The Newsletter for Ythan Cycle Club and Ythan QL

Transcription

1 January 2014 The Newsletter for Ythan Cycle Club and Ythan QL Editorial 2014 is going to be a big big year for cycling in our area. Changes in Scottish cycling and a change in emphasis for the Grampian region will hopefully mean more opportunities for our club. We will lose a few members to the new clubs springing up in the area but it is heartening to note that they all refer to Ythan as the template club they want to emulate Individually, it s also going to be a big year for our members and discussions abound about targets, PBs and challenges. I have heard of massive triathlon challenges, long distance cycling events and personal commitments to beating a certain cycling nemesis (no names, no pack drill). Whatever your goal for 2014 is, remember to have fun achieving it. On a very important note, can the winners of last year s trophies please return them as soon as possible so they can be engraved in time for this year s presentation? Colin Membership subscriptions now due The 2014 subscriptions are now due and again we have kept our membership fees at the same level; 15 for seniors, 5 for youth and junior members and 30 for family membership. The easiest way to pay is using the on-line membership on British Cycling s webpages. Go to the club finder page, type in Ythan and that should take you to the club profile page. Or use this link: Please note that membership should be paid by the end of January. Membership paid after this date will be subject to a 5 surcharge. This is so the club can prepare the 2014 budget knowing what our membership income is. If you have decided not to join Ythan for 2014 the club would be grateful if you could inform us so that you are not burdened by future s from the club. Timetable for regular YCC events Friday and Wednesday evening run Where: Graham Parley s house When: 17:15 hrs Wednesday & Friday evenings Saturday QL training Under 12s Where: car park behind swimming pool When: 10:00 hrs Saturday mornings (Starts 18 th January) Saturday QL training (road run) year old Where: various see forum each week for details When: 10:00 hrs Saturday mornings Winter Sunday club run Where: Ellon Swimming Pool When: 10:00 hrs Sunday. Tuesday confined time trial Where: Auchterellon supermarket car park When: Fortnightly 18:00 hrs sign on for 18:30 hrs start. Tuesdays starting April Sunday Road Race training. See distribution. 1

2 Presentation night The annual Ythan CC presentation will be held on 8 th February. There will be a meal followed by the 2013 review and presentation of awards. This year the presentation will be held at the Buchan Hotel 1730 for 1800 start. Come along for a friendly evening of chat, comedy from our resident raconteur and celebrate with the winners of last year s silverware. New marshal bibs Looking though our inventory of marshal bibs was a bit of a sorry story. The club have acquired so many different types of bib it was difficult to see who was what. At the end of last year 20 new bibs were purchased with the YCC logo and club name on them We are going to be the smartest marshals in the region. REMEMBER WE NEED LAST YEAR S TROPHIES BACK ASAP. Coaching corner SC have begun to get their coaching courses together for 2014 and already Ythan coaches have signed up for the Road/ TT DSU. Malcolm Cooper intends to start his level 2 coaching and Andy Scouler is considering it. Sarah Rowe and PJ Duncan have passed their level 2. This means that the club are in a great position for coaching coverage for next year. Confined TT series The 2013 series finished in September. From early June it was clear that Hamish Cooper s excellent progress throughout the season would mean it would be very hard for anyone to catch him. And so it was that Hamish won the series by a clear margin. In fact the whole Cooper family managed places in the top five. Rosie Cooper should get a special mention as she chaperoned young William over the 10 mile course. The champions for 2013 were: 1 Hamish Cooper 39 points 2 Tom Morris 33 points 2 Chris Cooper 33 points 4 Bill Bavidge 32 points 5 William Cooper 29 points 6 Mike Giles 28 points In addition to the top placing there are championship medals for the fastest riders in each category. Craig Ward 00:25:06 fastest Senior Carol Middleton 00:28:13 fastest lady Colin Duncan 00:23:10 fastest vet Jordan Stronach 00:23:38 fastest U16 Fraser Gault 00:33:31 fastest U12 Paul Winter 00:31:07 vintage champion Road racing team. The Ythan CC road racing team has begun training in earnest with some chaingang training and pack etiquette. The team will be a good mix of experienced racers, seniors new to racing and junior members who have graduated from the youth cycling squad. The road race team have also been getting some group ride training with the Yellow youth group. The target is to start with the Ellon APR in March as the inaugural race for the team. If you are interested in being part of the road race team for 2014 please contact Colin or Malcolm who will advise on training evenings and events. Note this is for road racers who want to commit to doing some road races in Ythan CC on the web The Ythan on-line jigsaw is getting into place now: Facebook pages Flickr photo pages British Cycling club profile pages: Open Forum page Website page Construction ongoing 2

