jim admires the sequins

Mick is impressed by the family silver

Clubnight discussion this Thursday 25th Feb

This Thursday evening we have reserved the back room at the clubroom to have a discussion on group riding and anything else you want to talk about. The aim of this is to help new riders with the club to fill in the back ground that everyone assumes everyone knows but is rarely explained.
If the evening is a success we will put on other evenings from time to time and may invite outside speakers. We are open to suggestions. Stories about activities like epic rides, End to End or Geneva-Nice or Cheam-Rome, Kennet & Avon for instance would be welcomed. Mick has suggested that Barry could talk about his racing trips to Belgium with the Juniors. Training, nutrition, sportives, equipment, the clubs website and IT facilities, using a sat nav etc could form an evening's discussion. Anyway we can discusss how this might develop. But only if you turn up at the clubroom on Thursday 25th Feb at 8.30pm. Let's give it a go.

Sunday Ride 21 February 2010 Croydon Titsey

Trevor Hughes rode from Cheam Station south side to meet Ev Quistorff who was leading the ride from the Swan & Sugar Loaf in South Croydon. The rain was heavy and the forecast bad so all you other keen cyclist were presumably tucked up in their warm beds. No matter, the two set off for a shorter ride to Titsey passed Addington Golf Course to one the highest points on the North Downs at nearly 900 feet in the fog and mist at Titsey. Then a fast ride back along the B269 through Warlingham to Purley. Trevor returned to Epsom some 27 miles ride from South Croydon at an average speed of 14.55 mph. There was heavy rain, lots of flooded roads and numerous potholes on the ride but, as Ev said, it was character building.

MTB: Kennet and Avon Canal.

This year's Kennet and Avon ride is planned to take place on Thursday, Friday, Saturday 6th, 7th, 8th May 2010.

Anyone interested in riding please confirm it by 6th April so that I can arrange the digs along the way.

Paul.

10 January 2010 Battersea Beer Festival

Paul M, Paul K, Trevor, Paul W and Ev at the Battersea Beer Fes this week. Preseason training you understand - well it’s advisable not to start something too strenuous too early and strain something! Mind you we could have suffered frostbite because they had left the hall windows open to cool the beer!

Sunday 7th February 2010 - MTB Ride to the Olympic Park.

Fifteen cyclist joined Bob Starey’s ride to the Olympic Park at Stratford The Clarencourt was represented by Steve Edgar, Dave Elliott, Paul Martin, Paul White, Bob Green, Mick O’Brian, Barry Gregory, Paul and Vicky Kelly and Trevor Hughes. Bob lead this wonderful ride through Beddington Park, West Croydon, Deptford, the London Docks to Bow along bye ways and parks. Seldom did we ride on a road. We crossed the river using the Greenwich foot tunnel. Opened on 4 August 1902, the tunnel replaced an expensive and sometimes unreliable ferry service, and was intended to allow workers living on the south side of the Thames to reach their workplaces in the London docks and shipyards then situated in or near the Isle of Dogs. We passed by the new Olympic football/athletic stadium. There was some 24 miles of riding on the flat with no hills and a gentle descent to London. There was a drink and food stop in Bow before the return journey.



The return journey from London to Cheam was via the Millennium Bridge, Clapham Common and Merton for an afternoon drink. Total ride distance for the day of approximately 45 miles.

Alps

Hello all.
A couple of years ago me and a mate from the San Fairy Ann club spent a few days in the French Alps, riding from Alpe D'Huez to Monaco. We had a fantastic time, riding in the famous Tour mountains is something spectacular and so & this year we're heading back with a slightly larger group (8 riders in total at the moment) to base ourselves near Bourg D'Oisans for a few days riding. At the moment we have a couple of spare places at the accomodation we've booked due to some drop outs, so I wondered if anyone might be interested in joing the fun?

The trip is on the 2nd bank holiday weekend in May - Flying out on 28th & back on 31st. The plan is to ride Alpe D'Huez on the Friday and then plan some routes around everyone's needs for the Saturday and Sunday. You don't need to be an elite climber, believe me there is a good mix of abilities coming along and we are just looking to enjoy the experience. We'll be staying in a Gite that we have used before which is very bike friendly (and very reasonable rates) in the mountain village of Sardonne, just a couple of miles from Bourg D'Oisans.

