Plomesgate Cycling Club
March Club Run
Plomesgate Cycling Club
March Club Run
It was a good turn out for the March ride from Framlingham. Trevor led us on an interesting jaunt around the lanes to Stonham Barns for coffee and cake, then we had a tailwind at last for some of the return trip. It was easy to tell who had raced the day before, and who had fresh legs!!
April Club Run
Meet at Somerfields in Saxmundham at 10am on Sunday 25th April for a road ride.
March Open 10
A very windy day saw fewer DNS than anticipated, and some reasonable times considering the conditions and time of year. David Staff was first solo in 23:22, with Matt first Plomesgate rider in 25:29. Mark B and John C were the Plomesgate reps on the prizes sheet, as 1st team with Vet in the 2 up. Unfortunately Jim I’s illness meant that he and Steve didn’t compete. Hilary thanked everyone for their help with another successful event. View the results here!
It seems longer than a fortnight ago that Becky got notice that she was invited to ride at the Revolutions International Track Meeting, and when March 20th dawned it promised to be a memorable day and it most definitely was.
Becky started the day on a road training camp, I dropped her off at Darley Moor, a very windswept motorcycle racing circuit on a high plateau 3 miles south of Ashbourne in Derbyshire. The wind and rain lashed us as we unloaded bike and body. We made plans to meet up again at Manchester Velodrome later that afternoon, I was bringing track bike, wheels and equipment, Becky would provide the legs.
After a delayed journey I eventually arrived at the velodrome with 30mins left for Becky to warm up on the track, despite the panic she was incredible cool, I think she was in awe of the situation, "Dad I have just had dinner and I was sat next to Franco Marvulli, World Champion...!", gives you an idea.
The Revolutions have been an extremely successful attempt to sell track cycling to the public and media by mixing exciting racing, the best UK and continental talent, up and coming rising talent (Becky's lot), loud music, razzmatazz, beer, food, and it seems to have worked really well, if you read my last report from Revs 3.
It was great to see Becky circling the track warming up alongside Chris Newton, Bradley Wiggins, Teun Mulder, the list is endless, but there were four World Champion Jerseys on show, at least two past world champions, and a few Commonwealth and Olympic Champions as well. I was able to watch a few of the senior races before Becky was on in event 6, the one mile dash. The plan was to restrict her losses as much as possible and then if feeling good to move up with 2 laps to go and hopefully be in with a shout at the sprint. Most of the race went to plan but once the older girls hit the front with 2 laps to go the speed shot up and Becky did well to finish in the bunch.
Becky's next event was the 5km Scratch, she was expecting this to be the hardest, distance is not her forte, as you all know. Again she survived very well until a few laps from the end when she lost touch and decided to drop out and reserve some energy for the last race the Devil Take The Hindmost.
The Devil, if you don't know, is basically an elimination race, last over the line gets pulled out until only three are left who then sprint for the places. Becky enjoys this race and it is one she is familiar with as she does them at grass track meetings. She put this experience and her kick to good use staying in to finish in 9th place. It was a good end to a long , tiring and exciting night. The positive thing was that Becky's endurance seems to have improved as the last event was her strongest. We have already analysed the video footage, and know where her strengths and weaknesses are. For Becky and the other tired girls it was back to the local Travelodge where they were looked after most admirably by Marshal Thomas, National junior Coach. They even had breakfast in bed the next morning. Then it was up and back to the cold, wet, windy reality of the road camp for the rest of the weekend.!
This was the last of the Revolutions, for now anyway, apparently there is going to be a big one in October to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Velodrome, expect one hell of a party that night, and fingers crossed the girls put on a good enough show to be invited back. The future of Women's racing is looking good.
As for Becky's next big day read the World Cup article...
Trevor
World Cup Ride
Track Cycling World Cup April 9-11th
As if the invite for Revolutions wasn't enough, three days before Becky got a phone call saying if she wanted she had been selected to join an Eastern Region Team of Youths and Juniors to ride at the World Cup Meeting, Easter weekend. There will be 10 regional teams, plus Wales and Scotland, riding in two sessions on the Sunday morning, to entertain the crowds in between the World Cup events. So more rubbing of shoulders and I promise I will be doing a lot more name dropping, just watch this space !!
Foxhall 2004
The clocks have changed, the evenings are staying light for longer, so it must nearly be time to start riding round in circles again! The Friday evening Foxhall sessions will be restarting after Easter, with the first session (weather permitting) on April 16th.
