Bye Bye Bewl- 30 August

Chris On An MTB! Whatever Next?

I never thought I would see the day but unbelievably there was our club secretary, Chris Parker out on an mtb! Chris had bought the bike (a specialised rockhopper) last year but had only just got round to getting it ready for riding. As we were getting ready to set off, Ivan turned up with perfect timing, having cycled on the road all the way out there from Hastings! We mostly rode together for one lap although Derek was feeling on form and him and Ivan slowly dropped myself and Chris. Also out on the course somewhere were Paul B, Sally and Malcolm. Surprisingly, my plan for all of us to finish about 7;30 actually worked and most of us were able to get together for a drink at John's cross. Ivan is trying to get fit again and rode straight along the A21 to the pub, although after a couple of beers he wisely decided enough was enough and accepted a lift home in Malcolm's van, just as well as it was pitch black by then. For myself and Derek this is the end of the Bewl Water season, I will now switch back to doing the Friday Broad Oak ride. Some of the others intend to keep it going a bit longer by starting earlier, but it cant be long before they too will have to switch back to the road! Many thanks to all (Paul, Steve D, Steve B, Sally, Nigel, Ian, Dave, Steve C, Derek, Malc, Ivan,Chris, John S, Duncan) who have done Bewl Water this year, its been a fabulously dry season, I cannot remember losing even one Friday to rain.

Record start To The Weds Chaingang Season

Record Turnout Of 29 Riders!

A still and balmy evening greets the massed ranks of the first Wednesday night chaingang of the year. The redundant wind shelter meeting point stands quietly along side us, a threatening spectre of what we have begun. Soon we will cower and huddle under its roof, dodging the hailstones with numb hands and feet before braving the snowdrifts and darkness. Tonight though, twenty-nine glistening riders roll out towards the marshes into the setting sun.

It’s wonderful to see so many clubs represented, with friends from Eastbourne, InGear, WyndyMilla, ASL360, Giant and others joining the Hastings fold.

Steve Curtis leads the Light Brigade down through Bexhill and by South Cliff the pace is beginning to be injected by the leaders. Unlike others, the Hastings chaingang is more like breakaway training rather than a traditional through-and-off chain. Riders reach the front and push on as hard as they can before flicking the elbow and beckoning the next rider through. Like a breakaway, if you find yourself in a splintered group going down the road it is good form to take your turn at the front, even if it’s only for a short spell and serves only to keep the rhythm. If you can’t come through then you’re welcome to come along for the ride, but don’t try to out sprint the ones who have pulled you down the road. This is poor form. As often happens, particularly on dark winter nights, a group will get away before reaching the marsh road and a chase group will form, having to work together to close the gap. The beauty of the Hastings chain is that riders of a similar pace naturally gravitate together and everyone gets something from the ride. We reconvene at Pevensey Roundabout and regale one another with our own particular tales of joy and suffering.

Tonight the lead group consists of around ten riders. We’re holding a decent pace along Sluice Lane. I find myself towards the rear of the group and notice that most of the pulling is being done by only a few riders, the rear guard not getting through. I need to move up of my own accord. I pick Spooky Hill and ease up to the lead over the crest before putting the hammer down on the gradual decent. When spent, I find the ever-present Stuart Hodd ready to come through, he hits the front and pushes on hard. As we approach the final turns before the roundabout, after which is the traditional little sprint, I enthuse him to carry on his superb leadout. Barny Willard, Nathan Fletcher and few others, some of whom I hadn’t seen at the windy edge of the pack, get on the gas early and come past for a nice roll to the stop in the hard standing in front of the gate before Pevensey roundabout.

Max returns After a year's Absence

After a brief flurry of conversation, including tales of Barny’s superb second place at Preston Park Velodrome on Monday having gained a lap on the field in a three-man break, some drink and food is taken onboard. Soon everyone has arrived and we turn around and head for home. The light is now fading, but it is still pleasantly warm. If anything there is a slight tailwind and light of foot we whip along the flats. Taking care around the tight turns and bridges a lead group of around eight or nine reach Cooden beach and begin to crank it up for the run into the traffic lights by Bexhill Library. I’m planning to lead-out and pick the rise past South Cliff to hit the front, Barny has the same idea, so I fight to hold the wheel up the hill and hit for home with everything I have over the crest. Sir Wiggins talks about longing for ‘the open road’. The moment when all the jostling and jockeying for position is over and all you have is tarmac in front of you. That time when the preciously preserved glass of water that is your energy, carefully sipped from, not wanting to waste a drop can suddenly be turned upside down on your head. Let it all out. It’s comforting to know even Tour De France winners still get nervous riding in big groups. I see the lights in the distance and give it one last drop before being passed by four or five riders with fifty yards or so remaining. To me the Wednesday chaingang it’s not about who arrives first but the style with which you get there. Ride well, take your turn, maintain form, and above all be safe.  

