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Plomesgate Cycling Club
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Newsletter
- August 2005
Six solos and one Tandem met
on a sunny morning in Framlingham. After winding through the lanes the
Whelans departed at Brundish to meet up with the CTC. The remaining five,
Becky, Jim Ingram, Valerio, Mark Howlett and myself, continued through
the lanes around the back of Wilby and Stradbroke, then across through
Hoxne, finally dropping into Debenham where we relaxed in the sun outside
Clios for coffee.
The return route was a little
more direct back to Framlingham but we still covered just under 40miles
and got a nice tan.
Trevor
Sunday September 18th Framlingham 10:00am, meet at the Elms Car Park behind the Bakery.
Family
Fun Day
This
year's family day will be held on Saturday 3rd September at Richard Tateson's
house in Brundish,
free of charge for all club members and their families. Others will
be charged £2 per head.
Please let Richard know if
you are coming by 29th August. (Including how many of you there'll be and
any food requirements / preferences). Hope to see lots of you there!
email: richard.tateson@bt.com
phone: 01728 628205 (eves)
We'll gather at Yew Tree Cottage,
Brundish from about 11am before setting off by midday on a gently paced
ride incorporating some riding on quiet lanes and some on tracks and bridleways.
If there is sufficient interest we may also send out a roadie bunch for
a longer, faster loop entirely on tarmac - just in case the big boys need
to work up an appetite!
Back at Yew Tree Cottage from
roughly 1 o'clock there'll be a barbecue lunch combined (hopefully not
too closely) with trampolining and improvised ball games of your choice.
(Click
to enlarge)
Directions: (see maps). Brundish
is North of Framlingham on the B1118 to Stradbroke (see small red circle
on big map). As you head towards Stradbroke, Yew Tree Cottage is on the
right on the corner where the lane leads down to the church. You will see
a sign post pointing right to 'Brundish Church' - this signpost is standing
in our hedge. Take this turn towards the church and you will immediately
find the end of our shingly drive on your left. Turn in and come as far
up the drive as possible to give room for later arrivals.
If you reach the Crown pub
you've gone too far. Turn round and come back towards Dennington. You have
reached Yew Tree Cottage when you pass the village hall on your left and
the road turns sharply right. Go straight ahead down the little lane towards
the church and turn immediately left into our drive.
Richard
(Click to enlarge)
Pick & Mix
After last year's
successful "experiment", the Pick'n'Mix 2-up is back this year
and will be held next Thurs, 18th August on our 10 mile course.
For the Pick'n'Mix, riders are seeded into two groups, based on their performances on the course this year (or maybe just how I feel!), and then the pairings are drawn at random with one rider from each group.
Because there's more to do before the start, riders are asked to turn up by 6.30, to allow the draw to be made, before a 7pm start. This should also give you a little time to discuss tactics with your partner.
As this is run as a training event, the same (lack of) rules and regulations apply as for the 5's - so riders under 12 are welcome to have a go.
Last year saw Matt D and Paul Watts as clear winners, with a very close competition for the rest of the podium, with three teams in the space of about 20 seconds.
Steve
Evening
TTs
7th July – 5
miles
A
windy, cloudy and cold night saw the second instalment of our 5 miles
evening time
trials. Andy set
his PB as the best time on the night, in front of Stephen and Jim I. In
spite of the weather, the shorter distance brought out again a number of
young faces and fresh legs. Andrew took full advantage of his brand
new racer to break the under-12 course record, now set to 17:44. He preceded
the full Hardwicke clan, in strict order of arrival Jack, Sharon and Jenny.
Jack was just 1 second slower than his previous attempt, Sharon was a staggering
1'20”faster than last time, and Jenny at her first ever attempt on the
distance was just 7” behind. Jenny also managed a good Lance Armstrong
impersonation, jumping off road to avoid cycling traffic at the finish.
Careful Jack, mum and sister are closing up fast.
Lawrence
had a very unlucky night: his bicycle chain kept falling off. Lawrence
though was not going to give up that easy: he managed to fix the bicycle
twice and finished
the race with a spectacular sprint with Jenny.
