A VIEW TO THE FUTURE PRESIDENT IN ORBIT. The Magazine of the Norwood Paragon Cycling Club Autumn 2004

Transcription

1 The Magazine of the Norwood Paragon Cycling Club Autumn 2004 That s a bit rude Graham Chips for me Now where s that bus stop Happy hikers on the club s walking weekend take a well earned(?) rest (see report on page 5) A VIEW TO THE FUTURE As the club s fantastically successful centenary year draws to a close now is a good time to look forward. With only the Annual General Meeting, the Christmas Lunch, and not forgetting the freewheel contest, to come - how is the club going to face the future? A general move away from time trialling among younger riders and the enormous popularity of off-road riding may well show us our way forward. Traditionally juniors have been the life blood of clubs but, in today s environment, they must be highly supervised. This requires suitable vetted people with time, dedication and talent to work with young people. An alternative may well be to attract mountain bikers who want to cross over to road racing. It will not be easy but it I am sure it can be done. We need to consider what the club can offer prospective members, which will encourage them to ride for us first in off road races and then maybe to expand their horizons to take part in road and track racing. PRESIDENT IN ORBIT Last Sunday, Andy and myself went down to Holmbury St Mary for a mountain bike ride with some of our racing members. It was suggested that we might enjoy a couple of hours of steady riding over Holmbury Hill. It was 3½ hours of some of the hardest, wettest, slipperiest and most enjoyable riding we have done for a good while. We were both impressed with the intimate knowledge of the myriad of tracks and liked the way that certain sections had been named, much in the way that climbers name rock climbs. The skill of the riders while negotiating buttock clenching descents was quite impressive. The guys were ever so good and didn t laugh too much at the sight of the President flying through the air and landing in a big untidy heap after I completely lost control on one section. Jan and myself would like to wish you all a great time at Christmas and health and happiness for the New Year. 1

2 BLAH! CLUB NEWS CLUB SUBS Club subs are now due, if you haven t paid dig out that cheque book and send your subscription to the treasure as soon as possible. Senior 20 Junior/Juvenile 5 Social 10 CONGRATULATIONS Best wishes to Annett Nielsen on her recent marriage. Megan Butler and Trevour Kimber married recently, good luck to you both Congratulations to Allison and Steve and welcome to Charlotte a sister for Rosie and another member of the Butler clan. Justin and Melinda Lomas have a new daughter Rosa Mary Rae Lomas who was born on 4 September. CHRISTMAS LUNCH Full details of the Christmas Lunch on 19 December were sent out with the AGM notification, so by now you will all have booked and sent John Cleeve the money. The freewheel contest is at am on Tillburstow Hill followed by the lunch at The Inn on The Pond. Contact John for further details ASHDOWN ROAD RACE Ron Stempfer is compiling an archive of the club s Brighton Trophy road races. To complete the history of the race he would like to see any programmes, start sheets, results of the club s Ashdown Forest promotions in the fifties. All items will be copied and returned. KEITH PARKINSON Keith who rode with the club in the 70s sadly died last May of an asbestos related disease, he was 46. The club sends its belated condolences to Keith s family. If anybody has had any working connections with Keith during his employment with a company named Andrew Weatherfoil would they please contact John Cleeve on CHANGE OF ADDRESS A couple of club members have moved their new addresses are: Ed Pickering Hannah Renolds FOR SALE 19 inch Emperor Sport Columbus CL frameset, mudguard clearance, Stronglight touring chainset 22 inch Emperor Sport Reynolds tubing, silver, 16 speed Campag gears, Mavic Pro rims on Campag Hubs, Mafac Cantilever brakes, Mudguard clearance 175 CLUBRUNS The club runs are now running on Saturdays. We will be meeting at 9.00 am at Tesco, as before, following a similar route to the old one, but taking in more lanes and less main roads on the way back so we stay off the A23 as much as possible. The ride should take 2 to 2½ hours and there is still the option to stop at Fanny's Farm shop, of course. We will be experimenting with a pickup at the bottom of Hilltop Lane where you turn left into Spring Bottom Lane after you come down the steep hill from Farthing Downs. This is to enable riders from further away - Salfords, Dorking - to avoid the lengthy trudge to Purley along the A23. I suspect we will meet people there at 9.20 to 9.25 as long as we leave Tesco on time. Obviously we will have to leave Tesco at 9.00am sharp. One point about this second pickup though - it is designed for others to meet us in transit, not for us to stop there and wait for anybody else. 2