Here we again reconvene by the traffic lights before some go their separate ways and the chain begins to break down. Back past the now lonely shelter, returned for another week to jam sandwiches, flasks of tea and rough sleepers. As we climb Galley hill in the twilight the sea is a lightly rippling millpond. My jersey is still unzipped to the waist.

As darkness falls, so does the curtain on the first Wednesday night chaingang of the year. It’s like being reintroduced to an old enemy, seemingly mellowed with age, benign and forgiven, yet inevitably and all too soon, will again show its true icy colours.            

Trevor Deeble.

26/8 Back To Uni

The Magnificent Seven!

Our best turnout of the year for an off road ride with seven riders that included Malcolm who had put aside his TT bike for one day. Weather forecasts all said it was going to be a hot day but as we struggled up the road climb to the top of Firle beacon it was cool and overcast. Before long we were dropping down the side of Rodmell hill taking it easier than normal because of the grass being a little wet. By the time we got to the university the sun was beginning to burn off the cloud cover which persuaded us to stop at the excellent Stanmer tea shop for refreshments before the long haul up to the top of Ditchling Beacon. At this point Paul got a puncture but his tubeless system worked well and within a few seconds the sealant inside had automatically fixed the leak (I am still not convinced of this system myself). From here it is downhill for about 3 miles as we dropped down to Lewes past the prison. Being a nervous rider I wasn't pushing my luck down this bumpy trail but Tom had trouble keeping up with me, that's the difference 29er wheels make to this sort of bumpy decent. What goes down must go up and I new that we would pay for this fabulous decent with the formidable 'white' climb near kingston back up to the downs. Tom had never done this before and did extremely well to make it up there with out having to get off, for me it was too much and I had to walk the steepest bottom third before remounting . Only one large obstacle stood between us and the end of the route, that was Rodmell hill. Ivan held the gate open in front of the railway tracks for us as we all started this long tough but rideable 2 mile climb. When we got to the top we realised somehow we had lost Ivan, was he in front or behind?Eventually he turned up a bit peeved that no one had waited for him as none of us noticed that when he opened the gate for us his bike was upside down for a puncture repair. Once he had fixed it he told us he could see us all spread out as a long line bobbing our way up Rodmell hill, not understanding why no one had waited for him! On arrival at Firle we decided to treat ourselves to cold beers at the pub, there was some sort of exhibition going on and an outside bar, we spent an enjoyable half hour watching the pandemonium caused by all the car drivers trying to squeeze past each other down the narrow road and desperately trying to find somewhere to park.This route is one of our oldest classics and is a particular favourite of Paul B who awarded it five stars out of five, although I would drop it one point due to the nasty road section you have take to get down to the uni. A great day!

Longer distance Time Trialling

Although we have a number of endurance riders, more this season than for many years it looks as though only one member will have completed a 100 mile TT this year, yours truly. Malcolm also started the ESCA 100 on Sunday but had a problem at about 20 miles, I think he may have been one of two or three riders who came off at The Shaw roundabout (East Hoathly) on his way back from Uckfield. Going 240 degrees round the small roundabout in the damp after a long dry spell can be dicey, Tim Miles was one of several riders to come off there in a 25 a few years ago and had niggles with his shoulder/hip for some time after so tends not to race when it is wet anymore, but if you take a bit of care all is well.

There were course problems (various road works with traffic lights) so we ended up on an emergency course of four times up and down the A22 between Boship and Uckfield. The traffic later on in the morning was a bit of a problem especially for the faster riders but three still managed to break four hours, 25mph for a 100 which is top notch. There were several DNFs and punctures including some of the top riders but Rover John Cordner (who often uses the Hastings Wednesday chain gang to sharpen his speed in the winter) may well still have taken fourth place with an excellent second ride at the distance, just seconds from breaking four hours and seconds ahead of time trialling legend Glenn Longland.

