Congleton Cycling Club

Tonight’s talk has been postponed and is now just a normal club night. Email distribution lists are currently not working.

Come and join us in what will be a fabulous night, celebrating all the great cycling achievements within our fantastic cycling club this past year.

And not only that but a very tasty hot buffet will be available too, catering for all dietary requirements.

To complete what will be a fabulous evening, we will round off the night with a Ceilidh / Barn Dance with a live band & caller. No experience required, please all come and join in the FUN !

Dress code – smart casual plus.

Venue – Congleton Masonic Hall, Mill Street, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 1AG.Doors open 6pm, Opening speeches / awards 6.30 – 7.30pm, Hot buffet 7.45 – 8.45, Dancing / socialising 8.45 – 11.30pm, 12 midnight close.

Bar open and will include Wine / spirits / bottled beers / soft drinks (drinks can only be purchased at the bar, sorry you cannot bring your own)

Food – Hot buffet. Vegetarian & Vegan will be catered for too but please can you let us know.

Dance – Ceilidh / Barn Dancing by The Shropshire Heroes from Nantwich, a 3 piece band (fiddle, melodeon and keyboards) with a very experienced dance caller. They look brilliant and will be fabulous on the night to get all you people up and dancing.

Tickets – The tickets will be just £20 per person, an absolute bargain !

Payment – all members have had details of how to pay sent to them in an email. Alternatively contact Steve Collier and he can send you the information again.

Club rides will restart from Saturday, April 3rd. It isn’t quite clear at the moment whether we will still be governed by the ‘rule of 6’, or if we will be able to have a larger group as a British Cycling affiliated club. Watch this space.

Club rides are starting again scheduled from this Saturday although we are at the time of year when rides are less likely to go ahead. We have reverted to groups of six; optional café stops depending on the leader as we still can’t eat inside; and, currently, we can’t ride with members from tier 3 areas, such as Staffordshire.

The text below has been provided by Birkenhead North End CC

A new National lockdown has started in England; and along with it comes a raft of new restrictions. And cycling is, of course, affected by these. As of midnight tonight, the following rules must be followed by all riders, in line with the guidance from British Cycling and the Government. These are:

• Only ride alone, with those in your household/support bubble, or with one person from another household. If you are riding with a person from another household, you must only ever ride as a pair. For example, two riders from the same household cannot ride in a group of three with a person from another household, unless all are part of the same support bubble.

• If you are experiencing any coronavirus symptoms, are self-isolating, are sharing a household /support bubble with somebody with symptoms, or have been told to self-isolate after being contacted by NHS Test and Trace, you should stay at home.

• There are no restrictions on how far or how often you can ride, however we recommend that you stay within your ability level and prepare accordingly, especially if you are riding alone.

Also, please remember that whilst many of our favourite cafe stops have closed their sit-in options as a result of this new lockdown, many of them are continuing to offer takeout options. If you can, please support them through this difficult time.

We hope that all of our members, friends and followers keep safe during this lockdown, and hopefully we’ll see you all out on the road soon.

As a result of the announcement of a national lockdown from Thursday onwards there will be no club rides, at least for the rest of November. 
Hopefully, we will be able to resume in December, but we’ll have to see what the latest guidance is for our area nearer the time. 
Until then, stay safe.

Global sports took a back seat for a few months but with the recent return of F1 motor racing and football, Congleton Cycling Club (CCC) have been involved over the past month with a shortened but successful and extremely popular timetrial series.

Following British Cycling and Cycle Time Trials (CTT) advice the club racing secretary Ben Norbury  arranged four weekly 10-miles TTs to the detriment of his own racing whilst ensuring everyone maintained social distancing. There would be no socializing with tea and cake afterwards and race numbers would be collected from the ‘washing line’ and returned to a disinfecting bucket afterwards.

Race one was the pilot with 28 riders finishing the J2/1 Chelford to Knutsford course. Philip Gleave posted the fastest club rider time of 22 min 10s with new rider for 2020 Andy Gray exactly 30s behind for 2^nd and Mat Stephenson 3^rd in 23min 24s. Lucy Rogers was 1^st lady in 24min 31s, Claire Harrison 2^nd with 25min 12s and Alice Taylor 3^rd on a road bike with 28min 5s. Local rider Alex Royle posted the fastest overall time on 20min 6 sec, almost a 30mph ride!

Race two male and female Congleton riders remained the same but with quicker times. Philip Gleave breaking 22 minutes…just…21:59 and Lucy with 24:17. Second were Mat Stephenson (23:05) and Lynsey Astles (26:39) and third, Jon White (23:06) and Alison Stephenson (29:38). Thirty-thee riders took part.

