Issue 40 - June 2013

CHAIN
L INE
Special Features :
·
·
·
Cobbles
New Forest
Time Trials
CYCLING FOR EVERYONE
Visit the website and members’ forum at:
www.horshamcycling.co.uk
for the latest news, photo galleries and details of up-coming club events.
COMMITTEE MATTERS
EDITORIAL
June 2013
Welcome to the June
issue of Chain Line,
although
when
riding out there it
still feels like March
and many will not
have ridden in shorts yet!
Anyway, in this issue we have plenty of articles
on rides including the May weekend trip to the
New Forest which proved to be a great success.
We also have articles form Paul Ratcliff and Ian
Hiscock about rides and racing in Belgium and
closer to home Ali Bruce tells of his experience
of the Meon Valley ride he did earlier in the
year.
Enjoy this issue of Chain Line and if you have
any cycling-related stories or product reviews,
please submit them to me
[email protected] by early
August.
ChainLine Editor and Club President
REMEMBER,
HORSHAM CYCLING
STRONGLY
RECOMMENDS
WEARING A
HELMET ON
ALL RIDES
2 Chain Line
There are two meetings on which to report on this time. Both
of them were very much “business as usual” sessions which
involved keeping an eye on the finances and ensuring the
full year accounts cover everything they should and have
been checked in time for publication. John will be reporting
at the General Meeting, so I won’t steal his thunder by
revealing all here. For those who can’t make it to the
General Meeting, a report on the accounts has been sent to
you. Arrangements for the General Meeting were a matter
for discussion too of course.
Whilst on the topic of money, we have also considered and
approved the budget for next year.
We had the usual reports of ride numbers and speeds (yes
that old chestnut!). It is a regular item for discussion, but it’s
important we keep an eye on how the rides are working since
they are central to what the Club is about. We also approved
a change of ride co-ordinators for SG2, so thanks for all your
hard work Keith – and welcome aboard Neil.
Of course for some, the social side of the Club is just as
important as the rides – and we have continued to keep an
eye (through Sabina) on how the plans for various events
taking place during the year have developed. And we also
looked at how the Club can support these events by the
various subsidies granted from the Club’s coffers.
The Club’s competitive events are managed directly by the
racing sub-committee, but we have at least kept an eye on
how their work is progressing.
Work has also progressed on looking into ways in which the
Club can attract a greater number of younger members.
Hopefully there will be more to say on that subject in the
near future. Watch this space!
Club Secretary
CHAIN LINE CONTACT DETAILS
Stewart Forbes, 21 Fenby Close, Horsham, RH13 6RP
Tel: (01403) 756271
Email: [email protected]
is affiliated to:
CTC, British Cycling, CTT, Southern Counties Cycling Union,
Sussex Cyclists’ Association & East Sussex Cycling Association
Welcome Aboard
Eleven new members have joined since the last issue of Chain Line.
They are: - Dominic Kerr, Alex Palmer, Lindsay Dart, Jason McMahon, Ken Izzard,
Martin Hall, Otto Carlisle, Andrew Brown, Claire Savage, Alexander Prosser-Snelling
and Simon Barker.
A warm welcome to you all and we wish you many happy hours cycling with us.
Robert Skeet
Pedal & Pint Night
Thursday 11 July 2013
Meet at Carfax for 7.15pm for a
ride followed by refreshment
towards the end of the ride on
the way back into the town.
Membership Secretary
Membership Matters
At the end of March the Club membership stood at 179, the highest annual figure to date. This was only two more than at
the same time last year as we are no longer experiencing the previous rate of growth. However, the number of members
renewing their subscriptions this year has been much higher than in the last few years. With the 21 new members we have
attracted since January 1, membership now stands at 154. The figures show that we now enjoy a more stable
membership. The use of PayPal is now well established, with 88% of the members renewing using this method. Despite
the emergence of other clubs in the area, we still attract new members from outside the immediate area of Horsham, with
29% of the membership living more than five miles away. This must be a reflection of the reputation of the Club.
Robert Skeet
Membership Secretary
Front cover picture of Keith Carter taken by Keith Shuttlewood
Basic Maintenance Evening
By John Chaplin
The Club held a maintenance evening recently with around ten members attending and Roger Nash, Peter Delve and me
running through some basic bike checks and a demo on how to change a tube. Those attending brought a bike or a wheel
and practiced for themselves. We had Q & A’s and I think we had all the correct answers - ably assisted by John Cox.
The main objective was to give some confidence so that changing a tube at the side of the road is not to be feared.
The “M check” to ensure your bike is safe is below. If you practice this, any issues should quickly come to light and if you
are not sure what to do, your local bike shop can do the rest. Better to check it out, rather than find out on the road; and
your bike does need to be safe for your sake and for those riding with you.
