Surrey Sussex VTTA "25"

My last event of the year and a relief it is over so no more early mornings.  It was freezing cold at Uckfield for the start of the 25, even though first man off was not until 8 o'clock.  Obviously the other club racing men realized several weeks ago what conditions would be like as I was the sole club representative.

There did not appear to be any wind.  Not that it made any difference.  I struggled round in 1:06:43 (I think that is 4 seconds slower than the club 30 mile record!!)  The mind and heart were willing but regretfully all communications with my legs ceased as I got out of my very warm car at the HQ.  As ever there is always someone who ignores the conditions.  There were several 54 minute rides and Nick Dywer won with a 54:05 (I think).  It was so cold that Lillian and Sue who do the refreshments had to give first aid to a chap who had mild hypothermia.

Anyway the racing bike is put away until next year - season starts on 1 January with the Southbrough Wheelers New Years Day ten at Bethersden, which is always fun, and hopefully I will see a few of you at that.

Beckley 35- Early Bird 29/9

Derek And Chris Near Beckley

Beautiful weather for the first early bird road ride of the season, so myself and Derek were surprised that there were just the two of us. As we set off along the Ridge we heard a shout and saw the familiar figure of Chris Parker resplendent in full HStL CC kit, Chris was going on a grasshopper identification workshop (in case he ever wants to keep any as pets and wants to name them individually) but that was cancelled and he had just made it in time for the early bird start. The first steep ascent we had to negotiate was Stubb's lane but this was soon followed by a slightly less steep but longer climb up to Beckley. After this the riding was easy and fast, so before long we had arrived in Battle. Chris couldn't resist the smell of coffee wafting down the high street so we made an early stop for breakfast in the Coffe Lounge, even though we still had 15 miles to go. Sitting outside in the sun looking at a perfect blue sky was a big bonus for us at this time of year. Chris and Derek had to get back home by 11:00 so decided to cycle straight back along the Ridge while I went off on my own to complete the full route. In the end they needn't have worried because when I looked down at my watch having got back to Stamco it was only 11:00!

Coffee At Battle

Distance 35 miles
Av speed- 14.2 mph

Wednesday Chain Gang 5 : Lovely

A dozen tonight, including three of us on fixed and at least four bikes with mudguards - maybe a new mudguard record! Rain mercifully stayed off, having blown itself up earlier.

Six or seven of us worked together smoothly doing short turns all the way out, averaging 24 mph, not bad into a South Westerly. A grupetto of four at the back with  one or two  riders adrift in between in no man's land completed the run out.

Joker in the pack and  most aggressive rider was Simon N, perhaps a little inspired by  Phillippe Gilbert's gutsy win in the worlds last weekend. Simon N once patted Gilbert on the back after watching him race on a club trip to France, maybe a bit of the magic rubbed off?  " I could see you were tired - so I tried to drop you".  Jon M found enough mudguards to follow to keep his face clean and at the stop exclaimed, "I really enjoyed that, it was lovely, kind of old timey."

Simon Phoenix Cycles - pictured - had the finishes like Cav after I lead him out. Next week we're going to head for Traffer's after the stop in Bexhill for a post ride meet and a beer, see you there.

check us out on Strava

<iframe height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='http://app.strava.com/runs/23229441/embed/14b45bddd9ab7183f56e7a0d586a84959544667f'></iframe>

Tearing up the Geneva Convention. Friday Chain Gang

Eight of us tonight - spun along easy till Rye Harbour  where  Paul B needed a pitstop and said he would catch us up later.
We rolled on chatting until  a scooter cruised past us at the industrial estate -  tempted to chase I jumped after  him, caught his wheel and caught in the moment overtook him until we were out of sight of the others. Tiring from the effort  I dropped back and sat in for a while  - then I remembered we still had fifteen miles ahead of us  so I eased up and let scooter go. Soon the others rolled up and we waited for Paul B at Rye.
The usual chase up the Udimore Road - Malc, Ivan and Simon G set the pace uphill,  after doing a long fast turn Malc our strongest rider on the night asked me to come thru for a spell, I said OK, if you ease up and drop to the back,  chain gang style."  If we keep upping the pace with every turn then we'd be travelling at speed of sound by Brede, " I said  " I thought that was the general idea" said Malc, Team Sky's next torturer in training. Anyway I did a little turn then sat in some more only to break away  half a mile before the rest stop at Brede, "****!" to much righteous cursing from the diesel engines. Served me right to blow up half a mile from the halt where Malc and Ivan  caught and passed me " . . . when we caught you, we  sat on your wheel for a bit - just to make sure you were properly dead" they said.