3 QL groups As the numbers of QL riders increase the club has now introduced four levels of groups: White Group Young riders who have only just started out cycling and are getting to grips with basic riding. Polka Dot Group Slightly older riders who have a good riding ability and are looking to develop skills needed for racing. Green Group Older riders who are looking to develop basic skills, learn race tactics and push their fitness levels. Yellow Group Racers learning the skills they will need as a junior rider in bunch races and pushing themselves hard to get to a level of fitness which stretches them at whatever level of racing they are aiming for. Aberdeen & District Cycling Association As part of Scottish Cycling s re-branding, Aberdeen and District Cycling Association will be no more. Instead it will be Scottish Cycling Grampian Region. The region is made up of all the cycling clubs in the area and are there to develop the sport in the area. The clubs represented are: Aberdeen Wheelers Granite City RT Deeside Thistle Ythan CC Deveron CC Insch CC Grampian Tigers LHF SCGR has its own Facebook page: n SC plans At the Scottish Cycling AGM a vote was held to replace the eight district associations with five Regions. At the AGM the Aberdeenshire clubs (through Colin Allanach) voiced their displeasure about our area being joined with Dundee, Tayside, Fife and Perthshire. It was felt that this area was far too large to represent the particular issues of our area. Craig Burn, SC CEO, gave his personal commitment to our area being able to run as an autonomous region i.e. SC Grampian Region. This clearly has upset others within the SC management structure who are keen on a five region structure and so discussions are ongoing as to how this will work. The only rationale put forward by SC for the five region structure is We have five regional development officers. Not the most ambitious statement. Watch this space.. Commonwealth Games At the time of writing Fiona Duncan is riding with Aileen McGlynn in preparation for the Commonwealth games. It is hoped that Fiona will partner Aileen at the games but this hasn t been officially decided yet. To help the girls with their bid for gold at the games, Ythan members have pledged a considerable amount of money to buy Fiona and Aileen the best aero helmets available. As soon as the squad is confirmed the helmets will be bought. You can see in this picture the Dutch girls have the latest helmets whilst the poor Scots lassies have to make do with normal bike helmets. As we know, at the top end of the sport every miniscule advantage has to be considered the BC theory of marginal gains. New Ellon Academy Many of you will be aware of the new Ellon academy springing up on the south east side on Ellon. The new campus is looking good and cyclists are very fortunate that there will be a cycling tack area for training at weekends included in the layout. The new campus will have 120 covered cycle racks to encourage pupils, teachers and visitors to cycle to the new campus. There are also two cycle paths to the campus which area also welcome. However, there is a flaw in the cycle path design. Both these paths lead directly onto very busy Ellon roads. In the travel plan for the school the expectation is that the paths will merge with existing provision for pedestrians and cyclists. But when there are no existing provisions except the busy main routes out of Ellon then you could ask, what is the point? At a meeting last year, held by the local district council, cyclists in Ellon were asked what provision for cyclist should be implemented. One recurring request was for the Buchan 3