Pre-Ride Safety M Check
Pre-Ride
Check - Inspect frame for cracks
2.
Handlebar - Grips secure, bung present
(very important).
Stem - All stem bolts secure.
Headset - Check for ‘play’.
4.
Seatpost bolt - Tightened correctly.
Saddle bolt - grab saddle and apply
sideways/upwards/downwards force to
check bolt tightness.
5.
Tyre - Bulges, flint, wear.
Rim - Check join.
Quick release - Correctly tightened
and positioned.
Rear brake - Pads not loose, cable
bolt tight (squeeze lever).
1.
Tyre - Bulges, flint, wear.
Rim - Check join.
Quick release - Correctly
tightened and positioned.
Front brake - Pads not loose,
cable bolt tight (squeeze
lever).
3.
Pedals - Not loose, bearings satisfactory.
Bottom bracket/Crank arm check - grab
both cranks and twist in/outwards:
- Play in both arms indicates bottom
bracket failure.
- Play in one arm indicates crank arm not
correctly fixed and requires tightening.
Chain Line
3
Meon Valley Riser
April 2013 By Ali Bruce
This is a road ride through the
Hampshire hills just north of
Portsmouth and Fareham. As the
name suggests, it is located around
the Meon Valley and it’s hilly! There
are two options: a 47 mile ride or an 84
mile ride. Wisely, for me, I chose the
47 mile ride. I had ridden this event in
2011 and enjoyed it very much. My
connection with the area was through
work and a few of the guys I used to
work with had entered this event. I
was determined to beat them this time!
The
event
is
organised
by
Cyclofanatic. It starts off from the
Boundary Oak School which is just off
the M27. Once you arrive and register
you receive your rider pack. This
includes a timing chip which ties to
your handlebars.
A breakfast of
porridge, tea or coffee is included as
well.
Although forecast for a sunny
afternoon, it was a chilly morning.
Most riders started with their full winter
gear. I started at about 08:30, proudly
wearing my Horsham Cycling colours.
There were no men with stop watches,
you pedal through the start point and
the timing chip triggers automatically.
Soon after the start we encountered
the first of many hills. The route works
its way through Hambledon, around
Butser Hill and to the east of Queen
Elizabeth
Country
Park.
The
organisers have kept the ride to quiet
country roads wherever possible.
The refreshment stop at
Finchdean is at 21 miles.
This is well stocked with
bananas, flapjacks, energy
drink etc. At Buriton the 47
mile route and 84 mile route
split. It is well signed and
marshalled. The scenery is
spectacular with pretty little
villages along the route.
Each one looked as though
it could be a setting for
Midsomer Murders. Maybe
this was why I was trying to go fast!
More climbing now as we rode
through East Meon and up Old
Winchester Hill. (The Off Road Group
will remember this well as it is on the
South Downs Way). The ride returns
through the Meon Valley via Soberton
and Southwick. One last climb is up
behind Portsdown Hill. This goes up
past the forts and masts that you see
when driving by Portsmouth on the
M27. A final charge downhill and it’s
back to the school. The timing chip
stops once you cross the finish line.
colleagues had given me;
“don’t do it”, “wear those
padded shorts” “don’t do
it”, “shelter in a big group
from the start”, “get behind
a fat Belgian or two”, “ride
the gutter” ,“ don’t do it”. Too late to
reconsider, we arrived in Bruges all
kitted out with padded shorts at
7.00am. Dom had ridden the event a
few times before and advised double
cycle tops for double pockets to stash
lots of food in and had warned us
about the severity of the cobbles
(pave) and the effect they have on
anything that may fall off.
Waffles, Cobbles and Superheroes
By Paul Ratcliffe
De Ronde Van Vlaanderen 2 April 2011
It is 4.30am and we are woken by the
alarm in some hotel in the Algerian
quarter of Brussels. This was going to
be the start of a very long day riding
260km (the full route) of the original
Tour of Flanders sportive. Armed with
our
12inch
breakfast
subway
sandwiches, Ben, Dom and I headed
down to Ninove to catch the 5.30am
shuttle bus to Bruges. On the bus I
considered the advice my friends and
4 Chain Line
We set off from the
podium in Bruges the
day
before
the
professionals would do
the very same route.
We were aiming to stay
together and an average
of 16mph. A large group
of fellow cyclists formed
early on riding along
canal towpaths, quiet
flat tarmac roadways
You can see your time on a monitor
straight away. Once back at the
school, more food is provided in the
form of jacket potatoes, cheese and
beans.