3 BLAH! Les Ingman Memorial Road Race Making the long journey south after the cancellation of the Tour of the Peak, Robin Sharman Recycling.co.uk won in convincing style to take the 100 first prize in a 500 prize list. Action started early on the first of 7 ½ laps when two of the pre-race favourites Danny Axford (Parrot Print) and John Ibbotson (Pacific RT) punctured and ended any chance of them winning. Soon after this an eight-man group formed on the second ascent of Outwood Hill. Steve Gower (Pacific RT), Jamie Higgins (Sigma Sport) and Chris McNamara (Team Synergy) were the most active at the front of the group and ensured that by the end of five and a half laps they had an advantage of five minutes over the disintegrating bunch who were beginning to find just how hard the Bletchingly circuit can be. The heat and distance were starting to tell as riders were shed from the break. Two attacks on the sixth time up the Bletchingley climb saw Gower, Sharman and John Veness (Evan Cycles RT) go clear. On the final time up Outwood Hill with eight miles to go, Sharman put in a devastating surge of speed to drop the other two riders and eventually finish over one minute clear. This was the third open promotion by the club to celebrate its Centenary and proved to be yet another successful event. A credit to the club, the promoter Simon Richardson, and his team of helpers. BLAH! is edited by Ian Murray who if not out on his bike can be reached at: All copy welcome, if you can me or send your copy on a disk (PC or Mac) even better Blah! is the official newsletter of the Norwood Paragon, however, it does not necessarily represent the views of the club or committee The Les Ingman Memorial Road Race on the 5 September resulted in a fine win for Robin Sharman Robin Sharman (Recycling.co.uk) 76 miles in Steve Gower Pacific RT at John Veness (Evans Cycles RT) st 4 Jamie Higgins (Sigma Sport) at Chris McNamara (Team Synergy) at William Bell (Gemini BC) at Steven Richards (VC Meudon) st 8 Christopher Parlett (Gemini BC) at Gareth Hewitt (JE James RT) at , Dave Coulson (JE James RT) at First 2/3 category William Bell Cycling Weekly Most Aggressive Rider Steve Gower Thought for Today by old sod With the social season upon us a word of advice to the unattached men of the club The wearing of too few clothes and too much make-up is the sure sign of desperation in a woman Paul Wright 3

4 BLAH Early days of the Brighton Trophy Ron Stempfer is putting together an archive of the Brighton Trophy and its earlier versions... he needs programmes and result sheets for the early events that preceded the Trophy The start of the 1959 Brighton Trophy with the Mayor of Croydon giving a message of goodwill to the club s riders Alan Sturgess and Robin Buchan with Gerry Pear in the background One of the first club members to become involved in 'mass start' was Ernie Tugwell. Through his activities with the British League of Racing Cyclists (BLRC), the rebel offshoot of the National Cyclists Union (NCU) Ernie had to resign from the club. The years that followed up to 1951 were dormant ones for road racing within the club, until one of the more enthusiastic members, Tony Stocking, took the job of Mass Start Secretary and started to get club members to ride circuit events which were then being promoted. To name a few who managed to get placings in these events: Brian Stocking, Wally Happy, John Pocock, John Barclay, and Alan Baxendine. At this time road racing activities where expanding nationwide and the club decided that we should start promoting our own Road Race. The first event, promoted by Tony Stocking, took place on Sunday 12 April 1953 in very wet conditions, over a distance of 53 miles, on a course starting from South Coulsdon. Taking in Handcross (prime), Cowfold, Pyecombe, Bolney (prime) to finish on the Crawley bypass. Ron Stretton won the event from Les Ingman in a break of five riders, giving a Paragon one-two. The following year, 1954, the same course was used, but with the Brighton area supplying the winning rider, Alan Limbrey of the Prestonville Nomads. After this initial experience in open promotion it was decided to enlarge the event. For 1955 two laps of the Handcross, Cowfield, Pyecombe, Handcross circuit were included. With primes on Bolney and Handcross hills on both laps, good for the spectators but not so good for the riders legs! This event was won by Bill Best of the Sydenham Wheelers. In 1956 a decision was made to run the event from Croydon to Brighton due to the association this historic route had with the club. Even by 1956 traffic on the A23 precluded the use of this road for a road race. The chosen route for the event started by Purley Way playing fields went south on the A22 to Polegate then via Friston, Seaford, Newhaven to finish on the Brighton boundary, then a neutralised ride, to Madeira Drive. Arrangements to finish the race on Maderia Drive were incomplete by the date of the race. Doug Collins riding for the Army Cycling Union won the event. This established the event as a southern classic. The presentation of a Trophy by the Brighton Corporation Entertainments Committee gave the race its title the Brighton Trophy and an extension of the route to take it up the Wall on Ashdown Forest gave it a fearsome reputation of one of the toughest events in the south. In 1958 the BLRC and the NUC amalgamated, after many years of bitter disagreement, to form the British Cycling Federation, now British Cycling, and road racing became respectable. 4

