Christmas Lunch Ride

For anyone planning to ride out to the Christmas Lunch on Saturday 11th December, we will be meeting as usual at the Spread Eagle, Lecester Bowdens at Epsom Crossroads - 10.am. (Don't sit on the steps!!)

Hope the snow will have melted by then and look forward to seeing you.

Ottershaw Win

It my last road race of the season today at Ottershaw and the final of the three race series. Having finished 15th on race one and 7th last week, I was lying 8th overall. After last weeks heavy rain it was good to get a dry and bright race even if it turned colder again. This last race returned to Staple Hill circuit for 9 laps before moving on to 9 laps of the Valley End circuit.

Staple Hill was fast with continous attacking but nothing staying clear for long before the fast moving bunch caught up. Then on to Valley End finishing circuit and with about 5 laps left, I jumped across to Paul Holdsworth who was in fine attacking form. Riding together we pulled out about 20 seconds on the bunch, just out of sight in the winding lanes. A group of 4 was chasing hard and with just over a lap to go we had just 15 seconds on them with the bunch fast approaching. Having to work hard on the last lap we just managed to stay clear and at the yellow flag with the chasing group just 10 seconds back Paul jumped. Digging deep, I managed to grab his wheel and sprint past for the win.
Couldn't have got there without Paul's hard work and pleased to finish the year with my 3rd and best win of the year.
Overall Lewis Atkins took the series from Ashley Holding in 2nd after his great win last week and I was 5th.

Festival RC AGM

The Club AGM will be held on Tuesday 9th November 2010 at:

St Paul's Centre
Hook Road
Hook, Surrey
KT9 1PF

Start time is 8.00pm


ps can all last year trophy winners please bring the trophies with them.

Soggey League Win

Last week saw my 6th road race of the year in the Surrey League morning race at Alfold, after a summer of testing. Yet another day of heavy rain and wind with a bunch of approximately 50 3rd's setting off.

Immediately the neutralised flag dropped a group of three riders drifted up the road and with the gap growing to 20 seconds, I jumped across to the break on the drag up towards Plaistow, into the wind. The four of us worked well for another lap and were then joined by 4 others to stretch the lead further. On the next lap various riders slipped back to leave just three of us working hard into the last lap. Having not raced on the road for a few months, I was glad that there was not more attacking and with the three of us staying together until the finish I managed to jump through from the back and hold a long sprint for the line and my second win of the year. Back to 2nd cat now so will hvae to have a Sunday lay in now for the afternoon races!

Next I'm planning to ride the Ottershaw Series - Mark /James are you up for it?

Do you remember riding with Tony Whitmore?

Hi All

Had a message (below)from Tony Whitmore who many of you may remember riding with in the 1960's onwards. Let me know if you want to make contact:

"Hello Colin, Many thanks for your reply, most welcome.

Over 40 odd yrs ago, memories get a bit stretched - particularly when I have had a scotch or three when I actually get around to looking at my mail of an evening! You are going to think me mad as a hatter now - I have downloaded your photo's and yes I am positive I recognize Baz / knew him on the road etc. on the two old photo's (we all had similar race ones taken then didn't we? ) and I well remember the surname. But you have jolted my memory with the others you mention. The person I was actually thinking of the other night (but quite wrongly associated with your name) was - Alan Fidgett !!??

It is he who will well remember me as the 'nutter' referred to in my 1st mail. Tuesday & Thursday evening training runs starting from the Toby Jug pub in Tolworth - used to be a whole gang with other club riders joining in (like me and Pete Miles from the Phoenix). Bryan Staples and Adrian Morris ring a bell, John Froud of course. There was another guy - I can't remember at the moment - but he was a good roadie / sprinter (could have worn glasses - I think) but I will know his name when mentioned. Crystal Palace on a Thursday evening - the handicap all category road races that usually ended in a bunch sprint - Your guys used to ride there , so did I, Peter Miles and Barry Arnison from the Phoenix. I did finish in the 1st dozen one night and I am sure (the sprinter guy in the glasses ?from Festival may have been ahead of me - I'm sure was). But I did actually beat John Sargent, Norwood Paragon then. Not bad for 16yrs old ?? Cock a hoops until Pete Miles (Surrey RR junior champ in 1968 (could be '69) actually won ahead of everyone one night (he was the same age as me - no one could believe it ! probably the older guys thought he was a lap behind?) Barry Arnison who was a senior (about 5 yrs older than Pete and myself ) and recorded faster times and wins in TT's and BBAR placings - but he could sprint only like a donkey. Bob Woodley (of the Phoenix and later Twickenham CC) was not actually racing in those late 60's days as he was travelling the world - but as you older guys will know - he actually made quite a name for himself in road races in the early to mid 70's. The Phoenix still have an amazing guy in the form of Ray Dare and his age related records now - he doesn't look any older than he did in 1966. I will attach a photo - it will jog the memory of Alan, maybe yourself and others. taken during the Wessex 24 hr in '68. I was just 16yrs old. No slouch though as less than two months before I rode a 2-7-50 open 50 when I was still 15yrs old. Now you recognize the "nutter" tag given to me by Alan and others. Ah well, carefree days, (I don't think so really) The only thing I can remember is unlimited amounts of energy - what happened to it?