John had punctured before Udimore  so Simon G and I went back a few miles  for him,  his tyre had a big tear in it and his spare tube had failed so we gave him one of ours. On any club run,  especially at night at least one other rider should stop to lend a hand  when someone punctures,  to hold the torch, lend tools & spares.  Simon phoned the others who were waiting up the road  to let them know we were OK, they went on ahead, and the three of us set off.  Simon G was feeling strong and flew up Stonestile Lane like a rocket, leaving me forty yards adrift, I tried my best to catch him where the gradient eased but couldn't close the gap, all's fair in cycling and war.

Off Road End Of Term Report

For me, our off road ride today marks the end of the off road season (wet weather forecast next week), so I will not be organising any more off road rides until next June (unless I can persuade anyone to do the cuckoo trail sometime?). Many thanks to all the riders who made it such a great season despite some of the set backs we enountered. Its been an interesting season with some highs and some lows so i thought i would reflect on them

-ve:
Heavy rain for the start of the season
Bewl water only rideable about 60% of the time
Dave HH breaking his collar bone at Bedgebury
Having to keep cancelling Downs rides until July
Getting more than our share of punctures

+ve
Good dry weather for the second half of the season
Not too hot or too cold
Dave HH made a rapid recovery and was able to ride off road in september
Duncan and Ivan completed their first South downs way in a day
29ers are not hype, they really are much better
Steve C and Ivan buy and love their 29ers.
Fabulous weather for the 4th year running for our annual ride to brighton
Dave HH and Derek becoming regular riders with us
Mapping out our best ever local ride


Goodbye to all this! (until next year)

See you all next year

22/9 No Slime Is A Crime!

Steve And Dave Climbing Up To Ditchling Beacon

With a great weather forecast we were determine to make the most of the great outdoors. We were riding a new off road route published by Nick Cotton in his book , 'south east mountain biking'.

Stanmer Tea Stop

Derek On His New Carbon Bike

We started at Kingston near Lewes, Dave HH didn't look too well and admitted that he was nursing a hangover from over indulgence the night before.Derek was looking forward to giving the Carbon mtb he built up himself its first proper workout. We set off towards Lewes but after 5 minutes realised that Dave and Paul were no where to be seen, they had missed the turning on the road. Thanks to the wonders of mobile technology we were soon back together and climbing up past Lewes prison towards Ditchling Beacon. I have been down, but never up this rocky track many times and found the climb much easier than I expected. At the Ditchling beacon car park Paul discovered he had a rear tyre puncture. Once fixed ,we headed south down a track none of us had ever been on before which led to the 'hidden valley' described in the book. We didn't quite have the valley all to ourselves as there were a couple there that we said hello to before setting off again. They were rather surprised when 10 minutes later we bumped into them again having got a bit lost and gone round in a circle! From here there were excellent tracks leading down to the new partially tarmacked track parallel to the A27. The others didn't like this section much but as a lover of any non technical riding on an mtb, I rather enjoyed it. An excellent tea stop in the Stanmer tea rooms awaited us before the long climb up towards the Beacon, only to lose most of the height gained in a long descent  in a 'dogs leg' pattern before enjoying a wonderful steady ascent all the way up to the top of the downs again. On the way up we did notice the hedges had been cut but didn't think anything more of it. All that was left was the long bumpy drop back down to Lewes prison. This is where we found out that some of us had taken some mementos of the cut  hedges with us, as Paul and Derek had three more punctures between them while Malcolm noticed little patches of slime on his tyres where thorns had punctured through. We must have wasted a good 40 minutes overall fixing punctures and have all agreed that we will all use some form of puncture reduction method next year to reduce the time for everyone wasted fixing punctures, popular suggestions were ; slime tubes, kevlar liners or tubeless tyres!
Despite the punctures this was a good 7/10 ride that will find its place amongst our ride catalogue.

