2016 WECC RIDERS IN OPEN TIME TRIALS
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FARNBOROUGH & CAMBERLEY CC 10
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H10/8
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Saturday 17 December 2016
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Just when all of Excelsior's racers are in the middle of their winter base period Colin decides to keep his hand in by going off to Bentley and riding in Farnborough & Camberley's festive 10.
Report from Colin: I entered mainly to try out my new TT position (lower front end with ski bend bars). It was cold and foggy but at least that meant no breeze. The start was delayed for 30 minutes to let the fog lift a bit, but it was still touch and go whether to race. A big field with very few DNS, so it would have been a shame to cancel. Anyway, I got within 1 second of my course best with slightly less power. Given the conditions today I was pretty happy with that and hopefully it shows my new position is a bit more aero. I’ll probably do the Brighton Excelsior New Year’s Day race on G10/97, hangover and weather permitting. |
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BRIGHTON MITRE CC 25
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G25/93
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Sunday 23 October 2016
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Not a good morning for Colin. A problem with his rear brake became apparent just before the start. After some emergency adjustments he set off with a 4 minute time penalty for the resultant late start. Then it deteriorated during the ride and he abandoned his ride midway down the A24 and limped back to Steyning.
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RTTC NATIONAL CLOSED CIRCUIT CHAMPIONSHIPS
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P/Thruxton
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Sunday 16 October 2016
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As reported by Martin:
The weather was doing exactly as forecast, heavy rain and wind, and the roads were flooded on the drive up to Thruxton Motor circuit with Simon and our Supporter Claire. Signing on, getting our numbers and timing chip was the first unusually tricky task, as the queue was out of the door back into the rain. It seemed they hadn't catered for about 300 riders... A quick recce around the paddock, pit lane and a look at the last chicane and we were already soaking wet, during which a large field of juniors were setting off, the youngest being 7 years old! I was off at 10:30:30 (30 sec intervals) at number 61, Simon about 20 minutes later. Just as i was contemplating a wet warm up on the turbo the rain started to stop and sun and blue sky appeared. The start was at the pit lane exit and straight away I was into a nice slight downhill stretch with the wind behind me, heading into the complex of 3 corners which I had to be cautious on the first time out with such a wet surface. It was then a fast section before Village corner where the wind then started turning against us and tried to take the front wheel away. It was then a headwind and surprisingly steep hill up to the final chicane, which then led on to the start finish straight. The race was 5 laps and 11.5 miles. Although very hard work and unrelenting, this race was great fun and a good experience. It was a National and part of a series, so the standard of riding was very high. I finished with a 29:50, Simon a 29:26 min.        |
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BRIGHTON MITRE HILL CLIMB
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GH/92
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Saturday 8 October 2016
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As reported by Neil:
It was horrible (although we didn't get the conditions of the previous week's SCA/WECC Championship). It was my first hill climb (and I hate Bostal anyway) and I went off way too hard. It was only the fact that there were about 25 people cheering you on halfway up the second climb that kept me going to the end. The time was a little slower than I hoped for but I wasn't too disappointed. I'm doing one up Ditchling (Sussex Nomads) at the end of October which will be a nicer climb as you can do the same pace the whole way up. |
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LEWES WANDERERS CC GRAND PRIX des GENTLEMEN
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GS/838A
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Sunday 2 October 2016
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A great result for Dom and Paul as they take the £40 prize for third place, being just a tantalising 4 seconds behind the second placed pairing.
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SUSSEX CA HILL CLIMB (incl WECC HILL CLIMB)
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GH/92
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Saturday 1 October 2016
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There were truly appalling conditions for the riders in this event. The weather, both before and during the event, varied between hard rain and absolute torrential cloudbursts. Many of the riders were huddled in a bus shelter near the start line in a vain attempt to dodge the worst of it. The course itself became a raging torrent with flash flooding and debris.
