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Plomesgate Cycling Club
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Newsletter
- June 2006
May Club run
What a Washout!!
The May Club Run was rather a wash out - it had been raining all week and the forecast for Sunday was terrible. I think most people had seen the forecast and decided that discretion was the better part of valour or had been out on two wheels or the water the previous day and didn't fancy getting drenched again!
Having set the morning aside and with Helen & the family off elsewhere I decided to do the ride anyway and see how far I could get before the weather closed in. As it was the rain held off until about 12:00 so I managed 25 miles or so - rather short of the planned 36 or so, but not bad considering the conditions. The route can be seen in the map attached below...
(Click on picture to see it larger, including profile in a new window)
Full details of the route and others in the area can be seen at http://www.plomesgate.co.uk/Bergholt_Rides/may06.html
The first leg used a good track round Iron Latch Wood, past the local bomb-holes to get over to Stanway where I picked up Grymes Dyke which is an ancient track around the ditches of the pre-Roman fortifications of Colchester. This took me over to the Gosbecks region of town where the pre-Roman town was and I rode out across the Archaeological Park (shown as 'Chestnut Field on the maps) - there's not many places where you can ride over the outline in the grass of the remains of a Roman Temple and Amphitheatre. On to the aptly named Roman River woods and on to Copdock by a further track. Then I took the delightfully titled 'Turkey Cock Lane' and on to Aldham Fordstreet. The rain was just starting to get its act together at this point, but was still a pale shadow of how it would be ultimately. I headed up to Wakes Colne and then it really started tipping it down, so I begrudgingly admitted defeat and headed for home via Fordham. I was impressed by the ingenuity of a peacock that squawked at me in the midst of the rain - but it was standing in a barn with its tail fully out, safe and dry under cover looking out through the double doors.
By the time I got home and consumed some of the rock cakes I'd made that morning I was soaking wet, but rather perversely happy. Cycling in bad weather can do that - once you're really wet you can't get wetter and you start to enjoy it.
Oh well - perhaps another time I'll be luckier with the date of the Club Run.
Jon Smith
June Club run
We’ll be supporting the RSPB sponsored bike ride on 18th June. Meet at Minsmere / Eels Foot at Eastbridge for a 10am start. See http://www.rspb.org.uk/england/eastanglia/events/suffolk.asp?id=tcm:5-105568 for more details.
July Club run
Reserve Sunday 9th July, 10:00am Framlingham, Elms Car Park for the "Trev's back on his bike" ride.
June Open ‘10’
The Open ‘10’ and GHS ‘10’ is on Saturday 17th June, with Sudbourne Village Hall as the race head quarters, starting at 2pm. Any offers of help would be gratefully received – please contact Viv on 01728 452143 or Broughton.m@btinternet.com.
May Open ‘25’
A late rush of entries brought the total 55 solos and one tandem. On the day of the event the roads were roadwork free but the weather looked a bit dodgy with heavy showers forecast. We were just about to leave the house when the phone rang. It was a very groggy sounding Trevor to say sorry he wouldn’t be able to help push or do the finish spotting. He was waiting for a lift to hospital. He had fallen off his bike and thought he might have broken his collarbone (yes, he was right). Look on the bright side Trevor, you could have been standing out in a thunderstorm all afternoon!
We had a quick change of plan and Marshal was landed with the job of doing all the pushing and I had to desert Annelie in the kitchen and go and be finish spotter.
The event started dry but was hit by a torrential thunderstorm 30 minutes in to the event, with only 36 posting a finishing time. Amongst the puncture victims, due to flints washed on to the road during the storm, was scratch man Glenn Taylor (API-Metrow) who didn't make the first lap and Adrian Pettitt (Stowmarket & District CC) whose lap time had showed him in for a chance of a top 10 placing.
The top three men were Martin Pyne (Anglia Velo) 58:34, Steve Grimwood (Ipswich BC) 58:35 and Dave Staff (Anglia Velo) 58:41. The leading woman was Avril Swan (Wheels in Wheels), Nathan Coleman (West Suffolk Wheelers) took the Juvenile prize. Ian & Jayne Clarke (Fenland Clarion) rode the winning tandem. Ipswich BC took the team prize.
Of the Plomesgate riders who finished, Evert Wynberg took top honours with 1:04:05, Adrian McTigue 1:04:47, Jim Hardwicke 01:06:51, Stephen Beaumont 01:08:36, Jim Ingram 01:09:55 and Valerio Malenchino 01:10:42
Of the 7 DNS’s (Did Not Start) the top contenders for the best excuse were as follows:
* I intended to ride but went to Tunstall in Norfolk by mistake.
* I live near he M25 and didn’t get much sleep, then overslept and missed the only train which would get me to the event on time.