Weds Chain Gang 4 (19/9)- Three newbies

Tom Norris

Edward Jenner

Peter Hayworth

On the way out to the meeting point for the chain gang Derek got talking to a rider on the road who was heading in the same direction. It turned out that he was intending to ride out to Pevensey and back so Derek suggesting riding out with us. I think Peter found the pace of the chaingnag a bit of a shock and did get quite badly dropped but hopefully we haven't put him off and we will see him again. The other two newbies were Edward Jenner (brother of Joe) who has ridden on some of the open time trials the club has attended and Tom Norris who came along after Simon Prior recommended us to him. Both tom and Edward rode well and had no trouble keeping us so hopefully they will become regulars.

With the three new riders our total turnout was 19.Malcolm was first to go it alone on the front after setting off but before too long a whole group of riders had pulled him in and gone ahead. On the way back Ivan led out all the way to the bottom of spookey hill before Paul B put the hammer down to overtake in a mad burst but soon lost energy leaving Malcolm, Paul F, Simon N and a few others to take the front spot down Cooden drive. Ivan soon rallied and had caught back up by the time the traffic lights were reached.

At the back of the field special mention must go to David Morris as most improved rider. Despite myself and Derek working as a team we only just caught David up a few seconds before the end of the ride out.

ESCA 10

A very cold start to the morning which warmed up noticeably as the sun rose.  13 club members entered the event, but George Morris did not start which removed the potential jinx.

Edward Jenner at Whitesmith

I was off at the end of the event and Dad was off early so I shot down the course to spot Father on his trike.  It was worrying seeing early riders struggling up the slope at Whitesmith. David Morris was first off at No 3 and Edward Jenner was next.  Edward, who I think was riding his first open event, did a fine 31:52 in the coldest conditions.

The later riders had the best of the weather as it warmed up noticeably as the sun rose.  The other times were  Mark Boorman 30:40; Chris Parker 29:53; David Morris 29:43; William Francis 28:29; Stephen Butcher 27:19; Jo Kingsman 25:37; Mark Brittle 24:50; Me 24:43 (which equalled my best for the year); Malcolm Daly 24:02 (I suspect suggesting he sprinted would not be well received?); Jo Jenner 23:34 (2nd Junior) and Marc Townsend took the club honours with 22:33.

Tomorrow is the 25 which I will be apologizing for not starting.  Several heavy weeks at work with a 1000 mile round trip to Scotland to return son to Uni and the KCA 12 hour weekend thrown in on top mean that I will be having a long lie in on Sunday.  Hopefully Chris or one of the others will report on the event.  A plug for the Surrey Sussex VTTA Group 25 on 30th September which is pretty much the last time trial and then it is Hill Climb time.  I think the Club Hill Climb is on 4 November (or is it 28 October).

Birling Gap- Our Best Ever local Off Road Ride?

Derek, Dave HH and Steve C Starting At Birling Gap

Having done a number of local off road rides in the Alfriston area this year I was determined to map out another local route that as far as possible involved different trails. The route starting from Birling gap didn't look too promising but I thought it would be a simple route for Derek who is still getting used to off road and is still riding his Saracen tank. Dave HH joined us at Birling Gap, and said he would make a few suggestions on the way to liven up the ride as he knows the area so well. We headed perpendicular to the seven sisters crossing over Cornish farm until we met the SDW leading up to Butt's brow that we know and love so well. From here we had to endure the usual filling loosening descent down to Jevington. Instead of continuing along the SDW we turned right for the Folkington byway instead. I haven't done this for a few years and remember it being very eroded but as we were going up it instead of down it, it really wasn't too bad and before too long we were out on the North facing escarpment leading up to the long man and flying down the long descent to Alfriston. Instead of sticking to the SDW we followed the old farm path that skirts along the bottom of the hills. A very steep road section which I really enjoyed, then took us back up to the top of the Downs, restoring all our lost altitude. From here Dave told us we should head due south rather than along the SDW, this bridleway looked minor on the map but turned out to be a fantastic wide hedge lined descent all the way down to Seaford where we stopped in the 'Golden Galleon' for a pint (not a good idea as we all felt woozy afterwards). Dave then took us on an enjoyable (even for me) long uphill single track taking us to the top of friston forest. Now, all that was left was the invigorating descent across the seven sisters with the sea always on the horizon. All three of us really enjoyed this route and if the weather holds hope to repeat it otherwise we will have to wait a whole year.

