PLOMESGATE CYCLING CLUB 

July Club Run

This off road ride from RSPB Minsmere saw Harry showing his prowess on SPDs.  We rode along the sandy tracks to Dunwich, took a circuitous route through the forest, then headed out to Walberswick for lunch.  The return route took in the west side of Dunwich forest, and as many bunny hops as we could muster over the speed bumps.

Trevor will lead a ride from Framlingham on 10^th August.  Meet at 10:00 at the Elms Car Park, Framlingham.  The Suffolk Coastal ride is on the 10th so the ride will be in a westerly direction to miss them.

August Club run 2

Mark will lead a MTB ride in Thetford forest on 31^st August, starting from the Brandon Country Park car park at 10:30.

Talent team update

After a lean spell of Talent Team activity Becky is away the last week of July at a training camp at the Calshot Velodrome and activity centre.  The camp includes track, grass track, cyclo cross and rock climbing.  This will give Becky a chance to hone some speed and talk tactics in readiness for the National Championships in three weeks time.

Grass track

My short season, by Pete Whelan

The North Road CC meeting at Hertford, at the beginning of May, was a bit o a wet affair, with heavy downpours at times - mainly when the ladies were lined up, or when Sarra was about to ride her handicap events. This didn't stop the racing, and everybody stayed upright.  My performance on the day was a little lacklustre, but enjoyable all the same.  Up until this event, I hadn't had a lot of opportunity to practise much, so all-in-all as good an outcome for me as could be expected.  Sarra did well, winning all the ladies events and getting 2nd in the handicap - I think she came away with £45.  Andrew was also testing himself out against the seniors, proving to be a tough opponent in all the events.  I think his cyclo-cross experience paid off in handling on the corners.  At the end of the meeting we were all rather muddy from following wheels very closely.

The next event on the calendar was a Team Welwyn meeting on a very short, rough track (160m) at Hertford, which turned out to be a bit of a points fest (and no prize money).  Due to the size of the track, Welwyn had limited the number of riders to10 people, and divided it into sprinters and distance riders events.  Plomesgate was represented by Steve and myself, with Andrew for ERV.  Sarra was riding the Birmingham grass event that day (she got silver in the WCRA 800m champs, plus probably another wad of cash).  The trip to Hertford was in itself not uneventful - speak to Steve for full details!

The next meeting was at CTC York Rally, were we should have had a larger group of PCC members riding, well Trevor Becky and myself.  Becky rode on the Saturday, whilst I was the only one riding on the Sunday, Trevor and Becky having over done it the evening before.  Andrew was once again my partner in crime!  The quality of riders at York tends to be fairly high, as it is at Mildenhall Rally, so we were not expecting any easy rides.  I managed to get through to the final of the handicap, quite a surprise for me, but only managed 6th or something at that end in the final.  In the 8km event, everyone was finding it hard, especially down the back straight into a head wind.  I think the gearing I had chosen was just about right to not stall at that point.  I did my usual of leading the field out for a few fast laps to break it up, then stayed with the main bunch to eventually see it split apart.  Ian Clarke (Fenland Clarion) and I had a little battle going on between us in the closing laps for 6th place, with Ian getting it.  At least it gave me a few national 8km league points.  My form was starting to improve, and I was managing to keep up with the big boys.

The following week, we headed north once again to Ravenfield (nr Rotherham).  The breeze was in the right direction for this track, on a slight slope, with the finish being very fast.  A good day’s racing was had by Andrew and myself, with me surprising myself again in the handicap to not only get through to the final, but to get 2nd place, losing it by a tyre to Mick Fairest (Sheffield Pheonix).  We then headed back south, to stop over at Lincoln Youth Hostel (very pleasant, apart from the snoring in the dorm), so we could go a few miles down the road to the BSCA track champs for Andrew.  I managed to get a bit of riding in, pacing Andrew around the grass.  It was a very hot day, with a free air show from the field of events at RAF Waddington a few miles away.  I 'volunteered' to help judge and start events, as there was a distinct lack of organisation.  At the end of the day Andrew won all three of his events to come away over-16yr schools grass track champion.