5 BLAH! GREEN BLACK GOLD WHITE New club kit for 2005 will shortly be available in this up-to-the minute design contact Peter Ansell for details THE WALKING WEEKEND This year the club ventured overseas for the annual walking weekend, the Isle of Wight to be precise. Based at Freshwater Bay at the west of the island the happy hikers traveled down on the Friday to be ready bright and early on the Saturday morning. Saturday s walk started from Parkhurst Woods near Newport, going through the woods, not seeing any of the famous red squirrels, and heading north to the coastal path following this to a very pleasant lunch at the Sportsman's Rest, Porchfield. After lunch we headed inland, gradually climbing and slowly veering easterly to head back towards the Newport direction. The last mile was again through Parkhurst Forest with its elusive squirrels. A pleasant 12 miles or so through lovely pastoral countryside. After a convivial evening meal and, for some, one or two nightcaps, Sunday dawned bright and clear. Today s walk went straight from the Hotel, following the coast path to Compton Chine. From here turning inland and a steady pull up to meet the Tennyson Trail, which runs along the spine of the island. After some distance along the ridge we headed off south to Hulverstone and the Sun Inn for lunch, another well chosen venue. After lunch the route headed southeast to rejoin the coast path. An interesting couple of miles walking along this heavily eroded coastal cliff face brought us back to our outward route, after retracing for half a mile or so we headed inland and climbed up for the last big effort of the day over Afton Down, then the golf course and back to Freshwater Bay. A terrific walk with some beautiful sea views. Thanks to John and Angela Pocock and Graham O Sullivan for organising the weekend and arranging the weather, which despite gloomy forecasts, was dry and bright all weekend. 5

6 BLAH! RACING REPORTS 4-12 SEPTEMBER Rob Douglas has returned from injury with a strong ride in the SCCU 25 on 5th September getting inside the top 10 as usual with a time of placing him 7th overall. K Coffey of Bec CC was in 1st place with a scorching time of Also on 5th September the Norwood Paragon promoted the Les Ingman Memorial Road Race on the Bletchingley circuit. This 70 mile race attracted a strong field as part of the 2004 Southeast road series. The race started at a fast pace with attacks on the first lap splitting the bunch on this hilly circuit. Rob Sharman (Recycling.co.uk) rode away from the break in the last two laps and take the win ahead of Steve Gowar (Pacific). See full report on page 3 On Saturday 11 September Rob Douglas rode the Reading CC 10. Strong winds made it a tough race with slower times than normal and Rob recorded This placed him 21st with P Haggerty winning the event in On Sunday Marcus Brueton rode at Cutmill in the Surrey League 2/3 category 65 mile race. Marcus got away on the third lap with three others and stayed ahead for a lap, but they were reeled in and the decisive moves didn t happen until the last two laps (of nine). Marcus couldn t follow these attacks and resolved to chase with a small group as the bunch fragmented. W Bell (Gemini) won the race after jumping away with Scoular (Liphook) while Brueton was in the second chasing group back in 17th place. Meanwhile, Norwood Paragon s Jon Webb raced off road on 12th September in the West Drayton Team MTB champs at Ash. He rode in a composite team of three round the twisty forest circuit. Webb s speed and handling skills saw him finish eighth, placing the team 3rd behind Evans SEPTEMBER It was a busy weekend for the club with lots of members both young and old racing on and off road. The weekend kicked off with the President s 12 mile TT on the Crowhurst circuit. This was part of the Paragon s year long centenary celebrations and brought together past, current and future members of the club. Ex-International pro rider Keith Butler was riding as were his daughter Alison with granddaughter Rosie in tow on a trailer bike. It was good to see John Jennings back in action as well as President Ian Murray of course. Past member Pete Hamilton (31.39) won the event in convincing style from Marcus Brueton (32.27) and Dillon Adams showed form with third place (33.15). See full results on page 7 Later on that same day Marcus joined the mountain bikers who went to Thetford Forest, Norfolk to race in the Marin Dusk til Dawn 12 hour endurance race. The Paragon was well represented with three mens pairs: Marcus Brueton and Stephen Roach, Steve Watkins and brother Matt, Dave Mascall and Phil Earl; and Jon Webb with his wife Rebecca, a mixed pair. The event started at 8.00 pm on the Saturday and continued until 8.00 am on the Sunday with the pairs racing in a relay round the 10 mile twisty singletrack course. This tough race provides a gruelling test of endurance, speed, handling skills and organisation if only to make sure your lights keep working! There were over 340 people racing across the categories with a chaotic le Mans start to the race at dusk. Webb set off at a cracking pace coming in second overall after lap one and giving them a strong lead in the mixed pairs. Meanwhile the two of the mens pairs quickly got into the top 10 with Mascall and Earl in 20th after an early mechanical. As the night wore on the Webb s consolidated their lead and the others settled into 7th, 8th and 10th place (with Mascall and Earl storming 10 places up through the field). As dawn broke the riders dug in for the last few laps. Roach had to rest his strained back leaving 6