All in all, I had a thoroughly enjoyable
day. It was superbly organised and
run. The sun did come out later on as
well. The organisers, Cyclofanatic,
also run an event in August called the
New Forest Rattler. This has three
distances: 47miles, 82miles or
100miles. These may be of interest to
Club members.
Oh, I nearly forgot, did I beat my ex
buddies from work? Yes I did, mission
accomplished!
and cycle paths and the miles seemed
to fly by. At approximately 60 miles, we
came across the first of five feed
stations which the entry fee of 20
Euros covered. This was busy so we
carried on and we had already had our
12inch subs and gels and bars en
route. We carried on knowing full well
that the difficult section (17 cobbled
climbs of varying severity) was fast
approaching. Soon the three of us
ascended climb 1, the Tiegemberg,
which was 750m long at 9% and I
realised how painful this was going to
be, but the crowds were out and there
was a band playing at the summit and
the sun was shining.
On we progressed over varying climbs
and gradients, learning to avoid the
assorted bits of kit that had been
shaken off by the cobbles and were
strewn across the track. We found we
struggled more with the flat sections of
cobbles when trying to maintain a
decent pace; Ben, in particular, as he
does not have a lot of natural padding
and was bouncing around like a dog in
a hat. The next notable climb was the
Paterberg at 360m long, average
gradient 12.9% and maximum of
20.3%. This is one of the biggest
climbs and noted for bottle necks
occurring halfway where the sunken
track narrows and the cobbles worsen.
Sure enough, on my attempt I was
forced to unclip and came to a
standstill as quite a few eurosportives
were wobbling around and blocking
my route. My heart sank as I realised
I would never manage to restart and a
long
cobbled
walk
beckoned.
However, a very kind Belgian
gentleman saw my dilemma and
offered to shove me as I cleated back
in. To my relief this worked and I
managed to shoulder my way through
the wandering cyclists and crested the
summit back onto welcoming tarmac.
With the fun not over, climb number
nine awaited, this being the
Koppenberg. 600m in length and an
average of 11.6% gradient and 22%
maximum. This is a famous climb
featuring in many cycling books and I
remember seeing it in a book at
school,
many
famous
cyclists
struggling
on
their
bikes
in
treacherous conditions, even the
motorcycle escorts have been known
to crash here. This was approached
via a tight right hand tarmac bend and
then a wall of cobbles welcomed us.
The only option was to select the
lowest gear, keep your bum on the
saddle and pick your line wary of
fellow wobbling cyclists. The gradient
varied, but I held my line and was soon
cresting the top and it felt like I was
getting used to the cobbled sections or
my whole body was numb. We then
had a horrible section of downhill
cobbles (more jettisoned kit to avoid)
which was only broken by a level
crossing and then continued uphill.
The last feed station, but after
150miles I felt I could justify it. Climb
15, the Tenbosse had a welcoming
concrete gutter which we used to
avoid the cobbled pain.
The next climb is the most iconic of all,
that of the Muur-Kapelmuur, at 475m
long and an average of 9.3% with a
maximum of 19.8% in the town of
Geraardsbergen. On approaching this
climb, Ben had challenged ‘last to the
top buys the beers’ and off the two
young whippets went and left me at
the bottom. As the climb progressed,
the crowds cheered and various
sections of cobbles were traversed. I
noticed the town hall was bedecked
with caricatures of professional riders
who were racing the following day and
a huge TV screen in the town square.
I could see the church in the distance
and realised this was the top of the
climb and, surprisingly, Ben was not
far ahead and slowly being reeled in.
He did look the wrong way when I
passed him, prior to the summit, but
this did not make my victory any less
sweet.
He had seen me and
commented *****! Too late, I was on
my way.
The last climb was the Bosberg
(number 17) 980m long, 5.8% average
and maximum 11% and once over it,
all that remained was 5 miles of
tarmac into Ninove and the finish.
Dom was well ahead by now and Ben
and I were still riding well together,
thankful that all the cobbled climbs
were behind us and the sun was still
shining. It was now that I remembered
the advice about the fat Belgians and
I managed to tuck in behind two riders
who were pushing on strongly to the
finish. Ben however had missed this
train.
Into the finish where we
regrouped and had a total ride time of
approximately 10 hours and Ben
bought the beers that night. We were
well chuffed with our success. The
organisation was amazing, for 20
Euros there were five proper feed
stations, the shuttle bus was only 15
Euros and for an extra 3 Euros you
wore a chipped race number so you
could access video footage with you in
it.
The next day we drove to
Geraardsbergen, the home of the
famous Muur-Kapelmuur climb to
watch the professionals ride through.
We managed to consume our own
weight in waffles, beer, frites and
burgers whilst watching the live racing
on the TV screen we had passed the
day before.