Glenn is one of only a handful of riders to go over 300 miles for 12 hours when he was National Champion for the third time in 1991 with 300.27 miles and also British Best All Rounder that year.  He and a group of Antelope RT riders used to come over to the Isle of Wight each year for B&B for the Vectis RC annual D&D then join us for a club run on the Sunday morning in the true traditions of social events and riding over the winter. I remember watching him win the Perfs Pedal early season race in 1979 (I think). The Perfs is one of the first, used to be the first, top road race of the year near Portsmouth. The roadies were dismissive of a solo break by Glenn but left it too long and were not quick enough or good enough to work together and chase down the yet to be BBAR. It was the Perfs of 1988 that Hastings had our last prestigious road race win, I still have the Cycling Weekly with a photo of the young Mark Markowski in his Hastings top taking the win. Again he was an unfancied rider the regular roadies did not treat with enough respect.

I do not think there are any more 100s left to ride this season, unless there is a late one up North? So unless anyone has sneaked off on the quiet and can present a result sheet yours truly takes the Club 100 cup again with a modest 5:24:38, about the third time in the last 15 years. If anyone has done a 100 and also a 50 and 25 they can make a claim for the Club Best All Rounder trophy otherwise that goes to yours truly again for about the fourth time in 15 years, one year someone missed out on doing a 50 to qualify.

Your truly has no intention of riding the Kent 12 hour on Sunday 1 September so will not be picking up the Percy Bliss Bowl for the fourth time in 20 or so years (no one else has completed one since Vic Butler was doing long distance, including setting the club 24 hour record of 407 miles in 1993) but will be out marshalling at several posts during the day.

It is possible that Steve Butcher and Tom Norris, seasoned Audaxers, will be riding the Kent 12. There is still time for others to enter if Esther is contacted ASAP. The field is already up to some 70 riders. A 12 hour is actually more fun to ride than a 100 TT so is anyone one else up to it? It would be worth others seeing what it is about since the National 24 hour TT Championships returns to East Sussex in 2014. The 2011 event was a great experience to ride, especially to be part of the event when Andy Wilkinson smashed (by 16.1 miles) his 24 hour record with an amazing distance of 541.17 miles, touching the ground briefly just three times, the first enforced to change his helmet very early on that had a problem after breaking a strap on it just before he started.

Chris Parker

16/8 Bewl Water Beginners

It had been spitting rain all day but despite this the trail was nice and dry. Joining us for the first time were Steve B and Nigel. Steve was on a terrible old rockhopper he had borrowed from work, it had one of those beam racks on the back and a plastic tube with a piece of string and a handle on the end. We were puzzled what this was for but in the end decided it must be for pulling someone along! Nigel's bike was much better it having been built up by Nigel himself over the last year, it was however let down by the heaviest wheels I have ever picked up. Also good to see Ivan back at Bewl again. On getting my bike out the back of the car I was horrified to realise I had left my shoes behind (just like Steve D did the other week), Nigel came to my rescue as he had brought some flat pedals with him which only took a few minutes to put on.As the newbies didn't know the route we all stuck together. On my nice modern 29er I had a big advantage over the newbies ,especially Steve whose gears were jumping badly and for once I actually found myself having to slow down a bit for other riders.It felt good fun not being clipped in and despite the occasional slowing down, I actually got my best PB of the season which shows how little I pull up on the pedals, perhaps I should switch to flatties for all my off road riding? When we reached the end, Steve was pretty shaken up, it was a lot bumpier than he expected. On closer inspection of the forks I realised that he

First Timers At Bewl!

had inadvertently had the forks on full lock out so there had not been any movement at all, LOL.

Broad Oak Time Trial Wednesday 14 August

First HSCC TT For Anna

There have been some superb times with many PBs these last two weeks back at Broad Oak.  I did not do a write up last week for a field of 11 riders who had: 8 PBs, 1 SB and 2 had gone quicker.

This week for a field of 12 riders there were: 4 PBs, 6 have gone quicker and two first time riders on the course.

Thats My Boy!

