Hippy forced to pose by the results board after riding a sub-hour 25.
Stuart Birnie rode under the hour for the first time in a 25 mile time trial this morning on the CC114 Great Missenden Amersham Road course, with a superb time of 59.44. The event, promoted by the Westerley, saw entries from a range of clubs, and was won by Geoff Powell with a 57:42.
Other results: Ray Kelly, 1.14.20, John Wheatley 1.14.48
This year I participated in my first ever Paris Brest Paris (PBP), wonderfully supported by a
small team of Willesden members providing a quiet refuge for sleep and those vital staples
of the audax menu, rice pudding, fruit salad and cake. The ride covers 1230km, including
some 10,000m of climbing and has to be completed in under 90 hours in order to be validated
by the organising body, the Audx Club Parisienne.
I had a camera on board and made a short (well, 14 mins) film of my experience. For me, PBP
was a joyous human endeavour, not easy, but one which any cyclist who’s reasonably fit and
with adequate motivation can achieve. The next PBP is sadly four years away but the UK
audax calander offers plenty of alternatives for those looking to get the miles in.
Towards The Ocean – PBP 2011 from Milltag on Vimeo.
Willesden CC - Go Ride Races
On Sunday a number of members will be up in London for the Tour of Britain Whitehall stages.
So weather permitting there will be a club ride leaving Denham at 10:00 this Saturday, 17 September.
It is chapeau to Ian Why – I still cannot get rid of the image of the Willesden in gold lamé jerseys! And packets of jelly babies to the rest of the entrants.
In light of hippy’s entry, I shall suggest that in future Willesden caps come with the addition of a lining made from discarded survival blanket – gold of course.
Vyv 
Baker
Club run Captain John Wheatley introduced a new “slant” to yesterday’s club run route, which was all planned in the very steepest of detail. Taking in most of the scenic delight of the Chilterns, the route proved to be a very early reccy of next February’s Reliability ride.
As you will see from the profile John quite cleverly introduced the intitial of his surname several times into the profile.
In a recent departure from the normal format of the cafe stop at the halfway point, John’s plan was to stop at the end of the ride. This made for a good ride even though we had to endure sweeping past our normal stops at Burnham, Marlow, Wycombe and the Deep Mill Diner.
A good day out and a good work out – Thank you John
Miles Back (lived up to my name yesterday!)
12 Sep 2011
Kirsten was invited to ride on the velodrome by BC as she had qualified for the Omnium finals at Manchester. The BBC were filming for an awards ceremony and wanted cyclists riding around to add to the atmosphere.
Kirsten and the others from the Hillingdon Slipstreamers were coached on the track for approximately two hours by Peter Cattermole. Kirsten loved it so much that when the others came off for a rest and food she carried on riding and only came off after she had ridden with both groups (they were split into 2 groups for some exercises).
Lauren was also invited but due to her GCSE exam work she could not afford a day off school.
Nici Savage
Kirsten (extreme left) lines up for the photo shoot
The Willesden Old Timers met at Alresford on Sunday for lunch.
They helped Nick Tidmarsh to celebrate attaining 101 years of age.
Nick was a founder member of the club way back in the 1920’s.
A Willesden CC cap to the best “cap-tion” (as judged by Vyv Baker) for this picture of Paul Stewart and Arabella Maude on the Paris-Brest.
To enter use the “Comments” link below – good luck
After the grim grind in 2007’s rain, I entered again in the hope that I would have good memories of a PBP. 2011 exceeded all my expectations: all sorts of weather – mostly good and lots of tailwind, a fantastic amount of support from local communities along the way and the companionship of fellow riders.
The Willesden support team of Vyv, Marianne and Stephen were superb. Once I was out on the road, I could concentrate on, and enjoy my ride as they had everything in hand. Turning up at the locations, food was efficiently produced and the bedding was ready for a kip, with more food and drink when you got up, help filling bottles etc. to get back on the road. Fantastic!!!
Also getting team Willesden round was a team effort: John Davies, Liam, Ray, Wendy and Yoshi all provided invaluable help behind the scenes, both before and after the event.
It all worked. Thank you.
Kathryn Fairhust and Steve Jones took part in this years Brompton World Championships and…. they did rather well. Here’s Kathryn’s report, with a post script from Steve.