Eventually the race
caravan
passed
through,
the
helicopters appeared and the crowds
piled up against the barriers. The first
riders past were Cancellara and
Gilbert and I recall looking into their
eyes and feeling their pain, they are
superheroes indeed. With the peloton
not far behind, the race for the finish
was on.
My thanks go to Ben for motivating me
to do it and organising us - and Dom
for his experience and valued advice,
I hope we will return in 2014.
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Discount to Club Members
Chain Line 5
The Joy of Cobbles
By Ian Hiscock
sign-posted cycle routes taking in the
area’s famous cobbled climbs. Our
first stop was the museum.
A (non-cycling) friend recently sent me
a message: 'I've never understood the
cobbled thing. Tour of Britain finished
up Guildford High Street, that has to
be rough'. Hmm, where to start? Over
the past few years I've caught several
of the spring classic races on TV. The
highlight of course has to be watching
200 pro cyclists suffer visibly over the
three Flanders cobbled classics - E3,
Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix.
It's almost gladiatorial. I'm not alone,
each has a large passionate following
of fans who turn up to watch,
voluntarily maintain cobbled tracks or
just think it's a great excuse for a town
party. The UK is getting better, but the
Continent still leads the way for cycle
sport related passion.
Neither of us are big on museums, but
this appealed. Plenty of vintage kit on
display;
original
mud-splattered
jerseys, bikes, radios and even team
cars - and none of it hidden behind
glass. Jump on the bike based cobble
simulator, play the 88 question quiz
(probably 40 too many) and watch a
three screen presentation celebrating
the Flandrien greats. The people of
Flanders are clearly proud of their
local successes with familiar names
such as Eddie Merckx, Johan
Museeuw and most recently Tom
Boonen (nickname Tommeke) giving
cause to highlight how tough a
Flandrien rider is. Some quotes from
the guide: 'Performs best in foul
weather', 'Is silent, never complains'
and 'Rides his bike until he can't
remember his own name'. The video
presentation focuses exclusively on
their local race, with plenty of
grimacing, crashes, bad weather and
of course steep narrow cobbled climbs
agonisingly climbed in a huge gear. I
think I'm starting to understand.
I know a few club members who have
voluntarily ridden some of these
routes, sometimes the full distance in
race supporting events. Can't say I've
ever fancied riding any of these, but I
am cobble curious, particularly after a
shortish stretch on a Club Mouscron
visit that left my forearms numb and
questioning why the bike was still in
one piece. Can these 250km+ races
containing 50kms+ of cobbled tracks
be that bad?
A plan was hatched with Pave Paul
Ratcliffe (a Tour of Flanders full
distance sportive veteran) to combine
some two wheeled Tour of Flanders
cobble sampling with some cobble
based spectating at the Paris Roubaix
on 6th April. Chunnel over on the
Friday, check out some Flanders
routes to cycle in the afternoon, do
some cobbles on the Saturday, then
spectate at the Paris Roubaix race on
the Sunday.
A fairly uneventful trip over, including
a two hour motorway trip from Calais,
brought us to Oudenaarde. Since
2012, Oudenaarde has hosted the
race finish for the Tour of Flanders.
The area sees a huge influx of people
and money over one weekend
(700,000 spectators each spending an
average of €20, apparently), then
presumably not a lot for the rest of the
year. To me it looks like the area has
made a big effort to extend the cycling
tourist
season
with
a
new
museum/cafe/shop centre dedicated
to 'Ronde van Vlaanderen' and three
6 Chain Line
If at all interested, the museum is
definitely worth a visit, plus it has a
pretty cool cycle themed cafe and of
course a shop where you can buy
candles in the shape of cobbles or a
fridge magnet of your favourite
Flandrien hero. (Someone in our party
of two bought both of these). The shop
also sells a map of local cycle routes well they did, but visiting the week
after their big race isn't the best time
to get one. Instead we photographed
the one behind the counter and put
our faith in the new signposts to
navigate the blue route on the
following
day
78kms
with
an
advertised,
errrr,
nine cobbled climbs.
Stewart F and Peter
G have brought me
close to this area for
the past three years
with the annual Club
Mouscron weekend.
For those weekends
we stay in a Formule
1 hotel in Lille and,
after a short metro
trip, drink expensive
but tasty beer and
eat in the centre's
restaurants. The hotel is basic, but
clean, cheap, convenient and will
allow bikes in the rooms - plus the
town is usually lively. So we picked the
same hotel/beer/food combo as our
base, roughly 40 minutes from
Oudenaarde and slightly less to the
Arenberg forest where we planned to
spectate on the Sunday. Just be wary
that all red coloured beers aren't the
same - Leffe Ruby is great, but Paul's
lucky dip experiment was closer to
high proof cough syrup.
