this stage but gosh all the way down to the Loire did we see a lot of cows.Field after field of them.We also saw in 6 days only 2 "proper Cyclists " ie on good bikes in their kit -perhaps surprising but I knew that in rural France it can be very ,very quiet.

Second night in France we stayed in Mayenne a lovely old town with a chateau and the river of the same name running through it. The Hotel has this rather good model of the Tour in the restaurant........

The next day we rode off -road on a cycle path for 45 kms along the Mayenne river .We saw only one road in all this time and otherwise it was just cows ,willows and oak trees ,more cows and the chance for Jess to put her feet up to rest her by now very sore knees, for 2 whole hours>Yes 2 whole hours without pedalling .

The kids had decided we had to make the Loire that night so we went straight on through Laval until we finally arrived at Montjean sur Loire.Another very good day ,but still the French had insisted on building each village on top of a hill which meant the aggregate ascent each day was enough to keep our appetites up.Usually after a bakers stop at about 11am we would then either stop at a cafe for a fixed price lunch in a village restaurant or if we came across a large supermarket we would feast in the car park on our favourite delicacies .Even if her pedalling was irregular Jess' ability to eat was undiminished throughout.

Arriving at the Loire at about 7pm was a real high point on the trip .We knew then that we had broken the back of the trip and it should get flatter and flatter and warmer and warmer as we progressed south.In fact I boldly said that we would probably hardly climb another hill south of the Loire.Words which of course I was reminded of the next day ...........

The view from our room overlooking the Loire . Probably our favourite hotel -very small and friendly but with a quite superb 5 course dinner cooked by the patron and then a great breakfast .

We now had about 120 miles to go to get to the Ile to Re. Finally we began to see less cows and more arable land and it did indeed get warmer.The sun flowers beloved by the Tour cameramen were now out.It had to be warm because Jess had taken her gilet off.

It turned out though the countryside was very pleasant -it was not quite as flat as I thought it would be .But by now we had worked out that tandems like a bit of momentum and so by going as fast as possible on the downhills we could usually get most of the way up again on the rolling roads that we generally encountered.Max also had been helping us throughout with pushes up the big hills .These had been gratefully received and the pushing technique had gone fine until towards the end of this day . I happened to look back as he pushed us which allowed me to see him go straight over his handlebars bounce neatly on his feet and then go head first into a hedge. His handlebars had caught in our panniers.All very impressive ,the only problem being that he took a good chunk of chrome off my new forks ,but that was the only damage done.

Tonight's venue was the very pretty and old town of Pouzauges -which was perfect in every way -once you got there.The only problem being the 5 kms climb from the valley floor that we had been following up to the town.We celebrated with an extra beer before the wine with dinner that night.

Our last day and the beginning of our 3 days Chez-Lloyd on the beautiful Ile de Re which was our reward for the cycle ride was in sight.The ride now really was flat as we entered the maze of rivers on the coastal plain with roads that were Roman straight for mile after mile.

With a slight following wind we had an easy last half day until we were met by Kate our hostess on the island as we crossed over the bridge.The island is superb for cyclists -there are cycle paths everywhere and there is no need to every get into a car.Over the next 3 days riding around on the tandem without any panniers -and no more hills ! -was a joy.

A great trip and we are all keen to repeat the touring experience . And a long weekend trip with SWRC for the weekend to Petite Suisse would be a great idea ..............

Record breaking week (for SWRC)

Seems it has been a record breaking week for the SWRC members, with Tom's efforts below we also have Ruth Hutton smashing the Women's '10' record last Saturday (1st Aug) in the Charlotteville CC event on the A31 - Bently Bypass (H10/8), her time of 23.00 (26.087 mph Av.) knocking almost 30 seconds off her own record set 10 years ago, she took the women's prize, event was won by Stephen Whitwick (Utag Yahama) 20.08.
I followed this up on Saturday with a reduction of the '50' time in the BDCA event on the A 50 between Etwall and Uttoxeter, officials and riders were left in a quandary as there were cones out for inspection on the upper part of the course so the event was changed to two laps of the '25' course instead of going all the way to Blyth Bridge.
A one hour delay made for some anxious moments as the inspection crews were vague about how long they would be on the course but we eventually got away in what were ideal conditions (for this summer) light wind and a bit of heat. After my miserable ride in the Pennine event last week I was more recovered and less travelled this week and my ride reflected this although I was still short of some top end power and I can only put this down to tiredness and having spent more time than usual on track preparation but with that out the way I was free to indulge my 56 chain ring a bit more.
It was harder out to the turn so I saved a bit for the second lap posting 53.30 for my first '25' mile lap after getting caught in a slow moving convoy which meant riding up the centre of the dual carriageway for 5 miles.
My second lap was slightly slower at 54.30 but a total time of 1:48:04 (27.76 mph Av.) reduces the record by 35 seconds and gives me a current BBAR time of 25.71 mph for the '50' '100' and 12 hour (which is a new record in itself)
Julia Shaw (Utag Yahama) broke the Women's Competition record for '50' miles with 1:46:49 beating Jill Reames time from 1997, Event was won by current BBAR Nik Bowdler (Farnb & Camb Whs.) just outside 30 mph Av. with 1:40:01 seems like Ruth Nik and myself could do with a bit of finishing practice to get those last few seconds off!
N.B. This may be the last ride on my beloved 'Sigma' frame, the old bike (as it were) she was third hand when I accuired her from Ex club member Steve Gowar as a road bike but after a season on the road she has done me proud and all my rides of note have been done in her company. I have come to the end of the line as I feel she cannot take the battering I put her through week after week. I have my first all carbon frame.

