Willesden Cycling Club

There will be a special Rocco Ride from Manor Farm Ruislip, to be held on Sunday 19 July 2015.

A paper route sheet will be provided on the day.   Requests for GPS files will not be entertained.

A Beast, probably from the East

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!!

27th Wembley Road Club Charity Cycle Ride

21st June 2015

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.

Wembley RC – Sponsorship form

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.

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

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

All