Warming up was an interesting concept. Mike opted to stay in his car until seven minutes before his start time but despite that was utterly soaked and frozen by the start and his ride reflected that (almost a minute slower than last year). Rick decided for the more traditional warm up on the road and was sent away from the start line by the officials as by that time he was verging on hypothermic. Well done indeed then to Chris and John for overcoming the conditions and putting in fine performances. The club championship was decided by the slenderest of margins with Chris regaining the title that he held in 2014 in a time that was only a couple of seconds slower than his 2014 time. John was always expected to be a close contender and so it proved to be. Having gone through the grimness of a ‘warm up’ in lashing rain poor Aaron then managed to get himself a late start with the consequential time penalty of 6 minutes. If not for that then it was a good ride, being slightly quicker than last season. This event was part of the SCA Championship series, with vets placings based on CTT target times (as opposed to VTTA standards). Big congratulations are due to John as he was the SCA vets winner with Chris in second place and Mike in fourth place. Their combined time was good enough to win the SCA team title for Worthing Excelsior CC, with Brighton Mitre finishing in second place. Well done to all involved throughout the season as WECC have won the SCA team titles at 15, 30, 100 and now Hill Climb as well.               |
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EMERGENCY SERVICES 25
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F13/25
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Sunday 4 September 2016
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SCCU 25
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G25/54
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Sunday 4 September 2016
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Andrew, Nicole and Joan all recorded their quickest 25s of the season on a damp and blowy morning. Nicole's ride means that Worthing Excelsior are now the SCCU BAR team champions for 2016 (the team being Nicole, Martin and Mike).
Mike's dismal weekend continued as he slid off on the very first roundabout suffering extensive road rash, a wrecked skinsuit and bike damage. Martin's view: It was a tough one, unusually quick to the North turn but really hard coming back south. Having seen what happened to Mike I was maybe a bit over cautious into the roundabouts on the first lap, but then I stayed upright so cannot complain! On this course i expect to be down on average on the out leg and then gain it on the return but it was the opposite today, I was losing speed rather than gaining. Still 19 secs over the hour seemed a fair time looking at the board afterwards, apart from the usual aliens like James Rix in the 52's)! That's it now for me until some fun ones in October. To be honest I am ready for a rest and a lie in on a Sunday!! |
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EMERGENCY SERVICES 10
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F15/10
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Saturday 3 September 2016
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Report from Ian:
So a brisk wind made the return 4.5 miles hard into a headwind. Great event and organisation. I placed 41st out of 80 so midfield with a time of 23.22. Mark Trimmer did 23.03 but both pleased as there were 25 riders posting times between 22 mins and 23.30 so very close. The fastest was ridiculous at 19.46 - inhuman!!! |
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BUXTON & DISTRICT CA 100
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A100/4
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Saturday 3 September 2016
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Mike's efforts to break the club's 100 record came to naught and he had a long wasted trip which was a triumph of optimism over common sense.
A 390 mile round trip which took over 7 hours and it was rained off - just as logic and the preceding weather forecast had foretold. Visibility and spray atrocious. Ah well, there's always next season. |
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SUSSEX CA SPORTING 25
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G25/49
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Monday 29 August 2016
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Not an easy course at all. Well, that's a massive understatement. Narrow country lanes with tight blind corners; an appalling road surface with little smooth tarmac but plenty of potholes and craters. Oh, and nearly a thousand feet of climbing.
Huge credit to Joan. She only seems to enter the seriously tough events. Her aim was to get to the finish without being passed by either of her team mates. It's always good to have targets! When Rick caught her with three miles to go she focused on keeping Mike at bay but was thwarted in the final mile. Mike was pleased with a personal course best of 44 seconds, whilst Rick was somewhat disappointed to have fallen away from his time of last year.             |
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SOUTHDOWN VELO 25
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P901/25
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Sunday 28 August 2016
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A tricky breezy day and a fair bit of disappointment today.