4 and Formartine line and the riverside path to be tarmacked and lit. This has been taken on board and some work has started. However, when asked to ensure that the new bridge from the school would tie in with the new path, the planners for the school have so far refused to consider this. They state that the safe route to school is along the busy roads and cannot consider a properly designed riverside path a suitable option. Therefore the bridge structure will in fact become an obstacle and force cyclists and walkers closer to the riverside to go under the bridge. Discussions continue. Strava Ythan CC have a Strava club. Strava is an online social network area where cyclists can upload their ride information online. You can follow other riders to see where they have been and how they are performing. Rides can be uploaded from Garmins or from iphones and other devices. The Ythan page is here: Strava is an excellent way of charting your own progress. Russ Craig has mentioned a wee challenge for next year to see who in the club can clock up the most miles. Some of the milages clocked on Strava for 2013 by mid- December: Scott Gray 1926 Paul Wilson 1452 Hamish Cooper 2210 Darren Stewart plus? Andy Scouller 2074 Colin Allanach 3290 Iain Masson 4606 Russ Craig Kris Jackson 1703 Chris Cooper 2300 Donald Stewart 958 Malcolm Grant miles don t count, but if they did it would be about 3800 Dave McIntosh Honesty time trial A few years ago Ythan ran a competition called the Honesty TT. Basically riders could ride a circular TT course and post on the forum what their time was. Hence, Honesty TT. With the technology shift over the past few years the club has decided to resurrect this. Now you can post your times on-line using Strava devices such as iphones and Garmins. The course is now an official Strava segment, so a leader board can be seen as soon as you upload your ride. The course starts at the crossroads outside Tarves, through Craigdam, on to Oldmeldrum and back to the crossroads. The course is a bit lumpy, it has some twists and turns through the first bit and then long straight sections so something for everyone. Watch out for the sharp narrow road at the start with some tight turns and remember it s just a bit of fun so don t risk your life riding like a maniac just to be the segment KOM. There are also junctions and crossroads remember you are a vehicle and should obey the Highway Code. Currently Bill Bavidge holds the Strava record for KOM on the Honesty TT. A plea from our race captain, Andy Duncan This is a call to arms for all weekend warriors, sportive riders, those who race a bit more seriously in their respective disciplines (such as National/International and age group competition) and even triathletes YTHAN NEEDS YOU......to update us on what you are doing, where you are racing or 4portive-ing (if that s a word?!?) how you got on and where you placed, no matter how proud or embarrassed you are of your performance. With our expanding club having significantly more members participating in more and more diverse events, I need to know what you have done, where and when, as I will be handing out trophies come early 2014 for your 2013 exploits. Everyone CAN win some sort of accolade, as long as I get to know about it. So please post up your results to the BLUE FINAL section on the FORUM (or alternatively you can me if you are shy but I will probably just do a round up and post it on the BLUE FINAL anyway). Lets celebrate our successes, commiserate (make up excuses and sob stories) for our less successful ventures but in any case let me and everyone else know how much of an active bunch we all are. Andy Duncan 4

5 Velodrome trip On 22 nd December a group of Ythan CC members descended on the Glasgow velodrome. Despite a three hour journey each way Ythan had 15 representatives at the regional cluster. The four hour session was split into three groups, beginners, intermediates and experts. Jordan and Hamish went for the expert group whilst most of the Ythan squad as velodrome virgins went for the beginners group. By the end of the session all the beginners group were swooping round the steep sided track like very slow versions of the BC Olympic team. All the Ythanites were buzzing at the end and couldn t wait until the next session. Available dates will be published soon and an e- mail will be sent out. It s well worth a trip to try out the facility even if you don t have any ambitions to be the next Chris Hoy Club Runs Club runs start from the Ellon swimming pool. Start time is 10:00 hrs until the clocks change for summer. The runs will then change to 09:00 hrs. The runs go at the pace of the slowest rider and the group will wait at the top of hills for any stragglers. Don t worry about being last. Be prepared for change in the weather Be well fueled and take food with you; eat small amounts regularly Make sure your bike is in good condition for the ride Take spare tubes and small toolkit just in case (and know how to use them) QL Christmas party or Vicky Pendleton. Carol organised a great end of year party for the Ythan QL members. The party consisted of a fun session in the swimming pool (no bikes) with the inflatable assault course providing endless fun and spills (Malcom Grant wanted to take it home so he could practice for next year). After the pool party, food was served in the community centre. Possibly not the best nutritional value but yummy all the same. Meadows Sports Centre As part of the club s aim to forge closer links with the local community it has been decided to affiliate with the Meadows Sports Centre. The centres allow us to keep two containers in their grounds for our equipment. They also have meeting facilities where committee meetings can be held and it can be used as a centre for some of our races. The Meadows will also be linked to the new school by a new bridge over the Ythan so it is seen as an ideal location when the school opens in It is also hoped that the club can arrange special fitness training evenings involving some of the trainers from the centre. 5

