Winners all R. Newsletter G R A V E S E N D C Y C L I N G C L U B. Hours of leisure Miles of pleasure

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1 Gravesend Cycling Club Newsletter Issue 87 August 2017 Newsletter Hours of leisure Miles of pleasure Winners all R G R A V E S E N D C Y C L I N G C L U B No guessing who got to Paris first!! That s it our Kate by a day!!! No team to drag her to the finish come rain or shine, up or down!! Fetching colour, yellow! Cheeky, cheery or just Leon? Ride Brands in aid of the Lions Hospice and Ellenor Hills Gower strikes again Foundation l-r Keith Allen, Roger Turk, Luke Harrington read later in Newsletter Bob Wilson, Kate Savage, Mike Harrington. (Kate & BH photos courtesy of Mike Savage of Mike Savage photography) Secretary M Coulter

2 RACING RESULTS Time Trials 30/5/17 GCC 10 Q10/24 G Terry S Harrington D Barnes v B Wilson v M Harrington v V Delport v K Ward v Kate Savage (L/crossing) 31.28* 3/6/17 De Laune 10 Q10/24 S Harrington D Barnes v /6/17 Thanet RC Q10/42 D Barnes v /6/17 GCC 10 Q10/24 R Turk v S Harrington D Barnes v M Simms v K Ward v C Abbotts jvl /6/17 GCC 10 Q10/24 S Harrington L Harrington D Barnes v Kate Savage C Abbotts jvl /6/17 Ashford Whs Q10/1 D Barnes v /7/17 VTTA 10 Q10/30 D Barnes v /7/17 GCC 10 Q10/24 R Smith v R Turk v L Gower S Harrington D Barnes v P Edwards v B Wilson v M Simms v Kate Savage M Harrington v C Abbotts jvl /7/17 Ashford Whs Q10/1 B Wilson v /7/17 GCC Ramsay Cup 25 S Harrington /7/17 AshfordWhs Q10/1 D Barnes v B Wilson v 26.30PB 15/7/17 SFA 10 Q10/22 D Barnes v /7/17 Ashford Whs Q10/1 D Barnes v /7/17 VTTA 10 Q10/1 D Barnes v /7/17 GCC 10 Q10/24 R Turk v A Olley v S Harrington J Wade M Jones v M Harrington v 28.36PB B Wilson v /8/17 GCC 10 Q10/24 D Evans R Turk v M Harrington v M Jones v Kate Savage B Wilson v K Ward v C Abbotts jvl /8/17 GCC 10 Q10/24 R Smith v R Turk v D Barnes v S Bushell K Ward v fxd M Harrington v Kate Savage B Wilson v 31.42

3 15/8/17 GCC 10 Q10/24 R Smith v D Evans R Turk v D Barnes v S Bushell B Wilson v Kate Savage M Jones v K Ward v fxd Sportives 11/6/17 L Etape Wales Kate Savage 1 st category 17 th /184 all females 95m - 6hrs.38.21; 2200m climbing Handicap Table It s Roger by a whisker for the moment, but 2 races to go Roger Turk Bob Wilson Mike Harrington Cameron Abbotts Luke Harrington This & That * condolences to Bob & Muriel Crayford on the passing of Renee Crayford, just weeks short of her 100 th birthday. Renee, Bob s mum, was an active member of the Club, not only helping Roy, Bob s dad, with the timekeeping but also with the refreshments and the social side of the Club. She was of course a big supporter and encourager of Bob, who together with Roger Wilkings, were the Club s foremost riders. * a big well done to Andy Sangster for organising another very successful Ramsay Cup 25m time trial. Andy in his turn, and now the Club, expresses it thanks to all the helpers too Dave Abbotts, Graeme Moir, Patrick McMaster for timekeeping duties, to Dave Barnes, Mark Simms, Colin Pearson, Kate Savage and Jason Tibbs for marshalling duties and for catering to Marlene & Jacinta Sangster, Jack Sangster on the result board and Mike Savage for photography * well done to Roger Stevens who has already booked Southfleet hall for the 2018 GCC Bike Jumble. Note for your diaries then Saturday 24 February. * well done to the four who rode the Ride London 100 Ed Crocker, Tony Jacobs, Jack Wade and Leo Tomlinson. I hesitate to give times as there is the Ride London total time (which includes stops for refreshments etc) as opposed to the actual ride time of Strava. Best speak to them as to which they will offer up!!!! * well done to Kate Savage, Bob Wilson, Mike & Luke Harrington, Keith Allen and Roger Turk who rode the Ride Brands Hatch charity event for the Ellenor Foundation and Lions Hospice. Well done to them for their donations and keeping GCC in the spotlight.

4 * well done to David Barnes and Steve Harrington for continuing to uphold GCC s name in Open events. Apart from Andy Gibson, who rode Open events at the beginning of the season, these are the only 3 GCC riders to so do this season. * well done to Steve Bushell, new member, who has been out riding the Evening 10s. Good rides and times too. CLUB NIGHTS With the change in circumstances of the Cyclopark café it only being open when there is sufficient business it seems very unlikely that it will be open during the winter, even on the Thursday that we are now using. Therefore we need to come up with i) an alternative venue ii) an alternative to the Club Night format especially during the winter months iii) an appraisal of whether a Club night is still wanted/viable. * Club trophies those members who won trophies last year can you please make arrangements to return them. I will be at the two Evening 10s left, although not so sure about the September Club Night at the moment. Otherwise contact me (Mike Coulter) about how and when you can return them. We will be compiling the list of the 2017 winners in mid September and then the trophies will go to the engraver. M Kate s L'etape Wales sportif, Port Talbot, South Wales. and with some success too! (She rode this in June as warm up for the London Paris ride) 95 miles with 2200m of climbing. Total time 6 hours 38 minutes and 21 seconds. 1 st in Category Female (out of only 20 riders!) 17 th Female overall out of 184. Overall it was a well organized event with a prompt start, but sadly the weather didn t hold out with regular short, sharp showers and a 20mph head wind on the second half of the ride. The disc brakes on my new bike were put to the test on some technical descents, but I can t have used them too much as my Garmin registered a maximum speed of 44.1mph! The climbs were like nothing we can find in Kent with the first one being a full 10 miles with an average gradient of 7%. I enjoyed every minute of the ride but it was probably one of the hardest events I have ever done, with the combination of hills, wind and rain. Would certainly recommend this ride if someone loves hills, if you don t, it s not one for you!

