Tony Willard has kindly offered to lead a Hampshire ride, following the success of previous visits. The date for this has been set for Saturday 11 July. We will start in Oakley Hants. The stop will be at the Roubaix Cafe in Thatcham. Update – a new date will be advised as this clashes with the WCC Fun Day. Watch this space!
Further and better particulars will be provided in due course. Please let me John Wheatley know if you can make this prestigious day out.
Your club runs list for the next few months has now arrived.
Download available here >> WCC-Club-Runs-Jun-Aug 2015
This week has been crammed full of marshalling duties- Hillingdon Circuit,Canary Wharf, Nocturne and then watching Brad break the hour record.
Gill Reynolds had a good weekend. On Saturday in the Beds Road Club 10 she took the first lady award with a time of 27.44 in very windy conditions then on Sunday in the Ely & District 10 she was the 3rd fastest lady in 27.46.
Stuart Birnie finished 8th recording 21.09 in the West London C.A. event which had to be shortened from 25 miles to 10 due to road works on the course.
At Hillingdon in the Slipstreamers Summer event Josh Copley was placed 2nd in the Under 16 race and Kye Lewis finished 3rd in the Under 12 event.
All for now,
Regards,
Gladys
Round 1 of the Tour of Herts Series takes place on Sunday 7th June 12:00 – 20:00.
This will be a fun filled celebration of cycling with both family friendly events and semi serious racing around a closed circuit at the Building Research Establishment .
To find out more and enter events via the British Cycling Website.
A Yeoviltinie’s memoirs
The “Beast from the East” is only run every four years…. thank goodness! It is an epic 600+ km Audax ride from Waltham Abbey to Taunton Dean Service station and back. It is also a 2015 Paris-Brest-Paris qualifying ride.
Mark Brooking is the keeper of the Beast and he organises this event exceptionally well. Mark is exactly on the wave length of the riders and the helpers, as well as always being available to answer questions or to solve problems as the event unfolds.
Traditionally the Willesden has two controls on “The Beast”, one in the relative comfort of the Yeovil Scout Hall and the other in a bleak field near Middle Wallop! Fortunately we had drawn the long straw and were asked by Mark to “do” Yeovil. The kitchen Crew at Yeovil, a.k.a. the “Yeoviltinies”, consisted of Vyv Baker, Jim Mears (on kind loan from Wendy), Jane Moore and yours truly. Meanwhile out in the wilds of Wallop with a short straw, were Wendy Mears, Lynn Corr, Joselyn Chappel, Phil Magnus and Liam Fitzpatrick to run the second Willesden control at the 450km point.
Vyv and Jim are highly experienced in running the Willesden support points on three consecutive Paris-Brests, so the Yeovil Branch office of the Willesden CC was in very capable hands. They were amazing in the kitchen, Vyv has head chef, planner and buyer, whilst Jim multi-tasked between helping in the kitchen, stamping brevet cards and acting as a human (and humane!) alarm clock to riders wanting an early morning wake-up call. Jane helped with the serving, making drinks and washing up duties, made all the more remarkable as she also helped at the start/finish at Waltham Abbey, stamped brevet cards at the Tutti Pole café on the way to Yeovil and later helped out at Wallop control. Whereas my defining achievement was slightly scalding my forehead in the Yeovil kitchen ….I know….how??!!
Our first customers were an elite groupetto of thee riders who arrived at Yeovil around 7:30pm, having scampered across 355km of rolling terrain in 13 hours. They had a brief rest and a bite to eat before dashing back to the Waltham Abbey finish before their kettle went cold. The majority of the field of 40 or so riders started arriving for food and a few hours sleep from 10pm until the early hours of the morning.
At about 4:30am the riders began to awaken, at which point Jim and Vyv switched in to breakfast mode serving porridge, fried eggs, beans and bacon to appreciative faces, whilst Jane and I helped with the drinks, serving riders and washing up.
All was done and dusted by 8:00am, but it was sobering to learn that the fastest rider was back at Waltham Abbey just after the tail-enders left Yeovil….we must have fed them well!
Miles Back
Not an appearance on Audax TV, but Vyv and Jim though the serving hatch.