Saturday was to be cold and windy,
but no rain. The blue route
(http://www.crvv.be/en/317-routes/10)
starts from the centre of Oudenaarde
then follows a canal tow path until
close to the first climb, the
Kwaremont. Just six days ago I'd
watched Cancellara and Sagan break
the field up this climb and here it was,
albeit less glamorous with no cheering
fans and a big lorry blocking the road
being
loaded
with
dismantled
grandstand. As we hit the cobbles
uncontrolled laughter broke out - not
entirely sure I fully understand the
psychology behind this, something
like 'why am I doing this?', or 'I've got
a day full of this'. I'm told cobbles are
better when ridden at speed in a high
gear, that the rider can float from one
cobble to the next. All I know is that
this was uphill, so speed was out the
question, and that it felt like I was
climbing many smaller hills, one
cobble at a time. Many of the climbs
have smooth rain gutters down the
side of the road, usually not an option
for the pros - the Kwaremont did too,
but isn't that cheating? So we plugged
on determined to savour the
experience. Hill one complete.
Oudenaarde museum - a celebration
of Flandrien cobbled racing
At the top, the route twisted and turned
cross county with a few about turns as
we missed some of the less well
placed signs. It became obvious that
it's not an overly hilly area, but the
route we followed made it hilly by
descending and ascending the same
ridges. The climbs were shorter than
most South/North Downs examples,
but were steep in sections and of
course cobbled.
Next up, the
Patterberg, a straight cobbled climb
that attacks the slope head on - gentle
to start, then it just ramps up to reach
the top. The scene of Cancellara's
decisive winning move on what looked
like the big-ring the week before - for
me scene of taking the smooth gutter
on the flatter section then a granny
ring climb over each cobble up the
steeper section. Given the slow speed
so far, the cobble impact hadn't been
the issue, more the problem of being
thrown off balance by a surface that
changed angle every 10 centimetres.
The route then continues up the
Koppenberg, which must be the
toughest climb of the day, before
arriving at a flatter cobbled section:
Steenbeekdries. This time the speed
was higher and the jarring effect of the
cobbles far more pronounced. As the
road dipped down, memories of the
Mouscron cobbles came back, but this
time I was struggling to operate the
brakes as my hands struggled with
grip and fingers seemingly on strike!
Thankfully this didn't continue for long
and after a few more climbs we
stopped for lunch. The cafes in this
area are limited to the towns, we
stopped at an empty village bar and
were offered ham and cheese on toast
with tomato sauce, presumably a local
delicacy. The choice was how many
slices - one, two or three. But, quickly
devoured, surprisingly tasty, they
helped with the cold despite the room
temperature being similar to outdoors.
The afternoon saw us get lost a few
times, my saddle bag clip surrender to
the vibration and meet a local on a
mountain bike who pointed us in the
right direction, gave some local
background info, then disappeared out
of sight up the next cobbled climb (I
reckon it's because he was comfy on
those big fat tyres, not because he'd
just completed a full distance Tour of
Flanders the previous week and was
just plain fitter than us). We
encountered two road races: under 23
and under 18s (or minus 23 as our
Belgium friend described it) - with the
U23s accompanied by a 10-15mins
worth of supporting vehicles and the
U18s using us as slow moving sprint
targets up the last hill of the day as
they warmed down from their race.
The return to Oudernaarde was via a
similar route to the outward canal leg,
but this time into a strong headwind
along a dead straight cycle path. On
reaching the town we return to the
cycle cafe, recount the stories of the
day over warming coffee and watch
Contador win the Tour of the Basque
TT. Not a huge mileage day, but 51
miles total and a shaken average
speed have taking their toll.
Sunday. I didn't appreciate it before,
but there is a big difference between a
Tour of Flanders cobble and a Paris
Roubaix cobble: "Let me tell you,
though — there's a huge difference
between the Tour of Flanders and
Paris–Roubaix. They're not even
close to the same. In one, the cobbles
are used every day by the cars, and
kept up, and stuff like that. The other
one, it's completely different ... The
best I could do would be to describe it
like this — they ploughed a dirt road,
flew over it with a helicopter, and then
just dropped a bunch of rocks out
of the helicopter! That's Paris–
Roubaix. It's that bad — it's
ridiculous." - Chris
Horner.
The 27 sections of
Roubaix
cobbled
sectors are graded
from 1 to 5 stars, 5
being
the
poorest
condition. We'd picked
the most iconic 5 star
section
to
enjoy
watching the pros
suffer
Tranchée
d'Arenberg. The trench
of Arenberg is 2400m
Some 5 star cobbles long, laid in the time of
Napoleon, used as part of local mining
activity, but now preserved and
opened just for the race. The pave is
about 3m wide and very, very rough.
