News

A reminder about the importance of claiming club trophies. As posted about previously, we are very fortunate to have a large number of club trophies within the club (far more than are pictured above).

However, the onus is on members to come forward to the committee and claim trophies (or for road race trophies, contact the road race secretary in the first instance). Thank you to all who have submitted claims so far (though that’s very few of you!).

The full list of trophies and the rules for each one are detailed in the club rules document (pages 5-9), accessible via the Members’ area of the website.

If you think that you have won a trophy in one of our own club time trial championships then it’s easy enough for the committee to see that. But for many trophies it’s a lot less clear. For example, there are time trials all over the country that members may have entered that may count towards winning a trophy, and the committee will probably have no idea about members entering those non-club time trials. Hence the importance of claiming.

Here’s another example – The Sportive Trophy, which according to the rules (page 8) is “awarded to the member with the greatest total distance ridden in sportives and audaxes. The time period to be 10 months from 1st February to 30th November.” Now this is one where the committee will have no real idea who might have won this, and we need members to present their lists of sportives and audaxes to us. Someone out there will have won this, and we want as many trophies as possible to be looked after and displayed by members and not to have to sit in a box in a storeroom somewhere!

The trophies are presented annually at the club dinner (date for 2019 to be advised soon).

Don’t be shy in coming forward, and please email the committee if you would like to put forward a claim for a trophy.

Good luck!

January’s club night will feature an introductory talk on road racing, and will be held on Friday 4 January 2019 at 8:30pm.

Club road race secretary Warren Vye will be your host, and he has invited along a special guest, Alex Paton, to share his road race experience and tips.

Alex rides for the Canyon Eisberg UCI Continental team (to be called Canyon dhb for 2019), and won the sprints jersey in the 2018 Tour of Britain where he rode alongside the likes of Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome. So he’ll have plenty of interesting stuff to share!

This is open to prospective members – please send an email to [email protected] if you would like to attend.

Club night is held at at All Saints Hall, Chapel Lane, Farnborough GU14 9BW.

We are pleased to announce a very special offer on 2019 cycling holidays in Spain for club members, specifically at a villa with a beautiful lake view in the mountains of Alicante, from Spectacular Cycling. See the attached graphic for full details including prices and contacts.

Related to this offer, we will soon be announcing a very exciting prize draw that we have lined up exclusively for attendees of the annual club dinner. Thanks to your feedback, the annual dinner will be very different this year – it might not even be called the annual dinner for example! One thing is for sure: there will be a fantastic prize to be won. Watch this space!

 

We have received details of Ron’s funeral:

Tuesday 18 December @ 13:30 at Easthampstead Crematorium, RG40 3DW.

Refreshments will be served afterwards in Victoria Hall, Hartley Wintney, RG27 8RQ.

All welcome.

Donations either to RNLI or Naomi’s House, Winchester.

It’s almost here! Club night is this Friday, 7 December at 8:30pm.

How much would it be worth to you to be sat even more comfortably on your bike? And to get some extra watts just by adjusting your position a bit?

Jake Yarranton from Precise Performance is getting ready to answer all of your questions about professional bike fitting, and to tell you everything you want to know about the subject.

Come along to another entertaining and educational club night on Friday 7 December, when Jake Yarranton from Precise Performance will be answering all of your questions about professional bike fitting.

Jake will be covering the following, and lots more:

• Why a bike fit is beneficial for every cyclist of any ability, and every discipline – and any age!
• Different methods of bike fit and why Precise Performance chose the fitting system it did
• How a bike fit can enhance your performance and your comfort
• How you can reduce the risk of injury, even if you believe you’re already comfortable
• Why having a bike fit is one of the best investments you can make for your cycling
• How a bike fit leads to greater improvements than the new parts that riders often buy

Since it’ll be December, there will be mince pies and mulled wine, as well as soft drinks and beer! Guests and prospective members are very welcome.

Friday 7 December at 8:30pm, All Saints Hall, Chapel Lane, Farnborough GU14 9BW

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of our oldest member, Ron Osborne, who passed away at his home on 22 November 2018.

Many of you will remember the fond tribute from club president Dick Poole just a few months ago in August on the occasion of Ron’s 90^th birthday:

“Ron joined us way back from the Kingston Phoenix CC along with Chris Thain (sadly no longer with us) and Ron Taylor who fondly remembers riding a tandem 30 with him many years ago where they won a medal.  Maybe not the most famous ever “Two Ronnies” but probably so on a tandem.

