Pearson - 150, 23rd May, Ditchling Beacon.

Maggie, Bob and Steve feeling on top of the World - well the South Downs at least - and ready for another 50 miles or so back to Sutton.

Beastway week 2

A slightly cooler evening greeted the 113 riders at the week 2 Beastway Mountain bike race last Wednesday evening. I was aiming to get in the top 3 of the veterans category (VEM) that race third of the four groups each week. Can you spot me in the mad dash off the start line?
I picked up a couple of places in the first half lap but by that time my chief adversary Antonius Wubben (number 30) had got away with number 40 (John Cordery) and I spent the next couple of laps trying to get up to them. I managed to do this on the third lap but had extended myself too much and after a lap with them, I then started to fade, losing touch with them.
Eventually the hour was up and I hadn’t pulled the others back, and as I rode into the finish area I could see them both sprinting for the line. I was 2 places better than last week’s performance in 15th overall and 4th VEM. No bike trouble this time either.
Roll on next week.

Pearson 150 Sportive

The SWRC had a large presence at the Pearson 150 cyclosportive on Sunday, with 17 members taking to the start line to ride either the 150km or 75km course. Both started in the grounds of the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton with the long course heading south to Brighton via Ditchling Beacon and then returning via lanes west of the A23.

Four A group riders started together and this video shows what we got up to, which wasn't much apart from trying to stay with club strong man Simon Howard.

Simon far left, before our day's ride, and still with out a club jersey!

Simon Howard 04:45:39 1st
Richard Gordon 04:47:15 2nd
Alan Parkinson 04:55:31 4th
Clayton Wilson 05:10:39
Veronique Bringlow 06:15:38
Aubrey Fox 06:32:57
Lawrence Clark 06:40:27
Roger Leary 06:48:30
Amanda King 06:53:52
Bob Waller 07:01:11
Maggie Waller 07:01:40
Steve McCormack 07:15:48
Mariana Reynolds 07:26:17
Richard Post 07:33:03
Ben Thomas 07:40:41
Paul Milnes 04:11:07 75km
Graham Ellis 04:38:31 75km

Rollercoaster week

A bit of an up and down week for me as I try and cram in as much racing as humanly possible to bring my form on a bit. Started last weekend on the Saturday with a 20:48 in the Lea Valley '10' on the E2/10 on the A14 (Newmarket By-Pass), first of a fine week of weather which has seen us reaching for the factor 30 rather than the overshoes and undervest
Dr Hutch (In Gear) was the star with a winning time of 18:52 from up and coming James Wall (Echelon) 19:28 and Richard O'Rourke (Flitch Crono) the only other rider inside 30mph 19:41. I wasn't off until late in the day 17.00 so the prospect of starting the Norlond Combine '50' at 06.30 the next morning not so hot
The early starters were greeted with still (if cold) conditions to ply our way up and down the A1 between Sandy & Buckden a couple of times, I started well although cautiously and I was miffed to have one of the bearings in my rear wheel collapse at 6 miles, I carried on to 10 miles (21:40) but then the unstable nature of the disc meant I had to ease off. By the time I'd completed lap one (23m) I was still at 54 minutes (25mph) but I was at risk of having doing some (permanent) damage to myself or my wheel, the wheel expensive to replace so I stopped.
I moped around the HQ while the other riders finished and Ian Cammish (Planet X) the undisputed king of this strip of tarmac ran out the winner with 1:49:49 (20:32 the previous day) from Mark Howard (Shaftsbury CC) 1:52:22 after a year out 'road racing' and Tristan Davenne (Newbury RC) 1:52:06 I was so put out by this result that after driving back to Leicester and having a lie down for an hour I went out to do 30m at 22mph cross country on 81" fixed
I had been due to ride the Hull City RC '10' on the Uber fast V718 on the Tuesday evening but as the event had to be moved to another course due to roadworks I gave the 250 mile post work round trip a miss and did a speed session on 93" fixed to hone my edge for the coming weekend where I have two National title races. Before that I rode a 40 mile evening crit at Mallory Park with some of the country's best Elite/1st cat road men and ride out and home making 85m for the day
After a rest day on the Friday I have the VTTA National '25' on the Sat afternoon on the A1 further up this time at Newark, this was my PB course in my comeback season and the day promised a great deal and I had chosen to ride a 'fixed' in an effort to improve my pursuiting position for the Masters track in July. Jon Thomas had made the journey up for the day so I went out to give him a shout and decide on gearing as the other imperative was not to overstress my overworked legs for the next days National '10'. In the end I decided on 53 x 14 (100.6") and apart from the incline around Newark I managed to handle it pretty well to a decent 6th place 53:33 Jon came in with a seasons best of 57:56, of the fast (younger) riders 44 year old Barry Charlton (Lyme RC) was fastest 50:58 from scratchman Rob Weare (Leamington C & AC) 52:30 (49 years) and Ian Dalton (Cherry Valley) 52.53 (44 years) but of course we were all out shone by the sun and the old'uns who run out the winners on Standard, 79 year old Ron Hallam (S Pennine RC) +27:55 with a ride 19 seconds outside the hour from 73 year old Derek Stuart (Deeside)+26:21 (58:01) and Frank Kerry (Lancarshire RC) +26:09 58:51 a year older
The main event of the week (my final event of a packed programme) was the Stratford CC promotion of the National '10' the first of this years Championships and one that has come to attract a breed of super fast 'testers' with their worship of Power and Aero, and this year three of the all conquering National team pursuit squad to have a tilt at the fastest championship on open roads.


