Plomesgate Cycling Club
Newsletter - July 2005

June Club Run

Mark, Viv and Hilary supported the RSPB Suffolk Coast bike ride for the club run on 19th June.  It was a warm day with not much wind, so excellent for cycling.  With only brief stops at Aldeburgh and Orford to stamp our cards, we were soon back at Minsmere enjoying our tea and cake.

July Club run

July’s ride will be on Sunday 17th, starting at 10am from Elms car park in Framlingham.  Becky may manage the ride to the car park (about her distance) providing she doesn’t have a hangover this time.

Plomesgate Open 10

Steve organized the ‘10’ on 18th June, which included the GHS district championship.  All of the GHS riders qualified for the national final.  Viv and Bev made a clean sweep of the women’s prizes.  Thanks were extended to everyone who helped on the day, and to Steve for running the race.

Road Race Champs

This year’s Plomesgate road race championship is on Sunday 28th August at 11:30 at Eastway as part of the all categories Ciclos Unos Summer Series race, all are welcome to take part or spectate.

Big Matt

Twin Peaks

Click here to read Matt’s report of his twin peaks ride which contains plenty of good photos from the ride.

Mountain Mayhem

It didn’t start well, with the news a week beforehand that Jon S had fallen off his shiny new Giant MTB with major consequences.  Jon was riding with his brother, crashed descending a rutted lane, and broke his collar bone, cracked 6 ribs, and shattered his shoulder so badly that it couldn’t be pinned.  Best wishes, Jon, for a speedy recovery.

After a few frantic phone calls, Tony was roped in as the fifth person on the team.  The event is a 24 hour MTB relay race, starting at 2 on the Saturday afternoon.  Tony arranged to arrive on the Saturday morning, and planned to do all of his laps before returning home for Sunday lunch.

The other team members, Mark, Viv, Trev and John C, set up camp on the Friday, and recce’d the rather muddy course with some trepidation.  Remember Glastonbury?  This was the same weekend, and Eastnor Castle Park had its fair share of showers on Friday.

The event has a Le Mans start, with a run of about 1km before the riders jump onto their bikes.  Mark got a good position on the start line and headed off riding in the front third of the field.  The event attracts a wide range of competitors, from elite teams to those just there for the fun.  The last person over the start line was drinking a bottle of beer!

Each rider has to complete 2 laps for the team, except in the case of injury.  Mark finished his first lap running, collecting pinch punctures in both wheels about 2 miles from the finish.  Next off was Tony, who didn’t enjoy the muddy conditions.  Tony had a nasty fall towards the end of the lap, landing head first in the shrubbery.

The course was drying out rapidly, and first John, then Trev, reported it was much better than last year.  Viv was keen to get through the single track before darkness fell, and had the surreal experience of descending back to the campsite with fireworks exploding over head.

Mark was keen to put in a fast lap after his problems on lap 1, and radioed back for change over in record time (for our team).  Unfortunately disaster struck crossing the campsite 200m from the finish, resulting in a major crash over the handlebars.  A nearby camper was on the scene in seconds, pushing Mark’s bike to the finish when he realized that neither arm was up to the job.  Tony took over the racing, and Viv wheeled Mark to first aid and a diagnosis of dislocated right elbow, which required a four hour trip to casualty to reinstate.  With Mark settled to sleep off the after effects of laughing gas, Viv set off on another lap, taking it very carefully on the single track.

Conditions kept improving as the course dried out, and Trev, John and Viv cycled on to the finish, and a deserved beer for Trev after he crossed the line.  A total of 13 laps this year (one down on last year), and lots of ‘if only’s’.  We’ll be back next year!!

Evening 10s

16th June

A warm, humid and breezy night saw Big Matt as the only rider under 24 minutes. Andy and Adrian are closing up, though, continuing an apparently endless string of best personal times on course.  Their improvements are heating up the handicap competition: this week Andy snatches the top handicap spot from Adrian, but by a mere second.  Half way through the tournament, this competition is far too close to call.

 Viv takes a few seconds off her best seasonal time to reinforce her lead in the ladies’ competition, while in the vets Pete (not riding on the night) maintains what looks like an unassailable lead.

Matt is almost out of sight in the points competition, but with only the best 6 results counting, there is still a slim chance that he can be caught.

This one was a quite eventful night: Paul got a puncture and had to walk back to the start, Steve J. broke the tri-bars immediately after the start and had to time-trial on the drops, and visitor Tonya maintained the long lasting tradition of having at least one rider per season taking the wrong turn at the Bentwaters roundabout and ending up puzzled in the housing estate.

30th June

Rain earlier in the day meant that the course was damp, but the showers held off while we raced. And although most riders said how “heavy” and slow it felt, most people’s times were on at least a par with a fortnight ago.

One rider who didn’t go faster was Andy, so his run of improving by about a minute each ride has finally come to an end. An exact repeat of his time from a fortnight ago was enough (just) to see off Pete for a maiden victory, so he wasn’t too unhappy. These two were over a minute ahead of the battle for the last place on the podium, which went to Stephen B, as he equalled his best ever evening time. Close behind, Marshall made good use of his new tri-bars to set a new pb, dipping under 27 minutes for the first time.

Roger decided his holiday in Aldeburgh was too relaxing, so came out to play, recording a creditable time for his first attempt on the course.

Now that we’re over halfway through the series, the races for the club competitions are starting to take shape. Pete is still clear leader for the Vets, with Ron in second place needing to find over two minutes to mount a serious challenge. Viv, having an evening off after her exertions in the Mountain Mayhem at the weekend, leads the Women, while positions in the handicap are unchanged from last time – Andy still ahead of Adrian by just one second. As far as the points competition goes, Matt is still favourite, but isn’t in the lead yet, due to the arcane scoring system.

