Local Cycling News

Simon McLaughlin (Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers) took his Dorset hill climb form across to West Sussex to win the Southdown Velo event. Simon flew up Charlton Hill in 3:15 to comfortably win from Sebastian Ader (A3crg), 3:34 with Jon Glaysher (A3crg), 3:39, third. A puncture 8 minutes before the start, saw McLaughlin dash up the hill for another wheel, The perfect Warm Up!

Luke Gray (Baboco) has been callled up to the GB team for the next round of the world cyclo-cross cup. The Belgian round is at Koksijde on 26th November. Gray crashed heavily in his latest race at Ronse, some 15km from his Oudenaarde base in Belgium. He was unhurt and after a bike change managed to salvage 17th place.This week Gray is back in the UK for round 3 of the National trophy at Southampton.

Photos from Koppenberg cross.
Sundays event at Southampton Sports Centre has attracted a strong field. British Champion & Series leader Paul Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) can expect a tough challenge from 2nd place Jody Crawford (Hargroves Cycles) on what is a home "fixture" for the Hargroves Team. A strong Belgium contingent has entered, including round 2 winner, Jelle Brackman (Van De Verst CT). Racing starts at 11:02 with the Veteran men. The Elite race goes off at 14:45.


Vets at the Velodrome!

The first of Richard Eastham's "active at sixty" sessions at the track got lucky with the weather and was a great success.

"It stayed dry. Result!
We had 13 riders. Some never ridden fixed, some never ridden track. By the end of the session, all were whizzing around in a group, nice and neat and confident. One stayed down on the inner track most of the time but did get up to the blue on her own, a top effort. All seemed very pleased by the end. I think they'll be back for more!"

179 riders signed on for the Bournemouth Jubilee Wheelers 50 mile reliability trial, making it a huge success. The 50 mile event is the first of 4 reliability trials across the winter months. The 100km is up next on 4th December followed by the 75 on 15th January and finaly the 100 on 12th February.

Photos Reg Haskell


Road Test: Prendas Winter Gloves & Overshoes

Prendas Overshoes and Gloves
First impressions were great, I like the look, white on black always looks great I think, and both the overshoes and gloves looked very stylish. However UK winter miles demand function over form, Durability over style. White tends to only look good a few times then become “mucky” so time will tell. I have always been a fan of Prendas Ciclismo so I must declare an interest from the start. The overshoes were easy to put on, no struggling to pull them over your shoes; the new material is stretchy but fits nicely with no bulk.

I always ignore claims of “waterproof” I expect to get wet on a 4 hour ride in the rain! Water coming up from the road however is a different matter, and these overshoes do the job, as well as protecting your shoes from all the muck that seems to be on the roads in the winter. The windproof material keeps feet comfortable, if not cosy and worn with some good socks these overshoes will get me through the worst this winter throws at me.

Likewise the gloves, they kept me warm & dry, water running down your arm is impossible to keep out but spray coming up from the road is repelled. The glove size came up a little large, great in really cold weather as it allows for an inner pair but in milder conditions they can feel a bit loose. The elasticated wrist works fine but personally I prefer the older style Velcro fastener that allowed for adjustment and also fitted further up the arm. So far both gloves and overshoes have performed well and I am confident they will get me through the winter. If they can do that and still look good then I will be more than happy with them.

The Christmas Cracker Cyclocross
To be held at Wareham Forest by kind permission of Charborough Estates and The Forestry Commission
Sunday 18th December 2011
An event not to be missed. This a racers course, fast, wide, includes hard packed cinder/gravel, mud, sand and pine trails.
Part of The Wessex league, racing starts at 1030hrs with the U12’s followed by Youth 1100hrs, Vet/Ladies/Jun 1200hrs and finally Seniors at 1315hrs.
Mobile Catering & Toilets. Showers not provided
Prizes/Mechanical support by Cycle Experience
Event location: Bere Road, Wareham BH20 7PA
Come and have a great day out

Bournemouth's first Cycle & Tri Expo at the Solent Hall, Bournemouth International Centre is on Saturday 12th November. The Expo runs from 10:00 till 17:00 and entry is free. Supported by Primera Sports, most of the big names in the Cycle trade will be exhibiting. In addition there will be competitions throughout the day and representitives from most local clubs will be in attendance.

CC WEYMOUTH RELIABILITY RIDES

Sun 20 Nov
50k
09:00 Poundbury cyclesports

Sun
18 Dec
70k
Poundbury cyclesports

Sun
22 Jan
70k
Poundbury cyclesports

Sun
19 Feb
100k
Poundbury cyclesports

Local Cycling News

Luke Gray had a disappointing start to his Cyclo-Cross season in Belgium. After just one race his team manager decided “I was not on the team anymore” After some frantic “asking around” Gray managed to secure a deal with SL Carbons, who will be providing bikes and wheels for the National U23 Champion. Gray will be racing for the Baboco Cycling Team, the Belgian team that 3 times World Cyclo-Cross Champion Erwin Vervecken rode for. The former Hargroves rider was back in the UK last weekend, racing at Prospect Park, Reading in the latest round of the Wessex league. Suffering from a virus picked up a few days before the event Gray struggled to get on terms. Despite making the leading group of 5 he could not live with the pace and dropped back to eventually finish 5th, 2 minutes down on the winner Crispin Doyle (Swindon RC) “I was a little disappointed but I had my troubles in the week, I’ll be looking for better next time” Gray told “E D”

photo's by Lisa Lindstroem

CC Weymouth successfully defended the Hill Climb Trophy they first won last season. Playing the numbers game, Weymouth mobilised their troops to put riders on the start line and score counting points.