Riding a fixed wheel was meant to save my legs a bit for today but I think the 120 RPM (35mph) finish had done a bit more damage than anticipated and although I was back on gears for this one I could feel a bit of deep down trauma waiting to break through once the pressure was on. I did a bit of a warm up along the course after Julia Shaw (Utag Yamaha) had clinched the Women's title with 20:31 from Sarah Storey (Horizon) 20:58 and Lynne Taylor (Born to Bike) 21:52. Earlier in the day Oliver Rossi (PCA) had done a storming 20:29 to win the Juniors from Conor Dunne (Glendene CC) 20:35 and Tom Stockdale (Team Qoros) 20:51


Photo c/o Edward Moss
I was only the 91st fastest entry for this event run in descending order so you have to keep an eye on those around you who are your peers and not much chance to gauge your performance apart from the turn on the A46 near Alcester in Warwickshire. I set out steady to try and run myself in. I got to 5 miles in 10:24 and the second half harder than the first so my 100% 20 minute rides this year looking like a goner but as I began to pull a bit better I could feel myself going not too bad, deep down there was not much substance to my effort but even the long drag up from the Little Chef at Salfords Priors (good thing I didn't go for the all day breakfast!) with a tail wind was not as bad as it looked. Finishing on the windy B road to Alcester I did the second half in 11:08 for 21:32, my time would only be good enough for 78th place but a week a long time and as the women' race it was a repeat of last year Michael Hutchinson the eventual Champion had stretched his winning margin (over me) to nearly 3 minutes.

Hutch knows the way to go

His time at half way 9:04 was un-mached even by eventual silver (& team pursuit maestro) Ed Clancy (Motorpoint) 19:20 (9:08) 2nd last year had to settle for the bronze Andy Tennant (Motorpoint) 19:31 (9:25).

The runners-up perspective "I could not have gone any better"


Mens Result

Womens Result

Juniors Result

Video of the Mens event

recycling cycling?

I was assured it works -to an extent......

would love to see a few of these in the car park in Cobham one wet saturday morning.....

Nick A

Beastway Mountain bike series

The beast is back to full strength. After a few years of uncertainty over venues and shortened series, Beastway organisers "the Structureless Tyrrany" are pleased to announce that this year the grassroots mountain bike race series will return to its traditional 10 race format plus a Team Race on July 28th.

I rode the first in the series last wednesday evening and had a great time tearing through the wooded section.