I think we then had a weeks break from grass track, before resuming for the Biggleswade meeting (Fenland Clarion).  This is a superb bit of flat and smooth grass, generally using gears of 79" or 81".  Unbeknown to me, this was also to be my last event of the season.  The first event was a 5 lap scratch, which went off nice and fast, with a few sprinters up the front, I was in the bunch towards the back; the bell lap starts and I start to make a move to go around the bunch as it accelerates into the first corner, someone fades on the front and starts to drift down the inside, gets spoked by someone and starts moving to the outside.  I had already committed to acceleration, when this back wheel appears in my otherwise clear path; I fly, the rest hurts.  As far as I know the bike looks OK.  I got a trip to Stevenage A&E to be told I had broken the right humerus (no jokes please, it hurts), once stable and not passing out, I travelled back to Ipswich A&E that evening, only to pass out again, but eventually got home not long after midnght.  The morphine helped me sleep well propped up on the settee that night ... it was too painful to walk, let alone attempt stairs.  Monday was down to the fracture clinic to be told my arm was in a few pieces near the socket.  How come I didn't break my collarbone like Hamilton?  Two weeks later it was back for a check-up.  Walking was still painful, so at last get groin area x-rayed, to find I had cracked the pubis.  I told them it hurt.  So all chances of doing the last evening 10 are now gone, and probably of doing a 50 to complete my SPOCO series.  The 'children' then rode Ely grass the following day, albeit a little tired due to the Biggleswade experience.  Sarra did not do too bad winning the handicap events.

Welywn put on a divisional championship grass event at Hertford, which I didn't attend due to still feeling a bit rough, but Sarra and Andrew did.

One consolation, was that I did have the opportunity to see Sarra win the Womens 800m national grass title at the Heckington Show.  This is an excellent, if tight, track with slightly banked corners totalling 250m.  Spectators appreciate the cycling, looking down on the track from the grandstand.

Pete

Plomesgate CC is holding a grass track meet at St Mary’s school in Woodbridge on 30^th August.  Pre-entry fees of £10 for seniors, entry on line of £13, £5 for U16s no increase if entry on line and free for Under 12s.  The race programme will be along the lines of 400m scratch sprints, 800m scratch sprints, 400m handicap sprints, 800m handicap sprints, Devil, 8km scratch for all senior categories, and a scaled down version for the kids.

So, why not come along for a family day out.  We also need your help for a number of jobs on the day – contact, Viv, Trevor or Pete if you can help.

5 mile TTs

The event was held in less than perfect conditions, with everyone commenting that the wind made it hard to the roundabout and wasn’t much help on the way back.

Rob was obviously serious about this event – he had the go-faster bike, the head-fairing and a thorough warm-up on the turbo beforehand – and it worked. He won in 11:30, and put almost 30 seconds into Steve’s record from last year, although he looked, and sounded, distinctly second-hand afterwards.

Richard was on his road bike – would he have got under the 12-minute mark on a TT machine?  Another excellent result for Matt coming in 3^rd just behind Richard and 30 seconds clear of a very close battle for 4^th place where just 8 seconds covered 4 riders.  Jim H just got the verdict ahead of Andrew, while Valerio and Mark, whose times in the “10”s have been quite close recently, recorded identical times.  With Pete out of action, Sarra took over the pilot’s perch on the tandem (touring, not racing) as she and Bev set a marker for future tandem teams to chase.

The two novices both did well, with Jerry Trigger getting round in just under 15 minutes, while young Gary Ingram, shadowed by Dad Jim, averaged nearly 15mph for his first race on the road.

The next “5” is on August 14^th – will anyone be able to beat Rob’s time?

Talent Team Update

After a lean spell of Talent Team activity Becky is away the last week of July at a training camp at the Calshot Velodrome and activity centre.  The camp includes track, grass track, cyclo cross and rock climbing.  This will give Becky a chance to hone some speed and talk tactics in readiness for the National Championships in three weeks time.