The Weymouth club also had the individual winner last time with Todd Preston, this year, with Preston not riding; the way was open for Simon McLaughlin (BJW) to take the title.

McLaughlin made it a clean sweep, winning all four rounds in what was a very popular series this year. Notable by their absence were the Bournemouth Arrow, with not one rider in any climb. CC Weymouth will start the defence of their crown on the 30th September 2012 on Portland, round 3; promoted by the Jubilee will be on Okeford Hill. At the time of writing the competition format remains the same. Official results have yet to be issued. (More images from the series on "E D" soon}

All interested parties are invited to a meeting at Moreton Village Hall to discuss next years road race series. This years co-operative approach worked well, with riders taking on the marshalling duties. The meeting is from 18:45 on Friday 4th November.

"Active at 60" Track Sessions

A Forest View!

Bob Jolliffe writes.........

Prospecting in tough park!
It might have been a parkland course but, according to New Forest CC’s Martyn Dymond, some steep climbs in the Bill Higson Memorial Cross at Reading, made it a bit of a brute.Martyn, who is currently the only New Forest member riding cyclo cross, took 16th place from the 73 competing in the veterans’ event in the Reading CC promotion at Prospect Park on Sunday.“It was all grass with some hilly climbs. It was the toughest course I’ve done all season by a long way,” said Martyn.Matt Woods of Hargroves Cycles took first place in the vets’ race from Sean Williams of Wight Mountain. Swindon Road Club’s Crispin Doyle was victorious in the senior race.The events were part of the Wessex League series.

High hills equals high heart rates!
Martyn was not the only New Forest CC member taking on some rigorous climbing on Sunday.Club president Roger Bacon, secretary Peter Weaver and up-and-coming time triallist Gary Lock tackled the 73 miles distance in the South Downs Sportive, while Mike Ahearn and Phil Collins took on the even bigger challenge of the 100-miler.According to Roger, Butser Hill was brutal, with a strong headwind for its full length while the one in six clamber up South Harting Hill was close to being a killer, sending heart rates soaring.But as a tired-sounding Roger reported: “We got up there. I’m still alive . . . just.”

Another Sunday ride option opensNigel Gemmell is organising regular Sunday rides in the eastern sector of the New Forest starting at the Heath Roundabout at Dibden at 8am. Nigel is also aiming to ride from Southampton to Barcelona in a week next June and wants to hear from anyone interested in going along with him on the sponsored ride to raise money for Southampton Hospital’s Eye Unit. Contact him on 07828 609763 or at ntg0963@excite.com .

Please keep "E D" informed of your clubs winter activities, reliability trials, events, anything that is going on involving two wheels.If you want it to appear on here just tell me about it!

Whiteways Hill Climb, CC Weymouth Hill Climb Champions!

Making it an unprecendented four wins out of four, Simon McLaughlin(BJW) took the individual title in the Inter-Club Hill Climb competition. A winner on Portland, Creech and Kingston, MaClaughlin blew the opposition away on his favourite climb, becoming the first man to achieve the "Grand Slam".

A strong, swirling wind scattered the riders across the hill, first in their faces, then from the side as they fought their way to the top.

Gary Dighton (Poole Wheelers) & James Horton (BJW) were the only two riders to offer a challenge to the winged McLaughlin, with the Poole man taking 2nd but at 30 seconds it proved a token challenge.

CC Weymouth won the coveted team award and thoroughly desreved too. They lacked an individual challenger but packed out the field in all four events scoring valuable points, and succsfully defending the title they won for the first time last year.

Heidi Gould (CC Weymouth)also won all four events, although sometimes she was only racing against herself. However you can only beat who crosses the start line and Heidi contributed a good haul of points for her team.

The west Dorset upstarts certainly gave their big town rivals, Poole Wheelers and Bournemouth Jubilee a bloody nose, in the nicest possible way of course. This year's Inter Club Hill Climb competition has been a great success. Good weather, no doubt has helped with the high number of riders but the emphasis on the team competition is the real key to the series success.

So the bragging rights stay with Weymouth for another year but hostilities will resume again on Portland Hill October 2012, surely they cannot make it a hatrick of wins?