Derek is now a committed off roader.

chaingang number 3 - some people like to roll

 David and Nick on their first ever chaingang

Two swallows might  not make a summer but you can tell it's about over with all the long sleeves and there's  two black fixed gear bikes with mudguards on the chaingang -  Nathan's Giant  Bowery - & my 1959 Flying Scot. John Cordner brought a proper vintage steel fixed he's just built up as well - converted from an old racer rusting in the shed, nice one. He was finding the fast spinning tough to get used to at first but stick with it - learns ya' ta pedal smoothly and rev fast like a motorbike which is good training for TTs  and  sprints. Back in the day - before my time - cough - I believe everyone rode the same fixed bike for TTs,  track and training.  Road clubbers spun 66" or 72" all winter - not wanting to put strain on the knees in cold weather. Most of the fixeds are  about 81" on chaingang, as there's no real hills and its quite short -  except Max who rides a ridiculously high track sprinters gear of about 100" - must have titanium knees.
Sooooooooooo - eighteen riders, half a dozen regulars missing but  some new and returning faces.  For maybe the first time ever we  got thru and off working all the way out and all the way back as well - so hitting our target there - fast and smooth - proper chaingang.  A group of three on fixed sneaked off early, two more joined, Mark chased all the way solo and caught us with a mile to go - good effort - its OK to join back of chaingang and sit in for a short rest after an epic chase like that but keen as mustard Mark went straight to the front - as Nathan said if you don't do your spell in a real roadrace they shove you in a hedge. At halfway stop some of us were a bit puggled from the last miles, and Eastbourne Rover Svawek (pronounced Swavek) and I tried out a high intensity interval for the last 100 yards. On the return leg we had a tailwind and rolled back swiftly, Ivan led us past Stewart's house then Mark did a strong spell to the next rest stop at Bexhill, all good fun.  A couple of us had some beers at the Anchor after. By the way I've got two drawings in Cycling Weekly on Thursday, see you next week, x.

Off Road To Brighton 8/9- Eight punctures And Counting

This was our fourth annual off road ride to Brighton with three riders: Dave HH, Paul B and Josef doing it for the first time. The weather was glorious with warm sunshine and no wind. This was my first ride as the official owner of the pink on-one 29er hard tail that had bought second hand from Dave HH ,so it was going to be interesting to compare the journey with previous rides on my old marin

We started with a cup of tea and a piece of cake at cafe on the Beach but Ivan didn't see us sitting there and it was only the quick actions of Colin shouting out Ivan's name that brought him back to us.The road section to Eastbourne was fast with speeds hovering around 20 mph despite the drag of the knobbly tyres. After Dave switching bikes (he had ridden to Hastings on a road bike) , the hardest part of the ride started, that is the long steep climb up the golf course to the top of Butt's brow. For me on my new bike this was much easier than previous years. Josef was on a £2000 carbon 29er hard tail that he had borrowed from the Marin factory where he works and he was really impressed with how it climbed and how it rolled over the bumps, he too is now considering selling his 26 full suss and getting a 29er hard tail.Colin found out he had a puncture (puncture number 1) on the front tyre, unfortunately the spare inner tube valve wouldn't fit through the hole in the rim but Josef had some self adhesive patches which fixed the tube. From the top of butt's brow there is the incredibly rocky and bumpy descent down the other side, even 29 inch wheels don't help much here and those on hard tails were badly shaken up. Instead of the normal route on the main tracks Dave HH offered to take us to the same destination via lots of single track, this isn't my cup of tea but everyone else wanted to try this out. While he was talking there was a hissing sound from Dave's wheel, this was puncture number 2. Dave was surprised at this as the inner tube had been filled with slime but it turned out to be the valve which had been damaged by a flying piece of rock on the descent, we fixed the puncture but before reaching the single track Josef had to stop with a puncture (puncture number 3). Dave's single track went on for an impressive distance and included a few bomb holes where Dave was able to demonstrate his handling skills but I was glad when eventually we hit the main track in the forest and headed to the Exceat cycle shop to buy some more inner tubes. Unfortunately when we asked for 29er tubes the guy thought we were talking about the size of the frame but at least they did have some 26er inner tubes so we bought two of those. Off to Alfriston to meet up with Steve d who had come straight from work on the train. Before we got there we had to stop for another puncture (puncture number 4). Colin decided that he had had enough of the off road and decided he would cycle on the road to Brighton get himself a Tai meal and some cold beers so we split up but arranged to meet up later. We were all pretty hungry by Alfriston ,so refuelled with sandwiches and pasties (excellent quality) from the big shop in the centre. There was only one major climb to go which is the steep chalky climb up Kings ride. I felt comfortable on this hill and decided to keep riding up to the top of the next hill where I would hold the gate open for the others but after waiting for what seemed ages there was no sign of them. Eventually I phoned Ivan and was told Dave had had yet another puncture and with only one 29er inner tube between four of us they had had to use another one of Josef's dwindling supply of self adhesive patches (puncture number 5). Eventually we were all back together and rode across the top of the Downs before coming to the steep rocky descent down the side of Rodmell hill. Unfortunately Steve D hit a rock and suffered a snake bite puncture (puncture number 6) which couldn't be repaired with a patch so we had to use one of the brand new tubes we had sensibly purchased at Exceat. We were now down to one 26 and one 29er inner tube between all of us! On passing Rodmell church both Dave and Ivan noticed that their back tyres were very soft, so yet more punctures (punctures 7 and 8)!. With only one spare tube Ivan decided to leave his tyre as it was and just ride on with it very soft but we had to fix Dave's as it was almost completely flat. we didn't want to use up the last inner tube so had to fix it with another self adhesive patch. These patches are not as good as the permanent repair type patches but we did manage to find the hole and fix it. The rest of the ride proceeded without any more punctures but it was now past 6 o'clock and the sun was low on the horizon, so rather than take the off road track to Brighton we took the easy way straight down the main road. Our exciting day was completed with an excellent steak and chips at a cheap restaurant down the lanes. Thanks to everyone who came we all had a really good day and (apart from Colin) didn't mind the punctures at all as it gave us plenty of time to admire the stunning scenery.