Racing is at 7:30pm (youth at 8pm) each Wednesday evening from May 19 to July 28 at the Redbridge Cycling Centre, with weekly and series prizes for each category.
Entry is on the day, with no prior racing experience or licence necessary. Come and have a go at taming the beast.
Dates:May 19May 26June 2June 9June 16June 23June 30July 7July 14July 21July 28 Team Race
CategoriesJuvenile (Youth B) - born 1996-98Youth (Youth A) - born 1994-95Junior - born 1992-3Sport - born 1981-1991Master - born 1971-1980Veteran - born 1961 - 1970Grand Vet - born 1960 or earlierExpert - born 1991 or earlier and fastNovice - born 1991 or earlier and slowSinglespeed - born 1993 or earlier and on a singlespeedWomen - born 1993 or earlier and female.
Location: The purpose built Redbridge Cycle Centre (Hog Hill), Forest Road, Hainault, Ilford, IG6 3HP - http://www.hoghill.co.uk/

Etape du Dales

A team of SWRC riders made the trip North on Saturday May 15th ahead of the Etape du Dales Sportive on Sunday May 16th. Our destination was a beautiful traditional 5 bedroom farmhouse situated in Arncliffe. http://founditmyself.com/index.html It was an ideal location, just 7 miles from the sportive HQ and on the sportive route itself. Patrick and Anita took very good care of us with flapjacks, cake and an evening meal. For this was an opportunity to get some much needed sleep and I took full advantage.

The morning saw a nice big breakfast, and a gentle ride over the 7 miles to the start of the sportive - and perhaps some sheep herding on the way too....


Here we are before the start - yes it's all smiles now! The weather this year was kinder than last, and we started into the wind. My plan was to try and take it easier at the start than last year which saw me 'blow-up' in a big way. Before I knew it, we were into the fleet moss climb - the highest climb on the ride at 589m.

By the time we got to Tan Hill Inn (Britains highest Inn), we were down to a group of four SWRC (plus some wheel suckers!) Simon Howard, Trevor Lenthall, Alan Parkinson and I stopped for some much needed cake and coffee, but didn't hang around too long as it's easy to get cold.

The descent from Tan Hill was chilly and we continued to keep the pace high as we approached the Coal Road climb - for me the toughest climb that seems to go on forever!

Unfortunately, the group of four began to break up a little more, parky went off the back and Simon went off the front!

The turn at Nateby was long overdue and was a great relief to finally be riding with the wind on our backs.

By the 85 Mile mark I was riding on my own somewhere between Simon and Trevor and that's the way it stayed until the end, despite my best efforts over the last section. Our host for the weekend, Patrick, (a keen cyclist himself having ridden in the Fred Whitton recently) made the ride out to the top of the last climb to give some much needed encouragement.

The ride may be over, but it will be talked about for ages! SWRC managed to place 3 riders in the top 25 fastest times on the day despite the Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta Team showing us how the pros do it...Results:

Simon Howard: 6h 26m 49s
Richard Gordon: 6h 27m 34s
Trevor Lenthall: 6h 35m 56s
Nick Allen: 6h 55m 53s
Alan Parkinson: 6h 55m 56s
Niall Clutton: 7h 17m 03s
Mark Packman: 7h 54m 09s
John Harris: 7h 54m 31s

Comments from other SWRC riders:
Alan Parkinson: "After losing touch with Simon, Richard and Trevor around half distance I slowed up considerably, still managing to pass riders, but mainly on my own. At 3/4 distance I had given up hope of achieving a Gold standard time of 7hrs, that I had only just missed last year. Luckily Nick caught me up on the last climb about 18 miles to the finish and said it might still be attainable, which gave me a new lease of life and I got down on the drops and went for it. Luckily there was more down than up and we both squeezed inside our target time by 5 mins. I was extremely pleased to say the least. "