Cobbles sit proud of the surface by up
to ~7cm with the surface dropping and
rising like a farm track. There are no
smooth gutters, but there is a footpath
down one side - which is separated
from the riders by a barrier and excited
spectators - and a muddy surface on
the other - which two days before the
event is ploughed on purpose to
ensure it's even less fit for bikes than
the cobbles. The run into the section is
fast and wide with pros often hitting
the narrow section as a bunch at
60kmh. Crashes within the first 1km
are common and not pretty. Bikes are
specially adapted for the race with 28
or even 30mm tyres being run at lower
pressures (Cancellara reportedly used
28mm at 80psi), plus two layers of bar
tape and some on cyclo-cross
bikes. Yep - I'm understanding this
cobble thing now.
Getting to Arenberg was easy (though
not as easy as the French Police vans
made it using their blue lights to jump
everything on a quiet Sunday
morning)
and
parking
more
straightforward
than
I
had
feared. We'd only planned a single
viewing, but the more organised
spectators can see the riders three or
four times including a last minute entry
into the Velodrome at the finish.
Celebrations were evident, from the
town brass band in full uniform,
'Giants of Flanders' statues being
wheeled out of lorries, to the inevitable
field of camper vans, barbecues, food
stalls and live
TV near the
entrance to
the
sector.
Hours before
arrival,
hundreds of
spectators
were
gathering.
A giant coal miner
from Arenberg
Chain Line
7
Cobbled suffering
There was to be no cycling for us
today, so hours before the race we
walked the length of pave admiring its
form and the brave few that risked
their bikes and bones. We came
across many UK folk, one of whom
had brought his family over to watch
weeks of classics, and varied national
flags - the most common being the
Lion of Flanders. The noise, colour
and people all add to the mid-forest
atmosphere. A good hour before the
race was due, Gendarmes were
stationed on the muddy side of the As with all bike race spectating, it was
track and the TV camera cranes over quickly, but it wasn't! We had
sprung into life. I was monitoring the started walking back only to be
race on the phone - it was ahead of interrupted several times by more
schedule. As the time approached, riders coming through. A big group
team cars started to come through and lots of solo riders, all behind the
followed by mechanics running back team cars and some a good 10
down the track with spare wheels. minutes down. Then the broom wagon
Then… silence. The contrast between - a passenger van with a very large
the party atmosphere of a few trailer on the back already holding 10
seconds back was huge and the bikes or so clanked onto the cobbles.
distant sound of helicopters could just
be heard. Support vehicles and rough Out of 198 starters, only 118 finished.
terrain motorbikes whose riders chose The race itself was won by Cancellara
to stand for the cobbles followed, to complete a hat-trick of 2013
kicking the dust into a small group of cobbled wins. He averaged 45kmh
lead riders. I've watched bike races (27.5mph) over the 255kms course
before and usually they fly past, this with 55kms of cobbled sections,
time it seemed slower and much less barely believable.
graceful. The main peloton had
singled out, presumably so each rider Are you getting it yet?
could pick or follow
the one slightly
more comfortable
line. Faces look
concentrated and
the bikes made
unpleasant
cracking sounds as
they passed, the
sort of sound that
would have any
club rider get off
and
take
a Elephant riding a bike through the Arenberg forest
concerned look.
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8 Chain Line
Rider Profile
Meet Ian Philips
Toughest event completed in:
Cycling from Land’s End to John O’ Groats three years ago
for Cancer Research. We had a head wind every day
except one, but we only got caught in two small rain
showers so can’t complain.
And best result:
Finally getting inside 25 mins for a 10 mile time trial last year.
Greatest ambition in cycling:
Just to keep cycling for as long as possible and staying
healthy, and maybe one day getting a proper time trial bike!
How many miles do you ride each week?
About 100 miles in the summer months, a bit less in winter.
Most exciting time on a bike:
Crossing the finish line in John O’ Groats with family and
friends there.
Where were you born?
Haslemere in Surrey
Other interests:
Golf, motorsport, woodworking, DIY and generally fixing
things. Just spending time with my wife and two boys.
Do you remember your first bike?
Yes, an old kids’ bike with white tyres and metal
mudguards. My Grandad probably got it from the dump,
because he used to work there.
Favourite book/film/piece of music:
Anything by Clive Cussler. Flight of the Navigator (first film
I saw at the cinema) and the Goonies! Lisa Loeb: Stay.
What do you ride now?
An Orbea Onix Tour
What do you enjoy most about Horsham Cycling?