1.
 Steve J
29 pts
6 events
2.
Andy B
37.75pts
5 events
3.
 Matt D 
45 pts
4 events

I expect that the standings in this competition will change dramatically over the next couple of events!

Plomesgate Grass Track

Pete W is organising this on 13th August.  Any entries or offers to help on the day would be appreciated.  Pete can be contacted on 01394 385281. For more details/poster, click here!

Results

National Masters’ Track Meeting

Well that was an "interesting" weekend. Travelled across to Welwyn on Saturday morning, kept hanging around for ages due to rain and eventually got on track for 750mTT. Had a nightmare of a ride and came last! Went home like a bear with a sore head. Sunday, Pursuit and Scratch, had real trouble motivating myself to get out of bed, but eventually dragged myself over to Welwyn. Got drawn against the Midlands’ answer to Magnus Backstedt - big Nick Yarworth, top seed, in pursuit qualifiers. I wondered if the officials thought they would have a laugh and put the biggest guy against the smallest.

Set myself a target of 4:20 for the 3Km and just got on with my own race. Big Nick caught me with about 500m to go, did 4:17 for eventual 5th place so was pleased. Nick won it fairly easily with 3:53 and repeated that to take the gold in the final.

Then we got delayed again by rain. The afternoon scratch races were meant to start at 2:30, by 5:30 we still hadn't started and I was all for going home, but decided to stay. To speed things up they combined some age groups, so my D group was with the E group, only trouble was that apart from the main protagonists, you didn't know who was a D or an E. Eventually we got under way. Nick Yarworth and Mark Francis made multiple attempts to get away but to no avail. I was doing a good impression of an elastic band, and at one point a small group of us had lost contact completely with the lead group by the length of a straight. I noticed that they were slowing down so went for it and got back on. The next 10 laps or so I was praying the pace wouldn't go up and I hung on...just. The pace shot up with about 2 laps to go and then I lost contact again, coming in about 50m behind the leaders. I think I was in the top 5 but not sure, till I see the final result.

Apart from the sitting around waiting, it was a really nice meeting. Lots of old faces from years gone by and lots of time to catch up on old and new gossip, so something I would definitely do again. Just need to find 8 seconds for the pursuit and I will be a medal contender. So 2006 starts next week ! Max was on fire, Phil Hetzel was very strong as well.

Trev

21st June, CC Breckland 10

Matt D broke the club 10 mile TT record held by Trevor since 17/07/97 at 22:03 with a 21:37 on the B10/3 on a Tuesday evening.

28th June, Colchester Rovers 10

Matt had a second sub-22:00 in a week, riding a 21:51 on a tough night on the E7/10.

Family Fun Day

Richard T has offered to host this year’s family fun day.  Reserve 3rd September in your diaries for an event at the Tateson’s house in Brundish.  Full details will be included in the next newsletter.

Calendar Dates

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

Fridays – Foxhall Stadium, from 7pm.

RfL (Ride for Life) Rendlesham

RFL Rendlesham is now in its third year, organised by East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (each) in response to the huge success of our original event in Thetford Forest.

The Ride takes place on 4th September, completely “off-road”, in the tranquil surroundings of Rendlesham Forest. Already we have 30 people keen to Ride or Walk the 11mile (cycling) and 6 mile (walking) route, so not too arduous, with the emphasis on family participation.

Forest Track Cycle Ride

The 11-mile cycle route is way-marked and comprises mainly grass and stone tracks, with sand in places. It is classified as “easy to moderate” and is suitable for anyone with some cycling experience and reasonable fitness.

Forest Trail Walk/Jog

There is a separate 6-mile marked trail for walkers/joggers along similar terrain. Well behaved dogs on leads are welcome too!

A radio-controlled rescue service is on hand to help safeguard those taking part, as well as first aid services in case of mishap. Although participants take part in the event at their own personal risk, insurance cover for third parties is included in the entry fee.

Last year the event attracted around 150 participants and we are expecting to have over 300 participants this time. The event raised £4,000 for each in 2004, our target this year is at least £6,000.

RFL Thetford has been running for 11 years and now attracts some 1,300 cyclists, runners and walkers. It draws considerable support from the local community and huge publicity from regional TV, radio and press.

RFL Rendlesham is growing fast in popularity and having established a thorough framework for the event, we are now seeking further corporate/media support to help us grow this event.

About each

Proceeds from the event will go directly to our work with terminally ill children across East Anglia. We offer a range of services for life-limited children and their families at our three hospices in Ipswich, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, as well as home-based care.

The range of services includes respite care to provide a breathing space for the parents and other family members. Many children’s conditions can deteriorate slowly which can put enormous strain on family life. Healthy brothers and sisters inevitably feel left out as attention focuses on the sick child, and so respite care gives parents the chance to take a break and enjoy normal day-to-day activities with their other children.

This year it will cost over £4.7million to run our hospices, with just 10% of income coming from government or statutory sources. Fundraising and the goodwill of the public are therefore vital, and we have found enormous local support within the local community to help us support our children and families.

Many local people want to “do something” to support our cause, and our Ride for Life events offers an enjoyable day out for all the family, whether they are cyclists, runners or walkers with a variety of routes and distances to suit their taste.

Plomesgate has been asked to provide help with

1. Pre-event route riders, to “troubleshoot” and give informed opinion about opportunities/hazards/places for signs!

2. Helpers on the Day to help put out signs (with bike)

3. Helpers on the Day to help as marshals

4. Helpers on the Day to help oversee smooth running of event (on route)

5. Help with publicising the event through circulation of info, entry forms, posters etc before event

If you would like to help please contact Trevor.

Committee Meetings

The next meeting of the committee is after the club ‘10’ on Thursday 30th June at the Butley Oyster.  Any club member is welcome to attend.

News 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