Bedfordshire Road Cycling Club

News Letter

Issue: 372/2 September 1999

President: C. Byers; Chairman: D. Sullivan; Secretary: R. Crane; Treasurer: T. Sykes; Editor: D. Roberts e-mail DRobe10229@AOL.com

Contact Warwick Davies (Press Secretary) e-mail wad@warwickdavies.demon.co.uk

The Ed’s Bit

At last the gruelling challenge of the Evening League is over. For the past 14 weeks, cyclists of all standards have been grunting their way to the top of Hillfoot in an effort to improve their times week on week, with varying degrees of success. The weather has been kind to us this year, with not too many windy or wet Thursday evenings, and with up to 60 competitors, this year must be one of the most successful Evening Leagues ever.

But I feel that the award for ‘Guess Your Luck Has Just Run Out’ must surely go to Yours Truly. Fresh from riding a distance PB at Silsoe on the Tuesday, I came to ride the last event in our league feeling like I could rise to the challenge and do a repeat performance, perhaps even riding a sub half-hour for the 12. After a somewhat hurried warm up I came to take up my position on the start line, only to discover that I had suffered a puncture. After a rapid tube change I took up my position at 30 seconds behind Miriam Taylor. ‘See you at the top of the hill’ I joked, but on the straight bits of road I had her in my sights. This was it, the performance of my life. I was going for it in a big way. But as I came towards Ickwell Green disaster struck. I suffered another puncture and with no spare tube it was Game Over for me. A passing cyclist did come to my rescue and lent me his spare tube, and I was able to get back to the Club House, but I put in my worst performance of the year. But never mind, there is always next year.

Thanks to all the helpers this year; Chris Byers for organising the League, Wendy for time keeping and Lorna Webb for keeping the tea bar well stocked.

Free Beer

Now that I have your undivided attention, BRCC has been selected to run a Millennium event next year. The course has been approved, the dates finalised and there are willing volunteers for marshalling duties. One major problem, no event organiser. As this prestigious event has been sprung on us with little notice, the usual people who organise these events find themselves with other commitments at this time and are unable to offer their services. If you feel that you are able to provide the club with your organisational skills, then please contact Dave Sullivan via e-mail SULLIVANS@HOTMAIL.COM. Please remember, without an event organiser, BRCC will not be able to host this event.

Club House Lease

You may be pleased to know that the lease on our clubhouse has been extended and we now have this invaluable asset until June 2004. Over the past year or so, delicate negotiations have been taking place with Southill Estates and a fair deal has been arranged. Our thanks go to Ron Bousted for his sterling efforts in securing the long-term future of the club.

Don’t forget, the Clubhouse is open on Friday evenings throughout the year.

Forthcoming Events

BIRTHDAY RIDE & TEA ON SUNDAY 24TH OCTOBER 1999 AT THE CLUBROOM RIDE STARTS AT 2-30 P.M. - 12 MILE CIRCUIT TEA AT 4-00 P.M. NAMES PLEASE TO CHRIS BYERS - PLEASE NOTE - ADVANCE BOOKINGS ONLY

Club 15 on SATURDAY 4^th September. Entries in 10 days before the event please.

Junior Activities

It is proposed to hold a session in The Zap Zone on the first Saturday in September. The price will be £2.50 per person (there is no child reduction). From personal experience I can tell you that this venue is certainly good for a laugh, and is also good for team building experience. Children of all ages are welcome!

Tea Bar Rota

Sept 3^rd Terry Sykes Oct 1^st John Howard

10^th Trevor Marshall 8^th Peter & Mary Hartley

17^th Andy Maddox 15^th Toby & David Pocock 24^th George Tomlinson 22^nd Lorna Webb

29^th Warwick Davies

Answer To The Poser In June’s Newsletter

If you cast your mind back, there was a poser In June’s edition. Well the overwhelming response has been unbelievable. No one, but no one replied. So I gather that it was all too difficult. For those of you who are wondering, the answer is 18 miles in 54 minutes = 20 mph; so at 10.06 (36 minutes) Jim has travelled 12 miles. No matter what time either of them set out, when they cross each must be at the same distance from the finish! Very clever. Thanks to Terry Bush for supplying the quiz.