If you haven't heard about the Foxhall evenings (or just need a reminder), these are informal training sessions, using the tarmac hot-rod track at Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich, from about 7pm on Friday evenings until the light goes or it gets too cold. The sessions are open to all, regardless of age, ability and type of bike, cost £2 an evening (50p for U-16s) and you can either take part in the fun and games (time trial, handicap races, sprints, devil, whatever) or not, as you wish. There are very few rules, basically helmets must be worn, sign in and pay before riding and go round anti-clockwise.
Although some of the "games" end in sprints, aggressive riding, particularly contact, is strongly discouraged - these sessions are more about having fun than collecting scars.
The track is about 400m around and is flat (not banked like a velodrome) and, as it is outdoors, these sessions are weather-dependant, as the track gets very slippery during/after rain. If you are not sure whether an event will go ahead, if you need directions to the stadium or if you want more information, please contact me.
Steve J
Mountain Mayhem
Plomesgate CC has a team in for the 24 hour Mountain Mayhem MTB event on June 25-26. As preparation we are going to ride some technical trails in Kent on 18th April. All are welcome to join this training ride, which starts from Plaxtol, which is between Sevenoaks and Maidstone. Meet in the village main street, where there is plenty of parking (GR605535) at 10am. If you want more details or to consider sharing cars, contact Mark or Viv on 01728 452143 or broughton.m@btopenworld.com.
Viv
Salbutamol Rules
If you intend to race in events and you take Salbutamol you must now obtain a Doctor's certificate and get it registered with British Cycling. This is a fairly easy process and any one who needs the details just contact me. I have just done it myself.
In the past if you got drug tested and they detected Salbutamol, then, if you were using it as prescribed by your Doctor, you could obtain a certificate retrospectively and it was usually OK. This has now changed and you must register it in advance or expect to suffer the consequences.
Trevor
When I were a lad 2
Last month you may remember I introduced you to an old cycling club mate of mine, Scottie. These memories, which although possibly libellous, are in fact very fond, trust me. When I met a very fit and lean Scottie the other week in the Staffordshire lanes he proudly admitted to me that he is now 72, and blimey a very fit and lean 72 at that. “Yes, Trev, I packed up racing at 50, don’t you remember I won the club hillclimb that year?”.
Well, yes actually, I do remember that hillclimb, but probably not for the right reasons. Our club, Walsall RCC, used to hold a hillclimb championship up a very stiff climb just outside Rugeley, known as Stile Cop. This climb could be pretty brutal, about 500yds of 1 in 6, but all that is irrelevant because I can’t remember any of the racing as I was laughing too much. This November day was typically grey, damp and cold. Riders were beginning to gather in the car park at the top of the hill, chatting, wondering who was going to turn up, what gear to use, when out of the murk Scottie appeared. Now as I mentioned before, Scottie was not renown for spending any money on anything actually, especially not his bicycles. If it could be scrounged, then great, otherwise Scottie was not averse to going into manufacturing mode himself. After initial salutations, the start time was drawing nearer and Scottie announced he was going to get his bike ready, he didn’t want to carry any extra weight up the hill and wondered after removing his mudguards if he could leave them safe and dry in someone’s car. This request in itself is perhaps a little strange as mudguards are supposed to be weatherproof, but that was until we watched him very carefully remove not two shiny metal or plastic guards, but instead two strips of cardboard which had obviously once been part of a Kellogg’s cornflakes box, attached to the bike frame with tape and old spokes. This didn’t seem strange to Scottie at all who was quite perturbed at the fact that no-one was taking him seriously as we were all in absolute fits of laughter. To us they were just bits of card but to Scottie they could have been Carbon Fibre (if it had been invented then). Eventually he did manage to store his prize mudguards in the dry and he went on and won the hillclimb. Over the years I have often wondered whether it was a psychological ploy, we were laughing so much we couldn’t concentrate on the race, whilst he danced on his pedals up that hill to give us youngsters a good thrashing. My final memory was watching him lovingly attaching his bits of card, sorry “mudguards”, to his bike and riding off towards home.
Aaah happy days……….
Trevor
Members’ News
Jim's cold, which forced him out of the 2-up, has been diagnosed as bronchitis. After two years out with back problems, this wasn't really the ideal way to start his comeback season! Although this has disrupted his training, he's still intending to be on the start line for the first race of the evening series at the end of next month.