Mark Packman: "Just as last year, it was a cold windy day for EdD, though this time we were wind-assisted on the return leg rather than the outward. Wearing longs, gloves, two pairs of arm warmers, gilet and waterproof, (overshoes would not have gone a miss) just 5 weeks before the longest day, we signed on for the 112 mile slog at 9am. We had a group photo taken by the cycling weekly reporter (to appear week of 27th May) and set off. Things broke up on the first climb of Fleet Moss and from thereon John and I rode together, over Buttertubs pass, down Swaledale and over to Arkengarthdale, eventual winner Malcolm Elliott and his team passing us on the 20% climb and looking very smooth. Then the long grind into the headwind to Tan Hill Inn, England's highest boozer at 1600 feet or so and where the wind was very chilly indeed. After a quick descent from here it was another slog into the wind to Nateby where at long last we headed south with the wind behind us. We got to the 70 mile checkpoint just five minutes outside the cutoff time, celebrated with the sixth banana of the day, and were instructed to take the shortcut back to the finish. This was small relief as we had to go back up Fleet Moss from the hard side, followed by a very gentle roll down wharfdale, finishing the truncated ride in the same time as last year. A good day, polished off with a decent dinner and resounding pub quiz win over some very rowdy locals down the valley from our digs."

Niall Clutton: "This was my second attempt at the Etape, and I'm pleased to report a fifteen minute improvement on last year, though sadly this left me still seventeen minutes shy of a gold. Having lost sight of the leading Alphas after developing a terrifying cross-wind steering wobble on the descent of Fleet Moss, the rest of the ride was a solo slog. Accommodation was commodious, and the landlord of "The Slaughtered Lamb" did his utmost to make us feel at home. It was in the end an educational weekend, having learnt that Wookey Hole is not (as is widely believed) a cave system in Somerset, but the headquarters of the Star Wars appreciation society in far off London town."

John Harris: "As the Etape du Dales virgin, I approached th event with more than a degreeof apprehension, not least the advice from Alan, telling me "You are going to find tis hard", how right he was, together with the "will I get it back or won't I get it back" saga of my bike, which finally reappeared last Wednesday! With the weather improving we made a start at just after 9am, I knew I'd be dropping off the back pretty early although I didn't quite expect it to be the first corner but thought this might be a good idea as rides of this magnitude can only be tackled at your own speed. Somewhere up the first climb, in the drizzle, I found Mark waiting for me and we rode the rest "together", in truth, he dragged me round. The climbs are ferocious, steep and long but more than compensated for by the stunning scenary (I had plenty of time to look at it) although battling into the headwind did begin to exhaust my attention span on the way up to Tan Hill. A pleasant surprise was the was the quality of the roads, considering the winter there must have been worse than down here our roads are in a terrible state in comparison, this certainly allowed a bit more confidence on the descents although quick could never be used to decribe me. I wasn't too devastated to find we had missed the penultimate check cut-off by 5 minutes although the reality of the "short cut" back meant retracing our first climb of the day from the difficult side with some bits at 20%+. All in all a great weekend, good company, brilliant accommodation and hospitality courtesy of Patrick a friend and colleague of Nick. If you'd asked me on Sunday afternoon if I'd do EdD again, I'd have said "Never", of course 3 days on the world is different, if you asked me now the answer is "Yes" - I have unfinished business with the EdD - those last 13 miles!"

Racing on Thorney Island

Richard Gordon and I both took part in the Southdown Velo Thorney Island race on the 9th May. To make things a little more interesting, Glynn from the Surrey League decided it would be more exciting to treat the days racing like a handicap. I think it was a good idea as it meant I had people to chase from the off. There were 6 second cat vets in my group and we quickly caught the 3rd cats who weren’t looking very organised. After a few more laps we’d reeled in all the 4th cat riders as well.

I was feeling strong, my previous weeks’ racing - where I’d done 42 laps of Hog Hill (in two separate races on the same day) as well as three crit races at Ixworth on the Bank Holiday Monday (the picture was taken at Ixworth), meant I had a bit of form in my legs and I was up for this one. I’d also made sure that I was well warmed up as it was a cold day with a stiff wind. I’ve noticed from doing quite a bit of turbo sessions this year that it takes me at least 15 minutes to get the junk out of my legs, so by the time I started I already had a nice sweat on me.

