Well done one and all who helped and supported all our riders. The official result after much effort by Mick Kilby landed through my letter box today. Simon Trehearn, Paul Day & Ann Bath did a total of 939.01 miles to gain second team place in the Championship. A credit to our club and just reward to Brian Powney and all his team in marshaling so much effort to support us over the weekend and particularly through the night. Jules gets recognition for her sterling work through the night to help us through that trying night circuit and my agony in particular.
The result sheet also mentions that all finishers will receive a plaque also donated by Ann and I think that is very generous of Ann.
I also get full recognition and although I am a DNF I am officially credited with a 199.3 mile 12hr distance. To that end I thank Frank if in any way he helped here and I would ask if the KPRC committee can formally credit me this year with that 12hr distance as due to family commitments on 7 Sept I was unable to enter the KCA 12 hour as I had intended to do and with my present form would expect to have gone over 200 miles.
If anyone has an opinion on this and would care to post a comment either way I would be grateful!
On another subject I went to the grand re-opening of the Burford Bridge last night and it all looks very splendid. Access to the Barn is now from the hotel and subject to no more floods I expect our club dinner next year to be a resounding success and I am sure that Brian will make sure that it is so! I may post some pictures of the refurbishment at least of the angel that played the harp.
Best regards to all MMHM
Tuesday, September 02, 2014
Hilly 12 - Result
KINGSTON PHOENIX ROAD CLUB
36th Club Hilly 12 Mile Time Trial (GS/281)
&
Club Hill Climb Championship
Sunday 31st August 2014
Result
Name Time HcpT Hcp Points Awards Alice Lethbridge 35-35 Kingston Wheelers Simon Trehearn 36-17 36-17 Scr 7/2 1st Place Matthew Whitaker 36-45 Kingston Wheelers David Watt 37-03 36-03 1:00 6/2 Steve Hillier 39-26 33-56 5:30 5/6 2nd Hcp Joe Bertorelli 40-08 34-08 6:00 4/5 Rohan Dubash 41-06 PTT Phil Todd 42-15 37-15 5:00 3/2 Mike Morley 42-23 34-53 7:30 2/3 PB Andy Avis 43-47 34-32 9:15 2/4 Stuart Downie 44-31 33-31 11:00 2/7 1st Hcp Jo Whiting 44-45 Addiscombe CC Steve Rigby 44-46 Addiscombe CC Chrystal Sheldon 45-32 36-32 9:00 2/2 David Vine 46-59 35-59 11:00 2/2 DNS: Gavin Hughes, Alex Kew (Apol), Ann Bath
Simon Trehearn to hold the Pete Mitchell Trophy
HILL CLIMB
Matthew Whitaker 1-51.84 Alice Lethbridge 1-55.02 David Watt 2-03.71 7 Men’s Club Hill Climb Champion Steve Rigby 2-04.21 Simon Trehearn 2-05.10 6 Steve Hillier 2-13.01 5 Joe Bertorelli 2-24.96 4 Jo Whiting 2-26.28 Mike Morley 2-29.76 3 PB Rohan Dubash 2-32.01 Phil Todd 2-34.11 2 David Vine 2-47.54 2 Chrystal Sheldon 2-50.35 4 Women’s Club Hill Climb Champion Stuart Downie 2-52.84 2 Andy Avis 2-58.73 2
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to the following for making this a safe event
Marshals:
Mickleham - Judy & Nicholas Margery.
Into Box Hill - Carolyn, Iain & Ben Margery.
Headley Grove - David Margery.
Clay Lane - Frank Powney.
A24 - Russell Williams.
Beaverbrook Rbt - Deborah Hurst
Hill Climb Start Timekeeper - Doreen Powney.
Frank
Our last club event of the year is the Consolation on Sunday 21st Sept. Due to road works for our 25, this year it will be10 miles on our usual course starting at 08-45. Entries to Alex as usual.
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Sunday, August 31, 2014
Back Across The Pyrenees
Like all my high mountain rides, this one came from winter dreaming. In the grey days of February I was casting around for something suitable when I chanced upon a tour called the 'Pro Strength' Coast to Coast, offered by a company called Pyractif. The route is from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean taking in many classic cols linked by decent road mileages. Not as hard as last summer's Raid Dolomites, but a good ride nonetheless. Internet reviews were good, and for me it had the advantage of being an entirely commercial offering. So if I were to get a bit lazy and hitch a lift in the van on a hot day then I wouldn't be disqualified, as you would be on a proper Raid. An exchange of emails, a deposit paid and the deed was done.
