Ludlow Cycling Club

LUDLOW CYCLING CLUB
2010 – THE YEAR AHEAD
We have arranged the following exciting ride programme for 2010.
There is something for everyone in this.

1. Regular Winter / Early Spring weekly events (until end March / early April):

a). Tuesday night chain gang – meet 6:30 to 6:45 each Tuesday evening at the Eco Park entrance on Sheet Island. 25 miles minimum.
b). Sunday Morning Club Run – from the Ludlow Sports centre from 0900hrs. Please note the start point could vary so keep an eye on the cub website. (Distance minimum 50 miles).
c). Saturday morning starter/medium group rides – distance approx 20 to 30 miles depending on the group.
d). Mountain bike rides on Saturdays or Sundays arranged by James Griffiths – watch out for email details
e) Weekly Friday Track Cycling at Newport Velodrome. £6.00 per session (4 to 7pm). Bike hire from £6.00 or take your own fixed gear track bike.

The Reliability programme has now been set giving riders looking to gain early season fitness the chance to test themselves against others - or against a reasonable time limit. These popular, low cost events attract riders of all standards who work together around a fixed route. At some point the pace will split up, with riders organising themselves into smaller groups according to ability to get home within the limit. For anyone unfamiliar with a course a route map is available. All riders are welcome.

The Ludlow Reliability Ride will be free of charge to signed-up Club members (first or second claim). It will be £5.00 to non members. This includes a free cup of tea/coffee or squash for all riders in the Ludlow Leisure Centre café after the event.

The format will be similar to previous years with a car/minibus assist and a 60-70 mile ride each way to a hotel in North Wales.

Anyone interested please put the date in your diary and also send an email to Steve Bent so he has a rough idea of numbers.

E: stephen@bentstours.com

T: +44 (0)1568 780800
F: +44 (0)1568 780801

4. Shropshire Clubs Cycling Association Time Trial Programme

This is a series of 16 Time Trail events held throughout Shropshire from, March to September.
This kicks of with the Wrekinsport Hilly TT on Saturday 6th March 2010, passing through Bridgnorth and covering 18 miles.
The full programme will be published shortly. Neal Deller is the Club Co-ordinator for these events.

The full programme is now set and a print out can be found in the right hand side menu under “evening League 2010”.

First event is on Tuesday 13th April Start 6:30 on the Brimfield (R10/6B) by-pass, one of the fastest courses in Shropshire and the South Wales District.

We have again a special recession busting discount for signed-up Club members (first or second claim) with race fees held at £10 per season for all 25 events. (£3.00 per event for non members)

 Saturday 17th March 2010 Brimfield By-pass R/106B 10 mile course
 Saturday 3rd July 2010 Brimfield By-pass R/106B 10 mile course

A series of 16 rides starting on Saturday 27th March on the Waters Upton Course north of Wellington. Look out for full details in due course.

8. Sprint Triathlons

A number of the cyclists will be taking part in the following Sprint Triathlons:
a. Hereford Duathlon in April
b. Harlech Tri in May
c. Ludlow in September

This will take place on Tuesday 15th June 2010.
The HQ will be at the Ashford Carbonnel Village Hall.
This event is to encourage younger and new riders to a Time Trial Event. Full details to follow. Watch out for the flyer as we get nearer to the date.
This was huge success last year and over 20 new faces turned up and enjoyed their first time trial event.

10. Sportives

A number of the cyclists will be taking part in the following sportive events. Further details to be published once all details are finalised:
i). Shropshire Highlands Event in June
ii). Dartmoor Classic in June
iii). Dragon Ride
iv). Bernard Hinault Sportive

Back by popular demand after 1 year’s absence we will be sending several pairs of rides to the Duo Normand in late September.

The two-up Team Time Trail is ridden on closed roads over 35 miles with over 300 teams taking part, including elite riders from the Tour de France and other professional International race stars. A grandstand in the local town is erected mainly for the benefit of the Ludlow Cycling Club to encourage cheering and heckling of other participants.

A visit is in the outline planning stage for November 2010 to Ghent to follow the hugely popular Ghent 6 day event which takes place in Belgium.

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The above is not an exhaustive list but hopefully provides a flavour of events in 2010.
Our membership is spread across South Shropshire; Welsh Borders; North Herefordshire & Worcestershire so anyone who wants a cycle, please contact the Ludlow Cycling Club.