The club wishes him a swift recovery.
Subscriptions Due
Have you paid your subs yet? If not, please do so now. The club accepts cash or cheques made payable to ‘Plomesgate CC’, which should be sent (together with your name!) to Steve Jones, 4 Leicester Close, Ipswich, IP2 9EX. For over 18s it is £10, under 18 and over 12s, £5, and under 12s free. If you are a second claim member half of the above fee is due.
Results
For some reason I decided that the 150Km Audax starting in Norwich, and heading north right up to the coast and then back down again on the 14th February, would be a good early season event, at the time I thought the number of miles and following the route would be the biggest problems. However it turned out the weather was the biggest headache as it was a constant drizzle all day which washed small flints off the fields onto the road. I had my first puncture after about 25 km which took about 20 mins to fix as my wheels were so mucky. After that I was about the last rider to make it to the first cafe stop, I got my card stamped and came back out to find I had my second puncture. I'd barely covered 40 km and I'd already used both my inner tubes, even worse when I came to pump it up I snapped the lever off my pump making it unusable, I was, of course the furthest I would get from home at this point. After several minutes of turning the air an attractive shade of blue things began to look up, firstly a generous passing rider lent me an inner tube then the owner of the cafe came out and allowed me the use of his workshop so I could fix my pump. After that things went better, I managed to avoid any further punctures for the rest of the event despite the sadist of a route planner sending us on every mud strewn country track in Norfolk. By now it was looking doubtful as to whether I would finish before dark, which was not good as I had no lights. However I caught up with another rider traveling about my pace so I made much better time for the second half of the course. It was fairly uneventful after that, I finally finished at 4:10 which was two hours later than I had anticipated. At the finish the organisers thought I was signing in at the wrong desk as they thought I had completed the off road event due to being covered in mud from head to foot, next time I'll use mudguards. The organisers did extract a promise from me at the finish that I will ride the next event on June 13th so if anyone fancies joining me for the 200km then let me know, I'd certainly appreciate some company. Any way I had a great time, the event was well organised and the tomato and basil soup at the college afterwards was delicious. The next day I realised how lucky I had been with punctures as I found 7 flints embedded in my tyres and it only took me two hours to clean all the mud off my bike too.
Mark H
The TT season is now well underway, and Team Whelan have made a start, first with the Breckland 10 at the beginning of March on the Scoulton circuit, with most riders being a little slower than last year, possibly due to the wet and muddy conditions. For Pete it was his first attempt at getting onto tri-bars, not having even got the bike out at all since his grass-track crash. It took a bit of stretching to get in to the correct position, even if a little lopsided, and suffering a softening rear tyre a little under a mile from the finish to do a short 26:06 (the course is a lot slower than our 'own' course), finishing one second behind Jim Morris (IBC) and the same time as Angus Jardine (IBC). For Bev, it was an unusually early start for the season, on a course she had not ridden before to finish in a pleasing 33:55 (the event was won with a 23:44). Later in March we rode the Gt Yarmouth 25 on the Somerleyton circuit, again one Bev had not ridden before. Pete was suffering from the beginning with back, shoulder pains and jet lag, due to him returning from Las Vegas and being cramped up in an aeroplane. His intention was just to get round, which he did in a reasonable 1:06:38, a few minutes slower then last year, but compared to others was equal. Bev managed a 1:25:13 for the rolling course. Hopefully the weather will be a little warmer when we ride it in the VC Baracchi event later in April. Pete's crash doesn't appear to have killed his speed, only his ability to move around on the bike, so corners are a little more hazardous.
Pete W
Haverhill Wheelers Hilly 20 – 4th April
Mark and Viv took on Michael Hutchinson here. The strong wind was in the opposite direction to last year, so it was a struggle for the final leg along the A143. Julia Shaw did 54:40 (record?), Mark (57:18) and Viv (1:05:39). As for Michael Hutchinson, the talk when we left was that he hadn’t been given a time as he’d failed to sign on – yet to be confirmed.
Dates For The Calendar
Grass Track:
Evening events 2004:
Starting on Thursday April 29th, followed by May 6th and then fortnightly until the last one on Thursday 26th August. Start at 7pm except for first and last ones.
Newsletter contributions
Send us any news of events, results etc so that they can be included in the newsletter.
Our e-mail address is broughton.m@btopenworld.com