Results

18^th June, ICA TT, Wickham Course

On a windy and slow night, Steve J managed 25:56, Valerio 26:46 and Jim H 26:57

25^th June, ICA TT, Wickham Course

A better evening saw two Plomesgate tandems out, with Pete and Bev taking 3rd place with 23:27, while Trevor and Becky suffered a puncture while travelling at over 30 mph - scary!

2^nd July ICA TT, Wickham Course

Another pleasant evening and a good Plomesgate turnout.  Pete and Bev on tandem, 3rd, 23:16; Steve J, 9th, 24:21; Mark B, 11th, 24:47; Valerio, 18th, 25:37 (PB) Viv, 25th, 27:05; Becky, 27th, 27:25 (PB).

5^th July Norwich ABC 10

Cross winds prevailed for this one. Pete finished in 23:18, and Bev in 29:16.

8^th July Eastway (by Valerio)

Inspired by the start of the Tour, I decided to give another go to the Eastway Summer series.  The formula was the usual, 4^th cat + novices who got almost a lap advantage, 1 hour + 5 laps race.  The field was quite numerous: I didn’t count the starters (too excited for that), but my guess was above 50, some of them looking impressively 20-something, fit, and ready for business.

The novices were only 6, me included, and the lap advantage didn’t mean a lot, taking into account that of the 6 novices 3 refused to take any turn, and the other 3 were quite worried of spending too much energy in the impossible task of keeping the bunch away.

So, in 5 or 6 laps the 4^th cat joined us.  At that point, the novice in me took over, and in spite of what common sense was telling me (yelling, actually), I joined one of the 4^th cat in a breakaway.  It did sound like a good idea at the time…

The excitement of being at the head of the race didn’t last long, about a lap, but the consequences were much longer lasting.  When the rest of the riders closed the gap, there were a number of attempts of breaking the big bunch, at a pace my legs, lungs, and all the rest, still trying to recover from the heroic attempt, couldn’t possibly match.

I lost contact and I found myself trying to regain my breath back on my own.  After half a lap, another 5 riders that had given up on the bunch before I did reached me, and we went along taking turns for quite a long while.  The bunch was back on us at about 45 minutes into the race.  This time I did listen to common sense, and just sat on a wheel.  There were numerous attempts of breaking away, so to give a more accurate idea of what was going on, the expression “just sat on a wheel” should actually be complemented by “painfully”.

At 5 laps to the finish, disaster struck, one of the riders in front of me stuck his pedal into the inside of the hairpin, fell, bringing another rider with him.  I managed to stay on the bicycle (just), but had to stop and lost the bunch.  The pursuit with another 2 riders was unsuccessful, we managed to get to less than 100 metres from them, but none of us had the strength to close the last gap, and at about 2 laps to the finish the bunch simply disappeared out of sight, giving us a good excuse to take it easy (easier) to the end.

9^th July, RC Henley

Pete and Bev were our sole representatives and finished with 26:13.

16th July Wolsey RC Henley

A stormy night saw Valerio at his first Henley TT, ending 13^th with 28:29. Winner on the night was Jim Morris (Ipswich BC) with 25:36.

30th July Wolsey RC Henley

Valerio had a second try at the Henley course. He was 13^th again, but improved his best on course to 28:18. The winner was Phil Hetzel, Ipswich BC, with 25:10.

Ely & District Grass track, Witchford

Following Pete's terrible accident the preceding day the Plomesgate Team was reduced to two, Trevor and Becky Figgitt.  Becky was signed up to ride with the Women, there was a good turn out of 7 women.

Becky was successful in her favoured event the 400m sprint.  Blasting off from the gun she got a good lead and only Chrissima Pearce got within a wheel of her by the finish line.  For the 800m handicap sprint the Women were handicapped on their performance in the 400m so Becky was sent off on scratch.  By the second lap and with about 200m to go she had caught the main field but just hadn't got enough left in the tank to reel in the two leaders who fought it out for first place, with Becky coming 4th.