Martin felt that he was on to beat the hour but found the return from Arundel just too hard. Neil Crowther completed his first 25 (having packed in his previous try) but felt that his pacing could have been better as he was 'too conservative' in the opening stages. Simon was unimpressed with his time and wished that he'd stayed in bed. There are no reports from our other three finishers but Allan's time looks like a good one and is reflected in his plus on standard. Mike was going well and then got lucky or unlucky depending on perspective. He had a front tyre blow out just as he started the climb back up from the Arundel roundabout. If that had happened immediately before on the descent then it would have been catastrophic. |
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UTAG 10
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P881R/10
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Saturday 27 August 2016
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A full field of 150 riders with all the top men from far and wide looking to impress. Amazingly there were five 18 minute rides plus sixteen 19 minute rides.
Both Mike and Andrew were delighted with their own efforts. Mike managed to take 3 seconds off his PB which was set last season (having narrowly missed with a 21:26 a three months ago). Andrew had even more cause for celebration as he hit his goal of recording his best time for over 20 years. And Andrew too had come close to his target recently.   |
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FARNHAM ROAD CLUB 25 - 4 Up TTT
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H25/8
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Sunday 21 August 2016
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Entertaining report by Cheesy:
So the WECC quartet of Martin, Cheesy, Simon and Group Captain Leeding arrived at HQ of the Farnham Road Club 4 Up Time trial just after 7 am with Martin and Cheesy being debutants at the discipline. This was an achievement given that for most of Thursday evening and Friday Cheesy was struck down by a sickness bug and felt quite “empty”. After a team warm up on turbo trainers (and with the exception of Simon who was seen disappearing along the road shouting “turbo tossers”) Captain Leeding gave a brief master class of through and off as well as echelon riding to combat the very breezy conditions that were better suited to kite surfing rather than time trailing with 60% of the ride being into the wind. At 0816 hrs the team set off and rode at a good pace with smooth transitions all the way round, despite the rainy end and the non-rainy end of the course. As the last mile beckoned Captain Leeding rallied the troops with a battle cry of “Kick the tyres and light the fires” urging us all on to finish in a time of 59.20 on the line. The initial debrief was that this was a good ride given the conditions and again Captain Leeding summed it up by the immortal words “Even if we weren’t the fastest we looked like we know what we’re doing!!” Back at HQ some very fast times were set but WECC finished in the middle of the pack at 8th fastest but most encouraging, ahead of the upcoming Interclub, was that we were three minutes faster that SDV and six minutes faster than Hampshire Road Club. |
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BEC CC
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G25/54
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Sunday 21 August 2016
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A great report from Nicole - and big credit to both riders today. Not at all easy in those conditions. And being Nicole's second 25 of the season she now has a complete set of qualifying rides for the club Ladies BAR (Best All Rounder).
Shall we pretend I didn't do it!! Roundabouts v scary and 17 of them! Ok going out but headwind coming back so average speed dropped uncontrollably 🙂. 1:14.09 for me and 1:05.38 for him. I promise to try to go faster on the Southern Counties one in 2 weeks - this was a good reccy ride. We went to the tea stop afterwards and then hurried down to the Raw Energy 1.5 and 3km swim race in the river at Littlehampton - my swimming is much better than my cycling, I got 3rd place female in that. Absolutely shattered and hungry now 🙂 |
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NATIONAL VTTA 50
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H50/8
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Sunday 14 August 2016
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Good performances by our riders in the National Vets 50.
Having finished sixth last year Mike finished in seventh place overall this time around (being a VTTA event it is based on plus against standard) and was well pleased with his ride. Trevor definitely improved on his ride of last year (he was unfortunate to puncture when on a great ride in 2015). The organisation was disappointing to say the least - particularly for a national event. There were start sheet errors and poor distribution of the material in advance. However the much bigger problem was that the opening of the race HQ and availability of race numbers on the day was far too late, being only 50 minutes before the first rider was due off (two miles away). This meant that a proper warm-up was impossible. Unfortunately Trevor was the very first rider off and suffered the most. Then when he returned his time was wrong; then they omitted it from the race results board and we had to remind them; and finally when his correct time was shown on the results board then his plus on standard had been incorrectly calculated. Is this a VTTA problem? Mike experienced similar issues with the VTTA London & Home Counties 10 in Tring earlier this year. Hopefully the results will come out quicker than they did last year. They took over two months after chasing them down and were never entered into the CTT system.                  |
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SOUTH EASTERN ROAD CLUB 10
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G10/57
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Saturday 13 August 2016
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Colin: For once, I paced this pretty well and got a decent run through the roundabouts. I ended up with a new course best of 22:18, which is only 8 seconds off my PB, so very happy.
