Abergavenny & Back

With the absence of John & Audrey, Wobbly Bob stepped in to help out by doing the timing, for which we who rode were all grateful.

Weather was warm but grey for an Aber & back, with a very light mizzle in the air. Wobbly Bob was in charge so dictated we start on time (GMT) for a change rather than use the more familiar “Ross Time”. The first thing that struck me this year was the lack of Jerry. In all the time I have been riding the event, he has been an institution.

We had a poor turnout this year with only 5 riders, but on the positive side we did have more marshals than ever helping out. Thank you all who got up to support, or was it laugh at us?

Harwood Attempts to steal Earls water bottle

Conditions were not too bad wind wise (apart from Taff who overdid the Butty Bach the night before) on the outward leg, only being felt dropping down from the Skirrid. From then on in, it felt like a tail wind back, the exception being the climb up to Pencraig, which was not pleasant.

As per expectation, Cookie romped home as winingest rider, not a million miles from his last year's effort. Might be interesting to compare our rides to see where he was losing time to me as he should have been a lot further ahead at the finish!




This picture is so wrong! Sooty eat your heart out







Second on the podium was Earl who looked super smooth, and was also looking forward to sparring with Jerry. Earl must be very pleased to have got under the 2-hour barrier, but also knocked over 8 minutes off his PB!

Mio managed a PB, in reality 5 minutes slower than anticipated, losing a lot of time going up the climbs. That seems to have been a real weakness this year. The other noteworthy thing was that was the second furthest event I have ridden this year as well.

Martin Green did not look 100% happy with his ride slowing down to chat for a few seconds going up the Dawn of Day before gapping me. His suspicions were he was still tired from training (running I think he said) the day before. It may not have helped his time whistling into Abergavenny missing the turn onto the bypass.

What a surprise to see Tony “The Tiger” Price up for the fight. He was reported as saying it was easy as he went through Monmouth. Oh how that changed for him in the last 8.5 miles, for the unaware the last 2 climbs give a rider a good kicking just when you think things can’t get any worse, and for Tony they got worse. This feat caused me much thinking. Earl had done a cracking ride knocking a good chunk off his PB, but I think rider of the day had to be Tony. He put in a good time, in relation to his normal performance, but more directly, he was operating well outside the box, having probably never actually ridden that far ever in one go. Tony, you can correct me if I’m wrong.

Thank then to Wobbly Bob (Robin Hill) timing, The Destroyer pushing off (not riding because he had a cough), Mary, Taff and Dave H. marshalling. Official photographer was Andy Parker, who I’m sure will give me access to his pics in the near future.

AGM is in October. Anyone got the date, as I can’t find it? More about that soon.

Vintage Tankard is 10/10. The team is shaping up nicely now. Fresh signings in every day.

The Hill climb is on the 17th at Hoarwithy.

Kilo Sprint Vintage Tankard News & rides

Conditions for this year's Kilometre Sprint were close to perfect. There was a very slight hint of a breeze down the straight but not enough to really help. The Km sprint is a pure power event, with horsepower counting for everything. Launch technique, aero factors, and top end endurance at the finish all play their parts.

Top dog this year, as last year was young (or after his 30th birthday Saturday old) Will. If interested in power and performance stats check

http://s2.excoboard.com/rosscyclists/142017/2224930 for outputs from riders. Will informed me he took off in too big a gear meaning a stint at practising a track stand for 45 seconds. I managed to up my game this year, wishing I had used top gear earlier as the horsepower at the end was good.

Dave "The rev happy" Harwood looked very fast, but we suspect the gearing was a tad too low. Not happy, he did attempt another go at the race, but he had already used the best of his reserves. By contrast, "The missile" looked quick off the line. He too went in for the high RPM approach but with a lack of machine maintenance lost ground towards the end due to gear slippage, as seen on the link above. The zero to 25 mph times are on there as well, which were quite interesting....

Tony "The Tiger" put in what must be his best performance this year, which I'm 99.9% sure he was happy with. This now shows me he has some ponies in them legs. Just need to make them go a little further on an outing.