6 Ythan press officer Malcom Grant has taken on the role of Ythan CC press officer. He has already put in quite a few reports over the season in the local newspapers. Expect to see more over the coming months. If you have something you would like to be put into the local newspapers please contact Malcolm at: ythanccmedia@live.co.uk Latest injury scare It was spotted at last year s Cyclefest day that Dave Mcintosh suffered from a nasty splinter injury. Here is Dave just before the fateful wound seated on the offending plank. There are no medical records to say how first aid supremo, Phil Glennie, attended to the tender area. If your bike is stolen If your bike is lost or stolen you MUST report it to the police. The more information and description you can provide then the better chance of having it returned. Report your bike lost or stolen to Grampian Police on The central lost & found property office is situated at force headquarters and deals ONLY with property lost or found within the Aberdeen City area. The office is manned continuously between the hours of hrs Mon-Fri only. On a more serious note, Mike Giles took a tumble whilst out on his road bike. The wet and slippery conditions slid the bike away from him and he hit the ground before he could do anything. Thankfully he is recovering well and is back on the bike. Any enquiries regarding property lost or found out with Aberdeen city should be directed in the first instance to your nearest police station. All found property is retained by the police for a period of two months to allow time for the loser to reclaim it. The finder is then given a further month in which to claim back the property after which the property is set aside for disposal as directed by the Chief Constable. It is always worthwhile checking with the lost and found department to see if your bike has been recovered, even if you have already reported it lost or stolen to a Police officer. Mountain bike report The mountainbike contingent of the club continues to grow. We have had a few members racing this year and at least one member is doing the Strathpuffer 24 hour race. QL sessions The next block of eight QL sessions will start on 18 th January. The sessions will be developing riders progress to racing at the first youth races in February and March. The group split for these session will be : White Polka Dot Green 1 Green 2 Coaches will decide who is in each group. NB: Once the group sessions of eight have started no other youths may join this set of sessions. In addition there have been organised mountain bike runs at Kirhill forest, Pitfichie and most recently up at the Moray Monster Trails near Fochabers. New clubs on the block Two new cycle clubs have sprung up recently. Devern CC hail from the Banff area and Insch CC hail from, well, Insch. Former Ythanite Nick Thom is secretary of Insch CC and all at Ythan wish them well and look forward to some new races north of Aberdeen in the near future. Both clubs are affiliated to the SC Grampian Region. 6

7 Cyclocross Club members have been taking part in a number of cyclocross races throughout Scotland. Cyclecross is a bit more relaxed than other races and is great fun, but still has the competitive edge. If you fancy taking part but don t have a cross bike you can either just hit your road bike to make it cross (just a joke Ed) or you can use a mountain bike. Apparently to do cyclecross a bobble hat is de riguer. Recent Ythan purchases As part of the Gordon Sports Funding Ythan QL have bought a number of items to help with coaching and the development of our youths and club in general: Islabike Luath 700 small road bike (for rent for QL members to try before buying the club now has three bikes) New yellow numbers New marshal bibs Two stopwatches Various balls, bean bags and batons to assist with training. Weather protective clipboards Two new Ythan flags We ve also made some balance bars and flexible corner guides. If there is anything else you feel the club needs then please get in touch. Halloween races at Haddo The QL held a race morning at Haddo House. The circuit was set up on the grassy knoll area beside the car park. It was an ideal area with plenty of viewing spots and a hill climb, fast descents and tricky corners between some trees. The course was augmented by adding in some limbo bars and step over barriers. It was a great success and will be repeated in future sessions. The QLers were split into two teams and competed in a series of races based on skills and fitness and some dooking for apples. Carol supplied some huge apples! At the end of the day the reds won, no the blues won, ach it was a draw Here is a selection of photos. More photos are on the Ythan Flickr pages Submit Query Eat to win The club will be holding a nutritional seminar sometime in late February. An with details will be winging its way to your inbox shortly. Outdoor activities discount The club has a discount card for Alpine Bikes, Tiso s and Blues Skishop. It s called the Outdoor Experience card. Just show your club membership card or your BC licence with Ythan on it to claim discount. 7

