Willesden Cycling Club

Another LVRC at Hillingdon last Wednesday with four Willesden riders taking part after a very fast race with the field splitting on several occasions it was a strung out bunch that contested the last 5 laps ready for the sprint. Both Chris James and Tony Woodford making it through to the front half of the pack. Tony Woodford winning the over 60 with Chris James second. Unfortunately the official result has Eric Martin as the winner but Eric agrees that both Tony and Chris finished in front the organiser has agreed that some riders were missed by the camera.

Some Willesden members may remember a short stumpy looking fella by the name of Gavin Smith who used to ride for the Willesden.

Well he left the Willesden and moved back to his native South Africa and has really hit the big time!

Gavin is now the National scratch race champion of South Africa!!!

Well done Gavin.

You can follow stumpy on Twitter here.

Jayne did so well at Herne Hill that she’s now made 2nd cat!

Congratulations Jayne!!!

Meurig James returned to take part in the West London Combine 10 at Gt. Missenden and celebrated by posting the fastest time out of the 72 riders a 59.10!

Stuart Birnie won the club’s 1st handicap award in 1.03.42, Lance Woodman finished in 1.08.28 and Jon Whitton riding in his first 25 recorded 1.10.23.

Jayne Payne took to the Track at Herne Hilll and took 2nd place in the Omnnium by winning the Devil take the Hindmost, 2nd in the 10lap scratch and 3rd in the 12 lap points. She then went on to win the woman’s 20Km.

Mick Hill organised a 100Km Audax event from Boulters Lock which took in rides over 10 bridges in which 66 riders took part including 10 club members.

The Timetrialist were out and about, Gill Reynolds took the fastest lady award in the Southgate 10 at Hertford on Sunday with a 27.31 after finishing 2nd in the Oxford City 10 on Saturday in 26.39.

Chris James rode his first event of the season the Farnborough and Camberley 25 at Bentley and recorded a 1.06.08. Lance Woodman and Brian Moon travelled down to Andover to finish in 24.53 and 27.00.

Lance having ridden on Wednesday evening at Hillingdon finishing in 27.09 and clubmate Chris James recording the same time.

The road racers were out taking part in the Archer Junior Road Race on the Hughenden Valley Circuit on Sunday. John Williams punctured on the first lap and Simon Wicks found the going too fast after he failed to catch the breakaway.

Last Wednesday the 8th April saw the first LVRC event at Hillingdon with 4 Willesden riders taking part. The race was very fast and split on many occasions but coming back together time after time. Going into the last few laps Chris James and Tony Woodford were still in the main pack. On the final lap the speed split the bunch even more with Tony Woodford finishing in the front half of the race and taking second in the over 60 category with Chris James not far behind in the main pack.

Hi Guys,

I saw Rocco last Tuesday and he was looking a lot better.
He was also back to his grumpy old self so he must be getting better!!
He had a kidney removed because of a growth on it. He hasn’t had the results
back yet which I guess could be a good sign. It will take at least 6 weeks
for him to recover so he should not be back on his bike for a while but i
doubt if that will stop him!!
He may well be at the club on Tuesday.

Cheers Ian

Ever feel like going round in circles? Good news…

Prime Coaching’s Thursday evening training sessions at Hillingdon Cycle Circuit re-start for the season on Thursday 16th April.

Signing on opens at 6 PM in Minet Lodge before warming-up on the Circuit,
the session starts promptly at 6.30 PM.

As usual light refreshments are available after the session in Minet Lodge.

And the cost per session remains £3 for adults (16 years plus) and £1.50
for youths.

(regards from Nick Hobbs)

The Maidenhead DCC club events start this week, and the first three are being held on the same course as the District GHS (4th July). This is an ideal opportunity for your junior members to come and ride the course and get used to the lie of the land.

There are two events on each of these three weeks. The first is a 5 mile, single circuit, for 12-17 age group; the second a full 10 for ages 12+

Day Date Time Dist. Course Notes
Thu 2 Apr 18:15 5 HCC234 Jv/Jn
Thu 2 Apr 18:30 10 HCC234
Thu 9 Apr 18:30 5 HCC234 Jv/Jn
Thu 9 Apr 18:45 10 HCC234
Thu 16 Apr 18:30 5 HCC234 Jv/Jn
Thu 16 Apr 19:00 10 HCC234

All these events are C&TI. Lights & helmet are strongly recommended.
Entry for the 10 mile is £2 (12-17) and £3 (18+).
Entry for the 5 mile is free (I’m paying).

Kind regards,
Andrew Small.
07770 864152

Sorry for the delay – the club runs list has been updated now, you will find details in the calendar page.

Thanks.

Just a reminder that Prime have track training this Saturday at Welwyn and all are welcome if you do not have a track bike you can hire one. Please arrive at 1.30 for a start at 2.00.

Also for those over 40 the LVRC races start at Hillingdon on Wednesday 8th April at 7.00 pm lets try and get a Willesden team together it only cost £16.00 to join the LVRC details can be found on www.lvrc.org or give me a call if you want any further details about the events.

Tony Woodford

07951191620.

No news on the road racing section of the club. I think they get dizzy riding round in circles at Hillingdon Circuit! Thank goodness for the time trialists.

