July 2003

http://www.sherwoodcc.org.uk  

Ian Church (a member many years ago) and Matt Shaw have joined the club recently.

Neil Walker had an epic weekend when he broke Paul Etches’ 23-year-old “30” record with 1:05:52 and the next morning broke Nigel White’s record for the Oxton Bank Circuit. It was all too much for his immune system as he went down with a virus afterwards – better now though as witnessed by a 54:06 in the VC Chesterfield 25.

Tim Pigula won the Lloyd Coward & Portland Point road race in Dorset (he is at Exeter University) after breaking away with another rider on lap 7 of 21. Tim also won the Most Aggressive Rider prize.

Rob Stevens is making the most of what he threatens to be his last season with a 21:39 in the Heanor Clarion 10 and then a pb 21:14 in the Witham Whls event. Dave Woodward did 23:04 here and Wayne Bradley a 6-year best of 27:07. Woody also did a fast 57:11 in the Meersbook 25 and then a pb 1:59 in the VTTA 50.

Neil and Nigel White took second spot in the Kiveton Park 2-up at Cuckney (about 25 miles). Nigel was second two minutes behind Kevin Dawson in the Doncaster Whls Hilly 27 but beating Ian Dalton by 10 seconds. Nigel and Rob rode the LVRC Championships over 79 miles on a tough course. After an early break Nigel felt the lack of training miles (?!) and failed to finish. Rob also got shelled out. Nigel did finish the LVRC Tom Simpson Memorial Race but couldn’t do anything in the 40 mph sprint finish.

Nigel Moon was in the prizes with 3^rd in his category at the LVRC race at Barton on Humber.

Stephen Adams won the silver medal at the BSCA National Grass Track Champs on Sunday. He has ridden 4 national champs this year and has 2 silvers, a bronze and a 4th, with the circuit race still to come.
 
Our riders continue to dominate the juvenile racing in the Nottingham Track League. Stephen is the series leader with 63 points, Adrian Staiano is 2nd with 24 pts and James Horsepool (who missed the first few meetings) is 5th. There are regularly a dozen or so Juveniles competing on a Weds night. The 2-lap handicap is particularly exciting as cash prizes make everyone try harder. In recent weeks, Adrian has won this twice, Stephen (usually on scratch) once, and James has 2 seconds and a third.

Lesley Cliff won the over 50s gold in both the European Triathlon Champs in the Czech Republic and the UK Duathlon Champs in Swindon.

Chris Pearson was knocked off his bike recently at the Westdale Lane/Mapperley Plains junction (handy for Langdales!). Fortunately he was not seriously hurt but spent 4h being checked out in Casualty. He hopes to be back on his bike soon. Craig Watson has also injured his back – but this was at Disneyland on holiday, not on his bike!

CLUB NIGHTS

Monthly Club nights and open Committee Meetings are on Mondays at the Burton Rd Community Centre, (opposite Walker’s Garage) Carlton 7.30-9.30 p.m. The next two meetings are 28 July and 1 September.

CLUB RUNS

Club runs meet at the Shearing Hill/Burton Road junction on Saturdays at 9.30 a.m. and Sundays at 9.00 a.m. Wednesday runs meet at Lowdham War memorial 9.15 a.m. These still attract good numbers, sometimes the cafes can’t cope with the numbers – so make sure you carry emergency stocks!

Oxton Bank Circuit 15 June 2003 

Not a very popular event this year – only 2 riders despite the fine weather! Neil knocked 44 seconds off Nigel’s course record and both riders must have had lonely rides.

Timekeeper/handicapper Ryan & Wayne Bradley

3^rd 25-mile Time Trial 29 June 2003

A poor turn out again for this event on a fine sunny morning. I know we had riders in other open events over the weekend (which is good). Perhaps we need fewer club events in mid-season? Neil won beating the hour on the testing Granby course.

Timekeeper Craig Watson.

Acorn Points League

Neil now looks unbeatable in the Acorn Points competition. He seems to have the fitness to race hard on Saturdays in open events and then win the club events on Sunday mornings.

The points are awarded for club events (not tens) with 4, 3 and 2 points going to the first three on fastest and handicap times. (You need to fill in an entry form to get a handicap.) All other finishers get one point. The winner gets the Acorn Points Trophy.

OPEN 10 SATURDAY 5 JULY 2003

Rob has a full field of 120 and reserves. Fastest is Sam Barker. We have 3 riders plus 2 reserves entered. Nigel and Neil are seeded riders while injured Chris Pearson is third man. Wayne and Lesley are reserves. 

Start time is 5 pm finishing about 7.30 pm. Headquarters are the Long Bennington Sports Pavillion.

