Gravesend Cycling Club Newsletter Issue 77 August 2014 Club Presidents Dorothy & Ian Stone. Newsletter

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1 Newsletter Hours of leisure Miles of pleasure R G R A V E S E N D C Y C L I N G He s at it again!! Fast man Anthony lowered his own Club 10m record by 27 secs to with his ride on the F11. He now holds the Club and Veterans record times. This time has earned him a place in the National 10 Championships, near Stratford, on 30 August. Then he went up to the E2 and broke Bob Crayford s 23 yr old Veterans record by 2.30, recording Tantalisingly though he needs another 2 seconds to beat Mark Davis s Club record of set in No Club kit?? It s that new speedinducing aerodynamic material!! But now he has an even faster aerodynamicmaterialed Gravesend skinsuit.!!!!! C L U B Dave French s Ashdown Forest group Dave is in the centre. From the left Steve Hunter, Kate Savage, Tony Jacobs, Dave F, Keith Allen, Mark Watkins and new member John Milner

2 RACING RESULTS Time Trials 5/7/14 VTTA E2/25 A Westwood v 52.18PB M Coulter 57.17PB 8/7/14 GCC 10 Q10/24 D Barclay v M Jones v /7/14 GCC 10 Q10/24 M Coulter v S Harrington K Gleadow v A Crothall v D Barclay v A Webster K Firmin v M Jones v /7/14 VTTA 10 F11/10 A Westwood v 20.13PB 17/7/14 PMR 10 Q10/1 A Westwood v M Coulter v /7/14 VTTA 50 Q50/11 M Coulter v PB 22/7/14 GCC 10 Q10/24 A Westwood v S Gibson K Gleadow v D Barclay v A Webster K Ward v M Simms M Jones v /7/14 PMR 10 Q10/1 A Westwood v M Coulter v /7/14 GCC 10 Q10/24 M Coulter v J Smith D Barclay v A Webster 26.29PB D Evans 26.42PB R Miller K Ward v M Jones v 28.55PB 3/8/14 De Laune 25 Q25/20 M Coulter /8/14 GCC 10 Q10/24 D Barclay v D Evans K Ward v (fxd) /8/14 SFA Q10/22 A Westwood v /8/14 GCC 10 Q10/24 A Westwood v L Gower D Barclay v D Evans A Webster K Ward v fxd K Firmin v /8/14 GCC 10 Q10/24 K Gleadow v D Barclay v D Evans K Ward v /8/14 GCC 10 Q10/24 K Gleadow v D Evans 26.57

3 Road Racing 10/7/14 SERRL Cyclopark S Gibson (1 st race as 3 rd cat) 9 th 17/7/14 SERRl Cyclopark S Gibson 4 th (in these races the starts are staggered, 4 th cats first then 3rds, then 1 & 2 so Steve s placings are from the whole field, all the riders) Charity Rides/Sportifs 10/8/14 Ride London 86 miles Karl Firmin Sarah Woodham (these are the official total times and do not include stops, voluntary or enforced. Both had over 30 mins each of stoppage time) This & That. AGM Monday 20 October 2014 Harden Hall, Hall Rd, Northfleet 8pm **See AGM section in This & That Welcome to Joshua Crew new Junior member, who with his dad, Grahame, came to the Club Night this month. Josh wants to try the Evening 10s as a means of fitness for his main sport still on two wheels but with a motor! Commiserations to Steve Gibson who unfortunately had an accident mountain biking on holiday, suffered a blood clot in his leg, needed a transfusion and couldn t fly home on time as a result. Well done to Andy Sangster for organizing the recent Ramsay Cup 25 atchilham, won by VeloRefined Aerosmiths and the Shield by Kevin Tye for the third year running. Thanks to all Andy s helpers Graeme Moir, Dave Abbotts, Patrick McMaster, Mike Coulter, Jacinta, Marlene, Jack & Harry Sangster, Keith Allen, Tony Jacobs, Andy Laing, Ian Mitchell, Kate Savage, Jason Tibbs, Andy Webster and Mike Savage for taking the photos. A 61 profit was made, with more generous prizes this year too.