Fri Broad Oak Ride- 7 Sept

Another good turn out for the Friday Broad oak ride with eight riders including a rare appearance from Simon Newell. On the long drag to broad Oak Simon N put a big effort in and riders such as Dave HH and Paul B were eventually dropped out of the front group. later Malcolm put in an even greater effort which only Ivan was able to match. Malcolm pushed himself so hard up stonestile lane that his legs completely blew and he decided there and then to miss saturday's off road ride to brighton. Dave HH was pleased not to come last on the stonestile lane climb being the seventh rider out of eight until someone told him that John S had peeled off at Westfield.

Wednesday Chaingang no.2

Another good turnout of 21 riders, 13 Hastings CC riders and a good contingent from points East of the new meet on Bexhill Seafront. Welcome to Martyn, our newest junior and many more old and new faces. Still shorts weather so a brisk run out. We have lots of new riders so remember more experienced  ones  to make friends, teach by example, ride smoothly and hold our line, look around,  point out holes, send calls down the line of "car", "single up" "easy" and so on. Its our club, a great club and is what we make it - atmosphere was fun warm and friendly, a good night.

Some of us repaired to the Dolphin pub after for a couple of cold beers and lively conversation. I noticed a table of ladies drinking by the door had a good stare up and down at us as we arrived and left - my shorts were burning - kind of weird and bit of a new experience  to have tables turned - its usually the guy drinkers checking out the girls walking past. If I could think of a suitable joke about that,  I'd pop it in here . . . Rest and be thankful I've spared your blushes gentle reader. So I swung a leg over my old fixed bike and rode home - straining an 81 inch gear zig zagging up a cold steep Croft road, thinking -  is this the best way  to have fun in this town?

KCA 12 Hour

Chris has mentioned the KCA 12 in various communications over the last few weeks.  It was held on Sunday (2nd September) and Chris and I were out helping. 

This was one of the better years for weather.  In 2011 Chris battled around the course.  Through the wind and rain.  At one point I found him lounging in the damp grass at Brenzett tucking in to food from his box of goodies that had been transported from the event HQ to a spot by the garage.  He was not his usual chatty self – although I can understand how he felt.  I was not brave enough to photograph him in the grass but as you can see he was hardly dressed for a summer afternoon ride – which 2011 was very much not.  Chris did 163 miles. 6 hours and 13 minutes for the first 100 miles, but the end was quite tough.  He was not last.  He did nearly 200 miles in 2006.