It didn’t take long until a group of 4 of us went away, one of them was a bloke called Tim Benham, whose name I’d seen a lot in the 3rd cat races at Hillingdon over the winter and he’d won quite a few of those races so I knew he would be strong. At the halfway point we were away and working well as a four-up time trial, baring any mishaps I was sure of a top 4 result. We’d just dropped our 4th member, but as we came past the start finish area, Tim started shouting for someone to tell us what our gap was and unfortunately hit the wheel of the other guy in our group, Tim went down very hard. The two of us slowed down to wait for him as he seemed unhurt and got back on his bike, but of course we didn’t want to wait too long after having done all the hard work. In the meantime the 4th member of our group that we’d just dropped joined back on. We soft pedalled for half a lap - about a mile - but Tim didn’t seem to be closing down the gap quick enough - maybe he was hurt. I decided that it wasn’t worth waiting and decided to try and go alone, the other guy I was with was unsure as what to do and I think he decided to try and wait a little longer.

Unfortunately, it was too stiff a wind to stay away on my own for another 16 miles, and after a short while I saw that Tim Benham was picked up by a guy breaking away from the main group that we’d left behind (it turned out it was Tim Costello - a strong rider), and eventually a group fo five of us was formed. We weren’t going to get caught, but I was worried about the sprint and tried on numerous occasions towards the end to get a gap. We dropped our fifth member and it was then a four way tussle. Leading into the sprint I thought I was in a good position, tucked in at the back, but with a tailwind it was a fast sprint and I only managed to get third. It was very close and I thought I’d sneaked second, but Tim Costello must have got it by a tyre width.

Graham Wyatt was the winner who timed his sprint to perfection.

Richard came in 26th, not bad considering he’s had very little sleep in the last four weeks due to his recent fatherhood.

Rapha cycling Cafe

This May, for three months only, the Rapha Cycle Club will open in London. A unique combination of gallery, shop and café, the Cycle Club is a meeting place where riders can share their passion for road racing.

A full calendar of events including film and music evenings, book and product launches, evening screenings of races, regular group rides and Rapha customer and club evenings will enable visitors to immerse themselves in road cycling throughout the summer.

This unique cycling experience may be called a 'Club', but membership is free. The only qualification is an interest in the sport of road racing.

Myself and Sabin visited recently at 146-148 CLERKENWELL RD, EC1 5DG

All the important road races will be screened live starting with The Giro on the 8th May and followed by the Tour of California, Dauphine, Tour of Switzerland and Tour de France. Three exhibitions will be at the heart of the Cycle Club this summer, with a Fausto Coppi exhibition in May and a Tourmalet one in June with the original notebooks of Alphonse Steines. In July, while attention on the main floor of the club turns to the 97th Tour de France, the Rapha Cycle Club will present an exhibition of vintage racing bikes where 10 original bikes from the last 100 years will be exhibited offering a rare insight into the technology that has carried Tour riders to victory over the years.

It's National time!

This year I decided to ride all the National Time Trial distances, starting with the 10 mile on the 23rd May. Only 91st fastest entry could I manage to improve on my overall place of 68th last year? Not the fastest course (K33/10) at Salfords Priors in Warwickshire but should be a fine test for defending champion Michael Hutchinson (in gear) but last years silver Andy Tennant back again and Olympic medalists Steve Burke and Ed Clancy (all Motorpoint) also feature

Stratford CC Website
Start Sheet

Then the 25 mile promoted in Yorkshire on the 5th June - I managed to make it at 52nd fastest entry and never having ridden the Blue Ribband of the Time Trialling season before (rode the Junior version in 1979 won by Darryl Webster) should be a good event the Boroughbridge venue of some classic events in the past. With 219 entries for the 150 places and controversially Alex Dowsett (7th World Under 23 TT 2009) has had his entry returned after he had no qualifying time (after initially but ilegally being given a wild card entry by the CTT)

Yorkshire Velo Website
List of riders

The 50 mile is the most local to the South Western RC in the South at Petersfield, it is a tried and tested fast course, starts at Hillbrow and does two laps between Buriton and the Bramshott on the A3. At the present time I'm the 7th fastest man in the field (how low can I go?) entries close on the 25th May and the SWRC hope to field a strong team

Details of the Nat '50' a3crg... event
Entries (so far)

