At last - a double bonus - a sunny club ride, and an occasion when the puncture fairy stayed at home! Locals Tony and Mark were joined by new member Dave Carr, as well as Adrian, Steve, Gary and Valerio for a ride over some different roads to normal. We headed in a vaguely NW direction, passing through Earl Soham to pick up the route of the Stowmarket sporting 20 mile course. This uses some nice quiet lanes, so we followed it up to Occold, where we turned back south to Cleo's cafe in Debenham. They were quite busy, so we ended up sitting outside, but luckily the sun was still out, so it was quite warm (for March!). Refreshed, we meandered back towards Wickham, taking in Pettaugh, part of the Crowfield course, Helmingham and Otley en route. In a way, it was a bit of a "retro" club run - the majority using down-tube shifters rather than Ergo levers and a number of bikes 20 (or more) years old !

Steve

April Club run

April’s club run is the same day as Paris-Roubaix, Sunday 10^th. Meet at 22 Naverne Meadows in Woodbridge at 10am to experience Suffolk’s hell of the north, followed by the real thing on the big screen at the Whelan’s house.

May Club run

There will be a club run on 8^th May from Steve’s house in Ipswich. More details in the next newsletter.

Plomesgate ‘10’

There were some good rides by club members in our own event on Sat 19th March, helped by some (very welcome) sunshine and warmer temperatures. In the 2-up, Matt D and IBC's Phil Hetzel were just one second outside the 23 minute barrier but were top composite team and 2nd overall, while Jim and Steve (somewhat contentiously) took the "top (club) team with vet" prize and 6th place, after Jim, who was suffering from a bad cold, literally rode himself into the ground.An indication of the strength of the 2-up field (and the better than usual conditions!) is that the time of the 4th placed 2-up team would have won the event (comfortably) in any of the previous three years!In the solo event, Pete was our top rider and 7th overall, Adrian McTigue surprised a few people by riding a PB, improving by around 2 minutes, and earned himself a spot in the top 20, while Becky was only a handful of seconds behind Andrew Whelan and race organiser Bev also managed to find time to take part! Thanks to Bev for organising it, Pauline and Kay for their usual outstanding job with the refreshments, and to everyone else who pushed, marshalled, ran numbers or helped in whatever way.

Steve

Manchester Track

Becky and Trevor were at the Manchester Velodrome on Easter Monday, for Becky it was the start of a week long training camp, and for Trevor it was a chance to put the hours of track training to the test.

Becky was not expecting much having picked up yet another cold after a training session at Newport 2 days before. So it was quite a surprise when she won the first Women's 12 lap scratch race, beating GB rider Lorna Webb in the bunch sprint. In the Senior 12 lap scratch, Trevor was feeling strong, but despite attempts to split the group had to settle for 6th. Trevor's best was in the 12 lap 'course de primes'. There's money every lap for 1st over the line, so the pace was hot. With about 5 laps to go Trevor chased down an attack, the rider pulled up, Trevor carried on through expecting someone to follow, only to find he was alone with 4 laps to go. So he soloed to a clear win!

Becky notched up the third Plomesgate win in the Women’s Team Sprint as a member of the VC St Raphael composite team. The team of Becky, Anna Blyth and Rusine Airstone, were fastest by over a second with a time of 57.45s.

Becky had a busy afternoon with 2 Keirins, and the bunch races. She finished the afternoon off with a 3^rd place in the Women’s Keirin.

Trevor's next best was in the 40 lap points, where after repeated efforts he got in a small group of 5 riders with a clear lead. He finished 4th on the line but about 8th overall with a few points.

Overall it was a good afternoon for the flourescent jerseys!

Plomesgate ‘25’

The Open 25 is on Saturday 14th May, based from Tunstall village hall. If you are willing to help at the event please contact Viv on 01728 452143 or broughton.m@btopenworld.com.

Talent Team Update

In March Becky attended a Talent Team track camp at Newport Velodrome. It was a useful weekend which involved learning Madison skills and involved quite a bit of hard fast riding behind the motorbike.
Immediately after the Easter Monday Track Meeting (see separate report) Becky joined the rest of the sprinters for the latest Olympic Development Programme (ODP) training week. They travelled down to Newport with National coach Iain Dyer, where he was intending to put them through a punishing schedule of track, road and gym work. I have just had a message from Becky (Wednesday) to say she lifted her body weight in the gym this morning for the first time, then this afternoon she did an 11.8s flying 200m time behind the motorbike.
Trevor

Kit Test

As part of my duties as Kit Manager I performed a kit test at Eastway yesterday in the Bill Temme Memorial RR. Glorious weather 31 laps in the 3,4,W,J race and feeling good. I wore my new club shorts with my jersey and socks and really looked the part, that is part xmas tree part hi viz road worker.