The Beastly Menu
A varied cyclist’s breakfast!!
A small Beastie in the bananas
A large Beastie in the kitchen
The other Johnny Morris!!
This ride is fondly known within the Willesden CC as the “Johnny Morris Charity Ride” and riders from our club have taken part in this gentle family orientated event for many years.
This year the ride will be in support of the South Bucks Hospice for Palliative and Lymphoedema Care, based in High Wycombe. The 30 mile ride will start and finish at ‘The Plough’, Winchmore Hill, Amersham, where Raffaele the owner is also a keen cycling fan. The pub serves great pizza as well as other traditional Italian and British food.
The ride leaves The Plough at 10:00am and goes through Beaconsfield and then through the lanes to a lunch stop at the Huntswood Golf Club. After lunch it is a pleasant ride to a mid afternoon break at ‘The Greyhound’ in Old Beaconsfield, before returning to The Plough after 30 miles.
If you cannot make the ride, then please sponsor John Morris of the Wembley RC as he is going for the “Mary Smithson Club”, which is awarded to the individual who raises the most money for charity.
The “Wembley Road Club Shield” is also awarded to the club or organisation that raises the most money, last years winners were the Pickwick Bicycle Club. Last year this ride raised over £3,000 for charities so please support this event if you possibly can.
A sponsor sheet is in the PDF file below.
Does anyone have any special requests for Club Run destinations over the next few months?
June 21 will be the Johnny Morris ride from Winchmore Hill. Please let me know by 01 June.
Also, I am thinking of retiring as Captain after this year, having done the job now for xx years. So this is your chance.
Darryl Lusardi and I (Alex Pierce) rode the E123 at Hillingdon on Tuesday, my last race for a few weeks while I finish my exams. The pace was pretty erratic for the first 45 minutes, with no one wanting to let a break form after the clean sweeps Pedal Heaven have had the previous few weeks.
With 15 minutes to go, the heavens opened up and sensing their moment of opportunity 5 riders attacked and opened up a gap (including 2 Pedal Heaven and 1 Catford rider). The gap opened up to 20 seconds, and after a brief attempt by myself and a few others to pull them back we all began to look at each other for the sprint. By this point I was seriously regretting leaving my overshoes and rain cape in the club house…
Darryl and I had positioned ourselves well for the last lap, and were both in the top 10 riders coming out of the S bend. However Darryl was forced to launch his sprint a little too early, leading the bunch out around the final corner before fading in the last 200m. This worked well for me as it stretched out the bunch so the sprint wasn’t too crowded. I launched my sprint at 200m to go, just about squeezing into a gap beside Darryl, taking 3rd in the bunch sprint and 8th overall! Also got some cash for finishing second 3rd cat… A nice note to end on before I take my brief sabbatical!
Alex Pierce
Last weekend the riders who will be helping on the forthcoming “Beast from the East” 600km Audax had a test ride around the full course. If the ride was not hard enough, the helpers also missed out on the comfort of fully supported control stops at Yeovil and Middle Wallop that the riders on the full running of “The Beast” will enjoy.
The Beast from the East starts in Waltham Abbey and heads west to Taunton Dean services for the turn before returning to the start. A full route can be seen here
Amongst the beastly helpers taking part were Mark Brooking (Chief Beast), Jane Moore (on the back of the Beast!), Ray Kelly, Stuart Bernie, Joselyn Chappel and Phil Magnus.
Conditions on the ride were like a fine wine – dry, but spiced with a a nagging headwind. It was served chilled, with night time temperatures as low as 3C!
Following are a few pictures from the ride…… Sorry that there were none of Stuart Bernie as he was already back home in bed after completing the ride in record time!!
If anyone would like to help out at the controls at Waltham Abbey, Yeovil or Middle Wallop this weekend (Sat 23rd and Sun 24th May) then please contact Mark Brooking (Beast Organiser) at darkhorsetrike8@gmail.com
Miles Back
A passerby nabs a crafty selfie with a random green mannequin.
Post Script from Mark Brooking : “Passerby is Dave who replaced front bottom bracket and saved the ride for me. 2wheels bikeshop in Thame deserves honorable mention.”