The top three riders in the points table have been have a good tussle these last few weeks.  Trevor Deeble (20:55) has been getting quicker and quicker, but not this week when he was seven seconds off his PB set last week.  Stuart Hodd (20:57) has also been improving week on week and he his last week's PB by 14 seconds but it was not enough to come in ahead of event winner Trevor but quick enough to pip Malcolm Daly (21:12) to take second place.

Times

In his last year as a junior Joe Jenner (21:59) smashed his 2012 PB by almost two minutes to come in fractionally ahead of fifth place Simon Newell (22:02).

The two first timers were juniors.  Anna Winter (29.23) has qualified for the GHS Under -17s final as the fastest 15 year old girl in the South East heats and hopefully will be able to ride the final on Saturday 7th September near Market Harborough and fit it in with a school commitment.  Joe Kingsman has also qualified for the final as the third fastest under-17 in the South East heats

In Gear's fourteen year old Cameron Willard (27:19) had his first ride on the course, his Dad Barny (20:04) just happened to produce the fastest time of the night in a PB private time trial knocking another nine seconds off his PB set last week.

The fourth PB of the night was another In Gear rider, Andy Foster (22:41) who has gone quicker every time he has ridden the course.

The table with all times (and basic details for the ESCA 10 and 25 mile TTs on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 September - a big H&StL CC turn out should be on for these two local events)

Only Two Seconds between Them!

The points table is touch and go for second place.  Trevor could have done with Malcolm coning in ahead of Stuart.  With a win next week Trevor could go ahead of Stuart in the table

Points Table

13/8- Early Bird Sandhurst Circular

Joining us on today's week day early bird was Ian Davies from Bicester Millennium Cycle Club
http://www.bmcc2000.com/home
Ian and his family always have their summer holidays in different parts of the country. Ian always brings his road bike and looks up the local cycle club to ride with, so he was linking up with us this morning. Ian told us we all had big legs climbing all the hills in our area, whereas in Oxfordshire the terrain is quite flat. He needn't have worried about keeping up though, as he proved himself a better climber than most of us, and a demon decender.Steve D was also with us which surprised me as he had to get back to Hastings for 10;30 to drive a train. Knowing our average speed is about 15mph, I didn't think this was possible. This was a new ride taking as far North as the Sandhurst area. Things got off to a bad start because I had plotted the first part of the ride down the horrible A21 and we missed the first turn . Soon we were off the main road and making steady progress but Steve needed to go faster so soon dropped us, I didn't think we would see him again. On reaching the Sandhurst area we were surprised to see the familiar figure of Steve again. He was having trouble with his GPS and couldn't find the route , unlike my old 205 which was fine.Once we got nearer to home Steve had to leave us again while the rest of us enjoyed the fast decent down Netherfield hill before a pleasant tea stop at battle where Ian very generously paid for us all to have tea and toasted tea cakes.
This is definitely not one of our best routes but on arriving home I have made a lot of modifications to reduce the time on busy roads so I think we should give it another go next year.

Ian Temporarily Joins HSCC

11 Aug- Cissbury Ring Offroad

Chanctonbury Ring, All Is Well!

Not A Great Place For a Puncture!

Rather than map out my own ride, I decided we would follow one that I had lifted from mbr magazine . Starting all the way over at Bramber made it further west than any of our other off road routes. All weather reports said it was going to be dry so despite the angry looking skies we thought we would be ok. We headed up to Chanctonbury ring and further west to Amberley Mount before heading south. Up to this point we thought we had got away with the weather but as we entered Angmering park it started raining and judging by all the puddles it had been raining there some time. Suddenly our tyres would not grip and the ground was littered with large tyre juddering pieces of flint. We had to proceed with great caution to avoid coming off and suffering an injury. Along a fairly steep and very slippery slope under tree cover, Paul suffered a puncture. At this point if there had been an easy exit we would have taken it but we were about half the way round and there was no escape route so we had to press on. The trail through the forest was very confusing , we had to put our faith in our Garmins even though sometimes it felt like we were going the wrong way. At one point I stopped to take a photo and by the time I had put the camera safely away there was no sign of the others. Knowing Duncan had a gps, I stuck to the muddy route, my wheels so choked up with mud they would barely rotate. After a few miles I couldn't understand why there was no sign of them, they couldn't be that far ahead surely? It turned out they were actually behind me, as Duncan had initially gone the wrong way . Use of our mobiles soon had us  regrouped and we thankfully escaped the forest only to have to ride through very narrow overgrown single track. At this point I would have given this ride one star only, this was turning out to be our slowest off road ride ever! In need of some cheering up we diverted off the route to Findon where we discovered what looked like an expensive restaurant. Throwing caution to the wind we ordered sausage sandwiches and tea and were pleasantly surprised when they only charged up £6 each (we will use this venue again). Wary of the terrain the route was taking us we were tempted to take a short cut back up to the downs but in the end decided to stick to the GPS to avoid getting lost. I was really pleased we did this, as the rest of the route was excellent on some nice wide open paths I had never done before. Duncan, Josef and Derek rather enjoyed this route but for me and Paul all the mud, flints and over grown single track were the cause of much anxiety so I am going to score this ride two stars.The Findon and Cissbury ring areas are great but I never want to go near Angmering park again (mud, flint lumps and more mud!)