By all means ask around the club - place on blog (with cuttings !!) I only potter about now and then on the bike - you know how it is, on cold dark winter nights before January 1st and when the 12 yr old malt is flowing - going to crack eggs with big sticks this year- never seems to happen does it ? (actually it does in your case) . Got 5 sons from ages 34 to 22 yrs. Two are good part time racing bikies - because of committments, one who races and trains in Italy where his business is based, the other with Army CC. Something rubbed off then.

Best wishes Colin, Tony Whitmore."

Club 25 Mile TT championships

This weekend saw the battle for the Festival RC 25 mile TT title held within the North Hampshire RC event on the Bentley course. With Colin McDermott on holiday and Mick Gowan a non-starter, it was down to Barry McDermott, John Froud and myself to fight it out.
Off early in a full, high quality field John posted a time of 1:03:44 on what was an extremely blustery day which made the outward leg particularly gruelling. To add to the fun, it then began to rain for the
latter part of the field !
Next to go was myself, and though not particularly in great shape after just returning from holiday, was reasonably satisfied with a 58:44. Even so, I figured it would take a strong ride from Barry to topple me, but in what was, in my opinion, one of his best rides of the last couple of years - that's exactly what he did, to record an excellent 57:41 and take the club 25 trophy to add to his 10 mile TT trophy that he won earlier in the year.

Nice one Baz!

Surrey League at Goodwood

A rather overcast and damp day was in order for the last weekend Goodwood race of the season. I lined up with about a million other 3rd cats and Mark Workman was in a relatively large E12 cat field.

In my race, after a steady first few laps, any moves were snubbed out immediately by a concerted bunch effort. I must have been involved with ten attacks but it was impossible to get away as quite a few riders seemed desperate for a bunch sprint. I managed a little escape with three others for half a lap but it fizzled out.

Anyway, I realised with half a lap to go a bunch kick was inevitable so got out the way and let them get on with it. Watching things unfold down the back straight it was just a matter of time before people crashed. The headwind slowed the bunch, everyone squashed together, the shouting started then bang 20 riders hit the deck. I observed all this from behind and felt massively relieved I stayed out of the sprint….especially when riding past the carnage.

The E12 race split into two groups with Mark in the second coming about 5th in his group sprint for a top 20 position.

No racing this week, next up the SL Handicap Worlds.

I am not a fish

The London Triathlon was last week set at the Excel centre in the Docklands. The Olympic Distance Mens race was last Sunday during a very hot afternoon. The aim was to just get through the swim and finish the race! I started off with a nerve racking 1.5km Swim in a nice, clean, warm, Thames Doc….. Apart from swimming right over to the left in the wrong direction, I felt like I was punched, kicked, elbowed and swam over!

I eventually came out of the swim 320th in my category. The bike ride up to Tower Bridge and back was the circuit, I managed to climb from 320th to 250th in the bike ride. After the cycle the run was a circuit along the doc. My legs almost gave in, but with the constant 'come on Chelsea audio' being chanted at me from young cheerleaders and spectators, I managed to pass another 50 people and finish 199th.

I am going to invest in some swimming lessons then have go at a longer distance

Surrey League RR at Walliswood

I rode the third cat Surrey League event at Walliswood on Sunday which saw a full field of 60 riders tackle 8 laps of a 7.6 mile circuit (61 miles). The weather was a bit chilly to start but soon warmed up with a fairly strong southerly wind making things tough on parts of the circuit.