R+R

Team Verticale - Rin, Martin & Matt

Planning to ride the South Pennine '25' at Etwall on the way up to the Lakes for a weekend of R + R did not quite go as planned, the morning we had squally showers and the brisk NE wind made the A50 a fairly hostile place so after signing on I then backed out of riding after talking to a few other riders, I apologised to the organiser and we set off North feeling we would have better weather in the NW where sun was forecast.
Sure enough above Stoke the temperature began to climb from below eight degrees to the seasonal norm of fifteen by the time we got to the Lakes, I did a rapid 25 mile lap of Windermere above evens (not that easy) just to pressure my legs as I was meeting up with some friends who were riding the Fred Whitton on the Sunday. I was not entered in the event (never ridden a sportive) but I was up for a few gentle miles to see them over the first half as they were relatively inexperienced at this sort of thing although Rinaldo had done the event last year and had a couple of work colleagues, one Matt from Sweden said they had only just commenced riding their bikes at the start of the month because of the terrible winter (& we think we had it bad!)
Tour style climbing




I rode out and met them as they came through Ambleside from the start at Coniston, the first part over Troutbeck & Kirkstone (highest point) I knew quite well but Matterdale towards Keswick and the NW Lakes are new territory for me, there was a long section on the A66 perhaps the fastest section of the ride. I was going to return from here but as it was turning into a beautiful day and the four of us were working well together I thought I'd carry on for the rest of the ride.

Honister at 45 miles is a brute of a climb with a large burnt patch on the road where some unlucky soul had overheated their sports car (Lamborghini) and set it on fire trying to get up the 25% climb, a couple of riders had crashed on the decent one wrapped in a foil blanket we were urged by marshalls to take it easyier than the near 50mph on the decent of Kirkstone
Buttermere YHA


Just after we stopped at Buttermere Youth Hostel the first checkpoint where I looked after the bikes and the lads filled up bottles and got some grub, I had taken enough for the day, I did sneak a refill but it wasn't a hot day and I was able to enjoy the scenery in this part of the Lakes Newlands and Whinlater are still serious climbs and you had to pace yourself as you would in a race.

On a good day you can see Snowdonia as you descend from Cold Fell to the final check point at Calder Bridge within sight of the coast and Sellarfield, the Isle of Man was clearly visible but the two climbs everybody want to conquer which come in the final twenty miles are Hardknott and Wrynose. There is nothing to prepare you for the 'shock & awe' of these two idiot bits of unique British approach to the countryside, while the Victorians were off reshaping the world this little bit O' Blighty was left with an almost un-passable 'pass' which still has the air thick with the smell of burning clutch, if they were on the continent would have a beautiful engineered series of hairpin bends up the side of the mountain buy here we get a higgly piggly ribbon of lumpy tarmac with an average gradient of 25% but in places must be over 30%
Top of Wrynose

Many were dismounting before the cattle grid that marks the first approach but I just had to wring every ounce of energy from my legs to force 39 x 25 gear up all the way to the top, you need to rest on the not so steep and then sprint the hairpin bends and the very steep bits out the saddle as you lift your front wheel off the ground seated, I estimate only two in ten managed it but it is a brute of a climb and one for the box tickers rather than the cycle purist. Aparently the film of local fastman fell runner and cross rider Rob Jebb (Wheelbase) going over is something to behold.

We all descend into Little Langdale after regrouping at the top, I left the lads to finish their ride back to Coniston while I rode back to Windermere 110 miles in 7:30 that last part of the day putting the average speed back half a mile per hour. Not the best day of R + R but certainly one of the most beautiful.

May Flyer riders missing

Have you seen either of these odd looking riders, last seen in the vicinity of the Hydestile checkpoint on Sunday morning.

Neither have checked in at the finish to collect their certificates.

Any help in locating them would be most appreciated.

SWRC May Flyer 9th May

Well done to Steve McCormack and his team of helpers for organising another enjoyable May Flyer. It was good to see so many of the C group gang at the start and at the feed stops. The Cobham car park was filled with cyclists and their cars by 9am so it looked like a massive turnout.