Our Organised Winter Club runs are back!
Come and join our friendly bunch on our weekly rides.
These rides will carry on through to the end of March or early April 2010.

We ride the pace of the slowest rider in our group and stop for a break at a variety of cafes throughout the whole area.

We publish our weekly ride towards the end of the working week so you can plan to join us at the start or somewhere along the route taken.

Dad, that’s Mr Neal Deller to you, Dover, our support team (Jacqui and Rob) and I set off, somewhat under duress in my case, for the beautiful Bleheim Palace and our first Brompton World Championship at a truly ungodly hour on the first Sunday morning in October (Dover was suspiciously chirpy considering the hour). A couple of hours later and feeling almost human we arrived to find the event in full swing. In the car park everyone was busy prepping for their race; in the case of BWC riders that meant last minute costume adjustments and unfolding their weapon of choice, but the time trialers dressed in Lycra, warming up on their turbo trainers looked rather too serious. We hadn’t arrived in the requisite attire, so each of us proceeded to change, it should be noted that in a crowded car park/field this is a highly skilled, shuffle manoeuvre.

After an amazingly painless registration, we entered the event paddock and beheld a truly beautiful sight, Bromptons everywhere, every colour of the rainbow. The dress code required shirt, tie, and suit jacket to be worn, and at the car we thought we’d got the dress code down. Dad looked pretty dapper in his cream suit, so long as you ignored the three quarter length trousers, Dover looked rather like an over-grown school boy, and I managed to look almost as scruffy as I did at school, needless to say we were outshone by a fair few enthusiastic BWC old hands. There were bumble bees, tail coats, fishnets and stilettos, top hats, psychedelic pyjamas and hot pink suits to mention but a few.

A little while before the race we started a leisurely warm up, pootling up and down a rather short strip of drive. It wasn’t a very effective warm up but it was good practice in collision avoidance. As the crucial time drew near we folded our bikes and left them on our designated spots within the pens we had been allocated to. We stood to attention for the race instructions, where there seemed to be a fairly broad spectrum of entrants gathered, all ages and both sexes were well represented. We were grouped in pens of one hundred to be set off in one minute intervals. The air was electric with the anticipation of 670 oddballs chomping at the bit when the first horn went and the first group was set free. For safety reasons, having unfolded our bikes, we were told to walk, not run, and not to mount our bikes until on the road. It didn’t matter how long we took to get started, a very clever timing chip provided at registration, ensured that the clock didn’t start on us until we reached the track. The excitement proved too much for quite a few in the first group, Dad and Dover among them, and all chaos ensued, thus setting a bad example for the rest of us. Amazingly everyone appeared to get off unharmed.

I had been assured by Dad, when he told me we were doing the race, that the course would be practically flat. He was wrong. We had to do two laps of a rather scenic 4-ish mile circuit starting in front of the palace then circling a lake behind it; there were several hills. The weather was kind, and it stayed mild and dry with barely a breeze for the duration of the race. I pedalled hard from the get go, not wanting to end up last, and immediately regretted it when I got to the first hill. There was rather a nifty decent from here which I enjoyed a bit too much and consequently suffered on the next hill that was considerably nastier than the first. Mr Bent has suggested that I should make the most of the opportunity to rest on the descents, he is undoubtedly right, but that’s just not as much fun. I thought it wasn’t unreasonable to request a tow from a chap who did not appear to have noticed the existence of the hill, for some reason he thought I was joking. Eventually I made it up under my own steam, and to my surprise found the second lap easier, I even enjoyed it, I think.

Sandwiches and sports drinks were provided post race and very much appreciated in the wait for the final presentations. There turned out to be less than .3 of a second between Roberto Heras in first place and Michael Hutchinson in second, Julia Shaw took first place for the women. I had been chatting to Michael Hutchinson in our pen before the start of the race and was considerably cooler about it than Dover was when he took advantage of a photo op with Heras after the results presentation. That was largely because I had no idea who he was. Although none of the Ludlow Lounge Lizards ended up on the podium, we gave a pretty decent account of ourselves. Dover was second Male vet, at 25 mins 56, Dad came in as 10th male vet with 27 mins dead, and I finished 38th female senior with a time of 35 mins 24, our combined times placed us in 6th place for the team rankings, which I was fairly chuffed with. For a full list of official timings go to http://www.brompton.co.uk/bwc/2009/. All in all a very successful day, quintessential British eccentricity at its very best, and looking forward to next year!