My plan for the race was to stay out of trouble for the first 4 laps then try to get involved on what is a fairly lumpy circuit but with no especially tough obstacles.

For most of the race the bunch seemed fairly happy to plod along with various riders happy to ride hard on the parts of the course suitable for an attack but not hard enough to cause any damage.

Annoyingly, as I was loitering at the back feeding, four riders did manage to get away with two eventually getting dropped and the remaining two fighting for the win. I attacked with about five miles to go and stayed out for a few miles until I was brought back for a bunch sprint to decide the remaining places. It’s a shame no one came with me as I reckon with a few riders we would definitely have stayed away as the bunch crawled along A29.

It’s Goodwood on Sunday…

Festival RC "Roadbike" 10 - New address for entries!

Please note there is a change of organiser's address for entries to the Festival RC "RoadBike" 10 on Saturday 18th September.

Entries on standard CTT entry forms need to go to:
Colin McDermott
223 Hillcrosss Avenue
Morden
Surrey
SM4 4BU

by 7th September 2010 with cheque for £7.50
Contact Colin for more details at 07799505546 or mcdermottcolin@tiscali.co.uk

Festival In Guildford Road Race

After a couple of weeks off of racing I embarked on my first attempt at the Guildford road race.
I arrived early for a good warm up knowing that this 30 minute race was going to be all systems go right from the gun. This included checking out the cobble stones and my particular concern being the fast corner going into market street, which meant skimming french connection on uneven ground at speed when the road sloped away from you as you negotiate the turn.

After receiving some last minute tips from my trainer and coach for the evening Stuart Harris I joined the line up and witnessed the josseling for a good position on the line. I didn't expect it to be quite so aggressive into the first corner and I got boxed out which meant by the end of the first lap I was halfway down the field.

So I made my best efforts to get as far up the field as possible before the race settled down and the gaps got larger. The circuit was very tough and what with my early efforts I found myself really suffering the last 10 minutes although this did not mean I lost any positions in the race. Due to the speed we were going it meant there was little time for recovery, furthermore people were not riding together as it was every man for himself.

Noteable incidents were a blow out for one chap on the market street corner (see above image), plus another guy also coming a cropper on the same corner but on a different lap. Fortunately I just missed the first of the two crashes. I clipped the curb coming onto the cobbled high street through trying to use the full width of the road but that was only a glancing blow and no harm done.
I ended up with two charlotteville guys and although I tried an attempt at breaking away it failed a few laps before the end, so they both beat me over the line. We finished something like 12-14 place. Which considering my start I am happy with.

I must say that racing infront of a large crowds three deep in places and cobbles felt like a real step up and I thoroughly enjoyed it, the fact that the rain stayed away was a real plus. If I am in shape next year I would love to give it ago again, having experienced it for the first time and knowing what to expect.

I hope you are all well and enjoying the warm weather and getting plenty of miles in.

Cut at the Mill (Well more like a dent actually)

I have just been trying to send a blog about my most recent event. Whilst doing so I stumbled across a blog that I wrote some time ago, but due to my poor understanding of the art of blogging I thought I lost my my efforts forever and gave up.

But now back from the depths of my google account please find below what I should have sent several months ago. Apologies I am a numpty when it comes to technology! After much tuition from James G and Trev K, I manage to write my first ever blog. So sorry for the late issue of the festival race in March and my most recent race at Cutmill.

Festival Road race - March 2010

Thanks to those who marshalled and organised etc. Despite having cramp in both legs going over the finish line, due to lack of conditioning, I enjoyed every second. I was a tad worried about the amount of ice that could be potentially be on the roads and pot holes. As I am a new comer to this racing lark, I was relieved to hear that the race was not live until we had gone past the worst areas of ice and pot holes so we could all get our bearings - a great decision!

For me I felt good during the race and managed to stay up in the top 20 or so riders for the most of the race. I made sure I never did too much during the race (as I knew I had not done much training) although on the last 2 laps I had to close some gaps. That was until cramp set in due to lack of conditioning. I had just enough to stay with the race leaders and therefore manage a top ten finish but it wasn't pretty! It would have been nice to bring it home for a home win :o(

Cutmill Sunday 4th March 2010

My first time on this circuit which its reputation speaks for itself. The race saw a couple of crashes that I was thankfully not tangled up in, one being a guy with a puncture looking down at his wheel then proceeding to riding into the back of another guy who also had a puncture with his hand in the air.