A week ago I flew to Toulouse where I met Henk, Sam and Craig, three of my fellow riders. We were picked up by Helen in one of the support minibuses and taken to Pyractif's base at Bertren. We assembled our bikes, picked up Peter, another member of the support team, and drove to Biarritz. Here we met Chris, the ride leader, and the rest of the party. Substantially British, but with Australian, Canadian, Dutch and New Zealand riders, there were seventeen of us. The rest of them looked unreasonably fit, and unreasonably young too. All were experienced mountain riders and all had ridden in the Pyrenees before. Hard ride coming.
Next morning we set off to the seaside for a departure snap, then the ride began; 103 miles and about 9000 feet of climbing on the first day; more to come as we hit our stride. In all I clocked about 450 miles and 48,000 feet of climbing before we arrived at the Mediterranean on Friday morning. We did most of the classic cols - Marie Blanque, Aubisque, the Tourmalet-Aspin-Peyresourde 'Circle of Death', Portet d'Aspet, Port de Pailheres and plenty of others. A very good ride, and good weather too. We had a bit of drizzle for a couple of hours on Wednesday morning, but otherwise it was a blue sky ride, which is a blessing in the Pyrenees.
Support arrangements were good, as I have come to expect on these trips. Two vans, mechanical support, a lead rider on many of the passes and convenient and enjoyable alfresco lunches. Decent enough hotels - truth to tell, there's not that much choice if you're crossing the Pyrenees. If you run a hotel that's good for cyclists you'll have plenty of custom in the summer season, and I've stayed in several of them before. They know their business.
My riding companions were a great bunch and touchingly considerate of an old man; I had a great time. There were some very fancy bikes, but few problems. One set of carbon rims repeatedly caused punctures - mainly heat blow-outs on the descents - but another pair (Zipp 404) were trouble free. There were a number of sets of electronic gears, Campag and Shimano, no problems with them, and most people were running 11 speed. All frames carbon, all light builds. I took my Condor and all I had to do was wash it. Great bike.
So, if you're looking for a hard ride in the mountains that's a little out of the ordinary, give this one a shot. You won't be disappointed.
Mark
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Hilly 12 - start sheet
KINGSTON PHOENIX ROAD CLUB
Hilly 12 & Club Hill Climb Championship
Sunday August 31st 2014
START SHEET
No Name Hcap Start 1 Mike Morley 7:30 08:00 2 Phil Todd 5:00 :01 3 Steve Rigby :02 4 Gavin Hughes 8:30 :03 5 Alex Kew 2:00 :04 6 Ann Bath 13:00 08:05 7 Rohan Dubash PTT :06 8 Joe Bertorelli 6:00 :07 9 David Watt 1:00 :08 10 Chrystal Sheldon 9:00 :09 11 Jo Whiting PTT 08:10 12 Stuart Downie 11:00 :11 13 Mark Cawood PTT :12 14 Matthew Whitaker Kingston Whrs :13 15 David Vine 11:00 :14 16 Natalie Gentry PTT 08:15 17 Alice Lethbridge Kingston Whrs :16 18 Simon Trehearn Scr :17 19 Steve Hillier 5:30 :18 20 Andy Avis 9:15 :19
Alex Kew
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Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Phoenix hit the £100 in SCCU 100
Having returned from York & the Birthday Rides via Derbyshire & Nottingham it seems like I have been away for ages and the Pru - 100(curtailed to 86) a distant memory! So much to my surprise on my return I open a brown paper envelope with a £50 cheque inside from the SCCU.
Don't suppose it's a record but I won 1st H/C and Richard Addis got £30 for 3rd H/C. To add to the glory Jake got £20 for second fastest lady with a very good time of 4:56:17. Richard did 5:06:24 and me 5:08:41
So all in all on that day KPRC members won £100 - Well done!
Don't suppose it's a record but I won 1st H/C and Richard Addis got £30 for 3rd H/C. To add to the glory Jake got £20 for second fastest lady with a very good time of 4:56:17. Richard did 5:06:24 and me 5:08:41
So all in all on that day KPRC members won £100 - Well done!
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Member Profile - Lisa Colombo
Lisa has been an active member of the Phoenix for over 30 years and until recently was the club's secretary with many years' service on the committee. She has developed the club website and blog and keeps the results and competitions tables up to date for us.
What’s your bike
ownership history or what do you currently ride?
At last count there’s over a
dozen bikes, a couple of tandems and a trike. Unfortunately all of them require at least basic
maintenance at the moment and since life dumped on me I don’t have the room to
do the maintenance nor even find or access the necessary tools/parts from wherever
they are stored.
