Club Event, Saturday 2 November 2013

The recent storm made an impact on Wash Hill (HHC026), as was evident from the freshly cut tree trunks by the side of the road, at the ramp section just before the hill flattens out to the finish. Thankfully, the weather was fairly mild, dry, overcast, but not dull. (Later in the afternoon, the sun made a welcome appearance). Sunshine glowing through golden autumn leaves and Beech trees turning copper - yes, that's our South Bucks! Here are the results:

Rider	Club	Time	Points
John Payne	South Bucks RC	3:22:50	9
Joy Payne	South Bucks RC	3:42:13	8
Harjinder Obhi	South Bucks RC	2:50:00	10

Club Points Trophy (2013 overall standings)

Rider	Points
Joy Payne	36
John Payne	34
Michelle Ayres	28
Peter Cockbain	19
Harjinder Obhi	10
Michael Kennedy	8
Owen Brunsden	7

Congratulations to Joy, who'll be getting the Copper Beech trophy (photo) at our club dinner in January (the 12th, iirc). You could say, that this year wife and husband have been "dishing out the Payne..."

Club Event, Saturday 7 September 2013

The light rain which was falling as I rode out to the event this morning did not augur too well for the last club event of the year on the Maidenhead Thicket course.  However the clouds cleared, the rain stopped and a light breeze prevailed.  With most of the club's potential riders away on holiday it was down to visitors to show us the potential of the course which they did in no uncertain manner as the following results show.

Rider	Club	Time
G. Mitchell	Twickenham CC	25:28
J. James	MDCC	24:26
R. Willcox	Bath RC	24:10
J. Roberts	HWCC	22:36
W. Sybrandy	IG Sigma Sport	20:42
D. Thompson	Hillingdon Tristars	23:10
G. McLeod	CTC	25:07
A. Feek	Team Quest	24:49

A great ride by Wouter Sybrandy, who graced us with his presence presumably while tuning up for the Tour of Britain.  We at SBRC wish him the best of luck for that event which starts this Sunday.  

The cumulative points for SBRC riders stays the same, with all to play for in the Hill Climb on 2nd November.

Club event, Saturday 3 August 2013

After a period of very high temperatures and correspondingly high humidity it was a relief for the morning to dawn bright with normal temperatures although very breezy. As can be seen from the results the struggle out to the Twyford turn was compensated by a very rapid return to the timekeeper as the results show. Harj will return to the UK from the USA next week, and on the same day as our event, he was taking part in the Marin Century (couple of snaps from him below).

Rider	Club	Time	Points
Joy Payne	South Bucks RC	27:13	9
John Payne	South Bucks RC	27:53	8
Richard Wilcox	Bath RC	24:53
Michelle Ayres	South Bucks RC	26:49	10
Mark Garnett	Maidenhead & D CC	24:45
Jorj James	Maidenhead & D CC	24:53
Christine Lutsch	Serpentine RC	25:34
Graham Giggs	Bath RC	24:12
John Sullivan	Westerley RC	22:25
Grigar McLeod	CTC	25:09
Adrian Feek	Team Quest	24:34

Club Points Trophy (cumulative, SBRC Members Only)

Rider	Points
Michelle Ayres	28
Joy Payne	28
John Payne	25
Peter Cockbain	19
Michael Kennedy	8
Owen Brunsden	7

This is how they do rest stop food in Marin County (the birthplace of the Mountain Bike, btw):

Obligatory PB&J at the start:

Cawfee in BUCKETS!

Drummers at one of the rest stops:

Man v Bike

Saw a great video on The Guardian website.  Enjoy pursuit racing between a non-racing cyclist on a super-bike v. an elite cyclist on a range of not so fast steeds, including a London Boris/Ken Bike:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/video/2013/jul/17/man-v-bike-video

Club Event, 6 July 2013

With apologies for my delay in posting this, here are the results of last weekend's event.  On probably the fastest day of the year so far (sunny n warm with little breeze), it was ironic that road works and traffic lights had been erected on the course at Knowl Hill, just before we started.  Nevertheless some good times were recorded.