14th July – 10
mile TT
A
humid and breezy summer evening saw Big Matt capitalizing on his recent
good shape
by setting his best
time on course for this series (so far) with 23:35. Behind him visitor
Julia Shaw, back to racing after some back problems, was only 3 seconds
shy of the women’s course record that she holds. She relegated Andy to
an honourable third place.
To note that Marshal and Ron
both took full advantage of recently installed tri-bars to register their
best time on course ever.
On the night, best times of
the series for:
4th August–5
miles
The dark clouds looked threatening,
but the rain hold long enough to allow the race and it ended up being a
very fast night. All the riders improved their previous best time on the
course, apart from Steve who half way through had to stop and restart to
avoid traffic. Big Matt won and was the first man around the course in
less than 11min, preceding Pete and Bev on the tandem (mixed tandem course
record). The podium for the solo race was completed by Adrian and Jim I.
The
junior competition was as close and exciting as always. At the finish
Matt (little Matt)
emerged
as the fastest, clocking a good 15:27, just in front of brother Andy and
Lewis. Andrew improved the Plomesgate under 12 course record for the second
time in so many attempts, while Jack showed that even the previous two
sleepless nights at the boy scouts camping event couldn’t stop his cycling
progress. Jenny was the best improver on the night, an outstanding 1min
15sec faster than her previous best time. Jenny was faster than mum Sharon
as well, opening a whole new chapter in the Hardwicke’s 5 miles saga.
This was the last 5 mile event
for the season. We hope you all enjoyed it; we will try to arrange 5 miles
evening events again next season.
WCRA Track Championships
After suffering
with a persistent cough and cold for the last few weeks Becky travelled
down to the Palmer Park Velodrome at Reading
for the Women’s Cycle Racing Association Track Championships. The purpose
was to check her form with 3 weeks to go before the Junior National Championships.
First event was the Sprint heats, each heat had four riders
and was run over 1 lap of the 460m track. Becky held back letting the other
riders dictate the pace, waiting until they were in the home straight until
she pounced cruising over the line to take first place, and book her place
in the final.
Next event for
Becky was the 500m TT, so it was off with the drop bars and on with the
tri bars. As Becky started her bars came
loose, instead of stopping and asking for a restart she continued, and
managed to push the bars back into position but as she was unable to
pull on the bars she had to rely on her legs. It probably cost her 1 second.
Her
time was 40.87 which gave her 3rd place and a bronze medal.
Next event was the sprint final. The four winners of the
heats lined up ready to do battle over 2 laps. The pace was steady over
the first lap, and eventually one rider took the bait and wound it up down
the back straight. Becky sat back waiting to pounce, which she did as they
came into the home straight. She came up to the lead two really fast but
had probably left it just a fraction too late, missing out by a few centimetres
to take another bronze medal.
Beckys last
race was the 10l ap scratch, where despite being under geared (sack the
mechanic), she finished safely in the bunch in about
10th place.
Trev
Grass TrackResults
Another three grass track meetings attended and no crashes from any riders!
St Andrews grass meeting is held at a primary school annual fayre, where we are part of the attractions. It is a very small track, typically 160- 170m, with not a lot of straight. This year it wasn't brilliantly marked out, making the flick into the corners very difficult at speed. It was a track favouring the sprinters who could ease off a bit into the corners and speed up better coming out. Distance riders, like me, tended to overcook it into the corner, going wide. A few close shaves with the bumps and speed meant the front wheel sliding around a bit (once a couple of feet to the right). I can't say I felt at ease on the track but lasted the meeting. Myself, Andrew, Rob Hobbs (Anglia Sport) and Alan French (interbike RT) with Bev as the family manager made the journey to Hertford. As there was other entertainment around, the commissaire warned Andrew not to go on the bouncy castle
Biggleswade grass meeting is a good fast track, which made a change from having to gear down for St Andrews (74") and go up to 78". This year Andrew got the different coloured number to everyone else (I had it the year before - come back year after crash), he had it for a broken leg! It was a full family meeting, as Sarra had come over for the day from Twyford, plus we had brought Rob Hobbs as well. The day started out overcast and chilly, needing a good vest underneath skinsuits, but by mid afternoon the sun was very bright and the day hot. With Vicky Pendleton riding and the distances not too long, Sarra was not anticipating beating a world champion, though she gave it a good go in each event, getting 2nd each time. I mixed it in well in the senior events, with 12th in the 8km and better in the Devil - this was a large field of riders, with a lot of pushing and shoving going on. Fenland had used plastic flags as marker pegs, which turned out to be rather brittle as I clipped a few of them on a couple of corners, only to hear a few shouts from behind about broken plastic flying around. Good but tiring day.