Pyrenees Raid

The Raid Pyrenees is a 450 mile ride across the northern side of Pyrenean mountain range that separate France from Spain. 710km across 18 cols with 11,000 meters of accent and a time limit of 100 hours( Start at 9:00 Monday and must finish by 13:00 Friday). Started in 1952 by Cyclo Club Béarnais from Pau, the Raid Pyrenees can be ridden any time from June to the end of September.
With this in mind Me & Sabin together with support from Judith set off early one Saturday morning to get the ferry at Dover and then drive the 650 miles to the start town of Hendaye, the last town in France before crossing the Pont Saint Jacques bridge into Spain. We arrived just in time to watch Sundays Tour stage that finished at Verbier. I was perticularily keen to watch it as I had stayed in Verbier 4 times when I had ridden the Grand Raid CristAlp event and knew the road up to the ski resort well. As it turned out Contador road away from everyone to claim the yellow jersey, but what amazed us most as we watched was Wiggo climbing with the best in the world to come in 5th, 30 second in front of Armstrong, taking 3rd place overall. From here on, when riding up the climbs, I would be Wiggins while Sabin played Contador. I had been given the route of the Raid by new SWRC member Dave Reynolds so I was able to download each days stage, onto my Garmin 705 GPS which worked perfectly and saved us having to stop and look at maps, when what we really wanted to do, was ride our bikes.

Monday 20th July:
Hendaye to Lurbe St. Chritau – 101mile with 1290m of ascent. 7hrs 50min.
Starting from the Atlantic the route passes along the Basque coast for a few kilometres before turning inland into the mountains over the Col De St Ignace (169m) and the Col De Pinodieta (176m) and the Col D’ Osquich (500m). Sabin was like a tour guide telling me about how all the window shutters were painted the same red colour throughout this region and how they would dry peppers by hanging them outside


Tuesday 21st July:
Lurbe St. Christau to Campan – 85mile with 3790m of ascent. 9hrs 13min.
This is a big day, starting with the Col du Marie Blanque, 9.5km at 7.5% to 1035m altitude, the last 4 km are a killer, followed by the stunningly beautiful Col d’Aubisque (1709m), before dropping down and back up the Col du Soulor (1464m), the most beautiful and spectacular road in the Pyrenees if not all France. Judith met us here and we stopped for lunch. Following a 22km descent to Argeles-Gazost and the heat of the afternoon, is the unbelievable climb of Col de Tourmalet (2115m), 18km average 7.6% (actually climbing for 10km before the official start).The Tourmalet is the most used climb in the Tour de France, 2009 will be its 85th year. The day ends with a super fast 20km descent into Campan.



Wednesday 22nd July:
Campan to Masset – 102mile with 2800m of ascent. 8hrs 31min.
We started the day by filling up on danish pasteries from the local patiserie, as the breakfast had not quite hit the mark! The first climb is the picturesque Col d'Aspin (1489m) and the end of the Circle of Death with the Col de Pereyresourde (1569m), the midpoint of our ride across the Pyrenees, before another long decent followed by The Col Des Ares (797m) and the Col De Buret (602m), 2 beautiful climbs. These are followed by the challenging 17% inclines of the Col de Portet D’Aspet (1069m), past the memorial to Olympic champion Fabio Casartelli, who died on stage 15 of the 1995 Tour de France. The hotel in Masset was in complete contrast to the one we had started the day at, with a meal big enough to feed 4 hungrey cyclist, not two.