7 BLAH! RACING REPORTS Marcus to ride the last three laps in a row while Phil was setting fast times for his team as Dave began to struggle with strained wrists - he has just returned from injury. It was all over by 8 o clock in the morning with Webb/Webb in first place (mixed), Brueton/Roach seventh place, Watkins/Watkins ninth and Mascall/ Earl 11th. The men s pairs was won by Fig Rolls Racing. Taking the biscuit? ed. On a different note Rob Douglas was in action at the Eagle RC 50 mile TT on Sunday in the sporting course series (SPOCO). He rode the first 25 in under 57 mins despite the wind, but then suffered in the last 25 finishing in in 13th place. The winner was W Levet who rode CLUB EVENTS CLUB HILL CLIMB The annual club hill climb took place on Tuesday evening on Ranmore Common. It was a hard fought event with a good field of entries plus a few spectators who cheered us on as we struggled up the hill. Jon Webb won in 2.37 beating Ed's time of last year, but 5 seconds slower than his own time of Well done to all those who took part and shame on those of you who just watched when you were more than capable of taking part! 1 Jon Webb NPCC Simon Richardson NPCC Marcus Brueton NPCC Ben Smith MBR 02:51 5 Mike Hawkins NPCC 02:53 6 James Shrubsall NPCC 03:00 7 Kevin Blann Pacific George English NPCC 03:14 9 Rebecca Webb Evans 03:23 10 Roy Instrall Festival 03:45 PRESIDENT S 12 MILE TIME TRIAL - 18 SEPTEMBER 2004 Overnight rain gave way to a bright and blustery morning for the President s 12 Mile TT over 2 laps of the Crowhurst road racing circuit. This event was part of the year long Norwood Paragon centenary celebrations and brought together past, current and future members of the club. Past member Pete Hamilton (31.39) won the event in convincing style from Marcus Brueton (32.27) and Dillon Adams (33.15). At the end of the first lap the three were separated by less than 30 seconds but veteran Hamilton stretched his lead to nearly a minute over Brueton and two minutes over Adams by the finish. A close fought battle ensued in the middle of the field with just over a minute separating the next the five riders. Allison Butler had her daughter Rosie in tow on a trailer bike recorded a creditable time of Brian Dalton rode his Brompton small wheeled folding bike complete with tribars. After the event riders, officials and supporters enjoyed lunch at the Royal Oak, Staffhurst Wood 7 Lap 1 Result 1 Peter Hamilton 15:07 31:39 2 Marcus Brueton 15:34 32:27 3 Dillon Adams 15:43 33:15 4 George English 16:40 35:20 5 Geoff Duck 17:04 35:56 6 Ian Murray 17:22 36:19 7 Trevor Kimber 17:19 36:44 8 Andy Murray 17:31 36:48 9 John Jennings 19:48 41:47 10 Brian Dalton 19:37 42:30 11 Dave Adams 20:47 43:40 12 Keith Butler 21:30 45:25 13 Allison and Rosie Butler 26:33 55:23