Rob Stevens, 2 Fiennes Crescent, The Park, Nottingham NG7 1ER Tel. 0115 9480732

NOTTINGHAM –SKEGNESS RACE 7 SEPTEMBER

If we are to hire a coach for the above event, I need a deposit of £5 by 27 July. You can race, ride there at leisure or just go on the coach for a day out. If we don’t have enough bookings for a coach or mini-bus, riders will have to arrange their own transport for the return.

Evening Tens League

Nigel still leads the Senior Fastest League with nine wins out of nine starts – one more win gives him the maximum possible points.

Steve Jeremiah, Wayne Bradley and Giles White are battling for the Senior Handicap.

Stephen is leading both sections of the Junior League and has now done a personal course best of 24:48 – although I’m sure he’ll improve again.

Club BAR

Neil Walker leads the Club Best All Rounder (BAR), based on the best average speeds in club 10s, 25s and the Circuit TT, with a clear lead from Chris Draper, Chris Pearson and Dave Woodward.

Neil has an average speed over 26 mph. Can he hold off Nigel White who has not yet to ridden a club 25? 

FORTHCOMING CLUB TIME TRIALS 

The Club 25-mile Championships are on Sunday 20 July on the Granby course starting at 9 am from Barnstone village. The Halford Trophy will also be awarded to the handicap winner – so don’t forget to bring your entry form! 

Tuesday Evening Tens. Start Old Epperstone Rd 7:00pm enter on the line no entry form required.

Entry Fees £1 (Juveniles 50p) season tickets (covering all Club events) £15 (Juveniles £5).

FOR SALE/WANTED

Dave Ashcroft is after a cheap bike (58-60cm) with flat bars e-mail David.Ashcroft@boots.co.uk

Mick Fish has a pair of unused Diadora Stratos Pro road shoes (retail £120), carbon graphite soles, 3 velcro straps, Look/SPD/Time compatible size 43. £45 e-mail michaelfish@raleigh.co.uk

Steve Long has a Giant OCR 2003 team colours frame with carbon forks, excellent condition, size small  £200 tel 0115 9138647 or e-mail stephen.long2@ntlworld.com 

OPEN 25 (SLOWEST 120 RIDERS) SATURDAY 2 AUG –CROMELL 5 PM

Craig Watson invites entries and any offers of help for the Open 25 – details below.

DETAILS OF LOCAL FORTHCOMING OPEN EVENTS

Entries to the organiser by the Tuesday 10/11 days in advance.

Everything Went To Plan!!…What Plan? By Nigel Moreland

A solo unsupported trip from Lands End to John O Groats in 6 or so days.

After a fruitless 2002 when my goal to perform well in the 24Hr TT was scuppered by illness, this year started with great expectations. I had even built a new Bob Jackson 853 Lo-pro and following a solid winters training made up of long Peak district and Audax rides was ready to race after 4 years abstinence. I continued to rack in the miles, Audax every weekend, up until March when the mileage took its toll and presented me with an extremely sore knee.

Disillusioned with cycling and unable to train properly I decided to try a new form of cross training normally frowned upon by athletes-this involves going to Nottingham every Saturday night and drinking 10 pints of bitter followed by a calorie enriched delicacy called Doner Kebab. “Its great!” you ought to try it some time. I continued to cycle to work to keep my fitness ticking over but not cause further irritation to my now fragile knee.

Disillusioned with work I needed a break and a challenge so booked the following week off. I decided, as cyclists tend to do, to attempt Lands End to John O Groats- well I had been doing all of 20 miles a day, “how hard could it be?” Anyway due to my lack of fitness and state of mind- If I got fed up or fatigued I would just abandon the ride and go home, no pressure.

I decided that at this late stage I couldn’t be bothered to plan a pretty scenic route- I decided to use Lynne Taylor’s record route, this is mainly made up of “A” roads but is the shortest and quickest “Just what I need” also easy to navigate. I would carry full camping kit, or should I say Gore-Tex bivvy bag and basic cooking equipment. This made me self sufficient if necessary. “There might not be any shops in Scotland”.

Follow link for Route details: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/websites/kyleigh/pages/lands_jono.doc

Getting there

I booked a `one-way` hire car for Saturday 7th June and set off at 3 am as I had to drop the car off in Truro by midday. From Truro I caught a train to Penzance then cycled the 10 miles to Lands End. Anyone who knows Cornwall will realise there is not a flat piece of road in the county. This combined with a stiff head wind meant I arrived at Lands End panting, sweating and wondering if I had bitten off too much. “At least I’d have a tail wind on the first section”. Lack of sleep and only half the day left, meant any distance I did today was going to be a bonus.