The roads contained lots of standing water and pot holes, one of which I hit (of course no one pointed it out) and that dented my rear wheel to the extent new rim is needed. A tad frustrating as they are virtually brand new, but I guess rubbing is racing! Fortunately this didn't stop me completing the race and finishing 12th, again with cramp. But even though it soooo tough I enjoyed in never the less. Oh also my bottle cage shook loose during, so it was necessary to do some high speed maintenance en route.

As James has mentioned we are racing at Goodwood on Sunday, and it would be good to see some of you guys down there......

Festival at Eelmore

I was out for a spin on my mountain bike last night and decided to drop by the Eelmore circuit to see if any FRC riders were racing. As luck would have it Mark Workman was racing so I hung about to watch.

I turned up about 20 minutes into the c.1 hour race just as things were starting to happen. After some sustained attacks a 7 man break (actually 6 men and 1 lady to be precise) got away from the bunch and were working well.

Sensing this was a good move another 3 riders, including Mark, flew across the gap to the lead group swelling it to 10 . Having ridden quite a few Eelmore races, and with the bunch looking a bit ragged, it was pretty obvious they would stay away even with half the race left.

That’s pretty much how things remained with the lead group working well, the bunch working intermittently, and the gap increasing gradually. In the closing laps I gather someone crashed on a corner and few others got dropped so by the time the break heard the bell there were about 7 riders left. Mark attacked with ½ a lap to go but was reeled in with a group sprint deciding things. I think Mark was 7th after an aggressive ride on a deceptively tough circuit. Good work.

Festival RC 10 mile TT champs

The first club trophy of the year was decided today in the Farnham RC 10 held on the Bentley course.
On a gloriously warm day albeit a bit windy for any significantly quick times, John Froud and Mick Gowan were the early starters posting very respectable times of 25.29 and 24.31 respectively. Unfortunately, I suffered a recurrance of some bad cramping during warm up, so didn't even make it to the start line, but Barry McDermott starting at the back end of the field, produced a quick time of 23.18 - a ride that he was well happy with considering the late start to his training this year, and so wins the club 10 mile TT trophy for 2010.
On the plus side for me, I got a bit of a tan waiting for the results to come in - I could get used to that!

Goodwood 16th May

Festival RC had three riders take to the line at the Surrey League event at Goodwood this weekend. Mark Workman, Stuart Harris and myself.
In a large field, there were numerous attacks but with a stiff breeze blowing, none of them gained any significant time, so a sprint finish was almost inevitable.
On the last lap, Stuart stayed close to the front as the pace wound up and although being pushed off line somewhat through the final chicane, produced a strong finish to net 9th place - a great result.
Myself and Mark rolled in with the main field, with me being glad to get my first race of the season under my belt.
Hopefully get a good turnout for the next event at Goodwood on 30th May.

Surrey League

Just noticed there are no FRC riders included in the Surrey League rankings? Is there a reason for this?

Florida Masters Cycling

While we were in Florida during the winter I was involved with the forming of a cycling club for us older guys. It is called “Florida Masters Cycling”. The aims of the club are “To support, enhance, and promote the performance, fitness and safety of men and women Masters level cyclists in Florida”. At the moment there are very few senior category races in Florida above the 55 plus age group. The idea is to encourage promoters to include the higher age groups by guaranteeing them an entry in a given category to make it worth their while.
There were seventeen of us involved in the inaugural meeting counting as founder members. The jersey design is typical American and depicts a snake in the shape of a bicycle with rider. This I resisted but was outvoted as they insisted that it was an indigenous species of Florida. The original seventeen of us have “Founding Member 2010” on the front of the jersey which is nice. I felt that this should read Founder Member but had to bow to our Canadian President and close friend who is an ex English language teacher. We have a total of eight fully paid up sponsors so far all depicted on the jersey.
There is quite a good web site and if you go to www.flmasters.com you can view membership information, photos, member’s biographies etc. Also if you go to http://floridamasters.blogspot.com you can read about the club’s current racing results together with corresponding pictures.
I hope this may be of interest to some of you particularly if you are considering visiting Florida at anytime.