They were in action in the London Vets 10mile event which started at Great Missenden. In spite of the frosty morning and the loss of an hour’s sleep due to the start of British Summer Time, Pete Cookson returned in 27.05, Lance Woodman 27.46, Chris James 28.03 and Gill Reynolds 28.23. They narrowly missed the team award but as Pete and Lance were recovering from colds they did well to ride at all. It was minus 3 degrees at 6.30 am when Chris left his house in Harrow Weald.
More next week- I hope

Gladys

On Sunday in the 25 mile club event on the Amersham Road Stuart Birnie was the fastest Willesden member recording a 1.03.14 to take 1st Handicap . This was in spite of having to stop twice for temporary traffic lights. Richard Jerome finished in 1.05.30. The strong headwind on the way out resulted in Brian Moon and Mike Jerome finishing in 1.22.02 and 1.30.48.

Good turnout for today’s race at Hillingdon cycle circuit where Richard Jerome, John Williams and Simon “Jane’s Bloke” all took part in the Cat 2/3/4 event.

To the surprise of all watching Simon, on the last lap, decided to produce a heroic effort and sprint from the back of the field. Unfortunately the grass verge, a couple of other riders and the tarmac all got in his way. Simon came down heavily and managed to receive a severe case of road rash. Ambulances (and Air-Ambulances) were called and he was shipped off to A&E for a quick MOT.

He says:
“Bit shaken. Went into shock so they called an ambulance. All rather embarrassing really and caused carnage! I won’t be sitting down for a few days…”

Other than that we are hoping for a speedy recovery…. that sprint was out of this world!

62 Lance Woodman Willesden CC 08:32
63 Richard Jerome Willesden CC 08:33
64 Mike Jerome Willesden CC 08:34
65 Brian Moon Willesden CC 08:35
66 Richard Cooper Willesden CC 08:36
67 David Walters Willesden CC 08:37
68 Stuart Birnie Willesden CC 08:38

Good luck!

Hi ALL,

Willesden CC are required to support this weekends 25 mile time trial. We will need to provide 3 marshalls for this weekend. If you can help, then please could you let me know as soon as possible. We currently have 5 willesden riders entering this weekends event, and the first riders off will be 08.01.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Suzz
surendra.patel@thomsonreuters.com

It was a beautiful day, and I set off full of anticipation/trepidation for deepest Hampshire and my first race of the season.

Thruxton circuit is 2.5miles long (well , kinda round with wiggley bits) and flatish with a long, slow rise . Interestingly, there didn’t seem to be any compensatory downhill part to the course.

There were 16 of us women – a bus load from Twickenham, a couple of London Dynamos, and a few from local clubs.

With my legs all scarred and scabby (I had been done over by the Gregarios in Majorca) and my ripped racing pants, I think I looked the part.

We set off at a very gentle pace and I was able to catch up on all the goss. It was like a cocktail party on wheels.

I think we had done one lap when I noticed that a girl had gone off the front. She seemed to hover about 50 yards off the front for ages before she started to extend her lead. We were still tootling along at about 20mph. I nipped up to the front smartish and asked the Twickers girls who it was . Bugger ! the worst news! Super-fit tri-athlete Natalie (Twickenham). ‘Well aren’t you going after her?’ I demanded, incredulously. ‘No, she’s too quick for us.’
Double bugger. ‘Well , I suppose I’d better have a go then.’

Off I went. It took me almost a whole lap to catch her: she was motoring along. I think the bunch had opened a bottle of wine and were passing round the vol au vents because there was no sight of them . Fortunately, Natalie wasn’t taking the shortest route round the circuit. She slowed up for me a bit too when she saw I was flagging. Once on her tail, we agreed to a 2-up. I should have stayed on her tail until I’d recovered properly because I could not maintain her pace, so she went on ahead of me.

By lap 8 I was pretty tired and I kept looking over my shoulder expecting to see the bunch bearing down on me.
I could see them behind the mens race, not that far away. I gathered myself and put my toe down – I couldn’t afford to get caught – there was no sprint left in me, and I didn’t want all my efforts to be wasted.

So… basically, Natalie and I did a 22.5mile TT, half a mile apart (the distance stayed fairly steady), and the bunch came in about 30s behind me.

I copped a tenner, and we all had a very nice day

The road racing really got going this weekend with 4 of our team taking part in various races.

Lance and John both took part in the Spring Chicken Road race, Lance’s first road race for many years ended in dissapointment as the fast pace at the start left Lance struggling with the pace. John faired slightly better however suffered with a puncture on the last lap.

At Hillingdon circuit a Willesden rider actually finished a race, Richard J and Simon were down to ride at Hillingdon circuit. Unfortunaly Simon could’t find the circuit and Richard couldn’t find his legs finishing 35th.

Still its only March!

UPDATE – Jayne Paine came 2nd in a 25mile womens circuit race at Thruxton on Sunday. Well done Jayne!

Just a reminder that the Westerly & Willesden QUIZ NIGHT is NEXT WEDNESDAY, 18th March at the Westerley clubroom 8:30 pm start Courtesy of our Question Master, Tim Childs.

Snacks will be provided, along with decent beer and good company.

Feel free to bring a guest.

Come and meet old friends … and a warm welcome to our new members, too!

Directions to the clubroom:
http://www.westerleycycling.org.uk/WCC-Contacts/WCC-Clubroom.htm

For more info contact Roland on
+44 (0)1753 885997
or
+44 (0)7909 681661

The road racing didn’t go so well this weekend.

Richard Jerome took part in a 70 mile road race on the Alford Crossways circuit Richard was dropped after 10 miles which he blames on lack of speed training and the terrible wind.

John Williams did much better on Saturday at Hog hill, he lasted until the 17th of 20 laps before being dropped.

Hopefully this should improve as the season continues!