8 BLAH! OFF-ROAD Looking for Mountains in Norfolk by Phil Earl Old injuries, bad backs, dodgy lights, colds and other excuses from Dusk to Dawn This one s always going to be contentious - is it possible to put an event on a pan flat course and call it a mountain bike race? This question follows a similar theme to a recent issue of M.B.R. magazine, which ran an article about riding in Thetford forest. Apparently some hardy(?) mountain bikers from up north were belittling any route that didn t involve lung breaking climbs and death defying descents (or something like that). Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating apparently and it was obvious they hadn t been anywhere near Norfolk. The weekend promised to be fun if nothing else. As Jon Webb said, the real challenge with this event is getting hold of enough lights, let alone the riding bit! The Paragon were well represented with 2½ teams, although Matt Watkins did ride in the Paragon B team at Mountain Mayhem last year and is almost an honorary member. Jon and Rebecca Webb (Norwood Paragon/Evans cycles) also rode in the mixed pairs, but for a trade team, who had given them some rather cool lights to trial. We weren t too hopeful of high placings, with only Matt and Marcus being the fit ones; Steve R and I had back trouble, Steve W an annoying head cold and Dave was unsure how his recent hand injuries would hold up. The event started with the usual le Mans style start, with riders running a few hundred metres before picking up their bikes. Dave, Marcus and Matt Watkins were volunteered for the run / first lap. Jon Webb was right at the front, once again having wormed his way from the back in his usual style. Dave, on the other hand turned up at the start with 30 seconds to spare, laid back as ever. Fortunately Marcus had saved him a spot at the front. The sight of over a hundred people sprinting wearing cycling shoes is one that you don t forget easily, particularly when there s a 90 bend to negotiate! Somehow nobody fell over and foot power quickly became pedal power, as a flurry of headlights headed off into the forest. mile after mile of twisty single-track a real test of handling skills one of the best I have ridden Soon enough, they were back, the 10 miles having taken surprisingly little time. Jon Webb appeared in third place, having already pulled out a 10 minute lead over the next mixed pair - followed not long after by Marcus, then Dave. Then it was my turn! It didn t take long to realise that a flat course can be superb! Mile after mile of twisty single-track interspersed with a few fire road sections, made one of the best courses I have ever ridden. It became a real test of handling skills, with every corner seeming to sneer at you come on, you can do better than that! My trademark first-lap mechanical left me with a relatively pedestrian time of 59 minutes, leaving Dave to start his second lap wondering if he d made a wise choice pairing up with me! However, on my second lap things went smoothly, the lap taking 12 minutes less. In fact, I got into the transition area before Dave left the tent, which led to the following radio exchange between us. Dave, I m in (bear in mind I m a little out of breath, so use your imagination) What, inside the last two minutes? Err no, inside the transition area Right. So you re nearly in then Err, no I m actually in Oops. OK I m coming So it continued. After languishing in 20th place after two laps, Dave and I managed to overtake a quarter of the pairs category and move into 10th place, just behind Steve and Matt Watkins (9th) and Marcus and Steve Roach (7th). A battle had begun, with less than a minute separating the 7th and 9th placed teams. On my fourth lap I decided to ease up a bit, as the previous 30 miles of bumping, and high calorie drink and food was starting to make me feel nauseous. However, for some reason I ended up going faster the lap after. Steve Watkins was not so fortunate and ended up barfing just before the transition area! Back at the tents, the support team 8