BryanS

Goodwood on Sunday

Myself and Mark Workman (who finished 4th here a couple of weeks ago) are riding this event. Be good to see some other FRC jerseys if you're thinking about racing this weekend.

Festival at Thruxton

Taking James's lead with a circuit race season opener, last Sunday was my first race of the year at Thruxton Motor Racing Circuit. In bright sunny and mild conditions a bunch of 60+ 3rd's rolled away for a swift 12 laps (56km)
Racing was fast from the start with immediate attacks and a group of nine (including myself)working well and easing away on the 2nd lap. The break stayed together until the end and into the wind and the finishing straight, I managed to sprint past the others take the win.
Looking forward to riding at Goodwood this Sunday with Mark, James and some Festival teamwork.

SWRC Springonion Sportive 2010

What a pleasant cycle ride with the two Colins. shame I couldn't keep up with them all the way around. Problem came once Mr McDermott had warmed up and started to tap out a pace which was a bit to quick for us old uns especially once we got to Bedham Hill

Photos of all Club boys sportivephoto.thirdlight.com - SWRC spring onion

Richard Smith 49, Roger S 43, Dave M 173, Brian W 198, Alan F 237, Noel 235, Colin B 236, Colin Mc 239

Which event is next?

Club SL Spring RR

Mark Workman takes fifth place in the morning event - well done Mark

Andy Bryson wins afternoon event

Arundel or bust

A group of the Club's senior members

enjoyed a pleasant run down to Arundel encouraged by messers Barclay and McCracken in the team car who didn't seem to be affected by the freezing wind on the way down or the constant rain on the run home

A steady pace was enjoyed until Baz & John Wise wound the pace up into the twenties which Tom McCall commented upon. A sociable lunch at Southwater before heading off to Bury Hill and Arundel which saw John Wise a clear winner ahead of Colin Bateman and Baz McDermott with Tom McCall, Noel Manchee, Roger Smith, Dave Worsfold and Alan Fidgett coming home at varing intervals.

An enjoyable evening was spent at the comfort inn before setting off into the rain for a direct route home which was made slightly easier with a tail wind

We are all looking forward to the next ride

Noel

ps thanks for the pix Brian - no JB in pix as he didn't seem keen on getting out the car and standing in the rain

Magic Homes Criterium – Saturday 20th February

I like to start my season with a circuit race (short, no hills, no cars) and Saturday seemed as good a day as any to pin my first number on. The chosen event was the Magic Homes Criterium at Hillingdon, a 3rd and 4th cat race over 25 laps, about 25 miles.

Considering the weather recently it was a great day with sun, a dry surface and not too much wind. The race was aggressive from the start but no one could hold a gap as riders were keen to blow off the cobwebs and chase anything up the road. I attacked 4-5 times up the drag to either start something or bridge to a group but it came to nothing and a bunch sprint settled things. Whilst I felt great, I started my sprint too far back (not the last time you’ll read that) and came across the line mid-pack.

Having whet my appetite my next race is 14^th March in the Dunsfold Surrey League event.

Festival RC Club dinner - pics

A few pics from the club dinner.

Florida Weather

We do not expect any sympathy but the weather here in Florida this winter has been one of extremes, nothing like we have experienced in all the years we have been staying here. In October and November we had record highs in the 80/90’s Fahrenheit plus on at least two occasions record lows down in the 40F mark. At Christmas it turned cold, in January record lows temperatures down one night to 27F. The picture displayed was taken at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon 6th January and is of part of one of the many orange groves I ride past on a regular basis. I rode past in the morning at about 11am but without a camera. When I got home Pam requested we drive out in the afternoon to see it. To my amazement although the temperature was back in the 60’s the icicles had not melted. Since then we have had the normal amount of rain for January, February and March all in one month! Two months to go before we return home with a touring holiday in Costa Rica starting at the end of February in the meantime.

SWRC Quiz Night

Had this note from the SWRC enquiring if anyone is interested in joining their Quiz Night. Details below.
It will be held in the Hook and Southborough Parish Hall, Hook Rd, Chessington.If you're interested, contact David Jordan at david.jordan34@btinternet.com


Folk,
We have decided to organize a Quiz Night on 9th Feb. at the club room. This is the brain child of Dudley Samuels who has worked hard on assembling the questions. We will start the quiz at 2100hrs.