Thursday 23rd July:
Masset to Prades – 104mile with 2600m of ascent. 8hrs 45min.
The Col de Port (1249m) is a beautiful climb and has a great descent to Tarascon. The route follows a fairly busy road from here through Ax les Thermes, and on up the seemingly endless Col de Puymorens (1915m) near the border with Andorra. From here it drops down into the town of Bourg Madame, before heading up the Col de la Perche (1570m) and the Col de Louis (1345m). Next the 36km long descent to our hotel.



Friday 24th July:
Prades to Cerbere – 61mile with about 300m of ascent. 4hrs 40min.
Almost there, just 90km of mostly flat roads with some little climbs along the Mediterranean coast, but you will have to be quick as you must be at the finish in Cerbere by the 100 hr time limit. We road up the hill to the old border crossing but decided not to go down the other side into Spain, but leave that for another Raid.

Tom achieves SWRC record

On a very Autumnal morning Tom set out to complete his first 50 mile TT in the Anerley BC event this morning on the G50/53 course at Horsham. His goal was to better 2hr 25min and to secure what is believed to be a Club Record - the Juvenile 50ml Time Trial Record. Starting off early but with a number of riders that he felt he could overtake during the ride he set a PB for the first 25 of ~1hr 8min and then followed with a slightly slower second half to register a finishing time of 2hr 19m 42sec, an average speed of 21.5mph.

Having punctured during an equivalent event last year this was one of Tom's major goals for 2009. The rest of the season will see him riding a number of Open 10s and 25s so he keeps hold of the WLCA trophies won last year.

Tom has also just returned from a week in Provence where he rode a number of acclimatisation rides before he conquered the Geant de Provence (see write-up in the next issue of Bottom Gear)

Also riding today's event was Jonathan Thomas who just missed out on a sub-2hr time (for the second time this season?).

European Masters Track - Quantitive easing

3Km Pursuit :- Two days later after Points race success I had a chance to redeem my problematic British Masters ride in the individual pursuit, a hiccup at the start meant a disappointing 6th place so here I would be paying particular attention to every detail, I was riding the same bike I finished the Elmet 12 (the spare) kitted out with a 97" gear (up from 94" at Newport)
The European Championship run with a qualifying round and the top two ride for the Gold and the next two ride for the Bronze, I was against Steve Clayton in my round with two heats remaining I needed to be the fastest for the chance to be in the top four. The start went without a hitch and I settled into my ride, the first kilometer is just a waiting process but as you enter the half way your legs tighten and the result of keeping the revs per minute at 110 begins to make the pressure inside your head build up as your back arches to support the force of your legs through an arc of ever increasing pain. By the time you are in the last few laps the burning pain is only held at bay by the memory of all those sessions on the turbo that push you to the point of collapse.
I had glanced across the track and saw I had my opponent at a couple of seconds but was unable to 'lift it' any more on the final laps as my legs were blocked by the sudden and increasing pain so my effort finishes on the gun but I had no more to give. My time a PB 3:41:751 I'd snuck in ahead of French rider Sylvan Abadie 3:41:838 from the previous heat and I could only afford to be beaten by three of the final four. Both the British Champion Peter Ettles and Alistair Taylor (2nd at Newport) were faster with 3:35:786 and 3:40:702 respectively so it would be the Bronze ride off if I beat one of the final heat, World Champion Claus Christiansen came home 2nd fastest 3:37:906 but Ian Greenstreet (3rd at Newport) could only manage 7th so I had another chance to get a medal.
The final was in the evening so I went back to the flat where I was staying (Thanks Kelda!) to do some stretching and have a sleep, all the while coughing and re-living my ride thinking how I could improve the second needed to beat my opponent. Track racing is a series of races done on fitness but also pent-up and nerve jangling energy, I was able to ride the Points race with luck and skill but here in the physical desert that is pursuiting, nowhere to hide, the bleached effort of a pursuit is not mental it is just the physical sensation of effort stripped away so that it burns until your body is a husk, building yourself up for another effort is the skill, push away the pain and the doubt, encourage your mind to think that it wasn't so bad, settle in for another voyage to the surface of the sun.
It comes around soon enough, I'm up in the trap with the countdown from 10 seconds, 3, 2, 1, GO another safe start, already I feel better with the blank wood of the track passing under my wheels, the black line pulling me forward and my breathing dominating my senses. It is close, I do not have anybody 'walking the line' so I do not know if I am up or down, it is close, I glance across I know we are close. For the final laps I am able to pick up the pace, my rev counter is not working so I just go for it, as much as my body will take, the bell for the final lap ring together, still too close to call, right to the line with a lunge at the line and the guns go off together. I almost come a cropper as I go over the foam blocks into the banking but it is over and my body relaxes a bit, its all over
When the result shows I am not crushed, I had no more to give, I ride over and congratulate Alistair the winner, he had gone a second slower but crucially I had not gone faster. A mere 27:1000th of a second had split our efforts, not more than a foot in it at the end after a joust at 35mph with the track stopping us from coming together. The positions from last year were reversed in the ride off for Gold, Ettles the Champion in a new European record time (3:35:483) and although Christensen had pushed the Scottish rider he faded in the last kilometer to finish just under two seconds behind
Victory ceremony for the Pursuit