Day 1 Land End to Okehampton  - 100 miles 12:30->18:00

Set off from Lands End in Bright conditions with a nice tail wind nothing really to say about today, on the infamous A30 all day. Much quieter than on a weekday, but still pretty mind numbing and dangerous. However I would say this is the only way to traverse Devon and Cornwall quickly. The scenic quieter roads tend to be very hilly making for slow progress. I stopped around 18:00 and decided since I had missed a night’s sleep I deserved a B&B. I found the Fountain Inn in Okehampton £45-00 a bit pricey for B&B but very nice. That evening following a refreshing shower I realised that it was sunnier than I had realised and I was now a nice shade of scarlet especially my forehead and upper arms. “Wasn’t expecting to get 100 miles in today”.

Day 2 Okehampton to Gloucester - 120 miles 09:30->18:00

Another gorgeous day and still a fair tail wind blowing. Although the sun was shining I had to hide my sunburnt areas under arm warmers and a cotton cap. I quickly reached the end of the A30 and negotiated Exeter ok. Now I was on much quieter roads heading for the A38 at Taunton. I was bowling along and enjoying the area reminiscing when this was my old stomping ground when I was posted to RAF Locking and riding for Weston Wheelers. Following one or two stiff climbs I was soon on the outskirts of Bristol. A nightmare to cycle through, even though it was Sunday afternoon it seemed to take ages to get through the city traffic and reach Thornbury. This is the start of numerous time trial courses based on the A38 and I've raced on the U18R and U7 countless times so knew exactly how far to the roundabouts, landmarks etc so broke the road up and timed myself through the various sections. The times are not available for print as a fully laden touring bike is not exactly fast! At this point being very hot in my Roubaix arm warmers I decided to call it a day and call in on old friends … Gill and Mark Peek, just to clarify, I’ve known them along time they are not particularly old…

I was offered a bed, my washing was done and hung on the line, I was plied with beer and numerous cups of coffee, a Chinese takeaway what more could a man ask for? Oh nearly forgot they had a huge bottle of Aftersun- bliss!

Day 3 Gloucester to Preston - 160 miles 09:30->21:30

Fully refreshed, fed and watered I headed for Worcester, again I was on familiar roads having spent 7 years at RAF Boddington and riding for Gloucester City. A beautiful day and still being pushed along by that tail wind. I knew today was mainly flat roads so hoped to cover a greater distance than previous days it still felt like Id hardly started. I quickly passed through Tewkesbury, Worcester, skirted Kidderminster and negotiated Wolverhampton. At 2pm I decided food was in order and stopped at a garden centre café at Gailey Island, another famous testers location. This meal of lasagne breathed new life into my legs and I was again full of energy as I bounded North I caught and dropped a couple of club cyclists around Wigan and kept pushing on. I really wanted to clear the conurbation of Lancashire towns in the evening when the traffic would be much quieter. The amount of traffic lights in this area is legendary- every 10 yards I think. Although this interrupted my progress, it was good sprint training- racing the suped up Nova’s. I eventually stopped for refreshments at a petrol station on the A6 leaving Preston. The light was failing so I decided on B&B because I deserved it. I had to argue with the B&B owner to put my bike somewhere secure, she just wanted me to lean it against the wall, “its only a bike”

Day 4 Preston to Middle of Nowhere (Beyond the Summit of the Devils Beef Tub) - 160 miles 09:30->21:30

Following an inadequate breakfast, I won’t be using this B&B again; I set off on the relatively quiet A6 through Garstang, another testers paradise, to Kendal. I was bonking out at this point so stopped for soup and scone before tackling Shap Fell, typical! What a time to be feeling weak. However, the gods were looking down on me and I had a tail wind that honestly felt like a hand pushing me in the middle of the back all the way up Shap. It was a doddle. It wasn’t the last time and I bet it won’t be the next time I climb it. I descended like a rocket into Penrith where the heavens opened for the first time on this trip, luckily I was outside a Safeway’s garage so just stopped undercover for more food. Shower over I made for Carlisle, here I got the shock of my life as I joined the A74, this is a 7 mile stretch of road that joins the M6 to the M74, it was truly frightening and not the best way to leave England. Relieved and thankful that I survived I turned off into Gretna Green where I was greeted by the sound of bagpipes, I think some fools were getting married, but I would like to think it was for me. Through Ecclefechan, Lockerbie and Johnstonebridge it was eerily quiet so made the most of the silence and had a 1-hour power nap in a field. By 7pm I was in Moffat and started the climb of the Devils Beef Tub (great name for a climb)- this road, the A701, linking Moffat to Edinburgh was the highlight of the trip absolutely stunning scenery-picture postcard stuff. I descended into a lush green valley and found an ideal bivvy spot in a small copse at the side of the road.