None are modern, whizzy or
especially lightweight, but they include the custom built race bike that I
persuaded my parents to buy me for my 21st birthday instead of jewellery – and which still sports the
chainset that my club friends bought me for that same birthday. 25 years on it
holds the enduring memories that a 21st birthday present should.
How did you start
cycling?
I liked riding my bike as a kid
and did some moderately adventurous stuff – at least by my parents’ standards.
My English master at school rode a bike and he was a member of the SWLDA, so he
introduced me to the world of clubs and organised cycling in my early teens. I
started with the Family Section, but was dismayed to find that although they
were friendly enough they seemed to meet outside of the advertised gatherings
and I felt excluded, so I tried the Cheam & Morden Section and never looked
back.
What made you join
Kingston Phoenix?
In the summer of 1982 I went
into Richmond Cycles with my parents to buy some ‘proper’ cycling kit. They
asked if I had ever considered racing, to which my answer was that I was a “confirmed
tourist”. By spring 1983 I had made friends in, and joined, the Kingston
Phoenix - because of the link to the Cheam & Morden - and when they all
rode the Medium Gear 25 it was natural that I should do it with them. I didn’t
give a second thought to riding a 25 as my first event.
What has been your
most memorable cycling experience?
There have been many, so it is
difficult to pick one. I have especially happy memories of cycle touring all
over Italy; of a tour in Scotland where the group fell out with each other and
went our separate ways for the day – I remember a beautiful sunny day all alone
in the wilds of Scotland and the feeling of freedom of being all on my own and
self sufficient, with everything that I needed with me in my panniers. I have
many strong memories of riding and helping in TTs as well.
And then there’s the night of
the Great Storm in 1987, it was a Thursday and a club night, riding home with a
roaring tailwind, it was obvious there was something different happening that
night. We went to Crockham Hill Youth Hostel in Kent two days later, a trip
which required a lot of cross country travel as we navigated the bikes around
roads blocked by fallen trees.
What has been your
worst cycling experience?
That tends to be things like
being knocked off the bike, something that fortunately
hasn’t happened often in 30+ years of riding. I spent one Christmas on crutches
in the late 80s when a car came out of a side road and hit my leg. Having
things thrown at you from moving cars is not pleasant either, it happened once
riding home from club many years ago, when the same car kept buzzing me, and
also more recently riding from the car park to the start of the Consolation 25,
a few years ago, when someone threw a full 500ml bottle of water at me from a passing
car – you could see the ridges of the bottle in the resultant bruise on my
backside.
Pete’s funeral rates as
something of a best/worst experience too, it was amazing having so many people
turn out for the procession, but it was his funeral...
What cycling /
sporting achievement are you most proud of?
Again, so many to choose from.
Finally completing a 12hr on the tandem with Pauline Casey for 220 miles rates
highly – as a pair we were much better than the sum of the parts – even though
beating the then Comp Record of 236 miles proved a lot harder than we imagined. Winning a Tandem 100 against actual
competition is another – I have a trophy for that! I am also pleased that I
managed to beat Pete in a race just once when I did 209 in a 12hr to his 202.
What are your plans
for the rest of this season or next season?
No plans for anything. Life has
taken away all my plans, hopes and dreams at the moment. I just need to get
through this dark time and hope that there is a new life awaiting me after.
When anything bothered Pete he always went off on his own on his bike – I could never have imagined how painful that would become for me now that I can never go for a ride with him again – so even that has been stolen from me as an escape from my current problems.
When anything bothered Pete he always went off on his own on his bike – I could never have imagined how painful that would become for me now that I can never go for a ride with him again – so even that has been stolen from me as an escape from my current problems.
Unfortunately not riding brings
fatness & unfitness which makes group riding hard – it’s going to be a long
and difficult return to life when I finally get the chance again.
Do you have any
particular cycling or sporting heroes?
I loved Miguel Indurain, but was
he on drugs too? – the whole drugs scandal has soured me somewhat on pro sport.
Not so much because they were taking drugs, but because of the whole
hypocritical action of the governing body that claimed to be trying to do
something about it – and now we know they weren’t. I can understand the
mentality of the riders – in the closeted world of pro cycling events if it’s
something everyone else is doing then it doesn’t seem like cheating, or even
doing anything wrong - but I don’t condone it. I also hope that my experience
of amateur TTing is correct, that very few try to cheat by using drugs.
Sum yourself up in
three words.
I am me.
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