Well after 21 competitive events with almost 450 individual rides taking place it is all over.
The champions are among us and the winners are:

League Champion – Steve Bent
Runner Up – Pete Ding
3rd Place – Clancy Wilson

Other prizes go to:
Top Senior – Paul Lewis
Top Vet – Ian Chubb
Top Lady – Louise Baker
Top Junior – John Gilmour
Fastest 10 – Steve Bent
Fastest 25 – Pete Ding
Hill Climb Champ – Clancy Wilson
Two Up Trophy - Neal Deller & Steve Bent

Many thanks to Fi, Mick and Jacquie and Ian for help with the time-keeping, start and finish.

The 2010 TT programme will be published soon – start training now and grab yourself a prize for next Season.

LUDLOW CC TIME TRIAL LEAGUE
ROUNDS 5 & 6
TUESDAY 5TH MAY 2009 – KC45/25 CADBURY’S
TUESDAY 12TH MAY 2009 – D28/10 CRAVEN ARMS

Round 5 - The Ludlow TT's now start at 7pm. Round Five had to be changed to the KC45/25 route due to roadworks.
This April has been pretty nice so far compared to last year’s downpours so no one can really complain about the constant winds that all cyclists have all experienced in the first 5 Rounds. The outward leg was in to a head wind making the homeward journey more enjoyable.

Pete Ding beat Steve Bent (both Ludlow CC) by 11 seconds with a time of 01:01:30 secs followed by 'Charlie' Chubb on 01:03:04. First lady home was Louise Baker from Ludlow CC.
Steve Bent still leads the Ludlow CC and All Comers League by 2 points.

Round 6 - Scenic 10 at Craven Arms weather conditions were excellent, a slight easterly pushing the cyclists up to the Purslow turning at the Hundred House, sheltered conditions to Hopton and then hugging the hedges from the slight wind back to Long Meadow.
Ludlow 3rd claim Veteran and all-round boyo, Phil Mason stormed home in24:02 with Steve Bent setting a Course Best taking the Ludlow League maximum points in 25:08.
Andrew Alston also posted a Course Best in 27:57 and Mark Warren went one better with an impressive Best in 27:33.
As the name suggests, the Scenic offers awesome views of South Shropshire at its best even though this should be a secondary thought to the cyclists on the road.

It was a pity the event was marred by the antics of the road menders on the A49, with no road markings for ¾ of the racing strip with heavy deposits of grit to deter several riders.
The weather was kind to us and many still managed PBs.

Thank you to all riders, marshals, other helpers and as ever to Gill and Brian Morrison for the time-keeping duties.

We are trying to encourage young riders, ladies and riders of all abilities to come and try a time trial.

We have booked the Ashford Carbonell Village Hall just off the Brimfield Ludlow by-pass and will run a timed event of 1 lap of the Hilly Course for all new-comers.

All Ludlow Club members will help to encourage any and all who come along.
They will help also with their bike set-up and if required ride behind them as they try their first Time Trial.

We have had a flurry of events and winners over the last few weeks. Below is a short report on each.

LUDLOW CC TWO UP TEAM TIME TRAIL - TUESDAY 2ND JUNE 2009
A good turnout of 37 riders saw 15 pairs and 7 solo riders.

The prize of the evening went to Neal Deller and Steve Bent winning the Ludlow team TT prize in 21:47 from second placed Pete Ding and Dover Disney in 22:40 and Clancy Wilson and James Smith in 23:21 in third spot.

LUDLOW CC TIME TRIAL LEAGUE - ROUNDS 7, 8 & 9
TUESDAY 19TH MAY 2009 – R10/6B BRIMFIELD
SUNDAY 24TH MAY 2009 – KC45/25 CADBURY’S 25 CHAMPIONSHIP
TUESDAY 26TH MAY 2009 – K44/10C LEOMINSTER ARROW

Round 7
Steve Bent (Ludlow CC) won the Castle Cup Club 10 mile Championship in a cracking time of 21:57 beating his nearest club rival, Peter Ding by a whopping 1:04.
Steve's win was even more impressive as Pete Ding had recently beaten Steve by 6 seconds on the same course at the Ludlow Open 10 at Brimfield on the previous Saturday.