Day 5 Middle of Nowhere to Blair Athol -120 miles 07:00->20:00  (plus many more miles off-course)

It doesn’t get dark properly in Scotland at this time of year; I had camped at the side of a field full of sheep that kept me awake until 11pm when a sort of twilight kicked in. Unfortunately the sun came up at 4am. and I was woken by a chorus of lambs, I joined in with my rendition of the Jam classic “In a Crowd” which seemed quite apt “being in the middle of nowhere by myself and a field full of sheep”. No jokes please I’m from Yorkshire not Wales.

Concert over I had an early start and was soon on the inner ring road of Edinburgh. Disaster! I missed a sign and descended into the city centre. Not wanting to retrace my steps, it’s always up hill when you get lost, I asked several locals for directions to the Forth Road Bridge. Nobody knew!

I thought I was asking something difficult or speaking a foreign language with the responses I received. There was nothing for it I had to return the way I had descended. It was on this climb that my knee started to hurt. I eventually found the Forth Road Bridge and crossed on the cycle path, through Cowdenbeath, Milnathort, where I had to buy Ibuprofen, towards Perth. Again I misinterpreted the instructions and turned onto the A91 going the wrong direction, towards Stirling. There is nothing I hate more than turning around so I studied the map and found an alternative route that would take me to Perth. On reflection this was a good choice because the A934 that I took was much nicer than the A91 however it was quite a bit further and took a lot longer. By now my knee was quite painful, I had hoped to make Aviemore tonight but this was looking doubtful. Fed up of the constant pain and a day of getting lost I booked into a great hotel in Blair Athol, the Bridge of Tilt, after giving the owner my hard luck story I got a double room for a reduced price. A couple of tins of lager and a Dundee cake soon had the smile back on my face.

Day 6 Blair Athol to Helmsdale - 130 miles (against the odds) 09:00->21:30

Woke with a “stiffy”… knee that is! Popped a couple of Ibuprofen’s and was off on the last leg. I hoped to complete the ride today. I have never ridden on the A9 but have driven it and heard stories from other cyclists that are not very flattering. There is a Sustrans track that runs along side, I lasted about 100 yards on it. With a fully laden touring bike it was very bumpy and when the track changed direction my front wheel skipped and slipped on the gravely surface. Its great that cycle tracks are being provisioned but they can’t be deigned by a cyclist. I had to suffer the A9, which starts with the long climb of the Pass of Drumochter. I was forced to stop and put on leg warmers because my I just couldn’t get any mobility in my knee. I pressed on to Inverness, crossed the Moray Firth onto the Black Isle, over the Firth of Cromarty. Onto the final stretch, only 100 miles are remaining to Wick. All day I had been pedalling one-legged not trying to strain my sore knee too much- this now caused the Achilles tendon on the other leg to become very, very painful. So much so that I was unable to get out of the saddle to relieve the pressure on my behind or stretch my thigh muscles, uncomfortable is an understatement. I had to take regular breaks just to get a break from the discomfort. With daylight running out it was obvious I wasn’t going to complete the ride today- I headed for Helmsdale where I knew of a Scottish Youth Hostel, I stayed in a B&B around the corner. That’s another story?

Day 7 Helmsdale to John o Groats - 55 miles (09:00->12:30)

First major obstacle of the day was the climb(s) of Berriedale, surprisingly the pain from my Achilles had subsided completely and my knee was bearable. Following a long steady drag the road plummeted down to sea level and reared up the other side very steeply, this made a refreshing change from the rolling A9 that I had spent most of yesterday on. I was now keen to finish the ride, the road and landscape was surprisingly tedious, I pushed on at time trial pace into Wick where once again a well-timed deluge found me outside Sainsbury's, “time for lunch then”. I discovered in Wick that I had no chance of catching the 12:09 train to Inverness so would have to catch the only other train that day at 16:09. Shower over I headed for John O’Groats, 16 miles and 45 minutes later I crossed the finish line outside the hotel. Relieved and a little elated I enjoyed a celebratory cup of coffee and slice of cake before cycling back to Wick. Now for the hard part, Getting home.

Getting Back

The train from Wick to Inverness takes an age, 4-5 hours, depending on how many request stops are made I think. I arrived in Inverness at 21:15 and luckily, otherwise I was stranded in Inverness for the night, managed to get the bike and myself onto the London Euston sleeper as far as Crewe. After an uncomfortable and boring journey I arrived in Crewe at 05:00. The train from Crewe to Nottingham changes at Stoke, unfortunately Stoke station is undergoing major refurbishment so a bus service is in action to ferry passengers to Blythe Bridge. I had to get a “bike van” as some bus drivers refuse bikes. I eventually boarded a train to Nottingham at 07:30 and arrived home at around 10:00. What a journey! Approximately 18 hrs travelling.

http://www.sherwoodcc.org.uk