Cobwebs
Official Magazine of the Whitewebbs Cycling Club. April 2008.
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WER'E OFF, the racing season got underway on the 24th February 2008 with some good times by our riders. The North Road Hardriders 25 mile Time Trial around South Hertfordshire was supposed to start west of Cuffley Ridgeway on the hilly course which included the Newgate Street climb from Carbone Hill,( a prime hill on the old road race circuit) onto Darnicle Hill and then back up to Newgate Street again, due to three sets of traffic lights at road repairs to this section the course, the race was shortened to just over 18 miles. The climbs both ways between Brickendon Green and Bayford, then later up the long climb to Essendon was still there to sap the energy, with those hills plus the continuous undulating roads there was very little flat or straight roads to get into any sort of rhythm. We also had Frank Rasey as the finish timekeeper assisted by myself, so the Whitewebbs CC was well represented on the day. Previously to the hardriders event Avie had been leading the training runs over parts of the course so the riders knew what to expect on the day. For once the weather was mild and the sun shone to warm the February morning and the riders. The event was won by Julian Ramsbottom of the DeRosa Racing Team in 42m-55secs.beating Richard Prebble GS Strada by 1m-11secs. Third was Chris Birch of East Street Cycles at a further seven seconds.
Our rider's times were: -
Club 25-Mile Championship
This year the club 25 mile Championship will be for the fastest average speed over three best counting events out of four events, the Club evening 25m on the18th June is a compulsory counting event, the other three 25m events are:- ECCA 25 Sunday 4th May course E91 3pm £7-00p entries to A Osborne, 41 Applegarth Drive, Ilford, Essex IG2 7TG
NM&HCA 25 Saturday 6th September, course F10/25, £7-00p entries to E Spriggs, Dell Cottage, Westwick Road, Hemel Hempstead HP2 4UD.
ECCA 25 Sunday 21st Sept. course E9/25 8am. £7-00p entries to T Pedlley 10 St. Mary's Lane, North Ockendon, Upminster, Essex, RM14 3PA. The Association events must be entered on the correct CTT entry form, the 25m on the 4th May has a 3 week closing date, not the usual 12 days. Forms are available at the Clubroom.
Club Hill-Climb Championship
Wednesday 20th August 7-30 Vineyards Lane 880yds (Handpost Hill) Cuffley Herts.
The Hell of the Ashdown Challenge ride
Report by Hamilton Wolfe
On Sunday 27th January, the intrepid souls of Whitewebbs CC embarked on the annual Ashdown Challenge Ride organised by the Catford CC. The hardy (or foolhardy!) were Avie, Rupert, Mark, Tom, Jon, Graham, Dave and myself. Setting off at 7am with Rupert, we made it to Knockholt in about 40 minutes. After some coffee and last minute prep- aration we rode to sign on.
The queue was already out the door and phoning Avie discovered the others had already signed on with a start time of 9-16!. They said not to worry, they’d ride nice and steady and we could catch them up! We managed to tag along with a group heading out at 9-24 (start was groups of approx 20-22 riders every 4 minutes). So, after a visit to the portaloo as a result of lots of chilli sauce on a kebab on the Friday night and five bowlfuls of excellent peppery beef on Saturday, we were off! What followed was 107km of mostly spectacular country – side, car-less roads, blue skies and sunshine and climb after climb! We set off at, as usual, too fast a pace riding with the fast guys from our group and quickly catching people from groups ahead of us. After a while a fast moving peloton formed, sweeping all before us, alas, it wasn’t long before we reached Toys Hill and the 180m climb saw me spat out the back as the rest disappeared over the brow.
I was just hanging onto Rupert and soon was leading him out- This we discovered was on account of his back brake being practically permanently on!! Schoolboy error Mr Blake-more! As we approached halfway and the first checkpoint we had a long straight climb of Kidds Hill (The Wall) almost 3k up to the top of Ashdown. I discovered the joys of my granny ring on my triple – the first time I have ever used it- but I still run out of gears as the 15-18% gradients took their toll. That said I kept pedalling and we reached the 50k checkpoint in under 2hrs. Waiting for us (having arrived a couple of minutes before) were the rest of the WCC guys, so with only a few moments to catch our breath we were off again. (So much for riding slowly and letting us catch up!) Unfortunately Tom waited until setting off to announce he had a puncture! A long delay followed (over 20 Minutes!!) and it was disheartening to see all those people we had overtaken come streaming past.
Underway again and the joyous 3 - 4km descent from Ashdown. Unfortunately (depending on your point of view) the second half was even more hilly than the first, some short and steep, others long and draggy. I was running out of drink and although eating well I started cramping my calf. Another long break for tea at the feed stop at 80k and then it was decided it was every man for himself. The stronger riders of our group forged ahead, whilst I was with those suffering behind. Despite the cramp threatening to take hold I made it up Ide Hill (another 3k climb) and even managed a mad sprint for around 15 minutes as we raced to get it over with. The last 3k saw “the sting in the tail” with a climb up Star Hill. I ran out of gears and contemplated walking (!!) until I saw a few ahead of me doing so and thought “no way”. A few painful minutes later and I made it back to the finish. My ride time was 4hrs-32mins (although 5hrs-14mins if you factor in puncture stops and people drinking tea). Average Heart Rate (including the rest times) was 149bpm. The course 107.82km with 1753m of climbing. I’m not sure if I speak for everyone when I say how much I thoroughly enjoyed a well-organised, well signed challenge, but I for one look forward to trying another later in the year. Hamilton.
(Kevin Wagstaffe started even later but came off on some gravel and retired. ED)
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