Rider	Club	Time	Points
Joy Payne	South Bucks RC	27:21	9
John Payne	South Bucks RC	28:04	8
Joanne Wells	Hounslow & DW	25:36
Adrian Feek	Team Quest	25:57
Martin Winter	Twickenham CC	23:23
James Quinn	Serpentine Running Club	26:07
Richard Wilcox	Bath RC	23:34
Peter Cockbain	South Bucks RC	26:17	10

Club Points Trophy (cumulative, SBRC Members Only)

Rider	Points
Joy Payne	19
Peter Cockbain	19
Michelle Ayres	18
John Payne	17
Michael Kennedy	8
Owen Brunsden	7

All to play for at the top.

While we're all enjoying the Tour de France coverage, here are some further images from the extremely tough time trial that was Stage 6 of this year's Tour of California (see also my post some weeks ago).

First up, Tyler Farrraarrraarr! (as the Italian commentators call him):

Now a video of Juan Antonio Flecha chasing down Paul Voss, I think:

Cameron Meyer:

Andy Schleck. Really irritated by this one because I had a great shot of him face on, but a car drove between us at that moment (so I also have a great shot of a car 5 ft away!)

A BMC rider, I think it's Schaer or possibly Bookwalter.

I hope you enjoyed these images.  See you back in ol' blighty in "the fall".  Harj 

Club Event, 1 June 2013

With apologies for the slight delay, here are the results of the event on Saturday 1 June. The weather was bright but windy with a bit of chill in the air. After the tables below, Harj sends a tip from the USA.

Rider	Club	Time	Points
Joy Payne	South Bucks RC	28:32	10
John Payne	South Bucks RC	29:02	9
Gavin Mitchell	Twickenham CC	26:15
Rob Engers	Shorter Rochford	25:22
Michelle Ayres	South Bucks RC	29:23	8

Club Points Trophy (SBRC Members Only)

Rider	Points
Michelle Ayres	18
Joy Payne	10
John Payne	9
Peter Cockbain	9
Michael Kennedy	8
Owen Brunsden	7

While out riding in N. California, if you have to answer the call of nature, then exercise EXTREME care! Poison Oak grows weed-like all over the place here in abundance. It likes shady spots, just the kind of place where a roadie may choose to take a tinkle... Here's a piccy of what it looks like. Three leaves that look a bit like oak leaves, it grows in a viney and bush like manner:

Bare skin brushing it will get a rash at best, and in extreme cases, blistering and an allergic reaction. Nasty! Makes stinging nettles look like salad.

A view over the S. Bay area below (that's my bike, a Specialized Allez cheepo alloy job).

Harj at Tour of California TT

As we have no May event, I thought I'd blog about the Tour of California. Today, I rode out to Metcalf Road in San Jose, and took some snaps and videos. I was on the uphill final climb, about 700m from the finish line. It was a brutal climb. First up is a photo of Lieuwe Westra who finished 2nd on the day: 

For the climb, some riders chose to change their TT rigs to lighter road bikes at the foot of the final hill, as did Michael Rogers in the video here:

And here, all in green, is The Riddler*, Peter Sagan:

*ha ha, yes I mean the Batman villain - which may be why The Fuzz was out and about....

Julie Dibens, the only GB competitor in the elite women's event:

Cyclocross powerhouse Katie Compton gives it some wellie:

A more bouncy approach by Lauren Stephens, guest riding for Tibco:

Nathaniel English in his 5HR kit looked great on the bike:

And, I wondered if winner of the TT and race leader Tejay Van Garderen was so fast today because he was continuously fanned by the helicopter hovering above:

I hope you enjoyed these. I'll post some more when I get time.
Harj

Club Event, 6 April 2013

Here are the results of Saturday's event. The weather was bright but very cold (just about freezing) and the wind was fairly strong.

Harj sends his regards from sunny California. He says it's a bit chilly there - he had to wear a gilet over his short sleeve jersey for most of his ride yesterday. Some photos from him below.

Rider	Club	Time	Points
Michael Kennedy	South Bucks RC	30:11	8
Owen Brunsden	South Bucks RC	31:53	7
Michelle Ayres	Bath RC	28:11	10
John Sullivan	Westerley RC	24:03
Ian McVallys	Westerley RC	24:59
Peter Cockbain	South Bucks RC	28:37	9
Nic Stagg	Hounslow & DW	23:12

Club Points Trophy (SBRC Members Only)

Rider	Points
Michelle Ayres	10
Peter Cockbain	9
Michael Kennedy	8
Owen Brunsden	7

Photos from Harj. Wide open roads.

Surfers at Golden Gate Bridge. If it makes you feel better, they ARE wearing wetsuits.