9 BLAH! OFF-ROAD of Phillipa, Jo and Emma were hard at work, making endless hot drinks for the three teams. Hats off to them, as they probably got less sleep than the riders! Between laps, the routine became check the bike, eat, drink, rest and try to keep warm. The temperature had dropped to around 6 C. I was certainly glad for Dave s fleece jackets of which I was wearing three and still felt cold! Dave s hands were starting to play up, so I stayed out for two laps. By now fatigue was setting in and I spent much of this lap yawning and trying to concentrate. When my battery ran out 10 miles from the finish I certainly woke up! It s very dark at Thetford, but I could just about make out the path, so lost less time than I could have. I must take a spare light next year. Snatching 20 minutes sleep, at 7.15 am I headed out on the 7th and final lap, having the luxury of daylight. Feeling wide awake, I decided to have fun on the course and hammered round, jumping every bump I could, slowing only to chat to a soloist on one of the fire roads. The finish appeared all to soon and I entered the finishing straight to a surreal sight of a mass of bubbles on the finish line. A small bubble machine had been rigged up near the finish line to greet the riders. Personally I preferred the round of applause from the spectators, so that must make me something of a traditionalist. So, a pretty good result for the Paragon, considering that four of us weren t race fit (Marcus and Steve R. 7th, Matt and Steve W. 9th, Dave and Phil 11th). Jon and Rebecca Webb continued to dominate the mixed pairs, finishing comfortably ahead of the second placed team. Next year we ll be ready Oh and for the record, I didn t crash once. However Steve W had a big crash on his first lap overshooting a right hand corner instead! FOR ALL YOU LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS) 1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tyred. 2. What's the definition of a last will and testament? (It's a dead giveaway). 3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. 4. A backward poet writes inverse. 5. In democracy its your vote that counts; in feudalism its your count that votes. 6. She had a boyfriend with a wooden leg, but broke it off. 7. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion. 8. If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed. 9. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress. 10. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat minor 11. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds. 12. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered. 13. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart. 14. You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it. 15. Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under. 16. He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key. 17. Every calendars days are numbered. 18. A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint mine. 19. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat. 20. He had a photographic memory which was never developed. 21. A plateau is a high form of flattery. 22. The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large. 23. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end. 24. When you've seen one shopping centre you've seen a mall. 25. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine. 26. When an actress saw her first strands of grey hair she thought she'd dye. 27. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis. 28. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses. 29. Acupuncture is a jab well done. 30. Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat. 9

10 BLAH! The Centenary Dinner The Centenary Dinner took place at Woodcote Park Golf Club on Saturday 16 October club members, their families, friends and guests enjoyed an evening of celebration, reminiscing and reunion. The excellent meal was interspaced not only with the lively cross toasting that is expected at a Paragon dinner but also with three short speeches. Pete Wall spoke about the club s illustrious exploits in bicycle polo. John Dennis regaled us with details of the fifties track scene and Ron Stempfer on the early days of mass start racing. John Dennis was presented with the John Parsonson award for his work in organising the Centenary Track Meeting at Herne Hill. The best kept secret of the evening was the presentation of The John Carter Book to Chairman Peter Ansell. This is only awarded for especially meritorious service or performances and Peter with his years of dedicated work for the club is a truly worthy signatory of the book. A number of friends of the club were present including: Daisy and Bill Franks, John Barclay, Mark Fisher, John Winter, Keith Wawman and Eddie Mundie. Eddie attending not only to celebrate our 100th but to present the medals to the club s winning team in the inter club with the Addiscombe. Phil Liggett, a man of many roles, international official, president of the CTC, race organiser and commentator, to name a few, proposed the toast to the club with a speech that was both interesting and amusing. Marcus Brueton responded on behalf of the club. Jan Seymour presented the prizes with Marcus Brueton taking the road race championship, Rob Douglas the short distance TT championship and Jon Webb the Les Black cup for the hill climb championship. Open prize winners in attendance included Stuart Dangerfield, National 25 mile champion who received the Robin Buchan Salver and also the team trophy, Steve Gower, second in the Les Ingman road race. Also present was the lady s Keirin champion Joy Nixon. The drawing of the raffle and the table prizes and the distribution of souvenir mugs completed the formal celebrations in good time for conversation and the renewal of old friendships. Much of the conversation centred around the fine collection of club memorabilia including a collection of photographs and riders scrapbooks that recounted many past successes. Also on display were the original badges of the forerunners of the Norwood Paragon and a photograph of the founder members. The smooth running of this function is largely due to the many hours of hard work put in by John Cleeve aided by the long suffering Viv. Special thanks to the team who helped arrange the photos, trophies etc on the morning of the dinner, to Martin Pape for organising the souvenir mugs and all the others who made both this and the other centenary events possible. SURREY LEAGUE RESULTS The final results and share out of the 15, prize monies in the season long Surrey League are: Marcus Brueton in 24th position with winnings of 111, at 233 Russell Painter with 18.75, at 251 Jonathan Webb with 16.75, at 296 Justin Lomas with 12, at 309, Dave Mascall with 11, after missing over half the season with injury. The overall winner was Justin Hoy (Evans Cycles), in second place Paul Pickup (Liphook Cycles RT) and third Lee Day (Liphook Cycles). The league s time trial series was won in fine style by our very own Russell Painter, four points ahead of Jon Masters (Redhill CC) and Marcus Brueton one point behind in third place. The best placed lady was Hannah Bussey (VC Meudon). Blah! is printed and distributed by Peter Ansell 10