To give you some information I list below the salient points:-

We have 30 questions – which will take about 1 hour..
We propose to have a number of teams & it would be good if we know who is coming early so we can make an effort to organize the teams efficiently!! We propose to have teams of 4 people each. The winning team will be reworded at the club lunch & prize presentation.
Subjects covered on the quiz will include Le Tour , Paris-Nice , Paris-Roubaix , 2 General cycling questions , BCF , CTT , SWRC , Team Sky
We are looking at the catering options & therefore we need to know who will participate. We have a Committee Meeting on 25th Jan. & it would be useful if those who have decided to support the quiz night would let me know before then so that we can take decisions based on facts. Once we have the requested numbers I will let you know what catering will be laid on.

This is a great opportunity to use our clubroom for a social event & I hope many of you will support us.

Hillingdon SprintFest

Hi all,

Anybody here fancy the hillingdon Sprint Fest that John Leitch is putting on 14th Feb. Looks like a good training session!

Its a few hours on sprint training! Me, Mark Workman and James Graham are going so be good see any other Festival Faces! Here is more info! (Copied from the PowerPack email). Maybe see some of you there!

Improve your sprinting at the Hillingdon SprintFest

Coaching with a focus on power and tactics

There will be training exercises both with a lead-out man and where you’ll be going head-to-head on your own.

So you’ve trained hard this winter, done plenty turbo sessions, and you now think you can win races in 2010…..you think you could be handy when it comes to a bunch finish but how do you know?

This is a themed afternoon of coaching/training aimed at helping you hone those skills you need to do well in the last 200m.

Date: Sunday February 14

Venue: Hillingdon cycle circuit.

Time: 1.00pm (signing on from 12.30pm)

Finishing: 3.00pm-4.00pm…. depending on numbers and weather.

Club priority: teams of four will make for the best session… so rustle up three of your club-mates and come as a group.

On the agenda at the SprintFest will be a series of training races including:

• longer two-lap races with each sprinter getting a lead-out train of three riders
• shorter one-lap races with each sprinter getting a single lead-out rider
• head-to-head sprints between two matched riders
• head-to-head sprints between groups of four riders

Priority given to clubs fielding groups of four.

But not everyone will be in such a fortunate position, so there should be room for all combinations…. single riders, riders coming in pairs as well as groups of three…… whatever, we should be able to allocate you to a team of four when necessary.

Cost of places:

£12 in advance – members of clubs registered with the Surrey Cycle Racing League

£15 in advance – other riders

£22 on the day*

(*please note: a coach has an upper limit of 20 riders so once those places have gone then any additional riders turning up would have to be turned away…. on the other hand if numbers of advanced bookings were strong that would trigger me to make a move to track down another coach)

For more information on the Hillingdon SprintFest: please contact John Leitch.

Winter Club Rides "go large" with Mechanical Mayhem!

Another great club ride today from Epsom with the biggest turnout of the year so far, with 6 keen and mile hungry riders. Alan Fidgett, Roger Smith, Trevor Keenan, Noel and Lawrence Manchee and myself set off in dry, bright but fresh conditions.

Out through the back streets of Ashtead, Leatherhead and Bookham to Effingham and up over the North Downs ridge. A swift descent down White Downs to hit the mucky Surrey lanes. First blood was Roger hitting the mother of all potholes to blow out the front tyre. A swift change and onwards through Holmbury (without the snow for a change) towards Forest Green. Next was Lawrence's turn with an usual shortage of chain ring bolts causing his inner ring to fall loose. With a bit of allen key juggling and a donated chainring bolt from Trevor we were back on the road for a well earned tea stop at Helfold Lakes. Home for lunch and 40 miles - 15.5mph

Thanks all for a great ride and see you next week, same time same place

Winter Club Rides

Hi

Today was the 1st Winter Club ride of 2010. Noel Manchee, Mark Bixley and myself met in Epsom and for a change, in bright, sunny and much warmer conditions.

After the heavy rain yesterday, the roads through Cobham and out to Horsley were quite flooded and snow still piled at the roadsides on the hilltops. Mark showed some impressive new year strength over the Newlands ridge and beyond putting the others under pressure after the Christmas excesses. Onwards through Shere, Ewhurst and back through Capel, Dorking, Leatherhead and back in Epsom at 12.40. 50m - 16.8mph

Join us next week Epsom, Spread Eagle (Leicester Bowden) - 9.30am, depart at 9.45. Pace and stop to suit those out. Hope to see you then!