(It is also Colin's fastest Open 10 of the season, beating his ride on P901/10 by a single second). |
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EASTBOURNE ROVERS CC 25
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G25/89
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Sunday 7 August 2016
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Both Trevor and Martin managed to get personal course bests in what was decidedly not August-like conditions.
Trevor: "Bloody horrible day, fogged up visor, damp/wet roundabouts ,tail wind for the last couple of miles only. Middle bit of the return leg was unpleasant to say the least. Hope I've painted the picture, very steady and off the aero bars in to the roundabouts 😵. Quite happy with that tbh, with the conditions, and couple of off weeks, course pb by a chunk."
Martin: "It was a bit of crappy morning, a strong westerly which didn’t seem to help on the out leg or return leg. It also started to rain as I went out to warm up so we also had wet roads to contend with. Trevor went earlier so had the worst of it, and in fairness once it stopped raining it did dry out fairly quickly, but not enough to give me the confidence to barrel into the roundabouts! The out leg seemed tougher this time around, and i actually gained speed after the turn with a decent last half mile after the final roundabout.
My ride followed the same current trend, power just not there as it was earlier in the season. Looking at the data now it seems my FTP is a good 10 watts down, which I’ll now set for the rest of the season. There was good field out there today, and many were complaining of ‘slow’ rides! Simon McNamara said he had a bad one - only managing a 54!! I finished with a 1:01:16, actually 19 secs up on earlier in the season with less power, and Trevor had a great ride with a 58:37." |
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EASTBOURNE ROVERS CC 10
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G10/87
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Saturday 6 August 2016
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Colin was initially underwhelmed with his efforts: "Reasonable conditions, still but a bit chilly. My first time on this course and I feel that I rode it rather too conservatively, so I had a fair bit left at the end. Definitely scope for improvement next time.". When other comparable performances were pointed out to him he then realised that it is a tough course and ended up being much more enthusiastic: "I finished 14th overall, which is my best ever open 10 placing and 2nd in my age category. Have to be pleased with that."
Nicole was another to be underwhelmed: "The TT was terrible, I went at a faster pace on the 100 I think! Lots of daydreaming and slow cycling ...bit of a waste of a 4am start :)". We have yet to hear from Clive.
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SUSSEX CA 30 (incl WECC 30)
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G30/91
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Sunday 31 July 2016
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Yet another fine turnout by Excelsior riders for another club championship event held within the SCA Championships and some great performances all round with lots of reasons to be pleased. It’s wonderful to see the vibrancy, competition and camaraderie within the club. Our old legend Don Lock would be so very proud.
