Willesden Cycling Club

Snapped on Friday in central London – looks like a certain esteemed member of the Willesden CC is out campaigning on his battle-bike. Would that be a vote for the “green” party?

Miles Back

I took part in the Thames Velo Road Race on Sunday on the Great Milton Circuit.

The race was quite steady and the course was quite wet from the rain the previous nights rain. I was quite settled in the middle of the bunch however was following a wheel and accidently end up in a break on the start of lap 2.

The break was caught quite quickly as the bunch reacted to the move. I wasn’t very well placed in the sprint and ended up starting my sprint from quite far back in the bunch but I managed to finish in the top 20.

Hopefully I am starting to get some fitness but it’s not quite there yet.

Ian Why gives us a sneak preview of what is shortly going to appear at the Hillingdon circuit!!

John Williams and Richard Jerome both rode the E/1/2/3 race and Lance Woodman rode the 4th cat race.

The E/1/2/3 was very fast with an average speed nearing 28mph, one of the laps was an average of 32mph!

The strong winds also made it very hard for anyone to get near the front, Tony Gibb was riding like a motorbike at the front of the bunch.

John hasn’t got his new bike set up correctly yet and found himself running out of gears and was dropped towards the end of the race. Full results have not been published, however Richard Jerome finished in the top 20 somewhere.

I went to Herne Hill on Sunday. I like Herne Hill – it has a serenity about it, off the track anyway. On the track it was a different matter.

There was a Women’s Omnium event, as well as A & B men and juniors, but as often is the way, only two women turned up – me and my mate, ace-sprinter, Cassie Gledhill. For the most part we were racing with the B category men ( for ‘men’ , read skinny, little, pushy VCL boys). As you gather from my tone, I didn’t do well. When I wasn’t being annihilated by Cassie, I was being forced on to the Cote d’Azure by the boys. I wasn’t feeling my best and I think I might have been paying the price for being a filthy show-off the day before at the WCC track training day at Welwn.

Cassie and I had one event on our own – the 500m sprint. She slowed down as we approached the finish as I had asked her beforehand not to embarrass me too much.

I managed to stay in the 20k scratch, held at the end of the day, which neither Cassie nor compulsive trainer and top Gragario, Mike Diggins managed to do. I was feeling quite pleased with myself until I realised that it was a ruse so they could do a ‘Yogi Bear’ on my provos!

Anyway, Cassie and I caught up on gossip, had a bit of a pedal, and burnt the tips of our noses, and Mike Diggins was relegated for carving up a foul-mouthed teenager.

So we all had a really lovely day!

Jayne

UPDATE – Pictures available here

On Saturday, Willesden’s finest road racers took part in the Westerley CC crit held at Hillingdon circuit.

John Williams, Rich Cooper, Tom London, Peter Dixon and Richard Jerome were all present and with such a large WCC turn out the team were optimistic.

The race started with a few attacks but once the race settled down our lads were pretty comfortable. Pete Dixon was very active at the front of the race and the rest of the team were watching the moves very closely.

With 5 laps to go, Richard Jerome was planning to lead out Tom London and things were going well until the last lap when a rider came off around the bottom corner which caused chaos in the bunch.

The race was split into two with only Pete Dixon managing to stay in with the front bunch. Pete managed to claim 8th place in the sprint (well done Pete).

The rest of the race came in behind and Rich Cooper was the next best placed rider in roughly 15th position.

I found this Times article to be a fascinating insight into his motivation and the factors that drive him. See http://is.gd/bxSCX

John Davies
19 Apr 2010

We are sorry to report that Neville Chanin was found dead on Friday 16 April, in a B&B in Winchester, where he was on his way home from a cycling trip abroad.

Over the next 10 days the Willesden is organising an impressive array of events. It all kicks off this Saturday….

Sat 17 Apr 2010
Track training – Free to WCC members
Organised by our track supremo Tony Woodford

Sun 18 Apr 2010
Audax 100km – 10 Thames Bridges.
Mick Hill has put together a great ride starting from Boulter’s Lock. A shorter 60km route is also available.

Wed 21 Apr 2010
Audax 100km
Rocco’s Wonderful Wednesday ride, starting from Ruislip.

Sat 24 Apr 2010
Audax 400km – Severn Across.
Chris Beynon’s annual ride ride from Chalfont St Peter to Chepstow and back. Through villages with fab names such as Lower Swell(honest!), Guiting Power and Yat Rock.

Wed 28 April 2010
Auadax 100km – Riverside to Riverside
Another Mick Hill special run. With the turn at a cafe on the bank of the Thames.

Sat 01 May to Mon 03 May
Isle of Wight Randonnee
Vyv Baker is organising two nights B&B in the IoW over the Bank Holiday weekend. On the Sunday we’ll ride the 100km Round the island randonnee. A fantastic event in the company of several thousand riders and lots of cake.

What have I missed out?

Miles Back
16 Apr 2010

The Willesden road team will be out in force on Saturday to ride the Westerley CC spring criterium at Hillingdon circuit.

Confirmed so far are –

Tom London
John Williams
Rich Cooper
Pete Dixon
Richard Jerome
Chris (Jumbo) James

Rumour has it that they are all going like a bag of spanners, but you never know what might happen.

If you fancy watching them , the race starts at 1:30pm and will be around an hour in length.

With Richard Jerome still suffering from a cold and Rich Cooper at a Spice girls gig, this left John Williams to fly the Willesden flag.

Report from John…..

Not exactly a glorious start to the season but enjoyable(ish) none the less. Un-surprisingly a large field in both races and with a howling North easterly making it very, very fast on the back straight and then like hitting a wall on the start/finish for the lads on the front and a mad, brake squealing frenzy behind. We caught the 4ths after 4 Laps (!!) on the start finish. There was the inevitable coming together and I got punted off onto the grass. Luckily my superior bike handling skills kept me upright (ahem). They didn’t keep me in the race though. I couldn’t get back on as the group was going down the back straight at 34+mph and i couldn’t get near that by myself. I had a word with the commisaire and took a lap out and got back on. As i was towards the back of the group i dropped out at one to go and missed the last lap stupidity. Mark Wilmott got taken out, he didn’t look badly hurt.

Two lessons learned:

1. 50×12 is not enough.
2. I’m very unfit.

Thursday evening performance training resumes at Hillingdon Circuit from this Thursday 15th April 2010

Open for warming up from 6.00 PM – training session starts at 6:30 PM

Hillingdon Cycle Circuit,
Minet Park,
Springfield Road,
Hayes,
Middlesex,
UB4 0LF

Suitable for all novice to elite riders who want to improve their performance in either races, sportives, and/or time trials. The training will consist of group riding with riders of similar ability in groups of six to eight.

Sessions will be lead by qualified BC coaches

Signing on and light refreshments available

Helmets must be worn

Adults (18 years plus) £3 per session
Under 18s (14 to 17 years old) £2 per session

Parental consent required for all riders under 18 years of age
Younger riders may be accepted at the discretion of the Lead Coach

Brian Wright
Willesden Coach

Not sure if anyone from the Willesden was on this ride over the weekend, I think Hippy has done something similar in the past. Looks to be a lot of fun and more comfy than Lycra!

More details at http://tweedrun.com/

Miles Back
12 Apr 2010