Josef Escapes Angmering Park!

Ride London 4/8

First of all a thanks to Jon Molton for getting the entries for this awesome ride.I am writing this Sat. am and I'm still buzzing from it.You can make it suit you, from a sight-seeing up market bacon butty/coffee shop run to an eye-balls out blast  for the line and everything in between.Along with every body else Ive got loads of memories of the day and the descent from Leith Hill on a great surface riding on what side of the road suited you was but one of them, but riding round Trafalgar Square under Nelson and through Admiralty Arch to finish on The Mall in front of those crowd was worth the entry fee alone.I hope to do it many more times  but with it being a ballot its not in my hands so thanks again to Jon for enabling me to do it once, a very special day.
Simon G

9 Aug- Friday Chaingang

Nigel nails His First chaingang!

With all the heavy rain in the morning I had bailed out of going to Bewl Water for fear of slipping on the notorious Bewl Water mud. This was a silly mistake as the afternoon turned out to be warm and sunny so it would have been fine. Still, it would be good to do the Friday road chaingang again. Simon and Stu have done a great job keeping the Friday chaingang alive while us off roader types have been AWOL. Joining us were Steve D and also Nigel on his first ever chaingang. Nigel had already ridden 45 miles that day in the morning so to come out and do another 25 miles shows great enthusiasm. With it being peak holiday time we had to negotiate a lot of holiday makers along the nature reserve and it was a relief to get onto the harbour road. Simon is as fit as ever and soon pulled away from us on the broad Oak climb, with Steve in hot pursuit. Nigel put in a great effort to keep up with them and I was soon left as the 'lantern rouge' although I did manage to claw simon back before reaching broad oak. Steve had failed to bring any lights (naughty!) and so had to carry on the mainroad back to Hastings while the rest of us 'enjoyed' the climb up Stonestile lane. The miles finally caught up with Nigel and I managed to hold him off on the climb while gaining a strava PB for myself. Only another three bewl rides left and then we will all be back on the Friday chaingang again!

Early bird 8/8- Hailsham Hankham

Glorious Sun At 'Cafe On The beach'! 

Yet another early bird ride for me, Steve D and Nigel, our third in less than a week. This was another short one of  35 miles. The first half of the route was on small country lanes with lots of climbing. The road surfaces were actually pretty good but the council really need to sweep away the piles of gavel that are building up in the middle of the lanes. On reaching Hailsham things speeded up considerably on larger roads and we were soon back on the familiar ground of the HSCC chaingang (which starts up again on the last Wednesday of this month). Sitting in the lovely warm sun at cafe on the beach afterwards was glorious, what a summer!

Tuesday Early Bird- Jack Frost Route

Tea At The Coastguard Cafe!

Today was Steve B's last day of freedom before starting his new job and with the weather so good we decided to squeeze in a Tuesday morning training ride. Lee and Nigel sometimes work from home and so they were able to join us as well. On arrival at the Fairlight lodge I was surprised to see Pete Tadros as well, surprised as I know that Pete's idea of a training ride is a bit different to mine. Pete said not to worry and that if it was too slow (which I thought inevitable) he would branch off on his own. Sure enough by the time we got to Winchelsea Pete was nowhere to be seen! The rest of us pressed on at a steady pace with me bringing up the rear but not too far behind. The weather was superb and it felt great just to be out riding. I normally save this route for the winter (hence the name) but that's a waste as this is an excellent simple ride on smooth fast roads that have very little traffic despite their A and b road status. Our favourite bit was the climb up past Pestalozzi, most of this has now been re-tarmacked and is lovely and smooth. We also enjoyed the climb up rocks lane which is closed off to cars but the friendly workmen allowed us cyclists through.  We arrived back in Hastings for a very pleasant chat and tea at the coastguard cafe.