The pace was quick with the all conquering Glendene Junior squad taking part. 92 starters some of whom managed a couple of laps before being shelled out. I felt comfortable after the initial 29 mph laps for the first 3 or 4 laps and settled into a nice rhythm riding mid bunch with the odd excursion to the front to help Nathan Miller block for the impressive Chris Bartlett who attacked Glendene at every opportunity as they seem to want to boss the race and annoyed a lot of people with their attitudes and comments, just think some of them must kiss their mothers with those same mouths! One who started abusing me for blocking for Chris soon shut up when I said a smack in the mouth might cure his problems, I know not exactly the correct cycling etiquette but I am a rugby player learning to race so that's my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Anyway after 26 laps all lapped riders were pulled out which left about 30 -35 of us riding hard into the last 5 laps, I was feeling strong and was thinking that a top 10 was well in my capability, and with enough points to move up to a 3rd Cat, as all breaks were brought back by the speeding bunch and moved up to about 10 from the front. We passed the start finish line with 3 laps to go and as we coasted down the hill to the hairpin a rider in front on my right decided to switch to the left of the track without looking taking my front wheel with him, before I knew it I had somersaulted off the bike landing on my damaged right knee before rolling and stopping in a ball as the rest of the bunch went past, luckily no one hit me.

I hobbled off the track after retrieving my bike and walking up to the club house bleeding profusely from left calf, right knee and right hip. Luckily my helmet had taken the impact on my head and was now quite an odd shape. St Johns did appear eventually and tried to make a joke about how my wounds must hurt, which I have say was not too well received and then asked what I hit so rather tersely I replied "The ground!" and I think my anger at being flattened by a crazy manoeuvre must have been apparent as I was given plenty of space for a few minutes, even Phil Hetzel who is used to me crashing waited before coming over to see how I was. The race finished in a bunch sprint as follows:

4/3/J/W

Oh well, what ifs are no good now. I have very deep gashes on my right knee, rash on my left calf, right hip, both elbows and right across my upper back and a very achy neck to go with my headache. My bike faired slightly better, just ripped bar tape and mashed STI levers (yes Steve, those nice new Dura Ace ones!). As for my kit test well lets just say my club jersey is errr breathable, my vest the same and as for my brand new shorts, they are in the bin. Socks were okay just coloured claret now instead of white and yellow. Sidi shoes scuffed but okay, I can recommend them. I must advise you all to stay upright on the bike as lycra will not protect you! Seriously I was very down last night and considered stopping racing as I struggled to see how anything I did could have saved me or my bike, this crashing is expensive. But after a night’s sleep I figure you can't legislate for idiots in a race and just need to get the points to move up to race with better riders.

Crusty Matt

New Members

Welcome to Chris Gingell, who has joined as a second claim member.

Olympic Development Squad

Straight after the Easter Monday Track Meeting Becky joined the ODP squad and travelled down to Newport for a week long training camp.

The group of sprinters consisted of four girls, one female senior GB rider and three boys, one other boy was ill and couldn't attend and another dropped out and returned home on the first day. The group were pushed hard with at least two training sessions every day, usually gym work followed by track work, much of it done behind the motorbike at speed. There were also two road rides which were treated as recovery rides.

The group would be followed by the official car containing the coaches, who shouted and hooted instructions at them, she said it felt very professional. This week was both an opportunity for Becky to gain some excellent experience and some good quality training, but it was also a chance for her to show she has the qualities needed to be included on the ODP.

Despite suffering with a cold most of the week, she seemed to revel in the life of a pro cyclist and got stronger as the week went on. As Harry and I arrived at Newport on Saturday evening she was riding the last training race, a keirin, and despite it being a long hard week she was not frightened to take it on and also give ODP coach Geoff Cooke a rough time. At the end of the session National Coach Iain Dyer said he was very impressed with Becky and would be recommending her for inclusion on the ODP ! So it looks like she has successfully made the jump up to the next level from the Talent Team. During the next few weeks Becky will be contacted by the local English Institute of Sport representative with a view to getting her in a local gym and working to a proper weights programme.

We will also be getting a visit from one of the National Coaches who will be coming over to spend a weekend with her on the local roads sorting out some work outs for her which will hopefully compensate for the lack of a local velodrome.

So all in all what with GB success at the World Championships as well, what a fabulous week!