Struggling to remember which bike "The Spin Dryer" used. Am positive it was his TT machine, which gave him a good improvement from his last outing on the KM Sprint. Afraid I did not see you go so cannot offer any constructive/destructive criticism this week. Mr. Webb had his first go at a KM. Not a bad starting point for future attempts.

Come try it rider Marlon appeared to have enjoyed rising to the challenge in his first TT. I think he has a lot of strenght in his legs, doing a very respectable first ride. I hope to see more of him through the winter and into next year.

Next came another first time rider, but in the junior category. "The destroyer" brought "The Mini Destroyer" out for his first taste at racing. Followed along the course with dad as a chaperon he just edged out Matt Fallon, another chaperoned by dad. At the end only 3 seconds seperated the 2 of them. I must at this point point out that Matt was riding dad's touring bike which was a tad too large for him. Paul is looking for a more suitable weapon for Matt at a very reasonable price if anyone knows of such an item.


Mr President brought up the rear, matching his time from last year, and worrying "The Chairman" with the way he sprinted away from the start. Thanks this week to Julie at the start, Audrey at the finish, The Chairman for pushing off, with "Mike The Post" spotting at the finish. He did need binoculars to spot my number because of the speed I was traveling at the end. Afraid I almost got to Preston's cross roundabout before I could turn around.

Rider of the night this week goes to the 2 youngsters Matt & Mark for the different styles and spirit in tackling the course. Well done Boys.



The Vintage Tankard is now scheduled for the 10th October. You need to stay fit for a little longer see below and let me know if you're in.

Hi all
The Vintage Tankard this year will take place on the 10th October 2010, start time will be 10.10. (10 past 10 on the 10th of the 10th 2010) easy to remember.

The course map is available on our web site. (www.newportphoenix.org.uk)

Please let me have a list of your riders and their season's best time so a start sheet can be drawn up.

Those wishing to stay on for lunch will be most welcome, again we will need approximate numbers to pre- warn the dinning establishment.

Cheers
Chris Davies





Evening rides

Starting again this week we have Thursday night Winter rides. Meeting at the Rowing club for a 7:00pm prompt start. Expect between 12-22 miles depending on who's out. We look after the slowest, as it's not a race.

Tuesday night rides are still happening every Tuesday. They leave the Rowing club gate at 7:30 every week, they too are steady rides covering maybe a few extra miles.

The Long Hill Climb

The Bovril event in my opinion, you either love it or hate it.

With the weather deciding we had to endure another wet night, only 7 warriors turning up to challenge the mountain that ascends all the way the to Ruardean. There were several groupies turned up to support the honourable warriors for the foreboding feat ahead of them...

The reality was it was wet. Signing on was wet. The ride to the start was wet. Funny enough it stopped raining for the start, but the road was wet. Once through the trees, it was like a different world. The sun was almost shining as we pushed through the cloud and fogginess of the bottom of the climb.

Young James warms up for the future

Fastest rider of the night was Will. Having done lots of training for the event, managed to go like a bullet from the start, cooking himself at half distance. Obliviously he did just enough to win, as the man mountain that is “The Missile” was only 7 second behind him. Congrats to Sam on the birth of another daughter. The sleepless nights may have just hindered a win…

A delighted James stood on the podium for 3rd spot, not a million miles from the two in front. “The Destroyer” turned up with his TT bike and aero wheels. We never actually found out if he got down in a aero tuck but was only 6 seconds behind James. I favour “The Destroyer” again next year for even more success over a larger range of events.

Young Alistair fancied his chances on the Longer hills, but looked slightly disappointed with the time at the end, only scoffing that he had got pay back for me beating him up steeper climbs. I won’t say I wasn’t trying, but I’m willing to bet I felt the most comfortable at the top. I could even have done it a again if I had needed to. I notice the Ross Gazette put my performance down to my age, as if?

Last home was Tony on his first outing up the hill. Afterwards I could see him formulating a plan for next time. Not sure what it was, but will probably be evident next year!

Rider of the night was Sam for moving such a large mass up hill at such speed.

Thanks this week to Dennis for pushing off. Julie and Mary at the start, with John & Audrey at the finish.

Next week is the KM sprint. Park sensibly. Not at the pub if you’re not using it or the village hall, where there were some very interesting yoga lessons last year.