The friendliness of the club and its members and the
general banter.
What do you enjoy least about Horsham Cycling?
Nothing.
Which group do you usually ride with?
Have not been out in a while, but usually SG2
Any previous clubs?
No previous clubs
What’s your favourite ride?
I like the ride up to Boxhill and also Shere is very nice, and
cycling on the Downs Link to Shoreham (but that’s on a
mountain bike, usually with a kid’s trailer on!)
What quality do you most admire in others?
Honesty and a good sense of humour.
And what do you dislike?
Snobbery!
Most treasured possession:
The bike obviously! but also my family.
Dream Holiday:
Driving out to the Le Mans 24 hours in June in a nice sports
car and staying on for the Tour de France in July and
cycling around after them. Also touring America in a
Winnebago motorhome for a year.
Suggestions to improve the club:
Nothing really, maybe some summer evening rides that
sample a couple of pubs would be nice.
Helps treat and prevent sports injuries
Can also be effective for back, neck, shoulder pain and repetitive strain injury
[email protected] 251360 or 09741898372
£25 per hour to Horsham Cycling Club Members
Chain Line 9
Time Trials –
Early Season Update 2013
By Jon Fry
Late May 2013 and the weather is
struggling to achieve any personal
bests, let only the time triallists of this
world. The Club time trial events are
nearly at the half-way stage and the
arm warmers are still not packed away
yet.
The season kicked off with the series
of five Saturday morning races on a
mix of the Oakwoodhill 10 mile and
Faygate 14 mile courses. Tim Peters’
sound investment in the Horsham
Cycling TT rig of choice (Planet X
Stealth) paid dividends as his took his
debut win in the first event at
Oakwoodhill.
While Keith Carter kept his powder
dry, yours truly (Jon Fry) took full
advantage and bagged a couple of
wins in the following two races. Steve
Copeland joined the 30 point club with
a victory on the Faygate course before
the reigning points champion, Keith
Carter, showed everybody he’s still
the man to beat with wins in the three
events he has ridden so far.
Elsewhere on the results sheets there
were many improvers and battles
between riders of a similar speed.
Peter Delve continued with last
season’s improvements to bag some
top five results, he and Baverstock
senior seem to spur each other on to
faster times. While Baverstock junior
took nearly four minutes off his early
season Oakwoodhill time at the 28
rider field event held on 4th May 2013.
This was the annual event where the
Club encourages non-TT riders to give
it a go on a relatively traffic-free
course (horses are more likely to
cause problems on this course than
cars). An enjoyable morning had by
all as the rain held off and post ride
refreshments were taken in the
Punchbowl Inn.
Into May and the on-going road works
meant that the fast 10 mile course
(Horsham/Crawley) was out of action.
This forced a ride south on the A24 to
Southwater and back. Speaking to
riders
afterwards,
the
general
consensus seems to be that it’s a
good course with fewer roundabouts
to negotiate, but might not be quite as
fast as the one it’s replacing. Time
10 Chain Line
may prove different as people get
used to pacing their efforts better on
the long drags from Hop Oast
roundabout to Southwater and back to
the finish line.
As well as the time trials organised by
our club, there are open events run by
others which are open to all riders
from affiliated clubs. Details of these
can be found on the CTT website and
many can be entered via that website.
If anybody needs any help entering
these events then they only need to
ask one of the ‘old hands’ for some
help on a Club evening TT event.
The highlight of the open season so
far has been the Horsham Cycling trio
of Keith Shuttlewood, Bryn Reeves
and Jon Fry taking the team prize of
£10 and a bottle of wine each at the
Southern Counties Cycling Union time
trial on 16th March 2013.
Keith
Shuttlewood was showing some good
early season form with this ride and
then took two minutes off his course
best for the East Surrey Road Club 30
mile event a few weeks later. Back
problems have forced Keith to lay off
the riding for the remainder of the
season, but hopefully with a good rest
he will be back.
The thing that keeps time trialists
going is the belief that they could
always have gone faster. This does
mean that we always have an excuse
in the locker ready for when things do
not go to plan, but it also makes you
look forward to the next event where
you will do better ……. dependent on
the wind direction, wind speed, traffic
at junctions, start time, stubble, dietary
malfunctions and anything else that
comes to mind as you throw the aero
lid in the car and head home……. till
the next time.
Details of all Horsham Cycling club
events
can
be
found
at
www.horshamcycling.co.uk under the
Racing section.
New Forest Weekend
(The Social Story)
By Malcolm Curtis and Colin Ward
Colin’s Saturday Western Wander
Showers were forecast, but that didn’t
deter the members of the New Forest
social group as we set off from the
Lyndhurst Park Hotel shortly after
1.30pm on Saturday 11th May. Every
rider knew that miles had to be ridden,
sights had to be seen and cream teas
had to be consumed.