I was well chuffed with my silver standard time for the 50 mile route. Yes Steve, Pitch Hill was great fun (my annual visit). I was ready for it but I keep forgetting where the top is. Just when you think you've reached it there's a bit more. Couldn't have done it without the triple chainset and Shimano's 28 sprocket on the cassette. Ditto for Coombe Bottom. Still my feet stayed in the pedals all the way which not always the case. Now for the Pearson.

Signing on at Cobham


The finish at Downside Village Hall


Alan and Bob record your time and try not to laugh.


Mission Control I


Mission Control II


Time for cake

Mallorca Day 6

Only Me, Andy Hicks & Simon Howard took on the repeat of last years longest ride of the week to Andratx and back.
All was going well and after 3 hours we were 20 miutes up on last years schedule. Soon after Esporles Simon had a slow puncture which we found difficult to find without a bucket of water. This was resolved by Andy suggesting we stop for a coffee and use ths facilities of the restaurant. We had the poshest coffee and cake of the week but lost half an hour in the process.

We had heard that the coast road was closed just after our lunch stop in Andratx, and so when we arrived at the road closed sign it was not a surprise. There was a small walk involved to get around it but this petered out in some trees and we had to scale the last bit down to the roadway. The benefit of the road being closed was that there was no cars along this 20km section of the coast road and I was able to actually smell the plants and flowers that we were all riding pass.
Our third stop of the day was back in Deia where we finished our H & C baguettes that we had carried from Andratx together with a cake and drinks. Then it was on to the big climb of the Puig Mayor, where we were all slower than Wednesdays efforts, myself slower than the others.

Mallorcan tapas

Some tidbits from the Mallorca trip. Best ride by common consent was the Calobra, with a good lunch at the beautiful Cala Tuent restaurant.

Lunchtime drinking was on the increase, with one rider putting on an alarming amount of weight.

Sabin had an eventful week, being interviewed for local tv at the Puig Mayor tunnel, damaging his wheel descending from the Calobra, and inspiring new neckwear.

Mallorca, Day 5

A shorter day on the bike today was required before tomorrows long day to Andratx. The best solution was a ride on the most spectacular road on the island, the twisty road down the calobra. We all head off along the roads to Caimari and the Sa Batalla climb towards the Lluc monestary and the Escorca viaduct. After taking it easy on the first climb I raced Simon to the viaduct, but could not get rid of him, until he fluffed a gear change in the final sprint.

Descending the twisting road with many other cyclists, we now don't bother to to go all the way down to the bottom, but turn off just before reaching the coach park and ride for another 5km into the adjacent bay where there is a lovely restaurant. Luckily this restaurant is still a well kept secret, but each year I expect to visit and find it packed out. The only reason it keeps quiet is that the coaches can't turn around in the small village lanes. After lunch it's always tough to get going, climbing back up the twisting Calobra climb. I rode with Nick for a while until a couple of London dynamo riders pass and the I have to pick the pace up.

Nearer the top I catch and pass Sabin, and ride on to the top. No hanging around this afternoon as I have promised myself a swim in the hotel pool, after arriving back too late on previous days. Unfortunately soon after I passed Sabin , he was in collision with a car as they both turn one of the hairpin corners. Luckily Mark Packman & Nick Allen were only a few moments behind and were able to look after him.

Below Parr

After the cancellation of last weeks event due to the police having to close the A50 after a fatal motorbike accident we the riders were left to reflect on the fragile nature of our relationship with the other vehicles we share the highways with for sport and for pleasure, it's something we face every day but here it rubs up close and on this occasion all we have is a wasted journey.
Still feeling a bit poorly all through the week I did not do much in the way of training as I have the Zenith 2 Day (3 Stages) at the weekend to worry about, 20+ 1st category riders and no place to hide when the mood takes them to start racing. I used the opening 'Prologue' of just under 3 miles to see how I feel and almost 30 seconds slower than last year confirmed my belief that the days racing would be tougher to get through than I would like it. Matt Bottrill (i-ride) was the clear winner 5:36 from team mate Adam Duggleby 5:52 and Matt Clinton (Mike Vaughn Cycles) 5:54, I had been 10th the last couple of years with a time just outside 6 minutes but my 6:31 only good enough for 45th.
The afternoon stage 70m on the roads around Bruntinthorpe aerodrome and a group of 15 got away almost immediately, the bunch held them at 20 - 30 seconds and there was a bit of team tactics between the strong i-ride/sportscover riders who both had men in the break, on the penultimate lap we had them pegged at 8 seconds as more riders came to the fore, I did a few stints on the front as I felt more confident in my ability to last the distance but then it all went to pot and they got away from us again and took over 2 minutes out of us to the finish. A group of four clipped away on the last lap but I found myself strong and well placed enough (little bit of local knowledge!) to get up for 5th in the bunch sprint 25th on the day and moved me up into the top 40 overall.