8 Physio night In November the club held a physio night at the hall in Tarves. Colin Davidson from Inveruie Chartered Physiotherapy Clinic took the class assisted by Rosie Cooper. The session took members through various stretches and exercise to keep them supple and flexible whilst developing core strength required for efficient cycling. For sale Aero helmet Giro advantage, white size medium speed, Dura ace bar end shifters - 40 Gas powered hot water geyser have hot water on tap wherever you go brand new Contact Colin Alford track There is a rumour that the Grampian Transport Museum is considering building some banking in to their track to make it into a proper velodrome. The track is a great facility for training in a safe, traffic free, environment. 10 % discount at Halfords If you buy anything from Halfords (even car stuff) as a British Cycling member you are entitled to a 10% discount. Just show your BC membership when buying anything. PS 5 litres of Muc-off is already very cheap at Halfords and a further 10% off is a great deal. Carbon Clincher wheels 38mm carbon rimmed wheels full details on forum Contact Andy D on forum. Computer RSP EX function bike computers RRP 140 price 65 CW HRM and cadence sensor. Giro Selector TT helmets Contact Graham Ward TT Bike Road race bike Roller display Cervello P2 for sale with Zipp 808 front and full disc rear or 1200 for frame contact Paul Scott Cube agree GTC 2012 size 58 cm - Contact Hamish@thewebbothy.co.uk Hamish Cooper and Jordan Stronach did a 10 minute roller session at the recent Aberdeenshire Sports Council display at Inverurie academy. The 10 minute session simulated a longer race with neutralised zone, fats bunch racing, feed zone practice, a puncture repair finishing off with a print to the finish line. The pair were given praise by local sporting hero Fraser Clyne. Neil wins again. Ythan s Neil Fachie and Craig Maclean won the match sprint at the Newport International event. Fiona Duncan and Aileen McGlynn won silver in the Kilo. British Cycling membership Are you a member of British Cycling? Check out the benefits here at the website above. BC is our national governing body. Money to BC goes to help run the sport and the more members Scotland has, the more influence SC has on BC. Consequentially the more BC 8

9 members Ythan has, the more influence the club has on how Scottish Cycling is run. As an individual, BC membership gives you third party insurance and legal advice if you are involved in an accident. AGM Club Development night Ythan will be holding its AGM / Club development night in March. This is more than just a normal AGM. This is the chance for you to speak up and say what direction you would like the club to take in future years. It s your club so you should have your say on what we are doing right and wrong. Everyone is welcome so please come along. Details of date, time and location will follow shortly. Next newsletter If you have any suggestions for improving the newsletter or have any articles for inclusion in the next newsletter, due out at the start of April 2014, then send them to - Colin Allanach chairman@ythancc.org.uk 9

10 The club kit info page We now have direct order system set up for all club clothing from Champion System. Here are the instructions for how to order your club kit: Go to the following web address: Once there, sign in on the unique Ythan CC log in, on the left hand side of the page marked 'returning customers' - as follows: ythancc password: ythanabz2012 then click 'sign in' Once you have 'signed in' on the Ythan system, you will be asked to create your own personal account so that you can view, order and pay direct for clothing. Please remember your personal log in details. Andy will be placing the next order towards the end of the year. It is intended to hold a check your size one Saturday morning as we open the order. At the morning members will take down their kit so that people ordering kit can check their sizes before placing the order. Some people have been asking what the minimum they should order is. Conventional wisdom states that a short sleeve top with a pair of bib shorts is probably a good start. You can order as much as you want and once the requisite numbers/date has been reached for this overall club order, it shall be processed and the order shall arrive together (delivered to Andy Duncan for distribution) Please note this is now closed unitil the next order is placed. The next batch is likely to be ordered towards the April time - look out for info on the forum. Please note if you are buying the Ythan kit. This is the one to go for if you want to use it in races. The white kit was a one off special for a change. The white kit cannot be used for races as it is not our officially 10 registered kit with British Cycling.