Pete Ding was handicapped by having to use safety pins to keep his skin suit together as the zip had failed just race before the race.
Dover Disney came in third with also a good time of 23:20.

Mark Povey got his fifth PB of the season with a 24:13 and will surely beat the 24 minute barrier some time during the season.

Sarah Lloyd Stephens also attained another PB with a fast time of 25:24 and yet again put some of her male counterparts into the shade.

Paul Gibbons did a good time on a fixed wheel bike with a 25:30 and 'spun out' on the decents.

The race conditions were the same familiar southerly breeze giving all cyclists a good work out on the backward leg.

Steve Bent still leads the Club and All Comers league. It’s going to take a holiday for Steve to lose the lead to Peter Ding.

Round 8
The 25 mile Club 25 Championship was won by Pete Ding who came close to his PB with 58:11 showing he is master of the Cadbury’s Course. This is a route he has ploughed all winter backwards and forwards to the chain-gang on a Tuesday evening in all weathers.
Well done Pete!
Steve Bent tried all he could to counter Pete Ding’s stamina nad strength at this distance and also broke the hour to record his fastest time for several years at this distance in59:10.

The weather was very conducive to good times with a light southerly cross wind allowing the return leg to be covered fast.

Round 9
The weather was very clement this evening with light westerly cross winds allowing for reasonably fast times throughout the field.

Steve Bent ruled the day winning another 30 points to consolidate his lead at the top of the League in a time of 23:10

Pete Ding took second spot in 23:51 with Clancy Wilson running him closely for 3rd place 6 seconds back in 23:57

It’s the turn of South Shropshire to host the Friction and Hydraulic Services Shropshire Championship Points Series when Ludlow CC host round 5 on the fast Brimfield course on Saturday over 10 miles. The A49-based out-and-back has produced many personal bests over the years and this has attracted a significant number of the county’s fastest.

Andy Bason holds a 10 point lead over team mate Dan Soltys and both are present with strong support from Andy Tamplin and Dave Gostelow amongst a travelling contingent of 13 riders. Tamplin missed out on taking over third spot in the Mid Shropshire Wheelers’ 50 thanks to breaking a wheel, but will be determined not to miss that chance a second time with Paramount’s Dave Griffiths again absent.

Tamplin needs to claim at least 6th to take that place, but will have some tough competition, not least from Griffiths’ team mates Richard Watson, Huw Roberts and Tim Challinor who will be going all out to stop him. On paper they are all faster, but once the adrenalin starts flowing Tamplin could pull one out of the bag.

Dysynni’s Carl Heitman, Oswestry’s Neil Coles and a number of fast Ludlow riders could also join the mix, with Stephen Bent first off and Veterans’ Series leader Pete Ding no slouch himself on actual time. Ding will be trying to stop the charge of reigning Veteran’s Champion Pete Griffin of Newport – as well as looking over his shoulder for Wrekinsport’s Allan Jones who starts two minutes behind him.

The Ladies competition sees the top three all present with Claire Cook protecting her 10 point lead from Mid Shropshire Wheelers’ Jenny York. York is defending her Series title and has the faster personal best, but this is Cook’s first foray south and a strong performance is almost certain. Oswestry’s Helen Tudor is also out to consolidate her third place and extend her 30 point advantage over the absent Rebecca Leaper.

With Daniel Lamsdell managing to arrange a few hours off work to compete his Junior Series lead is beginning to look comfortable - with a very good prospect of a lowered personal best also on the cards given the right conditions.

LUDLOW CC TIME TRIAL LEAGUE ROUNDS 5 & 6
TUESDAY 5TH MAY 2009 – KC45/25 CADBURY’S
TUESDAY 12TH MAY 2009 – D28/10 CRAVEN ARMS

The Met Office has predicted a good summer for cyclists so we could see a drop in winds and faster times for all cyclists. Ludlow Cycling Club will be running a “Come and Try It” Session on Tuesday 16th June for all new cyclists, to introduce them to the fine art of Time Trialling.
Further details will be circulated to all or can be obtained from the Ludlow CC website.
All race details are also updated on the website.

