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Plomesgate Cycling Club
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Newsletter
- February 2007
February Club run?
February 4th,
CTC Reliability Trial, starting from Bredfield village hall for choice
of 50km or 100km routes, which I think have start times of 9, 9:30, 10
and 10:30. Further details from Judith Gunion 01473 741992
or alternatively, February
18th to start from Woodbridge, Turban Centre at 9:45
to go to Stonham Barns to join CTC for 11's, then Saxted Green for lunch
... let me know if you want to do this ride, otherwise I'll be going
direct to Stonham Barns and not collecting anyone from the Turban Centre.
Pete W
Can I have note about it if
you go. Matt
January Club run
I think the January club run met in Woodbridge at
the Turban Centre at 10am to ride to Campsea Ashe to join the CTC for 11's,
then continue with them to lunch at Framlingham. If anyone can corroborate
this then please let me know for next month.
Internet Buying
It must have started soon after I got
into Time Trialling again last year firstly subconsciously, but over time
the temptation surfaced and then by August last year it had become a decision.
Next
season I would try and compensate for old age with a new bike, as my “old” one is still from the glory days
where 26” front wheels were cutting edge and Reynolds 853 made a beautiful
frame. Luckily I realised, before anybody else had to point this out to
me, it would take a leap in bike performance to compensate for this old
age issue. It would have to be a very fine bike for sure.
It took 6 months to get the new bike
on the road.
“Stressful” (so
in fact enjoyable) 6 months to sort out my ideas, studying aerodynamic
positions, considering
frames, drafting a specification list for parts, addressing incompatibilities
and quite a few things more.
The Internet has proved to be a magnificent
tool providing almost unlimited information.
The only price you pay is your investment
in time. Impressed by what the Internet had to offer so far I decided to
find out its potential when it comes to buying and my experiences are such
that they have to be shared in this Newsletter.
First of all without the Internet
I might not have got hold of what I really wanted. “Sorry Sir, yes we know
but we can not deliver unfortunately”
Or: “We have all other sizes, yours is
a difficult one” The Internet gives you access to a global market place.
My frame in the end had to come from
Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. Problems? None whatsoever; replies within 24
hours and delivery time 4 days. They even bother to ask two weeks later
if everything is fine. Perfect. Next to availability the cost is the biggest
hurdle, again the Internet has proven to be invaluable.
The
frame from Arkansas was the cheapest offer by £350. My aero-bars come from Holland with a price tag 25% lower
than in Britain; a tremendous amount on a set of HED’s.
And again (after-) service just great.
The Internet is a great tool for those
who know what to look for. But the global market place is highly unpredictable
as you can expect.
There is NO cheapest country.
There is NO cheapest supplier.
This means you have to spend a lot of
time on researching, but be assured: it pays off, and over time you learn
a lot about the global village, which is fun.
A TT frame, of Canadian origin, placed
in the American Triathlon market might have to be more competitively priced
then in the UK.
And the UK is a bad place to go shopping
for ZIPP, HED or RENN wheels once you realise there is only one guy in
Sheffield. Poor service and firm prices are monopolized.
Southern Germany has a fine Triathlon
scene and you will find out that the prices for the HED wheels will offer
you big savings. Once you found this guy in Holland who runs a one-man
shop (of course you check his integrity) dealing only in HED wheels, aero-bars
and frames and Vittoria tyres you will save yourself a fortune.
Being a tri-athlete he is passionate
about the stuff, and being employed as an Engineer for a living, he can
afford to offer at these prices and with regards to the UK market, you
have to give up on your belief that your supplier is overall reasonably
priced. None of them are. They play games and shift their prices for items,
up to and including complete bikes, all the time.
So you have to be patient, track them
down, and only buy what they offer cheapest. The Internet allows you to
make it your game and to save yourself a lot of money.
If you are interested in the suppliers
I have identified and/or used myself please let me know and we will share
them.
Evert
….
and for Sale.
Used
After
many years of loyal service a really good TT bike will be decommissioned.
The reasons for the decommissioning
are not to be found with the bike, but with its owner who believes that
he can make up for getting older in using more modern “speed weaponry”.
What is probably a disadvantage for a second career for this machine is
the fact that it is a 26” front wheel design.
The
bike gave me years of pleasure and deserves an “Indian summer” instead
of just hanging indefinitely in the garage. Somebody might want to consider
the opportunity to have an entry
into Time Trialling; it even could make an upgrade.
The
frame provided an “aggressive” position
for my height of 1.74 m., but would be ideal for a rider somewhat taller,
offering a more moderate position. The paint job is in white and sparkling
red and overall still looks good.
A
26” ZIPP front wheel (tub) is of course
available but not the rear wheel, the components and accessories for the
bike are available and if required, we might find any spares or extra parts
in my considerable stock that has build up over the years.
Please let me know if you are interested
or if you want to have additional information.