Trevor

Foxhall Track

With the clocks changing over Easter, the evenings should be light enough for us to start a new season of outdoor riding at Foxhall stadium. The first session will be on Friday April 1st (no joke!), from 7pm. For the first couple of sessions, I've borrowed a pair of Computrainers (think "cycling meets computer game"!), which we'll use indoors if the weather is bad and/or to continue the session after the light goes. Same arrangements, details and charges as last year - contact me if you want to know more.

Steve

Thursday Rides

Don’t forget, the evening 10s start on Thursday April 28^th at 18:45. The rota for time keeping and pushing is available on the web site. If you have any queries about the rota please contact Valerio by e-mail valerio.malenchino@bt.com or speak to him on a Thursday evening.As in previous years, there'll be a training ride on the "10" course, on those Thursdays when there's not an evening race. Meet at the start at about 7pm. (Preferably just before, but Steve's always late!) The first of these will be on May 12th.

Steve

Five mile time trials

An ideal intro to time-trialling, some extra speed training, or just a bit of fun, this can be whatever you want to make it. The 5 mile course uses the middle section of the "10" course, from Tunstall common to the roundabout and back. This is the flattest, and probably fastest, part of the 10 course, and the start and finish point is between the "camelback" section and the turning to Butley. It is intended to run a couple of these through the season, instead of a "regular" training ride (see above). The first will be on 26th May - put it in your diary now!

BC Special Offer

BC are doing a membership drive and the club has received a batch of application forms if anyone wishes to apply for this free membership. This offers free Bronze membership to Over 16s and free Silver membership to Under 16s.

Details are available on the BC website at http://www.bcf.uk.com/news/2005/03_March/17_club_deal.shtml

This not available to anyone who is already a member or was a member of BC last year.

For an application form or further information please contact Trevor Figgitt - 01728723701 or trevor.figgitt@btinternet.com.

Rides & Races

Thetford Enduro 19-20 March

Mark and Viv entered these final two rounds of the Winter series at Mayday Meadow. Both entered the 2 hour race (the short one), riding as many laps of the 9.5 mile course as possible. It included 2 bomb holes, and a tough ride up the beast of the east – especially hard work for those foolish enough to ride single speed. Viv had a good ride, finishing third of the six women, and was pictured in the EADT. Mark wasn’t quite as pleased with his ride, but still finished in the top 10. Both completed 3 laps. The top few in the 4 hour enduro completed 7 laps – that’s nearly 70 miles of riding, all off road. Sunday’s race was over the same circuit as Saturday, but clockwise. Very few people competed on both days – the legs were bad enough after one race!

Viv

Good Friday 10 - Bungay. More prize money was collected by a Plomesgate rider at this event, as Adrian set a second PB in less than a week, improving by another 34 seconds and getting 2nd or 3rd on handicap (official results not available as this "went to press"). Not as nice a day as for our event, as it was cooler, with a deceptively strong breeze running diagonally across the course. This showed in the times, with both Pete and Bev each only a few seconds quicker than at our event. Pete W 24:16; Adrian 25:07; Steve 25:41; Trevor 25:57; Bev 31:29.

Spoco East

Bev & I have continued with our early season time trials for the SPOCO East competition. The CC Breckland 10 was postponed due to snow on the back lanes of the course, which meant our first 10 of the season was our own Open 10. It was a hectic day for Bev, as apart from organising the event was also riding it. I managed 7th place in that event, and also the same placing in the West Suffolk Wheelers 21 mile event the previous week, then keeping up my 7th placing the day after our 10 in the Great Yarmouth CC 25 over at Somerleyton, on a misty, cold and drizzly morning. This turned out to be a good day in the end as Bev was 1st lady on handicap and I was 3rd Vet on Std. Andrew claimed his bum was sore from riding the 10 the previous day and didn't face the timekeeper, preferring to shelter in the warmth of the village hall.

At the moment, the SPOCO East results table puts me on top of the league, but it can't last. The last time I was in such a good league position was in 2003, and due to the grass track accident I didn't get to complete the series, though still finished reasonably high up the table. I hope the same doesn't happen this year.

Pete

MTB in the Peak

Is anyone interested in a day or weekend mountain biking in the Peak District? There are some excellent routes with technical singletrack and real hills – down as well as up. Excellent training for the Mayhem. If you are interested please contact Mark or Viv on 01728 452143 or broughton.m@btopenworld.com.

Dates For The Calendar

Tuesday evenings – MTB ride usually Tunstall or Rendlesham forests through the summer starting at 7:30 contact Mark or Viv for details.

	Plomesgate Cycling Club
	www.plomesgate.co.uk