Miles Back 26 Aug 11
It was a really fun day out – part of the big ‘Bike Blenheim’ event. Last year I did the proper time trial – I couldn’t decide what to do this year, I sort of wanted to do both, but never got round to signing up for the time trial so that decided that. Sarah Storey won the ladies’ time trial very impressively. Michael Hutchinson won both the men’s time trial and the Brompton World Championships – whoosh! Seriously speedy.
Anyhow the Brompton World Championships is held every year, and has a few feeder National Championships (in America, Taiwan, Japan and Spain I think). I’m not sure if it’s the only World Championships that anybody can enter provided that they can pay and they have the right equipment and the right attire – but seems a good way to get in to me!
Both Steven and I signed up – we had to make a guess at our finishing times for the 2 laps of a 6.5k (hilly and bendy and of course slightly distractingly scenic) course – we both went for 25-30 mins which put us in the start wave behind the super elite chaps. And proved to be accurate – though only just for Steven so I think he should be promoted next year.
Like the Smithfield race it’s a running start where you dash to your bike and have to unfold it and then jump on but in this one the clock doesn’t start until you pass a start line a bit further on – though there’s obviously an advantage in trying to get ahead of the rest of your wave. You also have to be dressed appropriately in something like you might wear to work – which includes a tie for women which is a little strange.
I had a flying start – way ahead of Steven who promptly caught me up on the first big incline. A good first lap though but at the start of the second I felt really quite grim – being folded up double on a Brompton maybe isn’t the best position or I’m just not fit enough for it. I had a bit of a second wind near the finishing line and headed past quite a few people.
No idea where you’ve placed though until the next day, though we both knew we’d done okay-ish. Steven ended up finishing 39th overall (34th in the male open) in 25:02 and I was 5th in the female open (one female vet placed higher so 6th of all the women in the world!) – which is a slightly less impressive 154th overall in 28:06. Annoying the third placed woman (champion of America) was only 27:34 so something to aim for next time.
There were about 700 people ‘racing’ of whom I think about 125 were women and one was dressed as Big Ben and another as Rupert the Bear.
For a while my very antique Brompton has been giving me grief as when you fold it up and then pick it up it promptly unfolds itself, which isn’t the point. I’ve had a few mechanics look at it, and on Wednesday I took it in again as it’s got worse, and it has now been condemned as not safe by the bike mechanic. The main hinge on the frame is bent and corroded, so could break and then I’d end up going over the handlebars and straight down, which clearly is a bad idea, so I’m hunting for a new one. I’m thinking this might be an opportunity to get a better one in a prettier colour…
There’s a lovely little video at (see below), which if you look closely enough I make a starring appearance. Steven may well also but the men are harder to distinguish from each other.
Kathryn Fairhurst
PS. I was particularly happy as I narrowly won a good battle
with another, obviously experienced, rider who I later found out was the
Ludlow CC champion for the past few years!
Steve Jones
Mark and Arabella reenact some of the best moments of their tandem ride.
Jayne Payne, Willesden Cycling Club, has firmly established herself in the top ten this season and moves up to third thanks to a string of strong performances culminating in victory at the Team Quest Women’s Crits.
Rank Rider Club Name Region Points
1 Hannah Barnes Motorpoint Central 276
2 Lucy Garner Motorpoint East Midlands 231
3 Jayne Payne Willesden Central 207
4 Hannah Rich Horizon Wales 198
5 Hannah Walker Motorpoint North West 176
I’ve just had a look at the data and Mike-the-Bike 80hour Brevet still looks a goer. He is currently at 74hr 41mn with 64km left to ride to Paris. Go Mike – you can do it.
Tal should also finish in under 80 hours too. Mel is at Villaines with 61hr 11mn recorded so far, he has a 150km ride back to Paris, so he should be capable of going under 70 hours, if he does not need a sleep stop.
All the data on the Willesden riders can be found here
Miles Back
21:02 24 Aug 2011
For all us Wendy fans I’m afraid the game is up. I spoke to Vyv earlier this evening who confirmed that Wendy had climbed off between Carhaix and Loudeac. The time she lost as a result of her being struck down by another rider plus the swelling to her knee and elbow meant that she had to stop. It was clearly the right thing to do.