Trevor rode the senior events and managed to get on the score card with 1 point in the National 800m series.

West Suffolk Wheelers - Bury St Edmunds

As usual the Hardwicke School track had been excellently prepared and despite the heavy rain of recent days the ground was remarkably dry and hard.  Becky as once again riding with the Women of which there were 6, including the recently crowned National Champion Sarra Whelan, riding proudly in her Champion's jersey.  Becky's favourite event was first and she flew away for the 400m putting lengths into the other ladies, and by the line she was easing up to win by 2 or 3 lengths.  This time the commissaire was a little easier on Becky in the 800m handicap putting her equal with Lindsay Clarke (Fenland Clarion) on the biggest mark of 60m.  On scratch was Sarra suffering from the fame a National title brings.  Becky decided not to go from the gun instead quickly tucking in on Lindsay's wheel. With about 400m they were still together and still had a good lead, Becky decided this was her chance and jumped taking several metres lead, but had she gone too early?  Lindsay got back to her along the tough back straight, but with about 100m to go Becky jumped again but tired legs showed and the jump was not decisive, it was going to be an out and out sprint.  Neck and neck with a few metres to go Becky forced her front wheel in front to take a second win by less than half a wheel.

In the Team Sprint Becky led off one of two ladies teams beating the second team by some 3 seconds. Her luck ran out in the 60m dash though, after coming 2nd overall last year she was hoping to win it this year.  Trevor quickly changed the sprocket to give a much lower gear, but after a few yards Becky came to a stand still after stripping the thread on the hub.

Trevor tried Becky's tactic in the Vets 400m, flying away from the gun.  Only Max Pendleton managed to close him down and with about 100m to go came round the outside and Trevor was a beaten man, but held on to second place. Trevor also got a generous handicap in the 800m handicap and decided to go for it.  He blasted away and appeared to open up the gap but could he hold on.  With Becky shouting to ease up from the sidelines, Trevor spectacularly died with about 250m to go and was passed by most of the field.  Perhaps he should listen to his "coach" in future!

Evening ‘10’s

10^th July

With 23:08 visitor John Gabriel recorded the fastest time this year, taking the top spot in front of team-mate Angus Jardine and first Plomesgate rider (once more) Pete, with Rob C. and his merry fixed wheel bicycle close behind.

The warm and humid night was generally fast, with 4 PBs: Big Matt, first time under 25’, Julie, first time under 31’, Mark H. who improved by 1 second (cheap way to get a PB, isn’t it?), and Stephen who was speeding to an evening school governors’ meeting.

Other course improvers on the night were Becky, first time under 29’, Mark B., second consecutive best time, Valerio, a few seconds faster than before, and Bev, better than her handicap time and best time for this season.  Steve managed his best course time in recent years, helped by his personal battle with Richard, who also recorded his best time on course ever: they decided to make the spectators ticket worth its money by engaging in a close battle over the last mile, with Richard overtaking Steve, and Steve putting the arrival order right before the finish, just.

17^th July

On a windy night Richard earned the top spot by again improving his best time on the course.  An injured Pete, temporarily forced to timekeeping duties after his grass track accident, saw his best time remain unbeaten: he owns the Plomesgate best for this series with 24:06, trailed by Rob C 3 seconds behind and now by Richard with 8 seconds delay.  With two events to go, the battle for this competition is definitely heating up. 

Big Matt for the first time this year raced without improving his PB, but was still good enough to comfortably get the second place.

With the first 2 riders clearly ahead of the rest, the competition for the remaining positions was quite intense, with 6 riders in about a minute interval.  Jim H managed to emerge in third place, just a second shy of his best time, while behind him Valerio and Rob S both set new personal best times for the course.

Frequent visitor John Vidler had an eventful night:  He had first to stop to fix a loose headset, and then on the final straight the chain of his fixed wheel bicycle came off, but he managed to reach the finish line freewheeling.  Enough bad luck to cover for the whole season, now it can only get better.