Heading out wrapped up on the second day

It had been warm and calm on the Saturday but Sunday greeted us with bitter NE wind for the 80m mile stage around Walton/N. Kilworth and Shearsby, a much tougher course with a long creeping climb which we were lined out at over 20mph and the string broke over and over again as legs gave out and riders found themselves shelled out the back. I had started with two tops and a gillet thinking I would take it off after an hour but in the end I never warmed up enough and I was glad of the overshoes and arm and knee warmers, I could feel the previous days ride in my legs for the first few laps and just had to take it every attack at a time until over half way when I took a Cafeen gel to help me over the closing stages (or not sleep until Tuesday!)
There were little breaks away all the time and the i-ride team controlled it for Bottrill in Yellow but there was a split and a mad dash when a 'Fourtrack' farm vehicle split the bunch and a group of three including eventual stage and overall winner Richard Lambert (Cottingham Cou.) got away leaving his two companions in the difficult conditions to time trial away to win by over two minutes after only being 36 seconds down overnight so a single rider without a team managed to get one over with a superb solo effort.

Bunch strung out on the main hill past the feed station

As the teams tried to pull the leader back the bunch was in a single line and I had to haul myself past riders 'sitting up' in the string numerous times but as the distance and the speed took its toll I was tailed off with half a lap to go on the fastest stretch of the course where we were descending at 45mph and there was no room for error or weakness and I found that a week of being off colour had made one more effort only a hope. I got together with three others including Phil Axe (Sharrow) who can usually get up in the top 10 but like me the wrong side of 45 to stay with this company at this speed, we mopped up a few shelled out and three riders on the floor from a spill in the bunch which was down to about 30 riders by the finish

Full Result Here

No racing next week as we are up in the Lakes, I might take a ride up to the top of Wrynoes to cheer the riders over in the Fred Whitton on the Sunday, hopefully a bit of a rest will see me back to full strength as I have the National '10' on a fairly local Staffords Prior course just South of Birmingham in a couple of weeks, don't hold your breath as my 20:40 qualifying time (4 secs off a PB) makes me 91st fastest on the day but I'd like to think I can improve on my 68th of last year.

Stafford CC National '10'

Surrey League Handicap Series #1

Whilst the rest of the club were in Mallorca taking it easy and soaking up the sun, Niall Clutton and I found ourselves at the Kitsmead Lane Road Race circuit for the first round of the Surrey League Hanidcap Series on Thursday April 29th.

Niall went with the cat4 group and I started with the cat3 group. The cat3 group started at very high pace (for me!) and soon we had an established 20 man 'through and off' running. This enabled us to work well as a pack and it wasn't long before we were catching the groups that had gone off before us. The distance was 8 laps of approx 3 miles and before I knew it we were on the last two laps. The cat3 group still had not been caught and the pace was being lifted again.

As this was my first road race since an accident at Goodwood, I was keen to ensure I was not involved in any incidents. As we rounded the last bend and started the run to the finish I started to make my move and hit the front, only to be overtaken before the line. Andy Edwards from Kingston Wheelers won the event and was promoted to cat2 - a well deserved win as he was the driving force in establishing the through and off early on. Pics of the finish below, and whilst not confirmed on the surrey league website at the time of writing, according to Keith Butler I was 3rd. We covered the 24 mile race at an average speed of 26.2 mph...

I now begin to turn my attention to a couple of sportive rides ahead of La Marmotte in July...