Plomesgate Cycling Club
Newsletter - March 2005

February Club run

Yes it had been snowing, but the roads were clear(ish) and in the end five of us met up in Saxmundham – Mark H, Tony had cycled out, as had Chris from VC Londres (no, he’s not superhuman, he lives in Alderton!), while Gary and Steve had driven up from Ipswich. Although the car park in Sax was a bit slippery, the snow on the roads was quickly melting where cars had been, resulting in two clear, but very wet, lines in each direction, although crossing the slush to change “lanes” needed a bit of care.

It was Tony’s turn to fall foul of the puncture fairy this time - 2 rear wheel punctures in short succession just after Westleton meant we took a bit of a short cut to get to the Halesworth café, where we indulged in much-appreciated mugs of tea and coffee while helping/ hindering Tony repair his tubes, before heading back to Saxmundham via Walpole and Peasenhall.

While out, we were also “privileged” to witness a number of numpty car drivers, including one taking so much care to give us room as he overtook that he forgot to look ahead – at the oncoming traffic!  Still it made a pleasant change from those who insisted on overtaking us around blind bends, just before the crest of hills, etc.

Steve

March Club run

March’s club run will start from the square in Wickham Market.  It’s best to use the car park behind the hardware shop, signposted to the toilets off the square.  Meet at 10am on Sunday 13th March.

April Club run

Reserve 10th April in your diaries for the April club run, venue to be decided.

Plomesgate ‘10’

Our first open time trial of the year is on Saturday 19th March, and is being organized by Bev Whelan.  Please contact Bev if you are able to offer help on the day. Either e-mail bev.whelan@talk21.com, or telephone 01394 385281.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions were due on 01/01/2005 for the current year.  Please send you subs to Steve Jones, 4 Leicester Close, Ipswich.  For over 18s it is £10, under 18 and over 12s, £5, and under 12s free.  If you are a second claim member half of the above fee is due.  If you haven’t renewed your membership this will be your last newsletter.

Olympic Development Squad

Becky’s test for the Olympic development squad consisted of lab tests on the Friday, where she managed a 951W Max output, and track on the Saturday.  She produced her second fastest ever 200m in 13.3 and her third fastest 500m at 40.1.

This week Becky received her report back from Iain Dyer (National Sprint Coach) following the ODP Selection camp. The report praised her strength and fitness which he has said has shown she has the potential to be a World Class Sprinter.

Of the 14 (7 boys, 7 girls) riders who were tested for the Sprint Programme only 3 have been immediately selected at this stage and at the moment Becky is not one of them.  However, a further 6 have been invited back to the first week long camp from March 28th to April 3rd at Newport, and Becky is in this 6.  They will not be "tested" again, as such, but the camp will include road, track and gym work, and he will expect the riders to work hard and be committed. He is expecting Becky to get stuck in to some more consistent training over the next 4 weeks, as he realises that there has been some recent disruption due to illness and injury.  He will then make a further decision with a view to including Becky on the ODP.

At this stage we do not know the names of the 3 riders (nor the even the sexes) on the ODP nor do we know who the remaining 6 are (apart from Becky) on the short list.

Last night was a difficult one for both of us, as Becky was sorely disappointed to not to be immediately selected, so there was much navel gazing done, and although no punches were thrown I feel today like I have done several rounds!. Having said that things are still looking positive not least that in 4 weeks time she gets another chance, and I get to go through the process all over again....!

Spare a thought for the 5 guys and gals who haven't even made the short list, and despite being excellent bike riders, are probably feeling pretty dejected at only 16 or 17 years of age. They have got to try and pick themselves up and try and prove the selection process wrong.

You read stories about elite sports selection being a cruel pastime but it’s not until you are personally involved that you realise just how cruel it can be.

Trevor

New Members

Welcome to David Carr, who has recently joined the club.  David lives in Rendlesham.