New member Jerry had a good first ride, starting his new career just a whisker short of the 30 minutes mark.  He gets a handicap of 8:02 for the rest of the series.

On the remaining competitions: There were no changes in the ladies or vets competitions, while in the points competition, Pete’s injury, which is likely to put him out for the rest of the series, has opened the door for Richard, who has now moved into the lead, ahead of Pete, Matt and Steve.  In the handicap competition, Jim keeps a narrow lead, just 4 seconds ahead of Mark, while Rob S becomes a contender, jumping into 3rd place, 9 seconds behind Jim.

Foxhall Fridays

11^th July

After a night off on the 4th for the Spede weekend, the following week was a bit of a disappointment. Good weather, but an unswept track – still, three brooms, 30 minutes and a few blisters gave us a clean-ish line and at least we could get round. The conditions meant racing wasn’t on option – no-one wanted to do a Nathan – but it was a chance to stretch the legs and do some reasonably fast laps in a pace-line.

18^th July

The first event was a steady 5 minutes plus one lap. The races for the two groups of riders (young and not-so-young) were kept separate, but were on track at the same time. In the junior event, Jack H took a surprise win from sister Jenny, Anna H and Alwyn.  The other race kept circulating until the youngsters were out the way, when Paul Watts was able to show his strength to hold off Jim H and Colin in the sprint, with Kerrick, Jo and John just behind.  Jenny stamped her authority, as usual, on the junior time trials setting a new personal best of 52.7 seconds.  In the senior test, everyone set new personal bests! Paul was quickest (33.2 seconds).

The junior handicap race had a little twist. While the juniors lined up on their handicap marks, Paul and Kerrick lined up on scratch – but with two laps to do! Could they do it? The answer was no, as despite working well together, they came in about 10 seconds behind the youngsters. Meanwhile, Jack ignored the distraction and won a close race, just out sprinting Alwyn, with Jenny third and Anna fourth. The senior handicap was won by Paul, ahead of Colin, John and Kerrick, with Jim trailing in a distant last after being unable to clip in at the start. A series of devils were next, with Anna taking the honours in the junior race, while Jim edged out Colin in the final of the senior race.

Jenny returned to her winning ways in the junior 1 lap scratch, with an easy victory, while the seniors finished off with a team sprint– and this time it was personal! Team Newstead (Kerrick, Jo and Colin) took on the ‘All-Stars’ (John, Jim and Paul) and, after a close race, the All-Stars pulled ahead at the end to win by two seconds.

25^th July

And then summer suddenly ended!  A day of steady rain on the 25th caused that evening’s session to be cancelled before it began – hopefully the sun will come back in August.

Dates For The Calendar

10^th August, Plomesgate club run, Framlingham.

10^th August, Mid Suffolk Road Race The race is run several times around a lap of Barking Tye, Ringshall, Offton before finishing up Willisham Hill (about 8 miles).  Come along and give the riders a cheer - going up that hill, they need it!

14^th August, Plomesgate 5 mile TT

16th-Sun 17th August - Slick and Knobbly

23-25^th August, Mildenhall Rally.

30^th August, Plomesgate grass track

31^st August, Plomesgate club run, Thetford

7^th September, Plomesgate Road Race champs at Eastway (part of Ciclos Uno event).  Contact Steve J for further details.

13^th September, GHS National Final

20^th September, John Adams is organising an additional club time trial on behalf of the Stowmarket club. It is on a new sporting course of approx 20 miles, based near Debenham and heading north towards Occold. If the event gets sufficient support (and the course works out OK), Stowmarket are intending to hold two Open events on this course next year, and also to promote an Open 10 on the Woolpit-Ixworth course - another sporting course.

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

Stolen TT bike

On Sunday 13th July from Risby Village Hall car park (just off A14 near Bury St. Edmunds) the blue C4 Joker (see below) was stolen whilst leaning up against the owner’s car in the village hall car park after the race at about 9.45am. Complete with HED disc and front trispoke, vision bars, cranks and all.

Any news please call Jim Caplin on (01986) 894240.