Early Bird 3/8- 1066 route

Newbie Lee!

Newbie Nigel!

Great turnout of nine cyclists  for the early bird, including two new riders Nigel and Lee. Steve D was there despite knowing he was doing the race London 100 the next day (he just cant seem to get enough cycling at the moment!). On riding along Bexhill seafront we recognised the familiar figure of Doug wearing a not so familiar Rice Crispies cycle top he had recently acquired. The 1066 route is a nice straightforward route with a good mix of wide roads and some hills. Steve led from the front most of the way although at one point he got too far away from us and ended up lost for several miles before finding us again. Derek was struggling a bit and Doug was having mechanical problems, at one point we realised they weren't behind us any more

Doug gets New Sponsorship deal!

 and despite waiting a while there was no sign of them so we had to press on. Just by pure fluke we met up with them again at Broad Oak. Both lee and Nigel proved to be strong riders so hopefully we have acquired another two early birders.

Bewl Water 2/8- Sally Makes A Comeback

Another Sunny Evening!

The Return Of Sally!

More perfect weather for Bewl. Steve D turned up in a bit of a rush only to realise that he had forgotten to bring his spd shoes with him. If that was me, I would have given up and gone home but Steve decided to ride with ordinary trainers on top of the spd pedals. Despite this uncomfortable handicap he still managed to keep ahead of myself and Derek (we have never known Steve to be so cycling fit). We had a close shave on the road section where we were descending a bit too fast and a big BMW was coming up the road, we slammed on the anchors but nothing happened, fortunately there was a drive way on the corner which we were able to shoot into.The owner of the BMW was not too impressed with us especially as it turned out to be her driveway that we had used.About two thirds of the way round we spotted Paul and Sally. We knew Paul was somewhere on the circuit but were very surprised to see sally as she has not done Bewl water for many years. Sally seemed to enjoy being back on the circuit so hopefully this will rekindle here interest in off roading.

H&StL CC Ninfield times

It was another very good evening for the last Ninfield TT of the year, warm with moderate winds. Of the 15 riders there were:

4 PBs
1 SB
6 have been quicker this year
4 riding the circuit for the first time this year, two for the very first time.

After sorting out some of his mechanical problems with two strategically placed raw plugs would Malcolm finish and add to his eight wins? Trevor Deeble was off early in the field and was absolutely hammering it as he crossed the finish line. Stuart Hodd was smooth and fast at the finish and then a short wait for Malcolm who made it all the way to the finish, third time lucky on the return to the circuit after the Hastings-Rye classics.

It was Trevor (34:34) who had won with a PB by a big margin of 1:21 and jumped up the all comers table to third place after Pete Tadros and Barney Willard. Following the Tour de France in the Alps must have inspired Trevor to put some hard work in these last few weeks.

Stuart Hodd (35:31) was second, Malcolm (35:41) third and in equal fourth place with 36:09 Joe Jenner, a PB by nearly a minute, and Simon Newell.

Fastest time of the night was a private TT by In Gear's Barney Willard (33:32) with another PB on the course, chipping another seven seconds off his time set two weeks ago.

The fourth PB was by Metin Alsanjak (40:44) improving by almost one and a half minutes, which is some four minutes quicker than his first two times at the beginning of the season.

Malcolm had sewn up the points table weeks ago but Stuart's second place could be under threat if Trevor can ride and win all the remaining events. Trevor is 6-3 up on head to heads but work and following the Tour has resulted in Stuart gaining valuable points, in particular wins when Malcolm DNF'd.

The other interesting close tussle is between juniors Joe Jenner and Joe Kingsman (36:21) who was in sixth place. Joe Jenner is 4-2 up on head to heads but Joe Kingsman did an absolutely stonking ride in the first Broad Oak TT of the season and could close the gap over the next three weeks with it all down to a grand finale on Battery Hill ?