Tuesday 28 May 2013

2 up 10 at, you've guessed it Old Gore



As hard as it is to believe, this week’s event was held at Old Gore. I’m fast beginning to feel it’s becoming everyone’s favourite event. The rumour mills said they’ve seen insurance type people assessing the land slide on Walford, but I can’t see it being fixed anytime soon. Weather this week was slightly unusual having had a rain shower about an hour before with a blustery side wind which only become helpful on the final climb.

As with all 2 ups, last second dot com took over with everyone looking for a suitable partner to ride with. After a bit of dilly and dallying the teams looked fairly even, with what I thought at the time could be a close run thing for top honours.

 Mr Millard and I (neither of us feeling tickety boo- me hay fever, Steve dental work) put in a respectable time. Just had a look at the data, our time out was 11:20, which means we must had one hell of a return speed, no wonder Steve broke me up the final hill. 

Max & Jonny were next up, both happy with the outward leg, but the hill doing the damage in the end, probably hurting Jonny as much as it hurt me.

Adam & Richard stood on the 3rd step of the podium, not sure how it went, but the time looked good for the conditions. Last week, I suggested Rich & Paul team up, well they didn’t, Rich rode with Nigel, Paul with Neil. How close was that, one second splitting them. I bet Paul & Neil were in the bar afterwards trying to work out if they could have gone 2 seconds faster, always easier said than done.

Father & son team Carter brought up the rear. Mark looked like he enjoyed the race, as he was beaming from ear to ear afterwards.

On the solo front Tony the Tiger declined to ride with Turbo Will saying he didn’t want to be slowed down by Will. Will on the other hand put in a great time, with Tony having a mechanical problem just after the start.

Thanks this week go to Julie timing, Bill at the turn, Taff on launch control.

Next week will be an Old Gore 10

Team of the night this week is Richard & Nigel, a great team effort.

With the 2 open events coming up Will & I will require some offers of help for marshalling/kitchen duties etc. Any volunteers would be appreciated, as it helps keep cycling cost cheap in the club.
 
Apologies to Max, whilst looking at the results sheet for the hilly, we’ve spotted a typo error, you did say that was the first time your Garmin had said the same as the timekeeper. Your time was actually 4 seconds slower than, stated last week, being 1:15:46……. Apologies for that.
 

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Old Gore 10 16th May & the Monster that is the Cross Ash Hilly and New time for events



Old Gore...... 

The Destroyer - He will be back....
Perfect conditions for this weeks Old Gore 10, starting to notice a pattern occurring here!!! We had a slight tailwind out so times not that special out, but the return was much easier. Apparently there were calls for me to be drug tested afterwards, but don’t worry, the hay fevers higher this week.

 Steve M kept the pressure on, being one person you should never underestimate. Adam was the first road bike home. Max lost some time somewhere, got the feeling his legs will be good this week when he comes to race.  Nick P was looking a little rushed when he turned up, possibly not 100% prepared as he was still in suit as he signed on. 

The long awaited appearance of "The Destroyer" materialised. I had assumed he wouldn’t turn up without being 100% ready, but maybe he wasn’t quite as fast as I thought he would be. He was fast out, but the hills back took their toll. He was however pleased with the result. 

James brought the TT machine out, the times have improved greatly. Andy was also happy, having knocked another 30 seconds off his best time this year. Tony the Tiger has been out training, that’s 3 minutes off his last effort. 

Potential 2 up partners Rich and Northern Paul were split by a mere second, could be the start of a good season battle.

Thanks this week to Julie timing, Bill at the turn and Neil Croft pushing off

Rider of the night Adam Taylor of the Forest, cracking ride on a road bike.






Cross Ash Hilly 25.3


Another event, again with perfect conditions. Mooted as the hardest 25 (25.3 miles) in the country, the Cross Ash Hilly still didn’t stop the hardest of the hard turning up to tame the beast. Eight gladiators faced the start, looking towards the Skirrid, awaiting Bill’s thumb to start the watches before being dispatched towards the belly of the beast. The old ‘which bike was best’ question comes around every year, but with little wind the first three places were all on TT bikes. 
Max our Rider of the Day

Turbo Will passed the entire field of riders very quickly, but I suspect he then eased off slightly. Apparently it was a PB for him though. I was hoping to have a few pics of everyone on the second to last climb up from the Rolls, and would have shown how close it was between myself and Max at that point. Max flew up the last climb,  to steal a well-deserved second spot, greatly improving his previous best. I also had a PB so I mustn’t grumble. 

First road bike home was Nick P. his final seven miles home were impressive. Adam was next home, starting quite fast. He was quoted  “that’s one of those events you only do once”, so it sounds like he’ll be doing it again next year. 

Wobbly Bob was next up and  felt awful about encouraging Tom “The Power” Knight  to ride, with a large merciless grin. I think Wobbly really enjoyed the ride as he looked to be buzzing afterwards.  