Winter training

These are now winding down to a natural conclusion, with the onset of the racing season, although it’s likely that there’ll still be a ride for a few weeks yet if there’s not a race or club run planned. Don’t forget that these steady rides can also be a useful recovery ride after a hard race on Saturday. The details are unchanged – meet at Northgate Sports Centre, Ipswich at 10am for a 2-3 hour ride.

If you’re not sure whether there’s going to be a ride on a particular date, contact Steve or Valerio.

Handbooks

Trevor has received the CTT National Handbooks for those people that had ordered one. Cost is £5:50 payable to Mr Treasurer (Steve Jones) cheques to Plomesgate CC.

Wait for it … the East District Handbooks are now available at the bargain price of £2:00 each.

Twin Peaks Cancer Research Ride 2005

After successfully completing the Ride for Cancer 2004 in Dorset last year and raising about £400 for Cancer Research UK I have decided to set myself a slightly harder challenge this year.

This summer I am cycling up two of the classic Tour de France mountains in 2 days to raise over £1000 for Cancer Research UK.

Saturday 4th June 2005

Mont Ventoux, The Giant of Provence. 21.1km, climbing 1609m at an average of 7.63%

Sunday 5th June 2005
Alpe d'Huez, the classic Tour de France climb.  13km, climbing 1141m at an average of 8.77%

I have created a secure sponsorship pledge web page via the ‘justgiving.com’ website. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Cancer Research UK will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please sponsor me now!

http://www.justgiving.com/twinpeaks2005

Or drop me an e-mail at matt.donaldson@edfenergy.com and make a pledge.

Many thanks for your support.

Big Matt

Rides & Races

CTC Reliability Trial –Feb 6th

A small group of Plomesgaters did the CTC 100Km reliability trial starting from Bredfield. Tony, Mark H, Trevor and Becky covered about 115Km, mainly due to Trevor taking them off course by about 8Km near Stradbroke. Still it was a nice day, the sun even came out so a few extra miles didn’t hurt.  The group were joined by Chris Gingell (apologies if I have spelled this wrong) from London based VC Londres who rode out form his Suffolk base in Alderton.  About 30Km from the finish the group was strengthened by Julia Shaw, National “50” Champion who seemed happy to sit on the front into the slight head wind.

Trevor

CTC Reliability Trial –Feb 6th (2)

In the days of yore, before the snow and ice, it was possible to ride outside without first getting wrapped up in 25 layers of thermal clothing. And on one of those faintly remembered days, it was the CTC ride from Bredfield.

Valerio and I had arranged to meet Jim Ingram there, all three of us having opted for the shorter ride (about 55 km). Jim was already having all sorts of problems, as two punctures on the way to the start meant that the main group were already out somewhere on the 100km route.

Another couple of punctures for Jim before we reached halfway caused him to call it a day and head home, praying to the puncture fairy that his last inner tube would last.  Valerio and I continued back to Bredfield without further incident, where we met up with the others over tea and cake.

Maybe I should have done a route card for getting to and from Bredfield, as a missed turn on the way home gave us an interesting route back to Ipswich, but we got back eventually!

Steve

Ely Hardriders ‘25’–Feb 13th

Perhaps this event should be retitled Ely 25 (nutters).  The weather forecast for the weekend looked exceedingly gloomy, especially for the Sunday morning, with virtually all the elements, bar lightning, forecast to hit the riders.  As it transpired, there was bright sunshine to complement a low temperature and very high winds – to make a flat course very hard work.  The damp road surface was almost dry by the time riders started.

Two PCC members rode (Bev  & myself), with other local riders being Tom Walker (Wolsey RC) and Phil Hetzel (Ipswich BC).  Quite a few of the 65 riders didn’t face the time keeper, either staying in bed or seeing the conditions and thinking otherwise - just before I started, I think they may have been right.  Warming up on the sheltered roads of Little Downham gave a very false impression of what it was like on the course, not revealing the true nature of the wind., so apart from making sure we had just enough clothing to be warm but not hot, we were prepared to give it a go.

