Willesden Cycling Club

Happy Christmas to all Willesden CC members. Thank you to all of you who have made contributions to the blog site over the year.

Wishing you every speed and success for 2008

Miles Back

The weather was looking much better this Saturday and a field of 53 riders turned up for this weeks race. The race was fast with all of the big hitters trying their best to get away from the bunch. I got in a couple of breaks but neither of these came to anything.

I was well placed for the last 10 laps but with 2 laps to go a rider sat up in front on me causing me to have to swerve into the grass. I got back into the bunch in time for the sprint but I didn’t have the legs to make anything of it and finished in 33rd place.

Two riders were away from the bunch with 5 laps to go and were only caught in the last 150 metres. I little disappointed after the last two weeks success but it was good training.

I am planning to ride boxing day but this will depend on how hungover I am.

Merry Xmas to everyone!

Richard Jerome

Richard’s adapted bike for his Boxing Day Race.


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A few weeks ago a few of us took Simon out to lunch from his new quarters in Thames Ditton. Simon was in good spirits, especially as Janet Heyes was there! His leg is not so painful now, so wheelchair excursions are less of a trauma for him.

Sat indoors sufing, when I should really be doing something more productive, I found a couple photos of the Willesden on the PBP website.

Mel leaving Paris with the Vedettes. Anybody know who the others are?

(L-R) Steve, Darlene, Yoshi and Mike at the Paris finish

I have heard from Giordana that our kit will be made in Italy on 28th January. It will take a few days to get to them in the UK. Hopefully then, if all goes to schedule, we will get our new kit in early February 08.

Ray Kelly

Blimey!!!

I just nipped out of the house this afternoon for a few essential Christmas fripperies. What do I find when I walking back home in deepest Willesden? A Team Quest rider cycling right past my house. On Willesden CC holy ground!

Surely there must be a club rule against this? Hundreds probably

Gladys and Jean please scrutinise the rule book and report back urgently.

Miles Back

One of the more funky bands in the 2007 New Year’s Day parade from the Suncoast High School. No sign of the Willesden CC in this clip, but hey the band and entourage are dressed in Green!

John Wheatley has sent in details of the Chiltern Hundred Challenge 2008, which will be held on Sunday 1st June 2007. There are three rides available on the day. Full details are available on www.chiltern-hundred.org.uk .

Here are some of the headlines –

• The Gran Fondo will be 171km (107 miles) long, with ascent of 2,620m. The ride is an uncompromising romp across 171 km of the toughest and most picturesque terrain in the Chilterns. From Great Missenden the route runs north east through Chesham, Berkhamstead, to Dunstable Downs before heading south west along the Chilterns scarp slope.
• The Medio Fondo is 102km (63 miles) long climbing 1,730m. This event offers a tough 63 mile ride. This ride splits from the Gran Fondo shortly after the start and goes north through Ballinger Common before rejoining the Gran Fondo for the descent of Aston Hill en route to Wendover. It then follows the same route as the Gran Fondo to the finish.
• The Corto Fondo incorporating the Amersham Road Cycling Club 80km (50 mile) challenge. An undulating ride for all-comers. The route will be independent of the Gran Fondo and Medio Fondo and takes an undulating route across the Aylesbury plain before returning to the Chilterns and Great Missenden.
• The event will be much larger in 2008 with an entry limit of 400 riders on the line.
• All riders will be timed using transponder chips.
• For 2008 a team event will be added to the individual event.
• The HQ in Great Missenden.

Well again it was looking a bit dodgy with the weather on Saturday. It was raining all day and I wasn’t sure if I should ride, I’ve had a cold all week so I decided to take the car down so I didn’t have to ride homewith soaking wet clothes.

The first few laps were very dodgy whilst we all found out limits round the corners, the circuit was very wet and since my crash in August I’ve been a bit of a girl at cornering. After 4 laps the race split up into 2 and I am afraid I got caught out in the back half, I tried to get across to the other group but it was too late and the fast guys were really pushing at the front.

I spent the rest of the race doing my turns and we were picking up a few riders along the way. I was trying to conserve my energy for the sprint but at the same time I was determined to keep the speed up so we could keep catching riders. We were lapped with 5 laps to go and things got confusing. Some of our group decided to take advantage and get on the back of the fast group. We were quite frustrated at this and there was quite a bit of shouting going on, with all the confusion I didn’t realise we were on the last lap and the pace increased up the finishing straight. I still managed to get 3rd in the sprint (20th overall) which was good considering I wasn’t really prepared but I need to concentrate more next week as I think this is letting me down.

Results on http://www.surfprint.co.uk/imperialracingteam/results.html?

Richard Jerome

After a sober night at my work Xmas party I drove home in some of the worst rain I have ever driven in, wondering if the next day would be dry enoughfor the first race at Hillingdon for the Imperial winter series. I woke up to dry weather, a bit of sun oh and man flu!

After a bit of indecision I decided I may as well race and have a bit of fun, it makes a change from riding around in the cold and the dark.The race was lively from the start with a few keen riders going for it and there were a few breaks, most of which didn’t really amount to anything. I didn’t want to over do it because of my cold so I took it easy and promised myself I wouldn’t be tempted to do anything too energetic.

Not much to report for the first half of the race but I started to feel very uncomfortable in my right leg and realised that the adjustments I had made to my cleats might not have been a very good idea. It felt like I had the right cleat too far forward and was using my toes to pedal. This was becoming quite painful and I wasn’t sure how long I would last. I was determined to make something of the day so I planned to stay in the bunch and try and get something from the sprint finish.

This all went to plan until two riders got ahead of the bunch and seemed to look like they might get away, so with 3 laps to go I put my foot down and tried to get to them. I looked behind me and realised I was just dragging the whole bunch with me so I pulled over to the right to let someone else take a turn but there was no response. I decided to rest for the finish however with half a lap to go I was badly placed and there was a small crash in front of me, two riders came off and I was caught behind them and pleased to stay on the bike.

After checking the other riders were OK I got back on my bike and finished my lap. To top it off I got soaked on my ride back home. Not a great day’s racing but at least I got all my bad luck out in one race.

Richard Jerome

Ray Kelly has received the pre-production proofs for our new kit from Giodana.
Click on any of the images for an enlarged view.
Ray has corrected one error in the proofs, can you spot it?