The picture was taken on the finishing circuit.  After riding around for about 9 hours the competitors finish their time on a 9-10 mile circuit with timekeepers placed every mile or two.  Your final distance is calculated from the time passed between the two timekeepers where your 12 hours finishes.

It is not always bad weather and this year it was very pleasant.  No rain and not too much wind.  There is a great atmosphere as there are hundreds of people about, although the Little Chef has closed at Brenzett so food is a problem.  We have no choice now but to use one of the many pubs.  As for next year, I mentioned to Chris about a team when I met up with him at the hall afterwards, and there seemed to be a few in the club that he thought could do the 12.  I don't know whether this is right but I believe the 12 Hour Team record is 692 miles from 1962, and Vic Butler still holds the individual record with 244 miles from 1986.  Perhaps in 2013 we could get a team together to ride - who knows I might even manage to persuade my mother to let me compete?

Black Cap Farm- Sept 2

Good turnout today for a short offroad ride. As well as the usual offroaders we were joined by Paul HH and John Corder. Interesting to see that john is riding a 29er and that like me he prefers a hard tail instead of a full suss. I was very fortunate in that Dave HH had read my blog reports and once again let me try out his on-one 29er hard tail.

Once again we started from kings drive straight up the chalky white climb to the ridge above Alfriston. Once reaching Firle beacon we enjoyed the long decent down through Norton and Bishop stone before the climb back up through the golf course. At this point there is a sharp twist eastwards through some woods. Malcolm remembered this being a bit hairy last time we were there. This time it was far worse as the path was all over grown with vegetation , it was badly eroded and there were lots of exposed tree roots. I did not enjoy this section at all and decided to walk down much of it. From here we continued eastwards through Alfriston and into Friston forest, finishing with the same long rocky decent (much better on a 29er) that we finished with last week. Despite having to check the gps a few times we got back to our other halves before 12:00 as planned (unlike last week). Not a bad route but unfortunately I need to re plot it to avoid the hairy section through the woods. As for the 29er hard tail it was so much better than the 26er full suspension, so if you are looking for a light weight Ellsworth full suspension you will now find one very local on ebay, LOL.

2012 Olympics - Men's Mountain Bike Competition

Like the majority of people in the UK we applied for Olympic tickets knowing full well that the Velodrome would be full of the good and great, but on the other hand we might stand a chance with Mountain Biking. So we applied for both and sat back to see what would happen.

I then received an email advising me that a certain amount of money was going to be taken from my account. However, we still did not know what he had been awarded as the ticket price for both the Velodrome and Hadleigh Farm were the same. Then finally we were told that we had been awarded two tickets for the Mens Mountain Biking.

We were both excited and intrigued in view that Essex is not renowned for it's mountains. Hadleigh Farm the actual location for both the mens and womens event is owned by the Salvation Army and is a farm with a Rare Breeds Centre plus grassland and woodland covering 550 acres.

Construction on the pupose built site started in July 2010 and was completed on time and within budget using 500 tonnes of rock and 3,500 tonnes of crushed stone. The course is just under 5km's and situated on open hillside. A new concept for Mountain Biking as such events are normally held in forested areas. The course was designed to be a physical and technically challenging course, with demanding climbs and descents with some gradients measuring 70 metres from top to bottom. However, the course was well received by riders, spectators and TV crews alike because you could see everything very easily.

Good news is that the course will remain after the Olympics and be adapted for public use, with plans for a visitor centre, bike hire shop and a network of multi user cycling tracks.

The day arrived for our visit and we were advised to go by train and use the courtesy buses from the station to the event. I must say a very slick operation was in progress to get visitors into and out of the farm and it was weird being on a double decker bus (top deck up the front of course) and being driven across a temporary metal road on a field and stopping at a bus stop. However, it worked and resulted in the minimum of queueing both in and out of the event. All the staff, police and army personal were very cheery and helpful, which made this very hot day very enjoyable.

By getting to the site early we managed to walk around one complete circuit, sort out good vantage points before racing began. The competitors had to complete 7 laps, and during the racing we were able to walk around the entire course once, thereby seeing the competitors tackle all of the major obstacles.

