October 2004

 

I seem to have failed somewhat in keeping you all up dated via newletters, I have got lots of excuses but I’m sure they don’t count I must just try harder.

On that note it would help if any of you could write something that we could put in the newlettter, when I asked for this last time Mike was the only one who came up with the goods  and you will see his thoughts on the season so far ( please remember this was written in June.

With the racing season now over we can now all analyse what we have done but I think Poole Wheelers have had a very good year. There too many names to mention you all but we all know there have been lots of PB’s and quite  a few team awards including the Rudy Project Vets team award just over a week ago.

 

Graham

 

Congratulations to Jack and Jean Jeffries who have just celebrated the golden wedding anniversary on 2nd October.

 

Club Runs – We are now having club runs again evey Sunday ( weather permitting) meeting at Broadstone leisure centre at 9.00 am the distance and speed of the ride will depend on who turns up. For the next 2 weeks when we have the 2 club hill climbs we will still be meeting at 9.oo am so we can have a nice ride out to the hill before racing up it!!!!

 

Do you have e-mail ?? As several of you already know, we are trying to circulate as many members as possible with any Poole Wheelers’ news such as results & distribution of newsletters etc by e-mail. If you have access to e-mail and would like to be put on the club distribution list, please send an e-mail to info@poolewheelers.org.uk

On a similar subject, have you seen the new look web site? All credit for this should go to Paul Harris who put a lot of time into it. We will try to keep as upto date as possible with results and news of forthcoming events. There is also page where you can advertise anything you may have for sale.

 

 

Pedal to the Pub As you should be aware, the first Friday of each month is “Pedal to the Pub” night ( well, it is now becoming a drive to the pub night!!!). It always seems to be the same old faces who come out please come along and join us . The venue for November  has not yet been fixed but anyone interested should either check the notice board on the web site or contact Graham Hurst or Ros Spencer nearer the time.

 

Racing Well it’s nearly all over now so I hope the season has been as succeful as you had planned , please find attached on the following pages the results of the 10 league and the Rothwell Trophey so far, remember if you want to improve your position in this you only have 3 events left the 2 hill climbs and the mince pie 10 in December.

 

2004 Season Review……………..So Far!!!

 

With the height of the cycling season now upon us, it seems like a good time to reflect on the 2004 season so far and upon the highs and lows from a Poole Wheelers perspective.

 

Given the number of races so far this season, I can’t possibly comment on all of them, so apologise to anyone who feels aggrieved at my failure to mention one of your rides.

 

So, let’s go back to February when everyone was wearing leggings (except Max), and everyone appeared to have been doing no training through the winter (except Max).  The Gallows Hill circuit and Creech / Whiteways club TTs saw Max take a couple of victories, which were backed up with further success in early March on the Sturminster Circuit.  These were an indicator of Max’s form to come, but the more observant amongst you will have spotted John Hook getting respectable placings despite riding something that looked like a butcher’s bike.  This period also saw the start of a series of articles in the Echo which unfailingly mentioned ‘young Max’ no matter where he came, prompting accusations of a love-child relationship with the paper’s editor.

 

The first Open event of the season was the EDCA 24 in mid-March that went ahead despite gale like conditions.  Despite the weather, Max came in 5th on the hilly course with Mike Graven, Terry Belbin and Dave Martin also struggling around.  A week later it was Graham’s turn to organise the EDCA 27km TT on the Gallows Hill circuit which Chris Ball won with a new course record.  Again, PWCC were well represented with 8 riders taking part.

 

The sporting course stage of the season continued with the BJW 42km hilly TT on 28th March when Terry Icke made his season’s debut and was immediately back to his usual form of first Poole Wheeler home in a very strong field.  Richard Martin and Denzil Hunt also had a triathlon free Sunday and produced very respectable rides.

 

Easter was fast approaching with a number of rides on a busy weekend.  Most notable was Terry Icke’s blistering win in the Easter Monday 30 mile PWCC and BACC TT.  His winning time of 1.06.48 gave him a 3 minute margin of victory.  It also signalled the start of the neck and neck competition that has developed between Max, John, Brian Garrard (BACC) and Martin Lefevre (BACC).  Ever since, they’ve been taking it in turns to nick a few seconds off one another, and seem to be making each other go faster in the process.

 

The Wednesday evening club TTs also began in mid-April and have seen a number of encouraging turnouts including a number of riders from Primera.  However, things began in their usual manner with Terry Icke at the top of the leaderboard.

 

PWCC had 2 teams entered for the 3 up 25 mile TTT in mid April with Richard, Denzil and Terry claiming 3rd, whilst Max, John and Mike claimed 4th.  To add to this strong turnout John Burrows and Terry Belbin featured in the 2 up.  Given the wet and windy conditions (not to mention lack of TTT experience) these were good performances and also made the mild hypothermia suffered by those who forgot to bring spare clothing (i.e. me) worthwhile!!

 

Early May saw one of the most picturesque races so far this season with the NFCC 32 mile TT.  It was another very strong field with 65 starters.  Terry Icke’s 9th overall was therefore a very good performance, and was backed up by Max coming home in 17th.  This was followed up a day later by one of the biggest shocks of the season when Terry didn’t win a club time trial after Max set a blistering time around Gallows Hill.  Normal service was resumed 2 days later with Terry winning the club 10 after Max took some scenic detours.

 

The PWCC 10 on 31 May had a very big field and saw Chris Ball (53-12 Multisports) set an astonishing new course record of 19.10.  PB’s were also achieved by Max (21.48) and Mike (23.49), and John Hook also registered a very fast time (22.10).  Unfortunately, by this stage Terry Icke had been injured in a club 25 and it is very unfortunate for both him and the club that a sizeable chunk of his season will be spent recuperating.

 

Despite the loss of Terry there have been some excellent rides within the club with cracking times being set by Steve Ward and Tony Saunders.  The intra-club competition is hotting up and this appears to have really benefited us in Open events.  Max and John also continue to set the tempo for the rest of us. 

 

Road racing has been continuing at Barnsfield with British Cycling events on Tuesday and TLI on Thursday.  PWCC have been well represented at both with Gareth seen featuring well in a number of sprints.  We’ve even managed to persuade some of the die-hard testers to make the occasional appearance.  Unfortunately, another accident in a BC 3rd cat race has put a big hole in my season (not to mention hip and elbow) but with a month or so sat on my sofa, as Arnie says, ‘I’ll be back.’

 

We’re now at the height of the season, and  I hope that in our next newsletter we’ll have further news of Poole Wheelers success.

 

Mike Graven

 

 

 

PS Remember if you have access to e-mail and want to be on the Poole Wheelers distribution list please send an e-mail to info@poolewheelers.org.uk