4 Well done to Dave French for organizing the long, hilly run to the Ashdown Forest which 7 members braved, but there were also 3 non-club members. Fluent in??? From my own experience I know GCC has a lot of highly able speakers of Gibberish, Double Dutch, Rubbish and Old B..ll..cks. Our standing has now been markedly enhanced as we have a fluent Russian and Khirgis speaker in our midst. GCC does this now stand for Ghostriders CC?? Where are all those riders we used to see and all those new members who send in application forms but are never seen. Where are you all?? Good luck to Mike Jones who is off to ride the Cymru Etape on 14 September, 85 miles on closed roads, and to Uli Farnes who will be competing in the London Duathlon on 14 September. Also well done to Uli for successfully completing the London Marathon in 4hrs 17 AGM if you have any motions to put then please send them into Andy Sangster with the motion s seconder. The AGM is the place you bring up your ideas but use the Club Nights beforehand to discuss/refine them with other Club members or just to see what response you get. Forewarning there is going to need to be changes around the Secretaryship/ing!!!! Well done to the 8 who rode the Ellenor Hospice Charity ride at Brands see later article. GCC Jumble Roger Stevens has booked the 2015 GCC CycleJumble for Saturday morning February 21 at the Southfleet village hall. This year s event was very very successful in raising money, in the number of stall holders and the bargains to be had. So if you have old cycling items you want to get rid of or items you want to buy then put this date in your diary. It is well worth a visit. Thanks to Roger. Club Runs & Club Nights. These continue to be successful and thanks to Jason Tibbs for overseeing the CRs on Sundays. These have been so successful that, whether by default or design, 2 groups have ridden a faster paced group and a more moderate-pace group. Club Nights have been just as successful with attendance on Runs and Nights in double figures. 24/8/14 = 6 on the moderate paced/social ride and 9 on Jason s faster paced group. The next Club Night is Wednesday September 3 at Cyclopark 7.30pm. Forthcoming Events.. you may be interested in 1. Air Ambulance Double September from Marden, Kent or Redhill, Surrey. 100 miles or 100km. Costs: if unsponsored 45 or if sponsored (min 100) 30. Further information Julie Clare or juliec@kssairambulance.org.uk. It is on behalf of the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance. 2. James Smith writes Just a reminder that the cyclo cross season starts on the 7th September. I hope to race the more local events and I would encourage club mates to give it a go. For more details on the London cross league visit the cyclelab website. If you want to contact James you can do so on jamessmith74@live.co.uk Evening 10s. These have now finished there is one last 10 on Sunday morning 7 September weather permitting. Thanks must go again to Jason Tibbs who has stepped in and done most of the timekeeping throughout the season. This has happened only because he was not racing next season we will have to be looking for timekeepers as well as the Asst Timekeeper system which seemed to work quite well this season.

5 Steve Gibson writes writes of his racing at Cyclopark It was my first race as a CAT 3 and fairly daunting starting a minute behind the cat 4s. It was also pouring with rain! We caught the cat 4's after about 9 laps and the e/1/2's caught us a lap later. A break of 4 got away, I should have gone too, but hesitated and stayed with the bunch and was happy to finish 5th from the bunch sprint (9th overall). (In the next race) Conditions were much improved from the previous week, very warm and sunny! The group stayed together this week, probably due to a brisk head wind up the main straight and despite a large field the e/1/2s did not catch us. We worked well as a team and soon caught the cat 4s! So it all came down to a bunch sprint and I placed 4th. I think the top 6 were all on the same second! With the top 15 separated by just 4 seconds. Steve + Steve sent this photo to support his comments on the hour he did at Cyclopark in the rain. I had been wondering what to put in this Newsletter compared to the last one which was so full. His mud-spattered face and perhaps a facial similarity to a yellow jersey rider who took advantage of wet weather recently, made me remember I could make my own contribution!! I went over to the see the Tour s 3 stages in northern France. The break didn t start well when there was a broken down train in the Channel Tunnel, taking 2 hrs to get from the M20 to the ticket barrier to be told we could wait 6 hours for the next shuttle or go via the ferry. We took the ferry but only to be overwhelmed on the ferry by parties of noisy school children and trying in vain to find somewhere quiet. Then the sudden realization that I used to do this in a former life!!!! A bit of rude awakening!! ankles, tough luck! We saw Stage 4 just outside Cassel. We were able to park by the roadside and use the running board of the car as a step and get a good view of the fleeting seconds it took for the bunch to pass. The mad scramble by adults and children for the freebies from the caravan never fails to amaze me there is never any concept of an individual s private space as anything falling immediately at one s feet is fair game for all and sundry; if you are not quick enough to bend down before someone else has engulfed your

