Old Stories

Clancy Wilson
3rd in New Year’s Day Ride – The SCCA ‘Wonky Wheeler’ 10 2009

Well done Clancy!

Clancy Wilson turned up from Ludlow in a tailcoat and formal shirt – and managed to capture third spot in 26:50, 1:02 clear of second North Shropshire Wheeler Dave Wright and a minute back from the winner Dave Gostelow of Wrekinsport.

The temperature during the ride rose to a mighty -2°C. The car park was a frozen lake and the turn island was like Cycling on Ice.

Full Result:

Charlie Chubb - December 2008 Member Profile

We've added our clubs December 2008 Member Profile

Click the link on the left to find out more about club member Charlie Chubb!

Ludlow Club Kit

Ludlow Cycling Club Kit Order

Deadline 05 Jan 2009

Andy Mear is arranging a new kit order.
See attached Endura Catalogue for details on item available.

Any questions contact Andy – also talk to other Club members who will give you advise on these garments from personal experience.

Tel.: 07971 609861
Email: Andrew@Mear100.freeserve.co.uk

Download the order form HERE!

Mick Davey’s Christmas (sorry no snow or robins!)

Greetings All,

It had to happen sometime, so a ' credit crunch' is a good excuse. A D.I.Y. Christmas Card. Print off the attached, fold carefully, and place on mantelpiece.

60 years ago, 1948, I was a young keen lad, and took 'Cycling' every week. In those days, club event results were published, there were cartoons, touring article, and one of the Frank Patterson, pen and ink sketches. Frank was recognised as the best pen and ink artists ever, and my mother bought for me, what was the first printing, of the first Patterson book. Pages going a bit yellow now, but still a good vintage copy.

The pic on the ' card', is typical of his work, a mixture of racing and touring around the country.

Take care out there, Mick

Article By Andrew Alston and Dover Disney
Visit on 9th December 2008 to the Newport Velodrome

Whilst the club run from Ludlow started off in the bitter cold at -6 degrees, six of us enjoyed an excellent session at the Newport Velodrome (18 degress and sunny!)

New club member Myles Povey joined his 'old man' Mark with Dover Disney, John Hall, Neal Deller and Andrew Alston.

Some 30 riders from a variety of local Cycling Clubs were split into 2 to 3 groups to allow the different levels of expertise to get the most of each session.

The highlight session was when you were in a group following the blue line mid way up the track and then the motorbike (durney) and following cyclists went by you below you, one dived down to catch the back of the train and just hung in there….. .
Max speed of the bike was 32mph.

Phil (Bruce) Mason of Climb on Bikes (Ludlow CC Third claim member) escaped a nasty crash by leaping a falling rider in front of him. As it’s Phil, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and not comment on his bike handling skills.

These track sessions are highly enjoyable and strongly recommended.

No further Sunday sessions are yet planned. However each Friday why not join the Drop in session from 4pm to 7pm. About 40 riders take part and the training emphasis is on riding steady miles at pace with good bike handling skills. The session costs £6.00 only with bike hire also at £6.00 (fitted with Look pedals only). The hire bikes are geared for riders with a fast cadence. Alternatively you can take you own fixed geared track bike.

Sunday Ride 30 November 08

Article by Andrew Alston

This club run was based on an old Phil Mason route, a rare excursion north for the usual cyclists with a tea stop in Church Stretton. The weather was freezing, full thermals on and Steve Bent’s absolutely bizarre hat that is a cross between a stuffed rabbit and a tea cosey came out for an appearance.

The route went out along the Ludlow tri route to Peaton and then across to Upper Millichope, the first hill past Munslow. Tom and Pete chatted to each other up the hill whilst the rest concentrated. The frost at the top was amazing (see picture ). A quick dash across to Cardington over a couple of lumps then into Church Stretton for a tea stop.

And then the fun started, the route that was programmed into Pete's Garmin Computer took us up to Minton which is on the side of the Long Mynd. Now any numpty who knows this area will know that when its freezing, you need a bike with wide tyres e.g. a mountain bike.. Pete got off his bike first on a hill, followed by Andrew. Dover, John, Tom and Chris all fell off at some stage going across the ice. Andrew came off in the mud after getting across the dangerous bit, the ice. And then Chris damaged his penny farthing and had to phone home for help. Steve's hat provided him with balance and pose.

After that excitement, another dash down the valley from Cwm head, via Plowden, Twitchen, over the the Jolly Frog and back to Ludlow, 48.8miles, 1837ft of climbing of which one hill accounted for half of it.

