Willesden Cycling Club

Last weekend (16/17 September) was a busy one for the Squadra Verde.

WCC Road Race
Highlight of the weekend was the Willesden Road race for the John and Dulcie Walker Trophies. A mass pile up at the first bend was avoided by advertising start times from 1.00pm, 1:30pm 2:00pm, 2:45pm and 3:45pm! Most riders seem to plump for the third start time. WCC glamour gal, Jayne P., arrived late by was allowed to join in with around 30 laps to go. Richard Jerome was the only other rider flying the Willesden colours in our annual event.

Results were as follows –

E/1/2/3
1, Colin Roshier, Tm Quest, 1h 24m 34s
2, Roy Chamberlain, Tm Milton Keynes at st
3, Alex Breary, PCA/Ciclos Uno at 28s

3rd Cat prizes:
1, B Ford.
2, S Baker.
3, D Kenneway.

4/W/J
1, George Georgiev, PM
2, Oliver Newton, Twickenham CC/Evans Cycles
3, Alec Huckin, Didcot Phoenix CC
Thank you to Brian Wright for organising the race at the last minute

Time Trial
Jayne and Jumbo were in action on Sunday on the WLC 2up on the Amersham Road. They did a very respectable 1:06:08 for their first TT together. WCC’s Miles Back has heard that the two J’s were eagerly discussing tactics, skulldugery and sabotage over a monster fry up in the Deep Mill Dinner afterwards.

Our man Meurig James was feeling unwell last week so only managed two PBs and a fifth place this weekend. He posted a 20:42 on Saturday on the Andover Wheeler’s 10 and on Sunday at the Kent VTTA 50 – 1:58:16 (5th fastest)

We hope you recover soon Meurig!!

Sean Bannister (without his Derny!) is having a great time at the World Masters at Manchester this week.

In the Mens Pursuit (60–64 age group) Sean took the Silver medal with a time of 2.36.748 minutes.The Gold medal was won by Denis Fahey of Australia when he finished the Pursuit in 2.30.495 minutes. The Bronze medal was won by Michael Allen of Great Britain when he narrowly beat Jukka Oksanen of Finland in 2.37.491 minutes.

In the Bush Healthcare non-championship event for over 60 years, Sean representing Great Britain made a decisive break with 5 laps to go to win this 5km scratch race. Manfred Nepp of Germany and Keith Harrison of U.S.A. lead the pack to finish second and third respectively.

Sounds like he’ll have to surender his bus pass now!

The Johny and Dulcie Walker Road races will be contested at Hillingdon at 1:00pm on Saturday 16th September 2006.

Please come along and support your event and wear plenty of green

The last meeting of Welwyn Track league took place on Friday.

Roger Woodford was Racing for the Willesden CC. In the 10 lap Scratch Roger was boxed in until 200M to go but still managed to get 3rd place. In the 10 mile the the pace was constantly high throughout. This discouraging any significant breakaways forming but many were losing contact unable to keep up the high tempo. Roger won 2 of the bonus sprints for some extra prize money.

Then with just 2 laps to go Johnny Torrez attacked the bunch and quickly gained ground. With 1 lap left John McClelland sensed it was now or never and started his long sprint for home. As soon as John came past Roger kicked for home as well and it was a drag race to the finish.

McClelland caught Torrez on the line to win. With Roger closing very fast on them both but finishing third. It has been Rogers most successful year at Welwyn Track League and he finished 6th overall in the “A” League.

This Friday Roger will be racing at the World Masters Track championships, details of which can be found at http://www.cyclingmasters.com/ . This is the world championship for the over 30’s. With a Bronze in the National Championship this year. Roger is hoping for another medal winning performance.

Reigning west London Sprint champion Dave Dentus will defending his title at Palmer Park this week. With Roger entered as well hopefully it will be an all Willesden Final!

Looking for events organised by the Willesden CC, then click on the “WCC Event planner” on the right hand side of the Screen, under “Links”.

This will show you all the Audax, Road racing and Time Trials that we are helping to organise, as well as details on the Club runs, various social outings on the club’s monthly meeting.

John Davies

In preparation for next year’s Paris-Brest I had an idea that we should run a night time 200km Audax. This would give those new to the event some night riding experience, before the qualifying rides begin next year. As there were no such events on the Audax calendar we had to draw upon an Audax Permanent to provide the solution. Mark Brooking suggested using the “Midlands Mesh” 200km route and offered his home as both start and finish points.

On Saturday 2nd September, six of us met up at Mark’s home on a very windy Saturday afternoon. They were Wendy Earl, Hilary Pandya, Jim Mears, Lynn Francoli, Mark Brooking and myself.