The rider who caused the collision had fully realised what he had done, but he did not have the decency to stop to help. Instead he chose to ride off, leaving Wendy at the side of the road with a buckled wheel and unknown injuries. To that rider I have the following words, when you return home give all your bikes away, take all your cycling jerseys and all your cycling mementos and watch them burn. Never ever again climb on a bike again, nor ever watch a cycle race or ever speak about our beloved sport again – you are unworthy of the brotherhood of cyclists.
The good news is that Wendy has by now made her way back to Paris where Jim has arrived to meet her. Wendy had the fitness and mental strength to finish this ride, she has proved that to all of us over the past year of qualifying. She undertook this event with the respect that it demands and she was not found to be wanting.
I have some more positive news about Yoshi, He has somehow become separated from his transponder, which explains why his times have not been showing. I understand he is making his way back to Paris but is suffering from stomach problems and is eating very little apart from a few grains of rice. Yoshi is made of resolute material and will somehow finish I’m sure.
Miles Back
20:30 24 Aug 2011
Martin Lucas completed the Paris-Brest this morning at 2:46am – I hope they let him into his hotel room at that hour! Well done Martin.
Wendy may be taking some much needed sleep at Carhaix as she has not reported into Loudeac just yet. I think she may have only had 90 minutes sleep since leaving Paris on Sunday night.
I am not sure what has happened to Yoshi, he left Loudeac for Brest but there is no sign of him appearing at any of the other controls down the line.
Mike-the-Bike has arrived at Fougeres in 58hr 21mn, he has to complete the remaining 300km to Paris in under 80hours to gain his coverted Vedette brevet. That’s a pace of around 15kph, which should be within Mike’s comfort zone.
All our other riders are at the Willesden Camp at Loudeac. This will be closing later this morning and moving to Montagne for the final support tonight.
Full details of the progress of all the riders is here.
Miles Back
07:20 – 22 Aug 11
Jim Mears has called me to say that Wendy has had a bit of a spill on her way to Brest. A rider overtook her far too closely, clipped her arm and knocked her off. She has hurt her knee and elbow as well as buckling her front wheel. The wheel has been sorted and she is soldiering on, brave lass.
Yoshi is the only rider not to have reach Brest yet. Martin is getting within smelling distance of Paris and I feel sure he will be there before my bulletin tomorrow morning.
Vyv has told me that the weather has been poor over the last 24 hours with thunderstorms and heavy rain for the riders as well as the support crew. They should really try holding this event in the summer.
I’m sure Gladys will be rushing out membership forms to Camp Willesden at Loudeac as we seem to have acquired a few new riders!
Full details of the riders can be found here
Miles Back – 18:40 23 Aug 11
Just a brief update – I had a txt from Vyv at 5:00am this morning saying that all our riders had left the Willesden camp at Loudeac and that the support team were now trying to get some sleep.
Mike the Bike, Peter K. and Colin A. have now reached Brest. I think Martin is probably getting his first sleep stop at Carhaix on the way back – it looks as though he’ll be back in Paris in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Full details here
Miles Back
07:40 23/08/11
Final update for today (it takes ages!). The big news is that Martin Lucas has reached the turn in Brest in a shade under 26 hours. That’s an average of 23.8 km/h for the 618km including all stops. Chapeau Martin.
All riders with the exception of Mel K (he didn’t start until this morning!) have reached Tinteniac. The Willesden Support camp at Loudeac is steadying it self for a very busy night as our riders start to arrive there. Good luck Marianne, Vyv and Steve!
I had a question from Gladys asking why Wendy has been left off the list. As far as I can see she is on the list and is certainly making progress towards her sleeping bag at Loudeac.
I notice a number of our riders do not have a check-in time for Fougeres, I suspect this may be a glitch with the transponder system, which is a new innovation for 2011.
For details of all Willesden riders click here
I’ll do another bulletin tomorrow. In the meantime Night all!
Miles Back
Every four years (even) more madness takes over the Willesden CC as Paris-Brest fever rapidly spreads. A highly contagious condition that has affected some members six or seven times. Yesterday the 17th Paris-Brest started with 22 Willesden riders on the support line and a support crew of three (Marie, Vyv and Steve Oliver) who will be based at Loudeac and Montagne.
Martin Lucas is already established himself at the head of the course with 364km completed an an average speed of 25.4kph (including stops) – he is already a quarter of the way around the course and he’s not been riding a full day yet!
Full details of all the riders and their progress can be found here – I’ll try to update this a couple of times a day through this week.
Miles Back (wishing he was there)