Many thanks go to all the brave souls who marshaled the event. I’m sorry that rain was too heavy for the umbrellas. Special thanks go to Annelie for doing all the refreshments. The Dutch apple cake has had much praise.
Thanks to all who helped. We couldn’t run the events without you.
Bev Whelan
Results
7th May, Wisbech Wheelers Open 25
Sunday 7th of May, what a morning, rain was tipping down, I was still ‘recovering’ from Giving Blood a couple of days before, Pippa was away at the Badminton Horse Trials for 5 days and I was in charge of a horse, a pony, a dog, a cat and nominally my 2 daughters Jess and Georgie aged 8 and 6 respectively, luckily they took pity on me being a poor man and made sure everything went smoothly! Anyway I had convinced my parents to come over for dinner and stay the night to allow me to get up at 0530 to get the horses done before driving up to Wisbech for my second ever 25 mile TT, the last one was 2 years ago and I had ridden a 61min 41 secs.
A large field for the event on the A47 between Kings Lynn and Wisbech was a little reduced as some had taken a look at the weather and decided it wasn’t for them but needing to know if I had done any damage riding the previous Thursdays evening 10 after giving blood I took the start hoping for good news. I set off steady into the headwind and wound up to a comfortable pace and was pleased that the pain and aching from the previous Thursday weren’t there and settled into a nice rhythm holding a steady 25mph-ish by the turn I had caught and passed a few riders and not been passed so happily settled into the 6 mile return with the wind behind, whizzing along at up to 30mph. I was starting to enjoy the ride now as my fears subsided on my form and even the wind and rain couldn’t dampen my spirits as I picked off the odd rider. At the turn back into the wind I still hadn’t been caught by the flying Paul Ashby who started 3 minutes behind me so dug in and pushed hard for the 6 miles back to the far end of the course as I made the turn off the roundabout I spotted Paul about 30 seconds behind and used the wind and my strength to put in a big effort and held him off for a couple of miles before he finally passed me on a drag up an incline. I decided to hold my form and ride at my pace as even though I was feeling strong I didn’t want to blow now.
As I approached the roundabout where we had started I got balked by a lorry before realising I had no idea where the finish was so had to slow down to ask the marshall where to go (rookie error there, note for any novices always know where you are going to finish) I then accelerated down the road back to Tilney St Lawrence and found the finish line after about half a mile. Checked my watch and was chuffed to see a mid 57 showing on the clock.
Back at the HQ after drying off and changing I found I had finished 6th with a 57 min 41 sec and was pretty chuffed with that after the awful week I had had.
1st P Ashby in 53:54, 4th M Pyne in 57:18, 6th Matt Donaldson in 57:41.
21st May 2006, RTTC National 10 Champs
My season’s goal finally arrived after months of waiting and to be honest I felt a bit flat, with hindsight I had set my goal to qualify for the National Champs but had achieved that 3 weeks ago when I knew I was in and riding at no 33 of the 160 entrants. The field is set in reverse order of qualifying time, No 1 being the slowest qualifier and No 160 being Michael Hutchinson. I was impressed with the glossy handbook you get as a start sheet, very posh. I decided that to I need to set myself a target so decided I wanted to finish higher than my seeding so I had to beat more than 33 riders, not knowing most of the riders meant I didn’t know how easy or difficult this would be, it all depends on peoples PB’s if they set them on a 10 mile road down a cliff then it would be easy but if they set them on a 10 mile climb up Ben Nevis then I might struggle.
Anyway in preparation I had a great massage from Julie Grooms the day before and she also said she would like to come up to watch as it was only being held on the A1307 at Linton, which is the road between Cambridge and Haverhill for those that know it, on the Haverhill side of the A11. So Julie travelled up with me and brought her massage table and magic fingers for after the race. As is my luck at the moment the weather was a typical British summer’s day, windy and very wet! We drove the course and I was amazed how lumpy it was, it made our 10 course look pan flat! Not my forte but it was the same for everyone.
At the HQ I collected my numbers and we saw Julia Shaw get her medal for finishing second in the ladies event behind Wendy Houvenaghel who has been part of the English Commonwealth Games squad on the track and for the TT.
I then set about getting changed and warming up on my turbo trying to shelter from the rain under the hatch back on my car. Conditions gradually deteriorated as the afternoon progressed and by the time I was off it was bucketing down, visibility was down to about 20m and less if your glasses steam up! The wind had picked up to gust at 25mph as a cross/head wind on the way out and a pure cross wind on the way back, nice with a deep section front and disc rear wheel.