LUDLOW CC TIME TRIAL LEAGUE ROUND 4
TUESDAY 28TH APRIL 2009 – R10/6B - BRIMFIELD

After Round 4, Steve Bent still heads the Ludlow Club as well as the All-Comers Leagues with an excellent performance on the night.
Round Four was moved to the Brimfield course due to road-works on the
Leominster by-pass. The fourth round was blessed with fine weather again
with a strong northernly wind on the outward leg. Overall results were
reversed in this round compared with Round 3 with Simon Ward (Epic Cycles) beating Stu
Griffiths (Climb On Bikes) by 15 seconds with a time of 22m 20secs.
Mark Povey completed a hat trick of PB's with a respectable time of 24m
56secs.

Ewen McDonald produced a super fast ride of 22m 32secs which underlines the talent of this audacious 17 year old.

First lady back was Louise Baker (Ludlow CC) in 28mins which means
she is now the leading lady in the Overall All Comers and Ludlow Club
Leagues.

Simon Ward and Stu Griffiths smile despite the pain of Tuesday’s strong head wind

LUDLOW CC TIME TRIAL LEAGUE, ROUNDS 2 & 3
SUNDAY 18TH APRIL 2009 – KC45/25 – BRIMFIELD TO LEOMINSTER
TUESDAY 21ST APRIL 2009 – KC45/11.4 HILLY CIRCUIT (2 LAPS)

Rounds 2 & 3 were blessed with good weather conditions.
Jon Tetley from Hereford Wheelers won Round Two, the Ludlow 25 mile TT, with 59:25 seconds. In second place was Peter Ding (Ludlow CC) with 1:00:37secs, followed by Clancy Wilson with 1:02:06
(also from Ludlow.) Steve Bent suffered a mechanical failure and was relegated to fourth place, two seconds behind Clancy. Although the weather was pleasant for April, a strong headwind on the backward leg made all the cyclists work hard.

The Third Round was the Ludlow Hilly 11.8m circuit and was supported by a good field of 30 cyclists.
Stu Griffith from Climb On Bikes, Hereford, won with an impressive time of 27:11 followed by two Epic Cyclists, Ewen McDonald with 27:26 and Simon Ward 27:46.

Mark Povey from Ludlow CC continued his good form by registering Personal Bests in both Rounds.

Louise Baker, Ludlow CC was the first lady home with a good time of 33:20.
Birthday boy, Ian Chubb was also on course for a PB but suffered a mechanical failure on the first lap.

Early overall leaders of the Ludlow CC and All Comers League are Steve Bent and Peter Ding from Ludlow CC.

LUDLOW CC TIME TRIAL LEAGUE ROUND 1
TUESDAY 14TH APRIL 2009 – R10/6B BRIMFIELD

Ludlow Cycling Clubs 2009 League Programme kicked off this Tuesday on the Brimfield 10 mile course. Steve Bent won with a good early season time of 22:39secs followed by 2008 Club Champion, Peter Ding on 23:16secs. Third was ‘Charlie’ Chubb from Epic Cycles with 23:24 seconds. Two other notable times were from first time club members Mark Warren ( also of Ludlow Tri Club ) with 26:58secs and Carl Whitehill with 33mins 50 secs.

The first lady in was Sarah Lloyd Stephens from Hereford Wheelers on a good time of 25min 42 secs providing some stiff competition to her male counterparts.

There was a slight head wind on the back leg of the course providing a harder than normal work out for this seasons opening time trial.

See detailed programme: Click Here!

Credit Crunch Deal!

As a special incentive to all Club members to come and ride the TT programme this year and to help all to beat the Credit Crunch, the TT fees for the whole 2009 programme will be halved from £20.00 to £10.00. This covers a total of 25 races (only 40p a race!!)

This special offer is available to paid up members only, with the £10 race fee paid in one lump sum.

Otherwise Race fees will remain:
Members: £1.50 per night
Guests: £3.00 per night or £25.00 per season

With many members taking part in races; time trials; audaxes and sportives the regular Club run routes will not be specifically organised from April through to September.

1. General Club Runs
9am start at Ludlow Leisure Centre – 50 miles with a café stop. Generally Bob Woodley is there to ride with all comers.