6 Anyway it is the next stage over the cobbles in Flanders that Steve s face and comments has provoked. I was really looking forward to seeing this stage but when we woke to heavy rain I was a bit despondent, not being a wet weather lover. However it turned out to make the day. We duly headed off in the unceasing rain, reached the local town, couldn t find a café, (obviously didn t look hard enough or in the right place) so headed off to find the cobbles. Further than expected, so went back to move the car closer feet getting wetter all the time. Fortunately the end of our section of cobbles was near a supermarket so we were able to stock up on lunch and new batteries for the camera. We d made it to the cobbles only to find the batteries were dead! We then sat in the car for a couple of hours only to be told by passers by that the caravan had been cancelled and was not doing the cobbles. Finally we had to go, in rain capes and with umbrellas. The first sight of the cobbles was amazing to think we winge about the rough surfaces we have on time-trials and then to see these farm tracks which the top pros were going to be riding over. We walked along the length of our section. Some organization had a very large screen erected on a fork lift so we could see the race approaching, still in heavy rain. People slowly populated the edge of the fields, a Sky team car pulled up and parked. The loads of individuals spread themselves out along the section holding spare wheels. Then the helicopters, then the official cars and then finally the riders. However in trying to get the best position for the photos we had forgotten the width of the vehicles and whereas the riders s wheels would be in the middle of the road the car wheels most definitely were not. Standing too close to the road meant a thorough soaking of water and mud from the first few vehicles! Nibali and he wasn t slowing down!! (or is it Steve??) Then the riders but it was impossible to identify anyone (except 1 and in retrospect the yellow jersey, a photo which I got by chance as I was clicking at everything) as they were covered in mud and raincapes. From any discernible facial expression it was of being stuffed and yet they had to do another section of cobbles and 30 miles to the finish. The one rider I was able to recognize was Voekler, off the back, and he looked stuffed and thoroughly fed

7 up!! Although I looked for Froome and other Sky riders I didn t recognize any and at that stage did not realize Froome had abandoned even before he d reached the cobbles. Had he reached them would he have survived anyway?? I will certainly go to watch Paris-Roubaix and even tempted by the sportif forerunner. I m certainly impressed with what the pros have to contend with. Playing two football matches a week must be hard for 30 or 40 grand a week upwards, eh?? Ashdown Forest ride Well done to Dave French for initiating and leading the long ride to the Ashdown Forest.. It made a welcome change to the usual Sunday session. It was 78 miles with 2300m of climbing. As per the photo on the front page7 GCC riders went, although there were 4 others as well. John Milner had 3 punctures and the word on the street is that Steve Hunter was feeling it towards the end. Star Hill, Toys Hill, Groombridge Hill, Birling and Cobhambury featured among the climbs. Ride London To date there are two known participants Sarah Woodham and Karl Firmin Karl is just off on holiday but sent in some details, which follow, but the only comment he could offer was WET he reckons from just after the start until 15 or so miles from the end He covered the 86 miles in , moving time, total time However the first 30kms were blitzed in nearly 19mph/30kph! There were 1017m of climbing. Sarah reckoned it was the hardest ride she has ever done her total time was Sarah agrees with Karl in that she was soaked for well over half the time as well. Sarah has only really just started cycling any distance so this was certainly a major achievement for her. Sarah at the finish with her medal

8 Leon s back and riding with us again Hello everyone - as you may know, over July I was away with my microphone at the Tour de France making a four part radio programme on the adventures of the Tour's adventurous spectators. So just incase you fancy listen all the episode are now online at or can be found individually at the following places... Episode 1 - The tour kicks off with 3 stages in the UK - Episode 2 - The tour into wet northern France - Episode 3 - Up through the Alps - tour-de-france-episode-3 Episode 4 - Adventures in the Pyrenees tour-de-france-episode-four Happy riding, Ellenor Hospice Charity ride at Brands. An excellent turn out from GCC in fact I think we were the club with most riders, certainly in kit: Andy Gibson, Kate Savage, Mike Coulter, David Evans, Andrew Webster, Keith Allen, Kevin Gleadow and young Joshua Crew our latest member who was really game and giving it a good go. So well done to all. Three of the Gravesend contingent David Evans, Andrew Webster and Kevin Gleadow