To begin, we rode like a single welloiled machine around the one way
system and then west on the A35 as
far as The Swan, before turning right
and climbing over the small hill to
Emery Down. At The New Forest Inn
we turned left and cycled the
woodland road, past free-roaming
ponies and the Portuguese Fireplace
before climbing Bolderwood Hill and
crossing a cattle grid onto our first
section of heath land. A strong head
wind challenged us as we crossed the
bridge over the A31 and continued to
blow in our faces as we pressed on
over Red Shoot plain where the first
shower started. It was a relief to get
down into the shelter of the hedgelined lanes beside the lakes at
Rockford.
Next, our route took us south through
the eastern outskirts of Ringwood and
then through the hamlets of Crow and
North Kingston to our banana break at
the junction with Braggers Lane. The
riders were all in good spirits as we
climbed west, back up into the
National Park, before turning north at
the cross roads to traverse our second
section of exposed heath land and
(guess what?) our second shower. On
the road into Burley we had our eyes
peeled for the Cider Pantry Tea
Rooms, where the staff were
expecting us for three o’clock. It was
after four when we breezed in, having
parked our bikes in the racks out the
back, but they were still pleased to see
us and seated us round our own
exclusive long country-kitchen-style
table. Nine orders for cream teas or
the equivalent must have given their
afternoon takings a nice little boost
and gave us something to do while we
waited for the rain to move on.
After that, we were ready for anything,
or at least the last ten miles of our
route. We passed through the typical
New Forest village of Burley, famous
for bike hire, horse-drawn carriage
rides and witches, before heading
north east on Chapel Lane which
became Lyndhurst Road before
crossing a cattle grid tipping us out
onto the A35. Only a couple of
hundred yards of the main road had to
be endured before turning left onto
Bolderwood Arboretum Ornamental
Drive to enjoy, once more, the
tranquility of the forest.
For the last leg of our ride, we decided
to each ride at his or her own pace,
re-grouping only at key junctions. At
the top of the Ornamental Drive we
swung right to return to Lyndhurst via
Emery Down on the road we had
started out on. That left only the oneway system to negotiate, past the
ancient Church and the modern
Maserati garage to roll into the hotel
car park as a tight group at about six
o’clock. In our 32 miles, we
experienced no mechanical problems,
no punctures and we all enjoyed each
My 30 mile fairly flat ride was
confirmed by Dave’s contact in the
New Forest Cycling Club.
On the Sunday morning, armed with
sheets of printed directions, I had to
swiftly move to Plan B. The weather
forecast was not promising and some
of our number had commitments to
meet in the early afternoon. I decided
to cut out part of the loop and head
towards Beaulieu aiming for Bucklers
Hard. So, off we went into unknown
territory, Rhinefield Drive was exactly
how it had been described, nice
tarmac through a mass of trees. The
nice tarmac was a feature of the
weekend with hardly a pothole to be
seen. I knew that we had to turn left at
a certain point to head towards the
main road. Just as I rode to the front
of the group and mentioned the hotel
that we would be turning by, Morag
said “That was it on the left.” So
without any fluster I simply led the
group, as if nothing had happened,
skirting
around
the
north
of
Brockenhurst.
The ride from Brockenhurst to
Bucklers Hard took us over Beaulieu
Heath, out into the open. Fortunately,
it was a nice morning with just a
breeze behind us. After a quick stop
to chat to a pair of donkeys, we made
our way to the tea room at the Hard.
other’s company.
Malcolm’s
Sunday
Eastern
Excursion
It was during the club annual dinner
that I asked Dave Scott if he needed a
volunteer as ride leader for the New
Forest. “Yes please” he said and
so I was hired. Next thoughts,
what route should we take?
After much deliberation and not
knowing the area very well, it was
whilst talking to a colleague at
work who said that the Rhinefield
Ornamental Drive was a really
nice place to ride, so I looked at
that as a possibility. On the maps
I saw Bucklers Hard which I
remembered
from
my
youth.
Gradually the route came together and
after spending time studying the
ordnance survey map, working out
roughly how far my intended route
would be and spending time on
Streetmap, I had the route planned.
After the tea stop we retraced our
route to join the main road that would
take us to Lyndhurst. This time we
were against the wind so, after a few
stops to catch breath and for a
photograph session, we made it back
in time for everyone to freshen up
before heading for home. We didn’t
manage the 30 miles, perhaps that’s
for another time.
My thanks must go to Dave Scott for
organising a great weekend. Can I
sign up for next year please?
Pictures by James Talbot.
Chain Line 11