11 Provisional dates for ADCA races in 2014 Event Date Event Name Event Type Organiser Club 1 22/02/2014 Go-Ride race (Haddo House) Youth dirt crit Russ Craig Ythan CC 2 08/03/2014 Go-Ride race (Fyvie Castle) Youth dirt crit Russ Craig Ythan CC 3 16/03/2014 Dick Londragon Road Race Rob Cowie AWCC 4 23/03/2014 Hilly 18 & Presentation Event Time Trial Becky Watson DTCC 5 30/03/2014 APR APR Colin Allanach Ythan CC 7 12/04/2014 Go-Ride race (Aden Park) Youth dirt crit Carol Middleton Ythan CC 8 13/04/2014 Spring Bunny 25 Time Trial Kara Griffiths DTCC 9 20/04/2014 Womens APR APR TBC 10 27/04/2014 Hilly 20 Time Trial Graham Ward Ythan CC 11 01/05/2014 Evening Series 1 Road Race Peter Clark Ythan CC 12 03/05/2014 Deeside 10 Time Trial Ian Wilson DTCC 13 11/05/22014 Long Hill Climb CoM Time Trial Jayson Wheale AWCC 14 17/05/2014 KOM Sportive Sandy Lindsay DTCC 15 18/05/2014 Grampian Grand Prix Mixed youth races Malcolm Grant Ythan CC 16 18/05/2014 Mens Scottish National RR Champs Road Race Phil Allan GCRT 17 22/05/2014 Evening Series 2 Road Race Duncan Warwick DTCC 18 25/05/2014 GCRT 25 Time Trial Mark Higgins GCRT 19 01/06/2014 Fitnut Trophy Time Trial Norman Skene GCRT 20 08/06/2014 Jolibar Trophy Cairn o Mount Road Race Dave Reed DTCC National Organisation 08/06/2014 Scottish National 25TT Time Trial 21 12/06/2014 Evening Series 3 Road Race Becky Waton DTCC 22 15/06/2014 Neish Low 25 Time Trial Bob Gibson 23 18/06/2104 Massie Shield 25 Time Trial Russ Craig Ythan CC 24 22/06/2014 Furneux 100 Time Trial 25 26/06/2014 Evening Series 4 Road Race Conan Able AWCC 26 29/06/ Braes Time Trial Kenny Anderson DTCC 27 06/07/2014 Ian Brodie 10 Time Trial Jill Parbucki DTCC 28 10/07/2014 Evening Series RR 5 Road Race 29 17/07/2014 2up Time Trial Shelley Farrar DTCC 30 20/07/2014 Long Hill Climb CoM Time Trial Jayson Wheale AWCC 31 24/07/2014 Evening Series 6 Road Race John Hunter AWCC Simon Van Bellen 33 31/07/ UP Time Trial AWCC 11

12 34 03/08/2014 Coffee Pot 50 Time Trial David Walton DTCC 35 07/08/2014 Evening Series 6 Road Race 36 10/08/2014 Classified 10 Time Trial Colin Sim AWCC 37 17/08/2014 Glegg Trophy Time Trial Hywell Williams DTCC Paul Winter / 38 21/08/2014 Evening Series 8 Road Race Chris Cooper Ythan CC 39 24/08/2014 Ellon Youth Crit Road Race Colin Allanach Ythan CC Kara Griffiths & 40 30/08/2014 Feew-side Womens Road Race Tim Mackley DTCC 41 31/08/ Braes Time Trial Kenny Anderson DTCC 42 07/09/2014 Bob Soutar 10 Time Trial Carol Middleton Ythan CC 43 14/09/2014 Hill Climb Champs Time Trial Joe Nicholson 44 20/09/2014 Falling Leaves Stage race Stage Race Peter Clark Ythan CC 45 28/09/2014 District Champs TT Time Trial 46 TBC Knockburn Cyclocross CX The District is looking for a sponsor for the road race series. If you know of any companies who may be interested in this then let Colin Allanach know and he will pass the details on. Different Types of British cycling Membership 12

13 Ythan Cycle Club Profile page on British Cycling Website 13