2. Audaxes and Sportives
Ian Lambert, Viv Tolley,Tom Green, Rose and Jim Churton are the main contacts for the following upcoming rides:
4th April Long Mynd 2000 @ 100kms (entered)
13th April Cotswold Spring Classic Cirencester 105m (entered)
18th April Clywidian 200 @ 200kms (entered)
19th April 5 Castles Sportive (Shrewsbury) (entered)

3rd May Forest of Dean Spring Classic 85m (entered)
24th May Gran Fondo Cymru (entered)

7th June Tour of Pembrokeshire
14th June Rough Ride (Marin) www.roughride.co.uk (entered) Also the Dragon Ride
21st June Shropshire Highland Challenge (entered)

5th July Wyre Forest Stinger 99m, 62m
12th July Devil Ride 100m (entered)
19h July Anthony Maynard Memorial Sportive
25th July Tour of the Black Mountains 115m 90m

9th August Wild Edric Sportive (Bishops Castle)
30th August Wild Wales Challenge

Rose Churton: rosechurton@btinternet.com
Jim Churton: Jim.Churton@networkrail.co.uk

We've added the March 2009 Members profile
This time it's the turn of our most important member
Fiona Miles!

Mike is planning 2 steps in his training for the Ironman Triathlon and invites all to join him who can as he details below:

1. I'm going on a long ride on Saturday 21ST March 2009 - 100mile plus - if anyone fancies joining me. I'll be going in whichever direction the wind is blowing and coming back with it behind me.

2. On weekend 24th April 2009 I am going to Zurich to ride the Ironman course (56miles). I will probably do a couple of laps on Sat and 1 lap on Sun. Easyjet is £47 return inc. taxes from Luton. I will probably hire a bike in Zurich rather than take mine although still not decided. Do you think anyone might be interested in coming over with me?

Also …………….
Simon Norwood is doing Ironman UK this year, a fantastic feat. Simon is trying to raise money for St Michael’s hospice. Please check out his site and monitor his progress over the coming weeks and if possible donate to a great cause.

This Triathlon is a sprint distance event, ideal for all Triathlon competitors across the board!

2009 RELIABILITY TRAIL DATES

The following are the local ride dates coming up.

This is a tremendous opportunity to get fit for the start of the racing season.

Date	Club	Headquarters	Distance(s)	Start Times
25th Jan 09	Wrekinsport CC	Rodington Village Hall	53 Miles	9:30 - 9:50 am
1st Feb 09	Various - Charity Event	Red Lion, Bobbington	59 Miles	9:30 - 10:00 am
8th Feb 09	Ludlow CC	Ludlow Leisure Centre	47 & 70 Miles	9:20 - 9:45 am
15th Feb 09	Paramount CRT	Sundorne Sports Centre	50 & 75 Miles	9:30 - 10:00 am
22nd Feb 09	Climb On Bikes	Coningsby Rd COB Shop, Hereford	53 Miles	9:00 - 9:30 am
1st Mar 09	Newport Shropshire CC	Ex-Woolworths Car Park	53 Miles	9:30 - 9:45 am
17th May 09	Oswestry Paragon CC	Llanyblodwel Village Hall	49 Miles	10:30 am

Please contact the other Organising Clubs on a direct basis to get details of these rides.

See you there!

Dover Disney

Each Tuesday – Chain Gang Sheet Island 6:45 pm for 4 laps of the Hilly Circuit
Each Sunday – Sunday Club Run (with café stop) 9:00 am from Ludlow Leisure Centre -50 to 60 miles
Each 1st Sunday in the month we will organise the Run starting from a different location
1st Wednesday in the Month – Nelson Public House Club social from 8:00pm

February 2009 – Ludlow Reliabilty ride – 47 and 69 mile options look out for further details on the website

March – Tour of Wales – a weekend (Saturday and Sunday) away staying in a good hotel in central Wales with 60 to 70 miles riding each day

June 16th Ludlow Cycling Club "Come and try it" Open Evening. From 6pm Ashford Carbonell village hall - just bring a road worthy bike, we will help with the rest!

June 28th Dartmoor Classic - To view the route and details visit this site www.dartmoorclassic.co.uk (copy into browser)