If anyone is interested in coming along, please let me know ASAP & I can give you the full details, an idea of costs etc. It will be a great few days in a relaxed atmosphere & some very good company.

Cheers

Alex

Off to the Olympics...

Off to the Olympic Stadium actually!

The picture Hennie didn't put in.

What a joy it was to browse through the Hennie Kuiper pictures Ev recently brought to our notice on this Blog. Late 70's early 80's, marvellous pictures of an era of heros, riding proper bikes, no hats so we could recognize them, nothing stuck in their ears or on their handlebars and pushing proper racing gears. What an old fart I am! I searched all through the pictures looking for one of the most dramatic moments in bike racing I ever saw on TV and it is there. http://www.flickr.com/photos/henniekuiper/3749388186/in/set-72157621681116938/
Hennie was away on his own with only a few kilometres to the finish of Paris-Roubaix, the Classic everyone wants to win. On a right hand bend his rear tyre rolled off and he slithered to a halt in the kerb. What a panic! Hennie's face was a picture of intensity. He flung down his bike, turned to look behind him for help and to see where the chasers were. He clapped his hands to hurry up the mechanic. He needed his spare bike but the lad came with a wheel and made a pigs ear of the change. Then another guy ran up with his complete bike and he was away again, still in the lead. The whole incident took only 30 seconds but it must have seemed like a lifetime to Hennie. He won on his own. Here he is with Mick in the square in Westouter at Gent-Wevelgem a few years ago when he was with Rabobank. I always thought he looked a bit like a young Millsy.

South Downs Lemming Trail

http://www.trailbreak.co.uk/lemming/index.php?go=about

Always one looking for new & exciting challenges, I'm considering giving this a go (see link above) - well it looks like a challenge so why not? I think I've secured a weekend release pass from the commandant - well, the wife hasn't actually said no, so I should be OK.

Anyone up for it?

Tuesday 2nd February 2010 Camelia Botnar, Cowfold. Knights Plants, Betchworth, 0945 & 1000, Colgate/50 miles. Dave Gill

As last week the fast and slower groups combined and started from Betchworth at 10am.
The roads were very wet with numerous dangerous pot holes but everyone survived unscathed if not a little muddy. Surprisingly there was still some evidence of snow which remained compacted in the center of some lanes. 50 mile round trip from Betchworth at average speed of 15.2 mph.

Hell of the Ashdown 31 January 2010

Andy Huddart said:-

Well I finished, I reckon they didn't bother checking some of the roads they sent us out on - they used the published route route rather than the icy route. There were a number of roads completely covered in ice including flat, downhill and uphill. I saw about 10 people go down including two uphill! All the ones I saw go down fell because they panicked and either braked or tried to turn. Some got off and walked and promply fell over, cycling shoes and cleats don't mix with ice. It was sometimes pretty awkward trying to pick your way along the road with people walking on the only bits you could cycle on. Anyway, didn't see anyone with more than bruised ego.

I did this with two of my brothers in law again although didn't see them much, one buggered off in front (he said he passed someone with Clarencourt clothing so I assume that this was Alex?) and I eventually gave up waiting for the other one. Elapsed time for me was 5:39 with cycling time of 5:09, I thought I might do better than this but the conditions didn't help and there were a lot of hills! The route was 67 miles and my computer says 5767 ft of climbing but my routing software (Bikeroutetoaster) gave this as a more like 4500ft, whichever, it was pretty hard including a short(ish!) 25% near the start and the "wall" (which was).

Alex Jalland said:-

I made it around with a cycling time of 5h03 though was walking quite a lot through the ice fields - can't say I was very impressed with the route selection on the day. I got through unscathed though. My Garmin said 4500 foot climbed, but this changed to 4900 when I downloaded it.

Jeremy Martin said:-

Respect to all who did hell. Sorry I whimped out.27 miles and 2 box hills was plenty for me!!!!!!!!

Hell froze over

Andy Huddart and I both managed to complete the Hell of the Ashdown yesterday, despite the presence of ice all over the route. It made for a testing ride (or walk in a lot of places) - full details to come in the weekly briefing sheet. I think I've managed to download the route....