Tuesday Night Chain Gang

Come and join us every Tuesday night at the Sheet Island on A49 Ludlow By-Pass.
Kick off at 1830hrs to 1900hrs with two warm up laps (each lap is 5.4 miles) then a final three in a chain gang.
All cyclists welcome.
Only Caveat is the last lap, it might get lonely. This week we had 12 cyclists turn up.
Good lights essential.

First timers always welcome.

My Triathlon Journey. By Mark Povey

I wonder how many people have agreed to do something and after reality sets in have thought – ‘Oh my, what have I done!’ Well that’s exactly what happened to me when I agreed to take part in the South Shropshire Sprint Triathlon.
Some months ago I was enjoying an evening with my son, Myles, sampling a few beers, which turned out to be a few too many, in a local watering hole when the subject of triathlon was discussed. ‘I’m going to do one this summer’, he claimed. You know what’s coming next, ‘I bet you cannot manage one, in fact, I bet you can’t beat me!’ the gauntlet was laid down and me, always up for a challenge, duly agreed. How difficult can it be? A comment that came to haunt me in the weeks that followed.
Entry form sent off, that’s it no turning back! The countdown began.

Training:
Having looked at the disciplines I decided to concentrate on the swim and run, my weak events. Not having really done that much since my school days I initially found them quite difficult. But perseverance soon paid off and found running to be really enjoyable. I found that a couple of sessions per event each week seemed to work quite well. I didn’t really keep to a programme and just did what felt right for me. Eventually, I seemed to get quicker and stronger and just kept doing what felt right.
Time soon passed and the event was upon us. All the gear was ready, was I? I was feeling nervous but I was determined to enjoy myself.

Swim:
Of all the disciplines this was the one I was fearing most. The starters whistle went ‘That’s it!’ off we go! I remember thinking relax and try and keep up. That’s easy to say when Myles seemed to be a cross between Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe and I soon got dropped. But the 16th length was soon completed and off to the first transition. I have to say that there was a sigh of relief when I exited the pool.

Bike:
This was the leg I was most looking forward too and was hoping that those Tuesday evening Time trials would benefit me. Transition did take longer that I had hoped but was soon on the bike and with a few words of encouragement from the Ludlow Cycling ‘club’ boys, I was on my way and soon got into a good rhythm.
I remember thinking that I needed to keep something back for the run but knew that this would be where I would make good time what do I do? Go faster! I finally caught up with Myles and as I passed I shouted ‘Plenty of life in the old dog left.’ Soon got back to the transition area for the final leg.

Run:
With a quicker change I was away and feeling good, better than I had thought. However, this soon changed when my legs started to feel like the evening I had agreed to do it! Not quite unstable but having a mind of their own. Someone once said to me ‘you need to try the bike to run change over.’ Now, I know what they meant! After a while, I soon got into the run when I heard a voice say ‘Not much life in the old dog now’. He was on my shoulder.
At that point I was beginning to surprise myself, could I beat him? I was feeling pretty good, but he was feeling better. Now I know how the donkey feels with the carrot – the harder I tried the further away he was getting.
I finished 3 minutes behind him and crossed the line in 1hour, 33 minutes and I was delighted and felt no shame with my time. All the efforts over the summer months were well worth it. But the thing that surprised me the most was that it was not too painful and realised that the world of Sprint Triathlon can be enjoyed by us mere mortals.

Now looking back I often think how enjoyable the event was. In fact it was terrific. I was never going to give the elite boys a run for their money but he whole atmosphere and encouragement from everyone, competitors and stewards alike, made it well worth doing. And the sense of achievement when crossing the line was wonderful! I remember thinking to myself ‘I am a triathlete.’
So where do I go from here? I’ve got the winter to shed a few pounds (plenty to go at) and look forward to another challenge, who knows perhaps break the 1:30. Would I do the 09’ event? Most definitely. And as for you . . . I will see you on the start line!

NATIONAL TRACK CHAMPIONS - LUDLOW CYCLING CLUB (01/02 November 2008)

Whilst the professionals Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton were storming to gold medal success at the Manchester velodrome this last weekend, Ludlow Cycling Club riders were also in gold at the the LVRC National Track Championships at the Newport velodrome.

The LVRC (League of Veteran Racing Cyclists) Championship took place over the weekend of 1st and 2nd of November 2008. Over 120 riders from all over Britain, aged from 40 to 80 years took part.

Ludlow Cycling Club crowned National Champions, took gold medal in the 3 man Team Pursuit, beating rivals Climb on Bikes on the way to the final, with VC Sevale and a Composite team taking the other medal positions. The team members Steve Bent, Dover Disney and Pete Ding were delighted by their success and all will look forward to defending their title in the 2009 season

For full results follow the link below (or cut and paste it into your browser)

http://lvrc.org/result_details.asp?r=181

Individually Pete Ding excelled to claim two Silver medals; in the pursuit and 10 Km scratch race. Steve Bent also rode to his potential, achieving silver in the pursuit.
Dover Disney and Steve Bent also raced to silver in the Team Sprint.

