CYCLING
Cycling is a sport I first took part in back in 1965 when I was a member of Birdwell Wheelers for approximately 2 years, during that period the most popular place for local cyclists to meet was "Walts'" or "TheRanch House" as some called it. At Walts there was a cafe' and available accomodation, you could also buy everything from second hand bike parts to complete bikes. It was situated on Sheffield Road as you travelled into Blyth in North Nottingamshire from Oldcotes. It was always the headquarters for timetrials run down the O2, a course that ran down the A1 from Blyth to Markham Moor and Back covering 25 miles.
The Bridge Tea Room otherwise known as the Ranch or just simply Walts' Now replaced by the Charnwood a modern Hotel at Blyth in North Notts
I then left the club to take up motorcycling which at that time was my first love and then bodybuilding. pages to cover these interests can be found among the links above.
I returned to the sport in 1999 as a 49 year old veteran, again with Birdwell Wheelers.
I soon got involved with time trialling and did very well winning the clubs Best All Rounder on numerous occasions and frequently placing in the top three in their evening ten mile series.
I was with that club until the end of 2006. In 2007 I made a fresh start with The Barnsley Road Club with whom my successes continued.
The first picture is of me in 1966 on a J.R.J. track bike.
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This picture is of me in my Birdwell kit in 2005
and finally a photo of me in Barnsley Road Club kit
On the move again I am now with Yorkshire Road Club
Out of the 2008 season I walked away with a good selection of Trophies and medals, along with the trophies that I have won in the previous years in the sport since 1999 they make a nice display on the wardrobe cupboards.
My Trophy Display 2009
Three months into 2009 and I have covered 1,800 miles and I feel a lot fitter than I usually do at this time of year. I have ridden one event and failed to start my second one due to the poor weather conditions. I must start racing later in future years. The pooled clubs is next which I plan on riding with a 84 inch fixed gear.
On the day in the pooled clubs I chose to ride a 93 inch gear but it still felt too low for my strong muscles and low cadence and I finished up with a time of 1:7:43 one of the slowest 25 mile time trials that I have ever ridden.
Sunday morning of the tenth of May I was up very early to pick John up in Darfield and head for Boroughbridge to ride the VTTA(Yorkshire) 30 mile time trial, the day was overcast but still and dry. I finished in 1:17:02. Another bad ride but without an excuse this time.
On the 22nd of May I passed 3,000 miles with a 70 mile training ride, I felt good and strong throughout and with last Wednesdays decent result in the club 10 I feel that my form is now slowly coming together.
July and a few events behind me including the Newark Castle 25, Barnsley 10 and the Otley 50, the results are slowly getting better and my rides are getting quicker and stronger. As the Elmet 12 hour aproaches I am beginning to feel that I am almost ready for it and weather permitting a PB could be in coming and a club record in the Swift 100. Last Sunday I rode up to Toppcliffe to watch the YCF (National Championship) 100. Here are the Winners :-
- Michael Hutchinson
- Kevin Dawson
- Philip Graves
The Elmet 12 hour as been and gone and I am sorry to say that my optimism was wrong and I failed to finish. The first four hours went as planned but the following hour was a painfull ordeal and I decided to call it a day, so bang goes my place in any of the B.A.R. competitions and all that is left for me now is the Swift 100 and the overall club record at that distance.
I now have a Tacx Flow Turbo trainer so the weather plays less of a part in my training, in other words when the weather is too bad to go out I can still train. If I had owned the Turbo sooner I might have finished the twelve though the weather on the day of the event was pretty dismall anyway.
On the second of August I took the Phil and Friends Challenge which takes in climbs such as Holme Moss and Winnets Pass and many more along the 93 mile route. I got back to the HQ at Stannington in six hours. I also rode to and from the event adding another 32 miles to my day.
Below is the certificate that I got, but at the time the cup of coffee was more welcoming.
Changes
At the August meeting of the Barnsley Road Club I put in my resignation as a first claim member. I have already joined the Yorkshire Road Club as the Yorkshire district have courses at all the distances that I ride and most of them on dual carriageways which are better and safer than so called sporting courses. The North Midlands area only have a one ten and one twentyfive course and very poor and dangerous courses they are as well. My last event with Barnsley Road Club will be the Team Swift 100 on August the 22nd, and from thence forth all my rides will be with the Yorkshire Road Club.
September the 12th was a nice sunny Saturday for the start of the "Tour of Britain" cycle race. The event started in Scunthorpe at 10:15am, so John Allen and I started early to ride through and watch it. The first vantage point we went to was just after the start, then we rode to Gunness Bridge near Althorpe for a second chance to see them. The film below I took before setting off for home. On arriving home my mileage covered was 91.66.
September the 26th was the date of the Yorkshire Road club 2 stage open Hill Climb so after watching the womens world championship road race on TV I set of to Eccup to watch it. The event was well organised by John Colman and below is a video of the second stage of the event. Photo's of stage one can be found in me gallery on this site. The unlucky rider balked by the horse that had been startled by a car was Paul Brierley of Huddersfield Road Club.
The day after was the day of the Yorkshire Cancer research Pedal for Pounds charity ride so I was up at 4:30am and rode through to Wroot where the head quarters were with John Allen, then spent the morning marshalling on the event.
Tuesday the 29th of September John Allen and myself spent the day course measuring on the A1 between Blyth and Markham Moor. The ride there and back gave us both a good workout of around 84 miles.
The morning of the National hill climb which was being held on Pea Royd Lane, Stocksbridge was a bright sunny one, so Jackie and I decided to drive over and watch the event. As one would expect in the UK shortly after the start clouds showed on the horizon and not long after that the rain started lightly and intermitant at first but toward the end for the faster men it got heavy. The event was won by Dan Fleeman of the Cervelo Test pro. team runner up was last years winner Matt Clinton.
Considering the quickly cooling and rainy conditions we both had a good time. Below are a few photographs taken by my wife Jackie.
Yours Truly at the hill climb giving support
Dan Fleeman British hill climb championship
Matt Clinton runner up
The end of 2009
As I write this it is the evening of the 31st of December and the years is at a close, on reflection it has not been too bad, only two real dissapointments. First I did not like failing to finish the 12 hour, and second my dissappointment was with the members of Barnsley Road Club. I gave it my best shot for three years taking on a main committee job and building their website for which I got no appreciation except from one member who himself seems to be banging his head against a brick wall.
The North Midlands district of the CTT seems to be falling apart with just a small number of members now on the committee trying their hardest to give members what they want and the rest trying to stand in their way. So What Now? Well with my recent change of club and with that a new district I am hoping for a better season in 2010, already I am enjoying proper group training rides even though it means a long ride to the meeting place, but the pace is demanding but I can feel the benefit.
My total mileage for this year is 8,358.32 miles. Maybe next year I will hit my target annual distance of 10,000+
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