Some Thought Provokers (Not Cycling Related)

Have you ever wondered why kamikaze pilots wore crash helmets? Or for that matter, do people who cannot read get the full effect from alphabet soup? Have you ever blown into a dog’s face? They get very annoyed, yet if you take the same dog on a car journey it will stick it’s head out of the window. And why is it that when your dad is driving, anyone overtaking is a maniac, yet anyone going slower is an idiot who ought to learn how to drive properly? Did you know that the reason most people play golf is so they can wear the type of clothes they would not normally be seen dead in? We all know of the benefits of taking regular exercise. My granddad started walking 5 miles a day when he was 65 years old. He is 97 today, and we still don’t know where he is. I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three. The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four people are suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they are okay, then it's you. If you have any complaints to make regarding this piece please direct them to Lorna Webb, not me.

Results

1999 Evening League

This year we had a record number of riders entering the league, with an average of 45 signing on each week. The weather was also kind to us most weeks.

The results are as follows: -

Winner & 1st Senior – ALAN CRANE

1^st Veteran – CHRIS HARTLEY

1^st Juvenile – DAVID STEELE

1^st Lady – ALICE CROOK

Awards also to be given to people who rode in all 14 events: -

MARTIN SEARLE, PETER HARTLEY, GRAHAM KING, DAVID CRANE, ALAN CRANE

And Now a Little Song

(WITH APPOLOGIES TO THE HAPPY WANDERER)

We love to go a-cycling, We pant up Hillfoot every week We see the line, the timers

We follow the 10 mile track Honking hard we roll, wait

And as we go, we grit our teeth We lounge on tri-bars on the flat We shout our number clear

With a number on our back and down hill, it’s a stroll But we come in last, we had a

flat

(Chorus) Repeat Chorus Ah well, try again next year!

BRCC, BRCC, BRCC,

BRCC-C-C-C-C-C-C-C Repeat Chorus

A number on our backs.

Letter to the Ed

Dear Ed,

Recently I organised the Bedfordshire Road Cycling Club B.B.A.R. 50-Mile Time Trial on the F1. The entries were slightly down on the last time I organised it in 1997, however there was still a good field.

As many people don't appreciate there is a large amount of preparation required to make sure that things run smoothly on the day - such as booking the hall, filling in Police forms, producing a start sheet etc...However the biggest problem with the event was finding marshals to cover the turns at the many roundabouts. When asking for help from Club members etc., it was especially noticeable that the only willing helpers at the event were the same people who usually help - i.e. the older, non-racing members of the club.

The most conspicuous absentees from offers to help were two groups within the club. Evening League & Club Event riders (you know the ones - they only appear each year from May to August then return into hibernation) and the invisible mountain bikers (another group you never see - although the rest of the club always pulls together to help out at the Mountain Bike race in Rowney Warren each year).

Now, while I realise some of these people don't have much spare time, they should remember that if there weren't people who were willing to help out, that there would be no events for them to ride.

What I propose is a marshalling rota to be drawn up from all the club members, this would ensure everyone put a fair amount back into the club instead of taking all the time. This would then make the event organisers job a lot simpler by just referring to the rota to see whose turn it was to marshal etc.

And now the big stick - obviously some people are going to abuse this rota - my idea for prevention would be that if anyone is found not to be pulling their weight they could be prevented from riding in any events organised by the club. I appreciate this may sound a bit harsh, but personally I've had enough (and so have others!) of seeing people turn up at the club, ride events and then disappear again without any input to the club.

Just remember if there were no event organisers and helpers there would be no events.

David Crane

And Finally

Last month, in The Page 3 Model, I mentioned the success that Melanie Sears is enjoying. Well, I just heard that she had been selected to ride for the GB Team, but shortly after her good news, she was involved in an accident, and will be out of action for some time. We wish Melanie a speedy recovery, and hope that she may resume training soon. On a personal note, I was riding a time trial last year that Melanie was also in. It would be fair to say that she left me in the dust. She is a very quick and talented cyclist. Get well soon

I have been persuaded to go Mountain biking. This is something, I always thought, for the seriously insane. After all, who in their right minds would go hurtling down steep dirt tracks, hanging on to the back brake, hoping that they did not meet with disaster? Mountain biking, I always thought, was not for me. But my lad, Peter, and Toby Pocock wanted to go to Rowney Warren for an afternoon’s fun, and, being a responsible parent, I thought that maybe they might need a bit of supervision. So I went along with them. Well, I came home completely covered in mud, having ridden through all the dirt and puddles, and totally exhausted, having given it all that I had got. What great fun it was. Riding off road is so much good fun and I thoroughly recommend it. But make sure that you wear appropriate clothing, not least a skull bucket (that is helmet to you and me). As some of you know already, there may be restrictions placed on mountain bike activities on National Trust property for safety reasons. Let us hope that, while no doubt safer to use, these courses will still be challenging, but above all, just as much fun.

Des Roberts