The nerves disappeared as I took the start and the adrenaline kicked in as I was counted down and accelerate away up the hill, I was still out the saddle and climbing as I came out the slip road onto the A1307 and finally levelled off and descended for a few seconds before starting a long drag up another hill, I glanced at my watch when I reached the top of this drag and I had been going for almost 7 minutes and climbing for most of it, I banged the bike into top gear and enjoyed the effects of gravity as I wound up to 40 mph on the next descent before the inevitable climb started and settled in to grind my way to the top, the final mile and a half to the turn was fairly flat and very welcome, I wobbled round the small, wet and slippery roundabout after 12 min 50sec and started my return, I felt looser now and really settled into the ride, there seemed more down hills on the return and I enjoyed the ride, I couldn’t see much through the rain but what traffic there was gave me a wide berth and the only slight moment I had was when crossing from a new tarmac patch back on to the old surface at 40 mph when I felt both wheels drift with the side gust as I aqua-planed but far from tensing up it just made me giggle and hammer the pedals harder. I had reached the last drag up before the down hill finish and it seemed to go on for ever, my legs burnt, my breath rasping in my throat and every sinew strained to get over the top before hammering the pedals round in 54 x 11 down the hill to finish, I was spinning so fast I could barely keep up with myself and hit over 40mph as I whizzed past Julie and the finish line to finish in a mid 23. I then recovered my jacket from the start and rode back to HQ and my dry clothes.
After drying off and putting some warm clothes on I got a post race massage from Julie who worked her magic and really helped my muscles recover. She really knows her stuff and has amazed me with how much her massage techniques help before and after races. We then checked the results and I saw I had ridden a 23min 31 sec to finish 84th out of the 133 starters so beating 49 riders and achieving my goal. I can’t say I was pleased with my ride as I felt I could and should have gone better but had learnt some lessons on goal setting, not letting myself recover enough between hard training sessions, giving blood during the competition phase of the year and how annoying it is to work hard for 5 months and then put your back out 3 days before the event. But I must say I am very proud to have represented the club in a National Championship and will definitely do it again next year but will not focus quite so much on the one event and intend to try to qualify for the 10, 25, 50 and 100 for next year if al all possible.
1st Michael Hutchinson in 20:09, 2nd Paul Mahoney in 20:10, 76th M Pyne in 23:13, 84th Matt Donaldson in 23:31.
28th May Godric CC 50
Inc. EDCA 50 mile TT Championship, and Matt’s first ‘50’.
I’d completed two 25’s so I’d already done a 50 anyway! The weather turned out ok, it was dry, cool and overcast, and the gusting 15 mph westerly was a bit of a pain though.
I was incredibly lucky to be off at no.119 which meant my start time was 07:59 and I got a lay in, as did Pete Whelan who was 2 minutes in front of me. I set off at a nice pace riding 10 beats lower than my ‘10’ heart rate and had decided that my strategy was to ride at this for the entire race and just pick it up if I could at the end. The course was on the A143 between Harleston and Bungay from the Needham roundabout at Harleston all the way east past Bungay to the Stockton roundabout. Those of you have ridden the 10’s or 25’s on this road know it undulates but is a fairly quick road.
The first 13 miles were ok, I settled into the ride and was passed by top seed Paul Ashby after about 10 minutes, rather than trying to speed up to follow his pace (at an allowed distance of course) I chose to stick with my plan and go steady, I could see Pete in the distance half way down the leg and slowly got closer as we neared the turn, I’m glad I held back as when I made the turn and went to accelerate off the roundabout back west the full force of the wind hit me and it felt like hitting a wall!, queue sticking my head down and riding tempo while gritting my teeth for the next 13 miles, I was picking off a few riders as I went and managed to eat an energy bar after about 20 miles as I could feel my reserves getting lower. The turn back at the start was welcome and felt like I had released my brakes. I swallowed one of the energy gel sachets I had tucked up my shorts leg and I enjoyed the leg back east, I was still in my target heart rate zone and hadn’t looked at my speed or average speed and intended to keep it that was so as not to put pressure on myself or be disappointed as the case may have been. I was still picking people off and feeling comfortable but not looking forward to the final 11 miles to the finish into the wind. As usual on the course the wind certainly didn’t give as much as it took from you on either leg but as I hit the head wind I dug in and settled into a rhythm I swallowed the other energy gel I had and worked hard against the wind and as I crested the rise that is in the middle of the 10 course I upped my effort and took my heart rate up by 5 bpm before finally accelerating again as I passed the finish of the 10 course near the turn to Wortwell for the final mile or so, legs and lungs were burning as I passed Bev again who was still cheering the riders on, thanks Bev the support was greatly appreciated. I crossed the line and my HR monitor showed 2:05:38, my target was to go under 2:10 so I was really chuffed and also really happy that my pacing and feeding strategy had got me through so well. In hind site I think I could have gone a little harder but have the experience of my first ride at the distance to draw on next time, yes there will be a few next times as I enjoyed it in a masochistic kind of way. I do have to say that 50 miles is a very long way on a bike though! I’m doing a 100 next month!!!!! I also want to say well done to Pete, I have huge admiration for him, his frozen shoulder has been playing up in 10’s, so to complete a 50 is incredible and I know it hurt as I saw him shake out his arm on quite a few occasions during the race. The best thing is though I am riding a couple of 10’s next and they are going to be like a short sprint after this.