After Julie Bresset of France won the women's race the day before, all eyes were on the French rider Julien Absalon (winner in 2004 & 2008) to see if the French could get the double. Being a very hot day with very dry conditions the race started and maintained a fast pace. Unfortunately Team GB's only rider young Liam Killeen fell at the bottom of Deane's Drop after the first lap, breaking his ankle. Very unfortunate, because he was getting tremendous support from the fans as he was going around the course. Then it was announced to a shocked audience that Julien Absalon had retired due to a mechanical problem.

The pace up front was relentless but the Czech world champion Jaroslav Kulhavy had just enough strength to beat off Nino Schurter of Switzerland in a sprint finish ahead of Italy's Marco Fontana who ended up with bronze and if the Spanish rider Jose Hermida had not unshipped his chain on one of the last climbs he may have even been in the mix for a medal. Winning time was 1hr 29mins 07 seconds.

A great time was had by both of us and it would be nice to go back and see how they have changed the course for us normal people to have ago. Some of the pictures below try to capture what it was like on the day.

Julien Absalon

 Deane's Drop

Bottom of the Rock Garden

Technical Area

Medal Ceremony

  

   

Alpe d'Heuz

Height: 1,803m
Length: 13.9km
Altitude Gain: 1,073m
Average Gradient: 8.19%
Max Gradient:12%
Hairpin Bends: 21
Open: April to December

The Alpe was first seen on the Tour in 1952 and only came about after a local painter who knew the Tour's chief commissaire, Jean Barbaglia, had got together with the owner of a hotel on the Alpe, Georges Rajon, and managed to raise £2,000 to host the race. Until then the only sport on the mountain was skiing which still happens today. The first time it was used on the Tour was not a success and the Tour only made a return in 1976 and it is now an extremely popular climb.

Whilst on holiday in France this year we went to the Alps and Joe had a go at climbing Alpe D'Huez. We decided to rent a bike from the top of the mountain after driving up to see what the climb was like. We started off in the valley floor and drove up. Twenty one hairpin bends each bend is marked with a number counting down to the top. Under each number is the name of the rider who won the stage where Alpe D'Huez was the finish, together with the date. The turns are very tight as you drive up and the car was for ever going into 1st gear because of the steepness and the first 2km (apparently are the worst) with a nasty kick towards the end of the ride. Although from my perspective it all looked horrendous.

Driving up has to be done slowly as there are a constant stream of cyclists of all shapes and sizes and on all machines attempting the ascent in their own time. Many stopping to take some great photo's as a reminder of what they were doing. 

We arrived at the top and Joe rented from Cycle D'Huez a Riddley carbon compact bike. The day was great from a scenery point of view but not so good if you were riding. It was a bright sunny day with very high temperatures (in excess of 30 degrees) and really it would have been better if the sky was overcast with the possibility of drizzle.

Joe flew down the mountain to the bottom at break neck speed and then started his ascent. He relished the climb and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and managed to complete the entire climb nonstop in 64 mins a lot faster than the hire shop owner thought he would make of 90 mins. Fastest of the day was 54 mins but this time was set early in the morning when it was cooler. Needless to say Joe has now got the mountain climbing bug and would love to have a go at ascending the other mountain climbs of which the Galibier and the Telegraph are not too far away. But also wants to go back to Alpe D'Huez on his own bike to beat this years time (typical Time Trialist attitude).

Anyway whilst we were on the mountain we were told by both the bar owner and the hire shop owner that next year there will be an actual stage of the Tour on the mountain with two ascents on the same day. Then followed by a Time Trial.

Needless to say that Joe is now the proud owner of a black & white Alpe D'Huez cycle top which he wear constantly.

Friday Broad Oak ride Off To A Record start- 31 Aug

A record turnout for the first Friday Broad Oak ride of the season . All the usual suspects were there plus a first time appearance from Steve Butcher and a rare guest appearance from Dave HH (coming all the way over from Eastbourne). This made 10 riders in all. As planned we more or less stayed together until Rye and then it was each rider for himself. We ended up in two groups with the bulk of the riders in one big fast group and myself Derek and Steve B in a slower group. Stonestile lane was nice and dry and didn't seem too hard, Dave was quite pleased with his performance up the hill as he is still regaining lost ground from his broken collar bone back in the early summer. Some of us headed straight over to St leonard's where we met up with Chris Parker for a kebab. This was followed by a few drinks in Ba Blah where we celebrated a great start (weds and Friday) to the winter night ride season.