West Suffolk Wheelers, meeting number 1, was bright and hot from the beginning, so we were glad we had put a gazebo up for shelter from the sun. The track was a little slower than the day before, so eased the gearing down a little (77.4"). After about an hour of wear, the track had bedded in nicely, with good quick corners. It was run in typical WSW fashion, with category mixes without knowing the real ability of the riders. It wasn't too bad, except for the Devil when they decided to mix it up a bit from the original programme and do a 2/3/4/J/W/U16 race, which meant a lot of riders. They gave the U16 a good half lap start, which by the time we had all clipped in was nearer 3/4 lap, so a frantic chase was on to catch the U16s, but also not to be off the back of the senior bunch. I decided to pull the pack along, catching the final U16 after about 10 laps. I eventually got 5th. In the 5km race I was 7th. After 8 bottles of fluid it was the end of a hard days racing.
Next events for us are Southborough & Dist CC, Kent; the regional champs at Hertford and then our own event. We decided not to ride at the Heckington show this year.
Pete
Calendar
Dates
13th August, Plomesgate grass track meeting.
14th August, Dunwich forest cycle treasure hunt.
28th August, Plomesgate road race champs, Eastway.
3rd September, Family fun day, Brundish.
4th September, Ride for Life, Rendlesham.
18th September, club run Framlingham.
Tuesday
evenings – MTB
ride usually Tunstall or Rendlesham forests through the summer starting
at 7:30 contact Mark or Viv for details.
Friday– Foxhall
Stadium, from 7pm.
The CC Breckland open event
on B10/3 on 29th August has a new organizer:
Tony & Vicky Reynolds
33 Heath Cresent
Hellesdon
NORWICH
NR6 6SF
Committee
Meetings
The next meeting of the committee
is on Thursday 15th September, but the venue hasn’t yet been
agreed. Any club member is welcome to attend (if they can work out
where it is!)
Lance Armstrong -Tour De Force by Dan Coyle
If you are a Lance fan then you will enjoy this book. In fact even if you are not a Lance fan you will probably also take something from this book. The author managed to get into the US Postal camp throughout the 2004 season, so you get to see Lance, warts and all. We see his relationships, the way he ticks, and his obsessive training regimes. It examines his relationship with his trainer the tainted but talented Michele Ferrari. We get an insight into the psyche of Tyler Hamilton and the wacky ex Mountain Biker Floyd Landis.
The only downside is it’s written by an American non cyclist for an American non cyclist audience so there are annoying analogies to baseball and American Football but that aside, it ranks as one of the best cycling books I have read for a while.
The End to End Story, 100 years of cycling records - John Taylor
I am still reading this but I felt I had to give it a plug as its written by my uncle, and father of Lynne Taylor double End to End record holder. Its probably fair to say that John has been researching this book since he was a teenager. It started out as a book of memoirs but on realising that the End to End has played such an important part in his life he decided to concentrate on recording the heroic feats of men and women from 1891 who have attempted, and both succeeded and failed, to achieve that mystical goal of being the fastest to cycle from Lands End to John O Groats. Each chapter charts the story of each successful attempt with the facts but also interesting anecdotes, and quite often accounts by the riders themselves which gives it that human element. There is also a section on the glorious failures of which there have been quite a few, the author included.
Trev
Dunwich Forest Cycle Treasure Hunt to raise money for The World Land Trust, which is a local conservation charity which works with local NGOs in various countries around the world to buy land and conserve its biodiversity. I was wondering if the members of the Plomesgate Cycling Club might be interested in this event - it is being held in Walberswick on the 14th August between 10am to 2pm. I have attached an explanation of my event and its aims. I know there are quite a large number of keen cyclists in this area so I decided to make a Treasure Hunt event with a difference, it should be a lot of fun and the course is around 15 miles so it is a good keeping fit exercise as well! If there is anything else you would like to know please email me or phone on 0845 054 4422. I can also send through some leaflets on the event which you could distribute to your members if you wish.
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