Bev was off #1, but was heading back to the HQ after  about a mile of battling the bike to stay upright.  She didn’t feel safe in the windy conditions, even using the full width of the bars; how such a wind would affect me, with a weak shoulder, was a bit of an unknown, having ridden the recumbent all winter.  20 minutes later and I was off, got past the first few miles without too much of a problem, though tri-bars were not used until the more sheltered sections, and arrived at the Witchford bypass in 16 minutes, then a few minutes later onto the A10 section from Ely to Littleport where the first real battle started with the wind attempting to push you into the traffic, with very few lulls in the few sheltered sections.  Worse was yet to come as a full on head wind was awaiting riders as they turned on to the A1101 for a few miles.  Speed dropped to 15-16mph, and I still passed a lot of riders.  After this, shelter in the form of a high bank from the ‘100 foot drain’ was welcome respite, enabling a bit of a rest and getting back up to a decent speed, so that as a turn was made at Pymore, speeds increased to 40mph and the last few miles to the finish.  I eventually finished in a pleasing 1:09:50 (16th), with a winners time of 59:34.  Conversations heard on the day suggested it was a lot harder than in 2004, by between two to three minutes.

Would I do it again,? – yes, to improve on this year’s time, though not necessarily for the SPOCO points, as riders come from all over the country to ride the event, it can skew the SPOCO points.  Most time trials tend to have far more veterans then senior riders, this event was the exception with a total reverse of numbers, with only a third being veterans.

San Fairy Ann Crits Sat 19/2/05

The excellent and enjoyable day at Newport Velodrome on Sunday 13th of February got my competitive juices flowing so I decided to venture down to Eastway for the San Fairy Ann CC Crits on Saturday 19th of February with my shiny new BC 4th Cat licence. Driving down through the snow flurries and gusting wind the thought occurred to me that maybe a training ride would have been better but in for a penny………

I signed on for the 4th Cat race and also managed to get entry to the 1,2 & 3 Cat race later on, once the 3rd and W race finished I rode onto the course with Roger Bishop from North Roads and we circulated to ‘warm’ up. The temperature was best described as brass monkeys but I was pleasantly surprised to find a slight cross wind on the start finish straight and a gentle push up Oxo but on making the turn at the top the full force of the wind hit us, it felt like hitting a wall, I think Roger described it better when he said it was like riding through soup, must have been Gazpacho as it was bloody freezing! But the back straight was sheltered and again a head wind going up the ramp before the final corner to start the run in to the finish line which was blasted by the cross wind with no shelter form the club house.

Anyway we got under way for the 20 laps and a nice steady 25mph pace ensued, I sat in the bunch to have a look at the other riders for a few laps. The standard was more like an open road race than the usual suspects at Eastway so the pace was higher and standard generally better, I was the minority however as I was the only rider present without any team mates, some clubs like Southborough, Shaftesbury, Brixton and Essex Roads had 5 plus riders each. I gradually moved up into the front 10 riders and took my turns on the front and once warm felt pretty strong and enjoyed the race. There were a few small breaks in the first 10 laps which I generally got involved in bringing back but nothing too strenuous. At half distance the Prime hooter sounded and I decided not to compete for it to save my strength and not show my hand, this was my first mistake, Chris Bartlett of Anglia Sport sprinted for the Prime won it easily and then buggered off down the road before anyone reacted. I tried to organise a chase but no one seemed interested unless it meant hugging my wheel for the next 10 laps, so the next 10 laps involved frequent turns on the front to keep the pace up and this seemed to cause problems as more and more riders were shelled out of the bunch. As is usual at Eastway the final 2 laps saw the pace ramp up and the final selection took place at the front, I chose a wheel and sat in about 8th wheel on the last lap, blocking riders on the back straight trying sneak up the inside ready to react as we crested the ramp. Through the final bend the sprint started and as we headed up the hill to the line I accelerated but found my way blocked by Ian O’Hara of Sydenham CC who was heading backwards quickly, I flicked right, dived up the inside with a few choice words and accelerated again passing 3 or 4 riders but realising too late that I should have been in a gear or too higher to get full benefit of my strength but piping Martin Bryant of Redbridge on the line with my lunge to get 4th earning me £15 and 3 points I am told, for my licence, wish I could say this was the first time I have got 3 points on my licence, but it is the first time I got 3 points and got money back!!!