I had taken the train up to Waltham Cross. The short ride from the station to Mark’s house was ominously blustery. Small branches were lying in the road and trees were angrily thrashing their arms at the wind, as indeed was I. The thought of cancelling the ride began to cross my mind, as conditions could prove dangerous if the wind were to further increase. Fortunately it proved to be a bit a last ditch squall and conditions settled down to merely breezy as we set off at 7pm.

“Loose chippings on the Road” said the sign and for the next few miles we ploughed along a scree slope passing itself off as a road. The already difficult riding conditions further hampered by darkness and the dust thrown up by cars, which swirled around in our lights. The night time newbies must have wondered what they had let themselves in for. Rather ironically the chipping ceased when we arrived at Chipping Ongar. On the positive side the wind was now behind us and we were wafted towards Saffron Walden was at a brisk but comfortable pace. I imagine this is how cycling must be if you are really fit and strong.

We got to the “turn” at Newmarket at about 1.00am where we were the object of much comment from the local youth tottering out of their watering holes. We entertained a few of the more curious revellers who asked what we doing and where we were going. They wished us well in a genuine but rather slurred manner.

By the time we set off for the return journey to London the wind had dropped and conditions were getting balmy. Showers began to appear near dawn, punctuating the ride with stops to “cape up” and then a few minutes later to “cape off“. Also a stop at Bonks Hill was digitaly recorded!

We arrived back at Mark’s house around 8am Sunday morning, with about 15 minutes to spare on time. Alison immediately produced a wonderful fried breakfast which went down a treat

Wendy, Jim and Hilary were new to night riding and seemed to enjoy the full Audax experience. I often heard them chattering and laughing as our little groupetto steadily progressed through the dark. They are now distressingly keen to repeat the exercise on a 300km ride in October. Their appetites whetted by the possibility of going for the Audax Round-the-year award.

A big thank you to

• Mark for organising the route
• To Alison for the catering, the best on the route!
• To Frankie for childminding.
• To Wendy, Jim, Hilary, Lynn and Mark for their excellent company

In the afternoon I went down to watch the ToB on the Mall. For some reason I fell asleep on the bus on the way home to Willesden!

John Davies

The Willesden CC will have a road race after all!!

Brian Wright announced today that it willl be held on Saturday 16th September (Time TBA) at the Hillingdon Circuit.

Hillingdon Cycle Circuit, Springfield Road, Hayes

A two-part 6-hour cycle training course for new and returning adult cyclists on Saturdays 30th September and 7th October 2006. At 1.45 PM for 2 PM until 5 PM

The course will cover:
· Basic and Advanced bike handling skills
· Bike position and clothing
· Basic bike maintenance
· Group riding

NB. This course is not race training.

Coaching by Qualified Coaches (male and female)
£12 for the course of two sessions
Payable in advance
Light refreshments available

· Riders must be 18 years of age or over and of average fitness

· Bicycles must be in good working order and in a safe condition

· A cycle helmet must be worn

For further information or to reserve a place

contact Nick Hobbs via willesdencyclingclub@yahoo.com

www.primecoaching.co.uk

Women’s Road Riding Coaching Day – Hillingdon Cycle Circuit – October 15th
www.SheCycles.com and the Surrey League have joined forces to offer a series of women’s specific cycle coaching sessions throughout the winter. The first of these women’s sessions will be held on Sunday 15th October from 9.30am to 4.30pm and will feature a full day of coaching and advice, based at the Hillingdon cycle circuit, which is closed to cars and will be used exclusively by SheCycles for the day.

The aim of the sessions is to give women both the knowledge and technical skills to make them comfortable riding a road bike for commuting, training and potentially even racing. At the first session there will be an opportunity to meet a range of female friendly experts who will help you get the most out of your bike and your body, these will include:

• John Leitch, a fully qualified BCF coach, who will provide coaching for the ride sessions. John has worked tirelessly to encourage women of all standards, ages and backgrounds to improve their cycling experience and ability
• CycleFit the best human to bicycle fitting service in Europe will give you a free mini consultation to check your position and set up and give you advice to improve your ride comfort and efficiency
• Mel Alwood a qualified female bike mechanic will show you how to look after your bike so that it looks after you!
• Karen Burt a specialist yoga instructor will demonstrate essential stretches that will help stay strong and ease any post riding aches and pains
• Steve Ellis, a qualified sports masseur, will show you how to look after yourself after riding and give you a feel for how the professionals are treated
• Helen Ellis, the membership secretary of the WCRA, who support women in all disciplines of cycling, will talk to you about training and how to get into racing
• Helen Biggerstaff from the CTC will be on hand to talk about what they do to make enjoyable, safe and welcoming for all

The day will include sessions both on and off the bike and there will be plenty of time to get to know the other riders, enjoy a healthy lunch, chat informally to the experts and meet the SheCycles team.