Provisional Result

1,S MCLAUGHLIN (BJW) 7:23:32
2, G DIGHTON (PW) 7:53:78
3, J HORTON (BJW) 7:57:07
4, B RIGLAR (CCW) 8:06

5, M KUMM (PW) 8:17
6, H FIELDING (PW) 8:24

7, M ALDRIDGE (PW) 8:32
8, A GRAHAM (BJW) 8:33
9, R WESTON (PW) 8:37

10,J THACKER (VCSTR)8:39
11,D HICKS (BJW) 8:41:99

12,J CLEMAS (BJW) 8:43:95
13,M MERRITT (CCW) 9:05:14
14,S PYE (BJW) 9:08:08
15,J WICKHAM (CCW) 9:14
16,S PINK (CCW) 9:16

17,P EVANS (BJW) 9:20
18,C ROWE (BJW) 9:23:74
19,H BEVAN (PW) 9:23
20,M FISHER (BJW) 9:35
21,J FULLER (BJW) 9:43
22,J SMITH (CCW) 9:54:73
23,D MATTHEWS (CCW) 10:16
24,A JACKSON (CCW) 10:17
25,HEIDI GOULD (CCW) 10:38:09
26,H PANKHURST (PW) 10:41:01
27,J CHAPMAN (CCW) 10:49:76
27,D CAMMS (CCW) 10:49:76
29,W WILSON (CCW) 10:57:36
30,P GALE (CCW) 11:08:42
31,F NEWTON (WRC) 11:49:92
32,S CARRINGTON(CCW) 12:35
33,R GOULD (CCW) 15:39

ALL RESULTS ARE PROVISIONAL(Three riders times were recorded,no 34,35,36, but no names on Start Sheet. 9:03, 9:23 & 9:38)

Local Cycling News

Poole wheelers brought the local time trial season to a close with the final round of the National Circuit Series. The competition has been run since 1995 in pretty much the same format and was seen as an antidote to dual-carriageway courses. Rudy Project have sponsored the series since 1999, the vets competition was changed to include "target time", an extra round was added in the early noughties making 8 and regional rounds came and went. Over this time entries have remained fairly stable but never spectacular, with riders scoring points in their "best 5 from 8 rides" the final round has often been a dead rubber. This year's overall winer, Matt Bottrill (I-ride.co.uk) had wrapped up the title with two rounds remaining. The same also for Michelle King (Team Jewson MI Racing) in the women's competition.

None of this however is any fault of the Poole Wheelers, who put on an excellent event, with warm autumn sunshine making it an enjoyable afternoonn's sport!In addition, £115 was raised for the Rob Jefferies velo youth fund. Fresh from riding the Tour of Britain, Dutchman Wouter Sybrandy (Sigma Sport-Specialzed) stormed to an emphatic win, clocking 1:05:46. Poole-Based Adam Topham (High Wycombe) was a distant second, 2:21 down. Topham was eligible for the 1 lap veteran race, which he would have won but opted to ride the 2 lap senior event. Veteran Terry Icke and Junior's Harrison Fielding & Ryan Weston won the team prize for the Poole Wheelers.

Talk at the HQ was of British Cycling license points being on offer to increase entries. That remains to be seen but next season's series kicks off in the East Midlands on March 25th.

The Inter-Club hill climb competition reaches its conclusion on Whiteways Hill this Sunday, with CC Weymouth favourites to win the Team Title.

Having won the trophy for the first time last year, the Weymouth club was not going to let it go without a fight. From the very first round at Portland they have been out in force, a tactic that has rewarded them with plenty of points.

Both the Poole Wheelers & the Bournemouth Jubilee have a bigger membership but both have failed to get riders on the start line. Indeed, the Jubilee had more riders watching at last weeks Kingston event than the Poole club had riding! (Myself included), this may well have cost them the title. The individual crown looks destined to go to Simon McLaughlin (BJW), who won the latest round on Kingston Hill.

It’s hard to see anyone beating McLaughlin; he is climbing well and won on Whiteways last year. The daunting Whiteways ascent starts off fairly flat, almost benign but two thirds of the way up, the hill bears its teeth as it dog-legs right toward the coast. The slope ramps up again to the left and with the chequered board in sight riders can see the end of their season. The finish line however, never seems to come and valuable time can be lost on the run-in. High above the lost village of Tyneham in the army ranges, the 2011 title will be decided!

Daniel Lloyd (Garmin-Cervelo) had a disappointing end to his season, breaking his collar bone in a crash in the Tour of Lombardy in Italy.

“We hit this fairly slow corner,I hit a hole in the road both my arms slipped off the bars and that was it” said the Queens Park based professional. Lloyd still does not have a contract for 2012, there is still a chance he may stay with Garmin-Cervelo but with the season over Lloyd is considering his options.

Team UK Youth replica kit available
We have some 2011 Team UK Youth cycling kit left before the new design comes in next season - see www.teamukyouth.co.uk
Limited amount so first come first served. They are at around cost price, payment can be done by cash on collection or via paypal to louis@ukyouth.org A couple of quid extra if posting needed.
Please help spread the word and forward this on to anyone you think might be interested if you can. Sample pics attached of what it looks like. Great quality Italian made kit.
Contact Louis Bonney, louis@ukyouth.org
The Charity, UK YOUTH has a base at the Avon Tyrrell Activity Centre,near Bransgore in the New Forest.
Short sleeve jersey - sell at £30.00 each S x 2
Long sleeve thermopile jersey - sell at £45.00 each XL x 3 L x 1 M x 2 S x 3
Bib shorts - sell at £40.00 each XL x 1 L x 3 S x 4