1 Chris Bartlett Angliasport RT 51.49.3
2 Jonathan Jones VC Deal 52.41.0
3 Geoff Luen San Fairy Ann CC 52.41.4
4 Matt Donaldson Plomesgate CC 52.41.8

A quick number change and back onto the course in time to start the 35 lap 1, 2 and 3 Cat race, the pace was very fast at 30mph on the first lap then settled at a bearable 28 mph in the early laps until a huge pile up near the start finish line when someone clipped a wheel slowed the pace for a few laps. I was feeling tired and was happy to survive in the bunch and gain some quick training miles, when after 14 laps I punctured in front and decided to hit the showers.

All round a good day, met some nice people and got some quality miles in ready for the season proper to start. I know that on my next visit to Eastway the weather will be better and certainly warmer, repeat after me it will be warmer, it will be warmer!!!!

Big Matt

Newport Track

Wow! Why did no-one ever tell me that track riding was so much fun?

Yep, I finally plucked up the courage to have a go at riding the boards and thoroughly enjoyed it. I will admit to having been quite nervous beforehand about the height and the steepness of the banking, as I had no desire to polish the boards by sliding down them, as demonstrated by Trev on a previous session (see Feb newsletter).

Although we could get in at 8, nothing seemed to open until nearly 9, but we took the time to find the spectator area and have a look at the track. My, it looks steep from above!

Eventually we got sorted with some swish hire bikes – any colour and make you like as long as it’s a red Pinarello - and made our way to the track centre, passing underneath the track. After signing on and having a safety briefing from Jeff, the coach, our novice group got on our bikes. Because of number of riders, we were in three groups for the day, each group having about 20 mins or so on track per hour. After a session getting used to riding fixed on the flat green track inner, we ventured onto the boards, up to the blue “halfway” line, and within an hour, we were riding round at the top of the banking. It’s quite weird doing through and off where you have to accelerate (to go up the banking) at the end of your turn! This was followed by “lumps and bumps”, which is follow-the-leader as Jane, the assistant coach, took us up and down the banking. The rush of acceleration as you swoop from the top of the banking to the inside of the corner is hard to describe – you really need to try it for yourself! By now, most of the novice group seemed OK about moving up and down the banking, so we did some more serious exercises – taking it in turns to chase from the front of the group to get round onto the back of the bunch again, and 2-up sprints, where the group rode around (above the blue line) two abreast then, when the whistle blew, the front two dropped down the banking and sprinted for the line. Unfortunately for my ego, I seemed to keep lining up against Matt for this, as no-one else seemed to want that place!

The final novice event was a bunch race, called laps to destruction. It starts off at a comfortable pace, with everyone going through and off, and gradually speeds up, with anyone unable to stay with the group eliminated until the last few survivors sprint out the finish. A few of the “intermediate” group joined in with this, and while I dropped out with about 8 laps to go, Matt stayed in and was strong enough in the finale to come in second, ahead of all but one of the “ringers”.

Meanwhile, Trevor and Becky were in a different group. Becky seemed to be enjoying herself, mixing it with the men (and showing them the way home when doing the same sprint exercise that we’d done), while Trevor was struggling due to a discomforting lack of front end grip, as his front wheel would slip down the banking without warning – a badly worn tyre was eventually diagnosed as the problem. Trevor decided it wasn’t safe to ride a bunch race and sat out his final session, while Becky rode the women and youths 30 laps race. On the whistle with 5 laps to go, she put in a strong attack to get clear at the front, then rode strongly to stay clear before getting dragged back with two laps to go – not enough time to recover and contest the finish. After a quick breather, she went straight back on the track for the men’s (excluding novices) equivalent race, but retired just after half distance, having used it as a warm-down.