For Sale – A large green garden ornament (fishing rod required)
Mark Brooking and Jane Moore (mainly eclipsed by Planet Brooking)
Kit-Man Kelly assaults one of the thousands of climbs on the Beast
The Longbarrow progresses (Jane still mostly eclipsed …..)
I’ve no idea who this is, but he’s looking good on this climb.
Kit-Man Kelly starts his jersey sales patter – all credit cards accepted
You may have noticed that the blog posts are not being posted over on Facebook by our trusty “Blog Monkey”
This is because of changes Facebook have made this month to their API relating to groups. We can no longer automatically send blog posts to the group. This means that anyone who posts on the blog will need to also post a link on the FB group manually if they wish to do so. (Any web savvy members who know a work around please let me know)
There is no change to the weekly newsletter which will still send out a digest of blog posts automatically. If you are not already subscribed to the newsletter you can sign up here!
Tom Z
Report from Liam Fitzpatrick:
Nearly 80 riders turned up on the start line for the Willedsen’s 400K Audax, the Severn Across on Saturday 9 May. Entrants from all over the UK, including some cycling celebrities converged on Chalfont St Peter to ride to Chepstow and back.
The Severn Across is one of several audax events run by club members including the epic 600Km Beast from the East which takes place later in the Month. It is one of the qualifying rides for the legendary Paris-Brest-Paris which takes place this August.
As well as a keen group riding in green, the field included world time trial champion Stuart Birnie and solo RAAM hopeful Shushanah Pillinger.
75 audaxers got back in times between 16 and 27 hours having visited Oxford, Tewkesbury, Chepstow, Malmsbury, Membury and Henley.
The event was possible because Willesden members Richard Jennings, Paul Stewart and Pete Kelsey were on hand to support the 6 am start and Marcus Jackson Baker sat up through Saturday night to look after the returning riders. Marcus also rode the course solo the week before to check the route.
Members interested in finding out more about endurance riding might want to take a look at the website for Audax UK.
On Tuesday in the BC West Thames 1/2/3 event Alex Pierce was placed 19th, Sam Grant 22nd and Daryl Lusardi 28th .
Kye Lewis went to Herne Hill Track to ride in the Youth Omnium series finishing 14th out of the 28 riders.
Here is a picture of Alex Pierce wearing the leader’s bib at Welwyn after last week’s results when he won the elimination race.
Monday 18 May 2015 – Andy Mears Orchestra performing at Ruislip Golf Centre, Ickenham Road, West Ruislip, Middlesex, HA4 7DQ (opposite West Ruislip Central line & Main Line Station).
Andy’s orchestra will perform music from the libraries of Ellington, Basie, Charles Mingus, Buddy Rich & more as well as original material from leading UK & US composers and arrangers.
£7 on the door. 8.15 – 10.30pm
Hi folks
A friendly reminder that our Pub Run will be next Thursday, 21 May. Hope to see you there! Full details below.
🙂
CZ x
Event: Pub Run
Date: Thurs 21 May 2015
Time: 8:00pm onwards
Venue: Coach and Horses Pub, 1 High Road, Ickenham, Middlesex UB10 8LJ
Enquiries: social@willesdencyclingclub.org.uk
All
The Fun Day this year is on Saturday 11th July from 1.30 at Hillingdon.
The Club track Champs are on Sunday 30th August at Welwyn from 10.00.
Jane took over two minutes off club Trike record for a 10 mile Time Trial on Bank Holiday Monday. Jane was racing at the Tricycle Association’s NE regional “Mike Dixie Memorial 10” on the fast V718 course near Hull. Jane’s time was 29:03 and she came 2nd on handicap, the only woman in the top 13 finishers! Many of the fast 3-wheeler men were in the race, which makes Jane’s result even the more impressive.
Many thanks to Jane’s Directeur Sportif, Mark Brooking, for providing the results and photo.
Note: Results are now final.
Another busy week for our members!
On Monday the Hillingdon Slipstreamers promoted events for the young riders. Cormac Nisbet riding in his first ever race finished 3rd in the Under 10 age group whilst Kye Lewis (Under12) and Josh Copley (under 16) won their age groups!