Evert
Bonus online feature -
see Steve Grimwood's view from a local independent bike shop... click
here
Sunday Training Rides
The
Sunday training rides from the Ipswich area are still going. We tend
to meet on the North side of Ipswich (either
at Northgate Sports Centre, or outside Valerio’s house) at 10am for a ride
around the lanes of about 3hrs (about 45 miles).
We
normally head out towards Henley/Coddenham before looping back, as that
tends to give us the prevailing wind on the
way back, but we do vary the route from time to time! The aim of these
rides is to build a base of "endurance" miles as preparation
for next season, so the rides will be at a steady and fairly easy pace.
You should be able to talk comfortably as you ride, if you can't, you need
to slow down a bit.
These
are very ad-hoc rides, and there's no guarantee that anyone will be there
on any particular Sunday, so it’s
probably best to contact Steve or Valerio to find out if there is a ride
on any particular weekend. If the weather is atrocious, the ride is likely
to be scratched, and if there is a clash with a local reliability ride,
we are likely to be at that instead.
Steve
Committee meeting.
The first meeting of the new committee
will be held on Thursday 1st February 2007 at The Horse and Groom, Melton.
Trev
For sale too.
My nephew is selling a very
nice Blue Merlin small Alloy frame MTB with rockshox, 8spd shimano and
new wheels.
Ideal for a small person/child
if you anyone wants one. He wants about £100 for it.
I can bring it up to Woodbridge
so people can view it.
Cheers
Alan French
01394 388760
Club
evening TT’s
The
club events have been decided for 2007 and are as follows, we are planning
to run our normal 10 evening "10"s,
but in addition we will be running a "15" which is one lap of
the new "30" course, and starts and finishes in the same place
as the "10", plus we will be running an evening "25" in
July. To avoid the possibility of too many starters the latter ("25")
will not appear in the East District Handbook. There is also the option
to run some evening "5"s on some of the free Thursdays, so watch
this space.
* - note early start.
Club Subs pay up!
If
you haven’t renewed your
subs yet, please do ASAP, as they were due on Jan 1st. As well
as allowing you to continue receiving the newsletter, you must renew your
membership before racing in the club’s name (BCF and CTT races) this season.The
club subscriptions for 2007 will be, £10 for Over18s, £5 for under
18s, free for under 12s, and 2nd claim members are 50% of the above. Make
cheques payable to Plomesgate Cycle Club and post to Steve Jones at 4 Leicester
Close, IPSWICH. IP2 9EX
MTB in Rendlesham
Any one up for a bit of off
roading. Mark Broughton is resurrecting the Saturday morning rides in Rendlesham
Forest. Meet at the visitor centre car park at 10am or give Mark a call
for more information.
Book Reviews
I
have read 4 cycling books in the past year, all of which I can lend if
required. The most enjoyable was, The
Hour by Michael Hutchinson. I learnt a lot of the history of the event
plus of course his attempt at the record. The only criticism I have is
, he being a lawyer, with I expect a command of English language wish he
would not use the word 'till' as it drives me mad (in the book there
is no mention of cash registers or ploughing.) The 2nd book The Escape
Artist by Matt Seaton, this runs the
former very close, a wonderful story, sad but at the same time uplifting.
Put Me Back On My Bike, the part story
of Tom Simpsom, his life and death on the Ventoux.
The final offering Marco Pantani, a collaboration
of various writers, apart from the photographs a waste of the purchase
price, nothing that was not known already appears in this combined effort.
Ron Shoobridge
Calendar Dates
11th February
2007, MTB Winter
Series 3. see www.thetfordmtbracing.com for details.
Tuesday evenings – MTB
ride from Sizewell T, starting at 7:30 contact Mark or Viv for details,
or to check whether anyone is riding.
Saturday mornings – MTB
ride in Rendlesham Forest starting at 10am. Meet in the car park
Sunday morning - 3
hour (ish) training rides from North Ipswich. Contact Steve and Valerio
for details.
Matt.
At the beginning of January
2007 we sent out a PCC Questionaire 2007 to all our members.
Your
reply to this questionaire will provide us with valuable information.
With your help we should be
able to understand better what the Club has to offer to “its customers”.
Most Questionaires went out
by e-mail, the few remaining ones were sent to you by post,
although I forgot to include
a stamp, I do hope that most Questionaires will come back.
Response to the e-mails so
far has been very promising. Can I kindly request those who have not yet
had an opportunity to reply to do so in the coming period.
Thank you very much.
In the next News Letter we
might be able to give you some interesting insights into our Plomesgate.
The Committee will look carefully
at the compiled information, discuss your comments and proposals and try
to identify your further expectations. Ideally we will be able to put forward
some initiatives and consult you on them in the coming months.
Evert Wijnberg
Our
first event of the year is the Open 10 on 17th March. Viv would like some volunteers to help
on the day, and is looking for people to marshal, help with catering, pushing
off etc. Please contact me either by e-mail on broughton.m@btinternet.com or phone,
01728 452143.