Becky on her way to winning another sprint:

Although my legs ached the next day, it was a fun experience, a real buzz and one I hope to repeat before too long. It’s not just for wannabe track racers, it promotes good leg speed, bike control and group discipline. It’s also suitable for any standard of rider, whether or not you’ve tried riding a fixed-wheel bike before (although it’s obviously easier if you have).

Yes, it is a long way to travel, but it’s simple navigation – A12, M25, M4 – and if, like me, you employ the “closed-eyes time travel” technique (not advised for drivers!) on the way home, it doesn’t (seem to) take too long!  Thanks to Trevor for recommending it and to Matt for doing all the driving.

Steve

Foxhall Roller Rides

These have been continuing through the winter although with limited support.  Steve has now been dethroned as “roller king”, as young IBC rider Neil Fellingham, who has improved all through the winter, has gradually taken all his records. This included a kilo ride where Neil improved his PB by over 5 seconds to beat the record by 2 seconds.

Steve and Neil have also contested some head-to-head rides, which are always very close, but Neil has yet to lose…

These sessions are held (indoors) at Foxhall stadium, Ipswich, on Friday evenings, from 7pm to about 9pm.  While all are welcome, some children's bikes don't fit on the rollers.

Foxhall Track

The Foxhall Track Training Sessions will restart on Friday April 1st at 7pm.  This is the first Friday after the clocks go forward at Easter.  Weather permitting, we will have a short session (before the light goes) on the track – if it’s bad, we’ll set up the rollers indoors.

For those of you who don’t know about these sessions (or have forgotten!), these are informal training sessions, using the tarmac hot-rod track at Foxhall Stadium, Ipswich, from about 7pm on Friday evenings until the light goes or it gets too cold. The sessions are open to all, regardless of age, ability and type of bike, cost £2 an evening (50p for U-16s) and you can either take part in the fun and games (time trial, handicap races, sprints, devil, whatever) or not, as you wish. There are very few rules, basically helmets must be worn, sign in and pay before riding and go round anti-clockwise.

Although some of the "games" end in sprints, aggressive riding, particularly contact, is strongly discouraged - these sessions are more about having fun than collecting scars.

Steve

Revolutions 8

To say there was a little trepidation as Becky warmed up during the build up to the last Revolutions track meeting would be an understatement.  As you may recall, Becky had quite a nasty crash at Revs 7 which left her with a damaged larynx and breathing difficulties for quite a few weeks which hampered her recovery and training.

 She did admit she was physically shaking as she lined up for the first race, the 1mile dash.  Becky's nervousness showed as she got caught towards the back of the bunch and with a race of only 6 laps you need to be near the front.  She finished 14th, but in one piece.  The next event was the scratch race, reduced to 4Km, but at least Becky got a better start and rode at or near the front for most of the race, successfully closing down a couple of attacks before finishing 8th.  In the last race, the devil, Becky diced with the line judge before getting called out for an eventual 11th place.

Once again the velodrome was packed to the rafters, the racing was fast and the stars put on a big show, and to top it all there was a track centre photo display which contained a picture of yours truly with Becky.

The next series of Revolutions International Grand Prix events starts at the end of October, let’s hope they are as exciting as this series.

Trevor

Dates For The Calendar

Committee Meetings

The next meeting of the committee is at 8pm on Wednesday 16th March at the Whelan’s house in Woodbridge.

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

For Sale

Turbo trainer

Make: volare Italy (Jan Ullrich)

£15.00

Tel 01728 454394, Julie Grooms.

Welwyn Track

The cycle track at Gosling Sports Park in Welwyn Garden City was completely rebuilt in 2004.  Welwyn Wheelers are trying to maximize use, and have sent details of the following sessions:

We are also hoping to run a ‘Dernyfest’ in July – date to be finalised.

Group Training sessions –