Huge congratulations to Karen McGrath once again as she continues to set new club records. Her 1:23:34 beat the previous mark (Jan Scotchford 1:28:05) by four and a half minutes. She now has the club record at 10, 15 and 30 miles. Husband John continued his remarkable first season by claiming the club 30 title as he finished in a fine fifth place overall. Trevor Leeding and Mike O’Gorman provided the necessary support as WECC claimed the Sussex CA team title (to add to the 100 that the club won only last week). They finished over 12 minutes clear of second placed GS Stella. Mike retained his Sussex CA vets 30 title and also the Sussex CA Vets short distance Best All Rounder (for 10, 25 and 30 miles). He had already retained the titles for both middle and long distance. It’s heartening to see last season's 30 champion Simon Atkinson back in action and showing clear signs of returning to his old form as he got a great fourth place. This burst in form caught the handicapper by surprise and Simon won the WECC Handicap Competition. Debutant Dan Cobby was just one second further back on scratch so plenty of potential and promise there one suspects. Dan took second place in the Handicap Competition ahead of Martin Booker. Ian Cheesman finished with a very good time given the number of self-induced problems that he faced: “Having read the sheet I assumed we had to go via Wiston to the start and assumed the 2.2 miles was that route but it wasn't so I ended up 12 seconds late start (very lucky not to be penalised with a penalty other than the 12 seconds. Then I realised up B2135 that my skinsuit wasn't fully done up. Then to cap it all as I turned left on A24 my left arm rest came loose. All in all I am very pleased with my ride and only 24 seconds off my PB. Responsibility for all of it lies with the idiot rider!!!” |
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EPSOM CC 10
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G10/57
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Saturday 30 July 2016
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Colin didn’t feel that great for the first few miles and traffic forced him to a halt at one roundabout early on (just the thirteen of them on this 10 course). So he was very surprised and somewhat delighted when he found that he had knocked 17 seconds off his course best.
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SCCU 100 (incl SCA 100 and WECC 100)
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G100/61
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Sunday 24 July 2016
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A small but committed turnout by Excelsior riders for this club championship event held within the SCCU Championships with some considerable successes achieved.
Whilst this event was promoted by the Southern Counties CU there were additional championships within. The Sussex CA 100 Championships and the WECC Club 100 Championships were held as part of the race – so lots of opportunity. And great support from Andrew Lock, Claire Booker and Chris Putnam. All very much appreciated by the riders. Worthing Excelsior won the team prize for both the Southern Counties and also the Sussex CA Championships with Nicole, Martin and Mike comprising the team. Unfortunately Simon had a mechanical and withdrew on the first of the laps. Each team member wins £15 and the club will receive the SCCU Sid Gray Shield (to be held for a year). Huge congratulations are due to Nicole. This was her first 100 and she did very well, despite paying the price somewhat in the second half for over-committing in the first half. And without that effort there would be no team prize. Nicole was also the fastest SCA women and so wins a medal for that too. Mike retained his Sussex vets 100 title, and also his WECC title. He will also be retaining his SCCU and SCA Vets Best All Rounder titles. So this was reward for battling through the pain barrier of extreme saddle sores which affected the last half of his ride. That and another £30 to add to the team prize. |
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SOUTHDOWN VELO 50
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P901/50
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Sunday 24 July 2016
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Trevor Leeding rode a fine 1:55:28 to finish in eighth place in the Southdown Velo 50 on Sunday. The was just a single second slower than his PB which was gained last season on P885/50.
He is the only WECC rider to have beaten the two hour mark this season, having now done it twice. With just one 50 remaining he is now almost certain to capture the Richard Shipton Trophy this season. It is awarded for the fastest 50 of the season on any course. The other three Excelsior riders were all delighted as they achieved personal bests for the distance:. |
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ADDISCOMBE CC 10
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G10/42
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Saturday 23 July 2016
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Colin's time is a new course best by 45 seconds. As Colin says:
This really is a tough course for a dual carriageway 10, with very little flat and some sections of poor road surface. It can’t be often that both Simon McNamara and Keith Lea fail to break 21 minutes! So not one to chase a PB on but a good challenge. I guess that’s why quite a lot of regional/national competition events are held on this course, so it once again attracted lots of women and juniors with a high quality field. |
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VTTA LONDON & HOME COUNTIES 10
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F11/10
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Wednesday 20 July 2016
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A long trip to Hertfordshire for what was hoped to be an attempt at a personal best on a reputedly fast course. However the day brought strong gusting winds up to 28 mph, and the course had 6 miles into a strong headwind and recent road resurfacing that was unhelpful. In the end it was a good time rather than a landmark.
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HOUNSLOW & DISTRICT CC 25
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H25/8
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Sunday 17 July 2016
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