Colin

Well Done Trevor

Happy new year , nice supprise to get a blog option

Lets hope we all support Trevor's efforts and use the blog

Alan Fitchett flies the flag and meets hero of yester-year

“Bikes are immaterial,” says former Tour de France rider Vin Denson. “It’s the legs that matter.”

Speaking to an audience of cyclists on Saturday at Leigh, Surrey, the strongman who rode for Jacques Anquetil for several year said: “All the bikes are the same. If you made it onto a Tour de France team you’d get lots of bikes offered.”

Turning to the group of youngsters in the audience he advised: “You have to have ambition and not just for the next year – you should make out a four- or five-year programme and then work to it.

“I was inspired as a youngster by photos of stars riding over mountain passes in two metres of snow in their national jerseys and seeing them I decided I wanted to do that.

“We didn’t have coaches in those days, I certainly never had one, so you would go with the strong riders, copy what they did, ask questions and hang on their wheels.

“I was once in a race with Brian Robinson, the first rider to win a stage in the Tour de France. He was about 24 then and experienced, while I was just 18 and I must have annoyed him because I was asking questions endlessly.

“Brian and Shay Elliott were in the Tour de France when I did it the first time and I rode by copying them. We finished in the front 20 which was good, but most important for me was that I was learning all the time.”

Vin lengthy professional career was remarkably crash-free, though he did suffer from two memorable tumbles.

The second was a result of being on the wheel of smaller rider on a descent.

“Anquetil was a great tactician and he had some of everything on this team – rouleurs, climbers and sprinters. Our roulers were so imposing that the others often called our Ford France team the ‘equipe de rugby men’.

“Anyway one day we were in a group on a major descent and we were all roulers in this group apart from Jean Stablinski who was a little guy.

[Stablinski won the Vuelta in 1958 and was world champion in 1962. He was on the same team as Vin at the time]

“I had drawn the short straw and was on Stab’s wheel on this particular corner. He didn’t have to brake hardly because he was so light, so I was hanging back at about 4m from him when this car came through and gently eased me right off the road.

“The next thing I knew I was looking up two skirts… and when I looked some more I saw they had knobbly knees… they were two monks!

“Anyway they quickly took the cords from their robes and said to ‘tie the bike’ on and while the mechanic was putting me fresh wheels in the bike, they then set too and pulled me out. I was lucky.”

Vin afterwards agreed to take questions from each of the Redhill Raiders (aged 7-10) who sat in the audience.

What would be the one word that you think best describes your career?

V: Successful

Who was/is the best Tour de France rider?

V: Eddy Merckx…. and I say that even though I rode with Anquetil against him. But Merckx was incredible because he could just ride away from the entire field.

I remember we were the Tour of Sardinia, a stage race, and one day he rode off and won by three minutes.

Anquetil and all the other big names had their noses put out by this little-known newcomer and they put their heads together before the next day’s stage and agreed that ‘the upstart’ wouldn’t do that again.

So they went tearing after him whenever he moved, but even so with 4km to the finish line he accelerated on his own and we couldn’t catch him…. he won that day with a gap of 30 seconds.

What was your best moment?

V: Winning the Tour of Luxembourg. Before the start, three of us were given permission by the team to look to win.

After the time-trial stage a team-mate was lying fourth and I was eight, just 30 seconds behind him.

There were attacks from strong riders everywhere in the next day’s stage and when one attack went it took me up the road as well.

Eventually I said to the team manager “I’ve ridden myself inside out today to defend our best-placed rider but this break now has a gap of 2min 30sec on the bunch and I want to attack at get away on my own.”

Her said: “If you can make a clean break then go.”

I did just that.

There is no greater feeling…. you feel like two men when you’ve got the yellow jersey on your back.

clever trevor!

Hi everyone, welcome to the Festival RC blog page. Hopefully, many of the club will register and contribute their thoughts or comments on a regular basis - more regularly than I updated the website at any rate!
As this is the first entry and a bit of a test - I've added a great picture of Colin Mc from the ride out to the Xmas lunch. Bizarrely, the weather hasn't really changed much in a whole month!

Happy New Year to all.