Summary of the day:

Date/Timing: Sunday 15th October from 9.30am to 4.30pm

Where: Hillingdon Cycle Circuit, Springfield Road, Hayes, Middlesex (parallel to A312 Hayes By-Pass which links Junction 3 on the M4 Motorway and the A40/M40)

How much: £10 to include lunch, tea/coffee and cake

Why: To meet other cyclists, improve your riding skills and earn cake 8o)

Places will be limited so please book in advance by emailing editor@shecycles.com

The Women’s Coaching day is brought to you by www.SheCycles.com in conjunction with the Surrey League www.surreyleague.co.uk who aim to provide a full year’s cycle racing for all categories of riders, especially at grass root level.

After a very wet and windy Bank Holiday when several events were cancelled, the club was back in action last weekend. Roger Woodford rode at Welwyn track on Friday and won the 10 lap scratch event before a partial failure of the floodlights and a crash preventing the meeting from completing the full programme. Roger also rode in the prelude race to the Final stage of the Tour of Britain

Meurig James was up early on Saturday to ride the 34 Nomands 10 at Tonbridge in Kent to record a personal best of 21.06 finishing in 8th place. He then returned to London to ride in the Eastways Supporters Cycle Racing League’s last event after 3 decades of organising at Eastways to finish in 4th place.

Gill Reynolds and Jane Payne rode in the British Time Trial Championships at Liss and finished in 1.03.40 and 1.16.40. The event was run over 2 laps of a circuit covering just over 11miles . This was Jane’s first time trial and unfortunately she went off course on the first circuit and lost valuable time.

Nearer home, on the Amersham Road the West London Combine held a 25 mile event and Melissa Arkinstall finished in a personal best time of 1.11.02. Chris James recorded 1.14.16. Mike Eddleston failed to finish as he crashed when negotiating a roundabout sustaining cuts and bruises.

Ok so this is not strictly about cycling, but it does involve a new sports facility in Willesden.

For the past couple of years the park opposite my house has been a major building site. The results of these labours will be opened later this month in the form of the all new Willesden Sports Centre.

The old running track and swimming pool are replaced with bright shiny new ones. A five-a-side football pitch, Badminton courts and a running tube are additional facilities. Cycling gets the usual cursory sop with a few bike racks, but that’s about it. Still may be we can run a Road Race, Audax, Time Trial or egg and spoon contest from there some time? Only dreaming

See www.WillesdenSportsCentre.co.uk for more details.

John Davies

The West London DA are running the Autumn Assortment Audax rides of 205, 105 and 51 kilometres from Ruislip on Sunday 24th September 2006.
These are classic events on the local calendar, are impeccably well organised and make a perfect introduction to Audax riding.

The Willesden CC are running rides of 207 and 109km from Chalfont St Peter on Saturday 7th October. More challenging than the Ruislip events, these Audaxes are a good test of late season fitness. Offers of help for the Chalfont rides would be appreciated.

For details of all these events, link to the Audax UK website at http://www.audax.uk.net/cal/index.htm or contact the clubs Touring Secretary, Gavin on gavin(dot)gilbert(at)btinternet(dot)com.

Meurig James was in fine form this weekend. On Saturday in the South Bucks Road Club 10 mile time trial at Maidenhead he returned a personal best of 21.17 to win the event. He then rode in the South Eastern Road Race League at Rolvenden in Kent on Sunday and breaking away with a group of 10 riders finished second in the sprint for the line.

Suzz Patel and Ron Purdy also rode in the South Bucks event and recorded 25.41 and 29.23.

Gill Reynolds was in action on Sunday riding in the Reading C.C. event which used a quite hilly circuit of 22 miles , on the same roads which are being used by British Cycling for their time trial Championship in September. She finished in 1.04.16 taking the 4th fastest lady spot.

Unfortunately the club road races had to be cancelled due to lack of entries. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise as the roads around Henley were under water after torrential rain on Saturday.

Cheers Gladys.

If you like looking at some delicious retro bikes, then log on to http://www.bicicletasantigas.com.br/ . This Brazian site has quite a comprehensive gallery of bikes from the 1950’s onwards (click on “Galeria” from the home page)

* * * * WCC Road Race – CANCELLED * * * *

Please note that the John & Dulcie Walker Road Race scheduled for this coming Sunday 20th August has been cancelled due to a lack of entries.