Jenifer, used the gentle gentle catch the Monkey trick, having made a nice paced start, waited for Tom “The Power” to reel her in before showing that hill climbing tenacity on the way home. 

Tom, right from the word go looked like he was asking himself why he was riding, “good training” was my answer. He was more worried about getting lost than the course (entertainment trophy sprung to mind), but he’s now put a marker down for next year’s event. 

There was another person at the event, but he was invisible. Whilst Bill waited patiently for the first rider home, sat in my very comfortable seats, "the sandman" came along and seduced Bill in to shutting his eyes for what felt like seconds. Fortunately the Sandman was scared off as Will approached screaming at the Sandman to leave Bill alone so he could record Will’s time.

A big thank to Bill for his efforts.

Rider of the day was Max, a good improvement of his PB, with a storming finish.

This week is an Old Gore 2 up. Should be exciting seeing the tandem screaming along. Also note 7:30 start…..

Message from Steve Webb
Have arranged to go to Tour but friend I was going with has had to pull out owing to a major op. which has been arranged for the dates we were going.
Anybody from the Club going or would like to?
Let me know and I will pass you on

 

Sunday 12 May 2013

2 weeks worth of Old Gore 10s plus some news and up coming events



2nd  of May Old Gore 10

Milli giving it large
A little late but it’s been a hectic week or so. The best conditions of the season so far greeted 15 raring riders for surprise Old Gore 10. Bestest on the night again was Steve Millard, not so far ahead of an improving me….

Max  has been put in charge of keeping me honest, would assume he’s taking chunks out of me up the final climb. 

A humongous improvement this week by Nick P, just taking Matt by a mere second.

Come try rider Neil made an impact on his first outing, with James, not at his fastest but looking very fast up to the finish. Mike D had a great ride, and was well happy. Climb on Andy was only a few seconds behind Mike. Nige  just scraped under the golden half hour with Wobbly Bob just over. 

Rich seemed happy with his effort just squeezing Clive out of 12th spot. Paul M was very happy with his improvement, with a set of tri bars for next week’s event (see below for results.) Jon A brought up the rear, but was far happier with his ride. Now if there wasn’t a hill, life would be good for him.

Thanks this week to John, Audrey & Tim at the turn, Taff pushing off, and Julie timing.
Rider of the night this week goes to Neil, awesome first effort.






9th May Old Gore 10

The Racing snake also giving large
Well well well, another Old Gore 10. This week, the wind was horrendous, not quite a full tailwind out but not as bad as it could have been on the return.  9 minute and 40 seconds  I hit the turn in, all helped by a massive top gear (my secret weapon hitting 40mph at 95rpm) which gave me an unfair advantage over everyone else. 
 Max once again kept me honest, taking the silver and Gannet’s Johnny 3rd . Little Matt had to settle for 4th spot, now taking a break for exam/school work. It was noted he’s also out partying at the end of term Prom. 

Once again James flew over the finish line, can’t remember if he’s currently using his TT machine. Our Nige was next home. From a distance it initially looked like he was doing a 2 up with Paul M, but as I got closer I could see they were merely having a really good battle up to the finish. Paul liked the new tri bars, saying he could feel the power using them. It won’t be very long before he dips under the half hour judging by his ride on the Sunday ride.

Thanks go to Bill at the turn, Taff pushing off and Steve Millard timing. 

Please note, a working rear light is required for dull evenings or inclement weather as it can be quite dark in some of the wooded sections. The timekeepers have the final say, not me the race sec.

Rider of the night this week I have decided is me…..
 
Next week looks like it will be an Old Gore 10. Long range weather forecast is for light wind. 

Next Sunday is The Cross Ash Hilly. Do we have a volunteer timekeeper? I am happy to time if we have a good turnout. Can you let me know if you’re happy to time or ride in advance please.

Open News. One Mr Bevan under my advice took his first open win. Riding the Ludlow 10 took an easy win in a time of 20:27. We hatched a race plan on the way up, not sure he run to the plan, but hey, a win’s a win. Now he’s left with a problem. He was riding his road bike converted over to a TT machine as his race bike had a crack in the frame. Is his road bike the quicker machine? He’ll find out later this week.

On the long ride front, Wobbly Bob, Virgil, Taff and Sarah did a trip around the Gospel pass Saturday. They did find a little rain with Wobbly Bob testing his best summer kit thoroughly in it.

I was surprised to see Taff & Sarah on the club ride today. Bill had to return to Monmouth having suffered a nose bleed waiting for his better half to pick him up at Lidl. As luck would have it he found a good bargain on beer there.

Tuesday night rides look like they’re going to be back on. 7:00 from POW car park. Nigel, let me know if you want me to put it back on the web page calendar.