I felt I'd made some amends for my ride at Newport and 4th place is the worst place to finish but I had Gold under my pillow and that makes failure a bit easier to swallow. I missed the final days racing where I could have ridden the Brain Cossavella scratch race on the Saturday in favour of heading out the next morning at 4.30am in search of a fast Pennine CC '50' on the Yorkshire Dishforth course. A promising day blew up into a bit of a storm and I rode like a 'bag of spanners' to finish just inside two hours, event was won by Joel Wainman (Team Swift) who I'd narrowly beaten in the Elmet a mere seven days before, I suppose something had to give I was a bit of a physical wreck in the race and the tough conditions just served to expose my frailty with no inner power to 'boss' the tough conditions. Track racing on top of the mental stress of the 12 Hr. I was in need of a break.

European Masters Track - Gold standard

Points Race :- Almost three days to the minute at 7.00pm after I'd finished the Elmet 12 Hr. I lined up for the Euro Masters (45-49) 20Km Points race final on the Manchester track, my first competitive race on the Velodrome where I had watched so many of Britain's finest triumphs over the past few years. I'd only got to the track and hour before after being stuck in commuting traffic and the signing on sheet was ripped from under my pen, I was the last to sign in and as I rushed off to accreditation I enquired "When are we racing?" to which the alarming reply "You're up first" so I had only 50 minutes to put bike together (and spares) get changed and have a warm up, after having barely an hour on the bike since bringing my battered body to a standstill in Yorkshire.
Most of the riders I knew from the British Masters but there was a handful of unknowns from other countries, the usual track cycling nations France, Italy and Denmark. I sat out the first couple of sprints to let my legs get used to the speed and the cadence of the group, Sylvan Abadie (Fr.) was very strong winning the first sprint and attacking several times, Stephen Clayton (GB) won the second with Abadie 2nd and I felt I had no option but to go for a lap so I attacked immediately and got a good quarter then half a lap but with no company I had no option but to continue on my own. I took the next points but my legs were in no shape to continue the attack even though I was almost in the same straight as the bunch, a group of four got off the front of the bunch and I was in with them when they caught me but eventually we all came back together for the sprint.
Clayton (3rd) and Abadie (4th) were in the points and leading the race with 9 and 11 respectively so I went on the attack again taking Ian Greenstreet (GB) and the Danish World Pursuit Champion Claus Christensen with me, I won the sprint but had to sit out the next won by the British Pursuit Champion Peter Ettles (GB) blowing a bit but with 10 Pt's in 3rd place. Attack again the only option this time after Trevor Burke (GB) and I had to go for the sprint from 2 laps out to stop Christensen catching me on the line, I was now leading with 15 Pt's one ahead of the French rider so I only had to beat him in the finale to take the win, I tracked him for the last 10 laps and then attacked with a lap to go and lead out the sprint, fading Ettles and Clayton came past and I had the title, there was a bit of confusion (as with all points races) Clayton would have beaten me if he had won the final sprint as we would have had the same total and in this case the position in the final sprint is the clincher but with 17 Pt's a clear 2 Point margin over the Litchfield man and Abadie a point further back in 3rd

The Champion and his 'iron' (carbon wheels mind!)

There was a whirlwind of victory ceremony with jersey and medal, girls and flowers (do I kiss two or three times?) with national anthem and flags and "Yes Mr. President a good race?" and a lap of honour to 'We are the Champions' (get a bit sick of this one after a few days - I'll be bound) and then a sit down blinking into the first day of being a European Champion. Lots of people came up to congratulate me, I wandered out into the daylight of the early evening from the artificial light of the track center stunned and a little dazed
As a little note to the evening, I was waiting for the victory ceremony with the two other riders, we propped our bikes against the acrylic fence ready for the lap of honour, we exchanged pleasantries and looked at the bikes two identical (but differently branded - 'Planet X' & 'Bernard Hinault') carbon bikes and mine in the middle a 30 year old 'Roberts' iron and in that Gallic manner Sylvan rolled his eyes and nodded his head in a way that pleased me almost as much as the win.