Tuesday night at Hilingdon circuit in the event promoted by BC West Thames the 4th Cat race Graham Simpson finished 14th and Simon Passey 19th. In the Elite 1/2/3 event Alex Pierce was 26th and Daryl Lusardi 28th from a very fast run event. Read the full report here.
Wednesday Alex and Connor Woodford were in action on the Eelmore circuit. Alex finished 6th but Connor unfortuately was behind a crash and finished just outside the top 10. Full report here.
Friday night at Welwyn Track Alex Pierce won the the Scratch,Block Pursuit and Points races in the B events He was joined by Sam Grant and Tom Zittel who both rode well. Connor Woodford moved up a group and finished near the front in the final 10mile event. Read the report.
Saturday in the Cambridge C.C., on a very windy day,it took Pete Cookson 25.06 and Gill Reynolds 27.11 to cover the 10mile time trial.
Yesterday at the Hillingdon circuit the club promoted races in support of the Condor 3 day event. The club was asked to provide marshals for the afternoon event and run some supporting races.
In the U/8/10/12 event Cormac Nisbet was 2nd in every race and 1st for his age group. Kye Lewis finished 4th in the Under 12 race.
In the under 14/16 event Hannah Keating was placed 4th.
Placings in the 3/4 race were James Gray 7th, Daryl Lusardi 8th and Connor Woodford 13th.
In preparation for the Paris/Brest/Paris, which only takes place every 4 years, riders having to have covered several other long rides before they can take part. Richard Jennings, Peter Turnbull and Jocelyn Chappell rode the Audax 400Km from Chepstow to Chalfont St. Giles in wet and windy conditions.
I think I might have a rest today although I know that the youngsters and the time trialists will be out riding events this evening..
Hope you have a good week.
Gladys
Hi folks
On behalf of the committee, I am delighted to announce the date of the next Willesden Cycling Club Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony.
PUT THE DATE IN YOUR DIARIES
You are cordially invited to save the evening of Saturday, 23 January 2016 in your diaries, for a fabulous night of fine dining and celebrating the achievements of our members throughout the year! Festivities will begin from 6:30pm. The dinner will take place at the same venue as this year, the beautiful four-star De Vere Denham Grove Hotel, Denham, Buckinghamshire. Overnight accommodation will be available.
GET INVOLVED
One of the loveliest things about the dinner this year is that it was truly a team effort, so I am calling on your help again. Do you have any skills related to the below, or friends who do? (Or can you think of other ways you can help?) If so please email me at social@willesdencyclingclub.org.uk
Full details to follow. If you have any queries in the meantime, please contact me.
🙂
CZ x
Event: Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony
Date: Saturday 23 January 2016
Time: From 18:30
Venue: De Vere Denham Grove Hotel, Tilehouse Lane, Denham, Buckinghamshire UB9 5DG
Tickets: Booking information to follow.
Enquiries: social@willesdencyclingclub.org.uk
Alex had a really good night at Welwyn, here is his report:
The second night of Welwyn track league was a very chilly one. However I (Alex) was feeling brave and decided to leave the leg warners at home… As soon as I took my trackies off I regretted this decision, so thanks Connor for being sensible and bringing a spare pair!
Tom, Sam and I rode the senior B events while Connor decided to step up and ride the senior A. I won the Scratch by a whisker and the bloc pursuit by half a whisker, nearly getting pipped to the line in both events. My win in the points was a little more comfortable as I managed to breakaway in the middle, sit up and still win the sprint for the last set of points!
Sam and Tom rode well at their first track league appearance at Welwyn, with several strong attacks which didn’t quite stick in the heavy wind. Now they have a feel for the track I’m expecting a clean sweep from one of them next week!
Meanwhile in the A’s Connor adapted well to the higher pace and the end of the night he was riding very comfortably in the group for the ten mile event. Connor and I were in the leading group for the majority of that race but missed a breakaway in the last few laps that managed to stay away…
All in all another successful night for the Squadra Verde!
Tom with a gap in the Points race.
Bs 10 lap scratch final sprint