Ron continues to give up his time to support the club in his role as honorary auditor and was the club secretary for several years but is probably better known for his long stint, until just a couple of years ago, as a timekeeper in club, local open events and National Championships time trials.”

Ron was also secretary of the now defunct Border Cycling Association that used to run a series of local events including a 12 hour and had its own BAR competition.  He was always keen to help and once even drove up to Yorkshire to help feed the club’s riders in a 12 hour event that was won by then club member Nik Bowdler.

Away from cycling Ron also spent a lot of time helping his local community of Hartley Wintney in all sorts of ways and up until a few years ago was a keen walker, regularly going on long treks with a local walking group.

We extend our deepest condolences to Ron’s family and will publish the funeral details in due course.

With the current dark evenings, now is a great time to get some winter training in a well-lit, traffic-free environment.

Where’s that, you ask? The answer is Palmer Park Velodrome, near Reading.

But you haven’t got a track bike, you say? Not a problem, because from October up until mid-March, on both Tuesday and Thursday nights between 8:15pm and 9:45pm, road bike sessions are held. You just need your road bike and a helmet, then sign on at reception and read the instructions on track protocol.

The track has shallow banking, so is ideal for novices, and is floodlit. It’s a very good way to sharpen your speed and/or work on your sprinting. You may well see some other club members up there doing the same thing.

Contact Dick Poole for further information about track racing and training.

 

 

The FCCC road race team have ended the regular season on a high. It’s been a great season, with strong efforts all round, and many notable results as covered in previous newsletters and news articles.

The club has finished in 9th place out of 54 teams in the Surrey League standings. This  is a great improvement over last year’s 22nd place and a testament to the hard work of the team riders.

The club is also currently in 30th place out of 144 teams in the British Cycling South East region, and in 484th place out of 1069 teams nationally.

Those results are particularly impressive because they reflect the club scoring points in National B races, a higher classification of race than the regular Regional events, which brings the top riders in the area out to compete.

Before 2018, we’d have to go back quite a long time to find when the club last scored any National B points, let alone doing so in more than one race. This is a tremendous result for the club, and is a great credit to the hard work of road race secretary Warren Vye and his dedicated team of riders.

Surrey League 2018 final standings (out of 54 teams):

1. Meudon Sovereign PH
2. Southdowns Bikes CPR
3. Crawley Wheelers
4. Kingston Wheelers
5. Blazing Saddles
6. Norwood Paragon CC
7. VC Meudon
8. London Dynamo
9. Farnborough & Camberley CC
10. Paceline RT

Results Round-up

Notable recent results include the following:

• 2 Sep – John Holman Memorial at Henstridge 234, Nick Hale  11th
• 9 Sep – Thruxton 3rd Cat, Luke Stratford 10th
• 12 Sep – Hillingdon Masters 40+, Luke Stratford 10th
• 12 Sep – Hillingdon Masters 50+, Warren Vye 7th
• 14 Oct – Surrey League Ottershaw E123, Mark Nuttall 9th
• 27 Oct – Hillingdon National B E123, Nick Hale 13th, Mark Nuttall 14th

The racing continues, with the Hillingdon Winter Series currently under way.

New racers may be interested in the Surrey League race preparation session on 17 Nov at Ardingly.

Here’s to even more success in 2019!

The first off-road club ride of the winter took place last Saturday, 10 November. Riders reported it as a great success. Scott Heyhoe was unfortunately ill and unable to ride on the day, but the club has no shortage of superstars, and Tony Garmston kindly stepped in to lead the route around North Hampshire. As advertised, it was a fine route through some beautiful countryside, made even more interesting by a few steep tracks with limited traction, and some slippery corners.

Seven club members headed out from Fleet along the canal to Greywell Tunnel – an easy start to the ride, conveying the riders to where the fun began in earnest. A combination of tracks and lanes took them up to near Golden Pot, the highest point of the ride. Down “Holybourne Hill”, the site of the recent Club Hill Climb Championship, only to turn back up the hill, to try the ascent of the same ridge, but on a very slippery, grass and mud path. A mix of tracks and lanes, with some swooping descents had the riders rejoining the canal for the final couple of miles. Everyone seems to have had a thoroughly enjoyable morning out, and there has been much talk of looking forward to the next one. Some used mountain bikes, and others CX bikes. The CX bikes struggled on a couple of steep climbs, not helped by the recent rain making things very slippery, and some wished they had lower gearing. We’ll bear this in mind when planning the next ride – thanks for the feedback!

We’re hoping to make this a regular event, perhaps monthly, so keep an eye on the website news and on Facebook for details of the next off-road ride. We hope to see even more members next time.