Thanks
Viv
Maratona della Dolomites
Ask
cyclists what they believe is the “ultimate
day out” or “the ultimate challenge” on the bike and you will find that
the answers depend on the country. The Dutch are religious about La Marmotte,
in fact about the last ascent of the ride: the Alpe d’Huez. The Germans
it seems have a preference for the ascents and passes in Austria, probably
because they always felt that Austria is in fact part of Germany, and the
British, they flock to the L’Etape du Tour.
If
you read Cycling Weekly you might think that it is in search of a day
of suffering. What about the Italians
with a wealth of Gran Fondo’s?
They might well tell you that it is the
Maratona.
Length approx. 140 km; an aggregated
4.300 m height difference; 7 passes; including the Passo Giau with a length
of 10 km and a gradient between 10 and 11%; never less.
The
Maratona doesn’t have to pretend
to be the toughest ride for that. Other things are on offer on top of what
is a challenging ride. A ride virtually without a stretch of flat road;
you go up or you go down. Unspoiled mountain scenery of stunning beauty
every single mile. Roads are completely closed for all traffic; 140 km,
no cars, only cyclists. Negotiate your ideal line into and out of these
hairpins. Please do, the road is yours.
(Click
on the picture to see it larger, in a new window)
Italians might have a bad reputation
when it comes to organizing events, but not when it is about cycling and
certainly not when it is the Maratona as the organisation has developed
the event into perfection over a period of 20 years.
Accept
the fact that there are 8000 participants and the fact that the weather
is very unpredictable and you will be very
close to cyclist’s heaven.
28th June
2006 – Insbruck
/ Austria
After a stop-over in Vienna we took off
in a small propeller aircraft and weather conditions allowed for magnificent
views of the Austrian Alps. In its final approach to Insbruck Airport the
plane drops into the valley through a gap in the ridge, the mountain tops
higher on both sides.
The wing tips almost scratching the rock
faces.
What a difference from winter when the
airport is heaving with skiers. On this Sunday afternoon the place is deserted,
32C and baking in the sun.
Collecting our luggage incl. bikes and
picking up our rental car is a relaxed affair and probably half an hour
later, our bike-boxes stowed away in the estate, we are heading for the
Brenner Pass.
It
turns out that our preferred route, the “old Brenner”, is closed for
a running event on this very road and we have to take the motorway.
The
car’s air conditioning is working
at full capacity, it is not difficult to imagine that the long ascent and
extreme temperature will take casualties among the runners. From the Brenner,
the gate into Northern Italy, to the valley of Alta Badia in the Dolomites
takes just over an hour.
Pedraces, our destination, welcomes us
with a thunderstorm that only mountains have to offer,
torrential rains and a splendid and seemingly
endless fire work display.
The
hotel isn’t impressive (doesn’t have
to be for a cycling holiday), but its location will be very convenient
next week as it is situated close to the start of the Maratona in La Villa. After
checking in Mark and I don’t bother and take our bike boxes up into our
room. Unpacking the bikes, checking for damages and getting them ready
for the road keeps us busy for the rest of the afternoon. In preparation
for a week of climbing in the mountains I equipped my battle-proven Pinarello
with some light bike parts, amongst them a Record Compact. But what spilled
out of Mark’s bike box was nothing less then impressive. A mere 6.5 Kg
for the marvel; built around a full carbon frame from Parlee and a pair
of Lightweight wheels.
(Click
on the picture to see it larger, in a new window)
29th June 2006 Pedraces
/ Alta Badia
This
is the perfect start for a week in the Dolomites; a crystal clear blue
sky and already above 20C at breakfast
time. After breakfast we are off as part of a group of about 15 cyclists,
who booked the ride. A rather diverse bunch it seems and everybody is keen
to find out what competitive level is likely to be expected from whom.
Today we will take in 4 passes and cover about 110 km. No flat bits in
the Dolomites up we go the Passo Gardena; with 6 km not too long and never
more then 6 – 7%. It provides a good opportunity to get in touch
with climbing (again).
But
the glorious sunshine and the magnificent scenery provoke a more reckless
approach and the fact that quite a few “want
to know” does the rest. At the top of the Gardena we “know more” (about
the pecking order) and the first damage coming from keeping up appearances
can already be observed. A few will have to pay the price later that day
as they will not recover. Then we head down, this ismy first proper descent
for 2 years. Some long, straight sections mixed with some tight but easy
to judge hair-pins. This feels really good. The climb of the Passo Sella
is not special, but I love the descent into Pozza di Fassa with its fast
ramps down and lots of really technical hair-pins and here we have the
first record of the day: Mark reports a 60 miles/hr top speed!. Pozza is
all summer and just right for a coffee break.
Next month:
1986:Hautes Alpes in southern France
Crisis on the Paso Lavazze
A
domestique’s job
Evert
Wijnberg
