September Newsletter.
Writing this at the autumn equinox means that summer is definitely over. The weekend’s Hill Climb was in ridden in distinctly cool conditions. But what a terrific summer it has been, in terms of both the weather and performances by club members.
Club Time Trials-2018 Results
The final club time trial took place on Thursday 16 August. None of the planned events (five at 10 miles and three at 25 miles) were lost this year to either the weather or road works, although there we had to station timekeepers on the A696 because of temporary traffic lights on 5 July, which was the Club Championship event. I don’t think this had any effect on the outcome of the Championship, however.
The weather on each evening was generally dry, sunny and mild, with variable winds, although the final event brought with it a distinct westerly which reduced PBs on the night.
I know Nick didn’t want to single out any of the supporters of these events, but I’d like to pass on to him my thanks for organising the club TTs, and also for his number crunching of the results. You can read Nick’s round up of the season here
100 mile Time Trial
The Club’s 100 mile Time Trial (incorporating the N&DCA Championships) took place on a very fine September morning. Although it was mild and dry throughout, the wind did pick up from the south as the morning wore on. The course, from Pegswood, was being used for just the second time. The Vagabond’s Tom Hutchinson took first place in the men’s race with a time of 4.02.26. There were other notable performances by Vagabonds, including Martin Rasmussen who was fastest in his age category. Also, Tom and Martin were joined by Tania Tucker to take the team prize. All Vags who started were therefore among the prizes.
I think it is an interesting statistic worthy of mention, although a relatively small field of starters (27), of the 24 finishers, eight were females, and every woman who started also finished.
Thanks very much to Don for taking on the organisation of this event, which I understand the Vags have promoted now for several years, although I don’t think either of us appreciated just how many signs are required! And thanks to all the helpers who would have been up before dawn for a 07.00 start.
Finally, it cannot go unmentioned that Martin’s performance earned him the accolade of Cycling Weekly’s ‘Rider of the Week’.
Suzannes’s Cycling Challenge-the eight hardest sportives in the UK
Congratulations to Suzie Harrison in completing the challenge to riding the eight hardest Sportive routes in the country. The final ride was the Scarborough Sportive route on 23 August-over 3,352m of climbing over 193 kilometres. Suzie achieved and then exceeded her sponsorship target. Congratulations.
A Tribute to Bob Melrose
After a very short period of fundraising, the original target set to raise funds for a bench seat at The Hearth as a tribute to Bob has been met and exceeded. Many thanks to David Edwards for organising this, and to all contributors for helping to raise the funds so quickly. David intends to close the campaign at the end of September. I think we will be looking to have a Saturday ride to The Hearth to coincide with the siting of the seat.
Roger’s 12 hours
Having completed 50 mile and 100 mile TTs earlier in the summer, Roger was determined to do a 12 hour ride this year. His plans changed from York at the end of July to Cheshire, Shropshire and North Wales on 19 August. You can read the full report here, but Roger completed just over 242 miles to finish 18th out of 68 riders. Very well done indeed. His experience shows the value of keeping going to the very end-seven riders finished less than three miles behind Roger.
Other Achievements
I’ll try and include comprehensive details of achievements over the summer next month.
Clothing
Thanks to Denise Sylph for taking on the role of Clothing Secretary. The first order of the darker strip is now with Endura, and there will be an opportunity to place orders for the lighter strip within the next few weeks.
Looking forward to the President's Ride this Saturday, regards
Gordon