Steve Bent; Pete Ding; Dover Disney

Anyone For A Coffee Break?

We've added a page devoted to all those lovely little Cafès out there that have to deal somehow with droves of sweaty, smelly, wet cyclists stumbling noisily through their doors on random occasions. The link - Cafè Stops

Article by Andrew Alston
Visit to the Newport Velodrome Sunday 9th November 2008

Five of us visited the Newport Velodrome last Sunday on an event
organised together with Climb On Bikes. The session lasted three hours with
various training sessions for both newcomers and old hands. You learnt
the basics of riding on the track and the rules to riding in a safe
manner without causing any accidents. The only person to come fall off
was Simon Ward on the slippery inside track whilst trying to sprint off
fast in one of the pursuit challenges. There was a worrying sight of
Stuart Griffiths looking trim and its only the beginning of November. Lets hope
he puts some weight on over Christmas.

One of the training sessions was to have two chain gangs on the blue
line led by Dover Disney and Pete Ding averaging about 23mph and as the fast chain
gang sped around the black line, one could dive down from the blue
line to join the back of the fast boys. Looked great.

Neal Deeler was slowed down by a rat like thing that has recently attached
itself to his face. Chris Williams had to join the beginners group as he could
not hack it (recovering from flu but great to insult Chris). I
thoroughly enjoyed it and was rather sceptical of the wall of death at
each end of the track.

The next session is at the beginning of December. There are limited
spaces and these have to be booked as early as possible via Dover Disney.
The guy running the training session (Courtney Rowe) was good.

See you there!

Andrew Alston just down from the wall of death (note grimace)

Dover Disney with disc wheel

Neal Deller with new beard

Cyclosportives 2008

Cyclosportives are by far the most popular form of organised cycling events in the UK and Europe, and they are growing like crazy.  We are lucky to be blessed with some great events within easy reach.  Some of the best on the calendar include:

4th May - Forest of Dean Classic - 85 miles.

25th May - Gran Fondo Cymru - 40km, 153km, or 200km.

15th June - Shropshire Highland Challenge - 65 miles.  More of an audax than a cyclosportive, but very popular with LCC members at it starts and finishes in Ludlow.

15th June - Dragon Ride - 120km or 180km.

10th August - Devil Ride - 100 miles. 

7th September - Trans Cambrian - 140km.

5th October - Autumn Epic - 150km.  Voted number one in the UK.

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Older Stories:

Matt and Dave on L'Alpe at the Tour de France

To whet your appetite for the coming season, click here to read all about how Matt and Dave Morris come down with a dose of Tour Fever as they travel out to the Alps.

How long are your cranks?

There has been some chat on the Sunday club rides about the fact that virtually every bike, regardless of frame (and therefore rider and leg) size seems to be fitted with 170mm cranks.  Some of us have tried longer or shorter lengths, with encouraging results - more comfort, power etc.  And the consensus within the scientific community seems increasingly to confirm the view that one size certainly doesn't fit all.  A quick web search revealed a range of advice and a number of calculators, which in the case of one 6ft rider (with an 85cm inseam) suggests that cranks between 175 and 180 would be best - a suggestion backed up by trying out some 175s.  So, have a look yourself at the following sites and see what they come up with.  You never know, perhaps you are the lucky and 170 really is right for you.

http://cranklength.info/crankCalc.htm   http://www.nettally.com/palmk/crankset.html  

As a contrast, and based more on conventional wisdom (i.e. not on scientific theory), the calculator on this site suggests something much more in line with the historical view that crank length is not necessarily related to leg/femur length: http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk

So, how tough is L'Alpe d'Huez?  Compared with, say, the Burway or Gospel Pass?

So now the Tour route has been announced, don't you find yourself wondering just how hard the climbs really are.  Well find out by visiting this truly remarkable site:  http://ciclismo.sitiasp.it/(sic5vy55rixvlb55qeur2b45)/motore.aspx?lingua=eng&da=lm 

It lists details of thousands of climbs across Europe, providing pictorial route profiles and statistics such as length, altitude and gradient (by the kilometre), together with a difficulty rating based on all of these factors.  In answer to the question above - L'Alpe scores 114 points (click here for its profile), the Burway 49 (click here), and Gospel Pass 39 (click here).  

If you have any cycling related sites that you would like to share, please email us. 

(Still) Phil's best day ever on a bike