9 That Steve Jones..he gets everywhere; now it s the Aussies turn!! My wife Casey and I have been here since the 2nd of August, travelling via Singapore. We have already spent 9 days in Sydney, where Casey was born. We visited a lot of tourist attractions as well as spending time with old family friends of Casey's who emigrated to Australia as 'ten pound Poms' in the 1960's. We have now moved onto Surfers Paradise, on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland. We have been whale watching and had the great experience of seeing two Humpback Whales on their migration path north Through a business associate, I was lucky enough to hook up with some guys here for a ride. One of my associate s best friends has retired here after selling his business in Singapore. I hooked up with him at his home, a beautiful river front house in a place called Runaway Bay. He was kind enough to lend me his Felt Team Garmin replica, full Ultegra and lightweight DT Swiss wheels. We set off along with another guy, Andy, an ex-pat airline pilot, for a ride out to a place called Cabbage Tree Point. I noticed straight away how great the cycle lanes were as we rode out of the suburbs of Surfers Paradise. As the Felt I was riding was the first top end carbon bike I'd ever ridden and at least 2kg lighter than my own ride; I also noticed how much faster accelerating and quicker steering my loan bike was. After 3 miles, three more guys joined our group, making a peleton of 6. Ex-hotelier Tony, originally from Leeds and two Aussie's, Craig and Graham made up our number. We headed away from town and into the countryside. The roads were very light with traffic but the cars we did see gave us loads of room. Single file riding is the law in Queensland and any breaching of traffic rules also affects your driving licence. Not a bad idea for a deterrent for the red light jumpers in London! We cycled the 25 miles to Cabbage Tree Point, through endless fields of sugar cane, and a few sightings of kangaroos thrown in for good measure. We made good time on the fairly flat route. Cabbage Tree Point is a small riverside town, a favourite spot for local fisherman and pelicans alike. After coffee we started our return against a strong but warm headwind, so a pleasant ride back to Runaway Bay was had. I really enjoyed the hospitality of the group and even spent the afternoon bike shopping with a couple of the guys. It was a great experience to ride in Australia and something I would have massively regretted not doing. We are now looking forward to our return to the UK on the 16th August.

10 Gravesend Cycling Club Newsletter Issue 77 August 2014 Name that rider?? A current Gravesend CC member and rider the photos were taken in 1969 on a wet Isle of Man in a 25 Austrian Ironman 22 June In the last Newsletter I put in the results for Steve Hunter and Steve Harrington (now doing a half-ironman with his brother) who completed the Austrian Ironman. Steve Hunter s time was 13hr 13 mins while Steve Harrington s time was 14hr 24 mins. All that time. doing what? After all you could fly to Singapore in less time!! 2.6 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, run 26.2 miles I think Singapore might just have the edge for me though!! Well done to them though. Steve Hunter sent in these words and photos: This was a run through and we had to ring a bell - an Austrian thing I think - each time we passed by. This was at a turn point in the Klagenfurt centre where there was always support and cheering along the two lap route, but this section was particularly busy. Swim venue it was lovely one day but brutal the next. It was top quality water though. Considering the swim was more like the great Sardine run we both did well; 3000 in the water beating hell out of each other to get to shore. Editor M Coulter

11 The bike ride (these are non-drafting events) was through fantastic Austrian scenery on good roads with a few rain showers to make the fast corners interesting. And with two lap course you know what's coming on the second lap. I was wrongly geared and the steep incline was a case of grinding out and making sure I had saved enough energy for the climbs, nothing long just steep. The run was painful and not according to plan - 'nuff said. The split times were Hu: swim ; bike ; run total Ha: swim ; bike ; run total For Sale Two sets of wheels for sale that will go to ebay when I get back from the Alps if there are no offers. If you think any of your colleagues might be interested, they are i) Giant PSL1 with tubes/tyres ( 180) and ii) Shimano RS10 (not with tubes/tyres- 75 ) both genuinely unused/new. Contact: Kevin Charlton kevin.charlton@kpmg.co.uk Direct line Mobile