Matt
31st May Breckland 10
Ron S did this event, which was for the 60 slowest riders so no problem in getting an entry, his first ride of the season and not a bad night apart from the cold. It was won by Clive Ling in 22.21. Ron did 28.54.
Evening 10s
24th April
The 2006 series opened on a sunny but still quite fresh evening. Everybody seemed to enjoy the ride, but we do need some warmer weather here.
As far as results are concerned, there were no surprises at the top, with Matt starting where he left last year. It’s worth noticing that his time on the night was just one second slower than his best time in the whole series last year. We all have great expectations now …
Visitor James Morris put on quite a performance, on his hack bike and with tyre pressure problems, still just managed to beat Richard for the second place.
Another good early performer was Marshall, recording his course PB at the first try. Marshall was also the only veteran plus time of the evening.
Trevor took pictures at the start. Keep an eye on the website, they’ll be there soon.
4th May
Spring finally arrived to Suffolk, bringing with it a good turnout and an exciting competition.
In a pleasant and sunny evening visitor Steve Grinwood showed us how it should be done: 22:39 is one of the best evening times in recent years, (the course record is 21:51). It took him some time to recover from the effort, but the result was quite impressive. While Big Matt was relegated to an unusual second position, the battle for third was a close call, with 3 riders in about 15 seconds, but Richard clinched it just in front of Evert.
From the rest of the field Marshall deserves a mention for improving his PB on course for the second week in a row. Ron P. recorded a good + in the vet standard: he did the same last week, but a technical glitch in the software that builds the result table denied him a well deserved mention. Unfortunately for him and the rest of the Plomesgate vets, Evert +3:27 looks a tough act to follow.
James had his first time trial after about 13 years from his last competition, and with his time of 28:01 gets a handicap of 6:01 for the rest of the series. Evert’s comeback to England gets him a new handicap time as well, now set to 3:25.
24th May
Gale force winds made this the slowest event of the series so far. The hardest stretch was from the Tunstall corner to the Bentwaters roundabout, where the wind was almost perfectly against the riders.
The victory went to triathlete Mark Ramsey, at his first time trial in about 3 years. Pete’s first event of the series gained him second place and a good + veteran time. Jim H. was third, achieving his first ever podium in the evening 10 series.
At his second attempt at the evening events, James R. was the only one to register his best time on course, improving by about 20 seconds in spite of the strong wind.
The tough night was alleviated by free post event massages. Julie Grooms, who has nearly finished her sports massage course, spent some time fixing aching legs after the race, and there was no lack of customers.
For results go to the Results section of the website
10 training
Starting this Thursday we will be meeting at the start point (fire track 30) by 7pm with road bikes, and will head out round the 10 course as a group riding through and off like a team time trial, the pace will be governed by who ever is on the front and less strong riders need not take a long pull. If the pace becomes too high then riders can drop out of the pace line and get picked up on the way back from the turn and we usually finish with a bunch sprint for those that want to. We will then ride a recovery lap of the 10 course at a pace all are comfortable and can chat at, no one gets dropped on the recovery lap.
Please fell free to come along and join in or pass this on to anyone you feel might like to join in.
Matt
Crash!
(Click on picture to see it larger in a new window)
Trev’s wheel didn’t look too good after his close encounter with stationary street furniture, resulting in a broken collar bone. One way of proving that those brakes weren’t very good in the wet!!
Hope you’re recovering quickly, Trev.
MTB Weekend
A reminder about the MTB weekend in the Peak District on 1-2nd July, based at Hope near Mam Tor and Edale. There is excellent biking around there, with a nice mix of tracks, technical singletrack and hills. We’ve checked out a suitable campsite which costs between £12.25 and £13.25 per tent for small tents, with no mega tents allowed. The ride on Saturday will start about 11 from Hope, so you can either plan to drive up on Friday night or Saturday morning, or there is a station at Hope if you want to take the train. The Cat & Fiddle is nearby, if any of the roadies want to join in, and there are plenty of options for non-bikers. Please send your deposits to Mark or Viv by 12th June at £5 per night for the camping.
Calendar Dates
17th June, Plomesgate Open ‘10’
18th June, club run with RSPB ride
9th July, club run from Framlingham.
Tuesday evenings – MTB ride from Snape cross roads, starting at 7:30 contact Mark or Viv for details.
Tuesday evenings – grass track training, contact Pete Whelan for details.
Committee News
The next committee meeting will be at the Butley Oyster after the evening ‘10’ on Thursday 1st June. All club members are 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
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Contact Matt on 01394 411589 or e-mail on matt.donaldson@edfenergy.com