Thanks to all who volunteered as marshalls, helpers, officials etc.

Gladys is doing a great job of keeping us all up to date on the TT front. Her report follows …

“Here’s to woman’s lib! The ladies take the headlines this week. On Wednesday Gill Reynolds was the only lady to ride in the London Vets 10 at Fifield returning in 26.55 and Ron Purdy 30.43. Third team member Brian Moon did not start.

At the weekend it was the Anerley B.C. 125th Anniversary and in their 10 mile event Gill took the 2nd lady award with 26.07 and Fiona Lawrence was 3rd with 26.34. Fiona also rode in the Anerley 50 mile event yesterday in appalling conditions-wet and windy- and took 2nd placed lady in 2.23.07. She rode a couple of weeks ago in the Cardiff byways 25 and returned a personal best of 1.03.43 and then went on to compete in the London Triathalon.

Gill rode in the Reading C.C. 25 at Aldermarston and her time of 1.09.05 gave her the fastest lady award in what was a very wet event. Again the men were noticable by their absence as team mates Chris James and Brian Moon did not start.

This coming weekend the club is promoting the Johnny and Dulcie Walker Road Races at Great Milton.

Cheers Gladys”

Audax Reunion
Hilary is organising a WCC group outing to the Audax Southern Reunion on the weekend of 12th November 2006. Could drive, could ride, could drive and ride? Let Hilary know if you would like to come along by contacting her at “hxpandya at bechtel dot com” (you know how to change the address!)

BBQ
The Westerley Cycle Club have invited the WCC to their BBQ on Wednesday 30th August 2006 at 8pm (do they know how much we eat!). It will be held at the Westerley’s impressive clubhouse in Perivale. Donation of £2.00 per person, drinks available at the bar
Contact Hilary on the above address for more details.

Cheap Ferry Crossings
SpeedFerries (Dover-Boulogne) are currently doing an offer of £240 per 10 crossings, therefore costing £24 per crossing for a car and five people. The vouchers can be used on any sailings and are valid for 2 years. Hilary reports that she and Dipak have been using the vouchers and have had no problems in booking preferred dates and times. The crossing is by Seacat and takes 50 minutes.

No commercial interest, just a satisfied customer

August
13th Marlow
20th Wendover Woods
27th Stoke Mandeville – Goat Centre
27th Sarratt*

September
3rd Dinton Pasture
10th Codicote
10th Dorney*
17th Aldbury
24th Leighton Buzzard

October
01st Henley
08th Wokingham – Stable Cafe

* Alternative shorter ride

Important information:
All club runs start from Oxford Road, Denham (outside Shane’s Garden Centre) at 9.30 AM.

We recommend that you wear a hard shell helmet, in the interests of safety.

In bad weather please use a bike with mudguards and a rear mud-flap to help keep you and other riders clean.

NEWCOMERS WELCOME

On Friday Roger Woodford rode Welwyn Track League. He came second in the 10 lap scratch being piped to the line by John McClelland. In the 10 mile event a 5 riders broke away from the bunch including Roger and proceeded to lap the bunch twice! In the final sprint for the line he didn’t quite have the legs and came in fourth. He has now moved up to 6th overall in the league. Next weekend Roger is riding the 2 day International track meeting in Halesowen.

A recent posting on the Audax site referred to a very amusing internet site. It deliciously pondered up on replacing cyclist hand signals with a system of flags as favoured by the navy. It suggested the following useful signals

My brake blocks have melted.
My cap has fallen over my eyes.
My ball bearings have escaped.
My water bottle is empty.
My panniers are flaccid.
I am about to post a letter.
My dinner is ready.
Pedal faster! I am about to run up your stern.
Your stoker is asleep (tandem only).
I am on fire.
I require a tug.
My steering lock has activated itself.
Man overboard. (Tandems only.)
What about the ground nut scheme?
My handlebars have uncurled.
Keep well clear : my feet are trapped in my toeclips.
My specs are steamed up.
I am being blown backwards.
No hand signals–my hands are frozen to the handlebars.

Additional flags for the Willesden include ……..

My subs are late
I may have left my iron on
My shorts have passed their eat-by date
Recent contact with Egg Darrial (Dorset Coast Perm Riders only)
Garden furniture not being carried
I am in contact with my inner saddle
Experiencing severe methane inhalation (M. Brooking stoker only)
I am not a WCC member but I read your blog

Miles Back