5 Kate s London to Paris 2017 Everyone said I was either insane or stupid for signing up to do London to Paris without knowing anyone (personally I think I was both!) but I m so glad I did. Everyone on the ride was so friendly and I met some really interesting people creating a great camaraderie. It was my first multi-day event and didn t know quite what to expect. The itinerary was: Day 1: London to Folkestone (105 miles, 2012m of climbing) Day 2: Calais to Amiens (111 miles 1806m of climbing) Day 3: Amiens to Paris (110 miles 1382m of climbing) I rode with an organization called HotChillee. It was a well organized event meaning I was their problem to get from start to finish. There were 5 different speed groups into which you self selected. I opted for the 15mph average group which suited me well. I was pushed on the flatter sections but was comfortably overtaking folk on the hills. Day 1 proved the toughest challenge with bad weather, traffic and hills, including Kidd s Hill in the Ashdown Forest. We ended up having to push the speed up on the run into Folkestone as we were running late for the ferry! Day 2 was a nice rolling day with a strong headwind and fantastic weather. Day 3 brought showers, another strong headwind but the feeling of elation when, on the cobbles, we approached the Arc de Triomphe. Day 4 gave us the chance to watch the Tour de France finish. We managed to get a good spot near the Arc de Triomphe and the atmosphere was amazing. The bike and legs held up well but I hadn t quite anticipated the level of fatigue from the repeated early starts and hours in the saddle. I have however been once again banned from completing non-circular routes as Mike had to chase across the continent to pick me up! Kate at the start. (note Brailsford s attempt at poaching good riders!) (Photo Mike Savage) Overall I loved the whole ride. It proved a great challenge at the right level for me. To date I have raised nearly 1000 for the Alzheimers Society in memory of my Nan who sadly lost her life to this disease last year. If anyone would still like to donate my Just Giving site is Bring on the next challenge!!!!

6 Leon s latest hill climbing exploits.. I represented the Club at a hill climb event and somehow managed to win it!!!!!!! A new London based cycle club with a great name 'Big Boys Bicycle Club' is running a series of 6 weekly hill climb competitions focusing on London's urban climbs and this Tuesday I attended the second climb of the series - College Road in Dulwich and somehow managed to nab the fastest time! Here are the results for the top 5 1 Leon Gower Gravesend CC M Pereira Kingston Whs A Solomon BBBC A Hynes KMOTB E Lamaison BBBC Unfortunately I'm not going to be about to attend any of the other climbs in the series, so won t be able to put my 20 points to good use in the overall series standings. Big Boys Bicycle Club have also put together a brilliant report of the event which is online over here: Leon assures me that this picture was taken after the event and despite what it might look like there is only Ribena in Leon s glass. My suspicion is that it might have been before and by the time of the event alcohol would have taken its natural course on the other riders. Leon s tactical decision to stay with the Ribena then bore fruit in the results! Nimble of mind as well as of legs!! One smart cookie our Leon!! Well done.

7 2017 Tour Probably at the sake of repeating myself again (after each Tour I go to) I can only say the Tour is a fantastic spectacle, as well as race. The tv gives a tremendous impression and is a great tourist sell for France, but nothing beats actually seeing it live. It is even more impressive when you see if live after having watched it on tv from afar when all the participants and ingredients seem abstract, and then..bang you are in the middle of it all, a real live event. If you haven t been there is only one word GO! And the French have got all the organization down to such a fine art. Impressive. I stayed in Perigueux to see the start of Stage 11, then shot down to a 2km 7% climb near the finish to see them again. I thought they might be a little strung out by then, but no, they just whooshed by with consummate ease, probably showing less strain than when we ride a 10! Then the next day I went to a small village shortly after the start to see the caravan come slowly through and then the race. It was good as in both stages team Sky were lined out with Froome in yellow at the back. Better than in previous years as the yellow jersey and team were easily and clearly identifiable, instead of being lost in the peleton. Hopeless though to identify any riders, by the odd one or two Cummings always at or near the back and likewise with Voeckler, but with him his riding style is a give away as well. What is good about these little towns and villages is that they really put great effort into Tourising the route through, as you will see in the selection of photos. A bit of a change from previous years in that there were virtually no vendors selling non-official Tour merchandise. Previously there would be sellers of retro cycling products, old team equipment and so forth which was always of interest maybe just not in the right place this year. House in Seyches, Stage 12 Shop window in Montignac

8 Gravesend Cycling Club Newsletter Issue 87 August 2017 Shortly after the start of Stage 12 Sky train with Froome on the radio Shop windows in Montignac on the route of Stage Secretary M Coulter

9 De Laune 10 David and Steve road in the De Laune 10 two of the very few members to ride in Open events this season, so well done to them. How about a caption competition? The Blues Brothers? The Chuckle Brothers? Abbot & Costello? Laurel & Hardy yep, that seems the best fit so far!!!! Here they are in action and every picture tells a story!! To be fair Steve was on the way back, downhill with a tail wind while David was on the way out, uphill, and into a strong headwind.

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