Race 3 moved course to Twelmlow Lane with an out and back course to Chelford roundabout. A slower course generally but 46 riders had a name on the start list on a blustery evening. Philip (22:19) and Lucy (24:35) again taking the CCC honours on timetrial bikes and fastest road bike set up went to Adrian Fox with 28:50.

Race four and the numbers increased again. Forty-eight riders on the start sheet all at minute intervals and still no ‘pusher off’. The weather seemed slightly more favourable from the previous event with Adrian Fox bettering his road bike time with a 28min 4s but beaten to 2^nd place by David Farrington with a 24:26 setting a new personal best (pb). Lucy and Philip wrapped up their 4^th wins on TT bikes and Kerry Gleave breaking 20mph to finish with a 29:46. The fastest time of the evening went to in form Alex Royle with a fantastic 30+mph ride setting an unofficial course record with 19min 57s.

Moving up the TT distances just last weekend Congleton CC riders were participating in a local 25miles TT organized by Alex Royle of Manchester Bicycle Club and Ben Norbury took on the best in the CTT National 12hr.

In the Jodrell Bank loop course Alex Royle took the top spot in 50min 28s in horrible wet conditions. First CCC rider was Mick Hutchins with a new pb and first time under the one barrier in 59min 47s. Stephen Sladin almost  three minutes behind with 1:02:42 and Andrew Jenkins bringing home the male riders with 1:06:17. Representing the ladies were Lynsey Astles, Alison Stephenson and Alice Taylor, and they set off in that order a minute apart but it was an amazing effort by Alice to take the fastest time of 1:08:51 and fastest road bike over Lynsey (1:08:58) on a TT bike with Alison setting a local course pb with 1:16:02.

On Sunday morning whilst most people were tucked up in bed Ben Norbury set off on his bike for 12 hours of aerodynamic riding in probably the worst conditions we have had since lockdown. Torrential rain on and off all day with riders completing multiple day loops in Shropshire and finishing off with 8-miles loops in Wrexham, Wales. Last years winner Ben set a superb early pace of 24mph and looked comfortable throughout afternoon. The marshals switched over to the finishing circuit earlier than planned leaving the static support crews in limbo and some riders potentially without vital nutrition and drinks. Ben normally picks up the pace for the finishing circuits and was making gains on some of the top riders in a difficult to judge but a fully loaded field but hunger knocks in the final few loops forced a drop in power output resulting in loss of pace. Ben Finished the race in a provisional 12^th completing 278.45 miles with last week’s CTT 100 miles champion Adam Wild just beating Brian Fogarty by a quarter of a mile with 294.90miles.

The season is almost over as quick as it started. We still have the Congleton CC Ganney Bank hill climb on 11^th October and the National 50 miles TT on the 4^th October.

If you would like to get involved with cycling, social or racing, please check out our website or Facebook pages.

Saturday 8th August will see the first club ride since lockdown. Bob and Georgina Norton are organising a ride which will feature a “picnic” stop on Hankelow Village Green, near Audlem. Rides are currently scheduled for each Saturday and Sunday in August. The schedule can be found here. We will currently be cycling in groups of not more than six

The Manchester District Committee have now allowed time trials to resume for our region. So it is now possible for us to start our Tuesday evening time trials. We held a successful test event on Tuesday the 28^th of July. Not had a full debrief but it seemed to go well. Some very fast times in windy conditions.
We plan three more.

Entries are now being taken for next Tuesday’s 10 mile TT on J2/1 at Monks Heath.
Due to COVID Risk Assessment there will no entries on the day. Enter via

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/congleton-cc-time-trial-j21-tickets-115421425591

The club’s Open 50 mile TT scheduled for August 1st has now been officially cancelled because of continued uncertainty surrounding the Coronavirus crisis. The Cycling Time Trials Manchester District Committee made the decision a couple of weeks ago, to suspend all area time trials until at least September. That suspension remains in force, so, with only a month to go, we have had to take this decision.

The club’s Tuesday evening TT program has also had to cancelled. The only remaining event is the club hill climb championship on October 11. Lets hope we can still run that.

We will be back in 2021, when we are also promoting the CTT National 50 mile Championship. .

Your committee had hoped to be able to restart club rides shortly. However, although the government guidelines now allow social distancing of one metre (plus extra precautions) inside, we still have to keep two metres apart outside. Also, the maximum group size is still six. We know there has been a lot of confusion about this, but we have checked with British Cycling and this is still the case. This means that club rides are not yet a practical proposition. If the guidelines change, then we will, of course, reconsider the matter. 

The lockdown is easing, but not that we’d notice. My take is that it’s still no business as usual, as far as the club is concerned. 
BC and CUK have updated their advice following the changes announced yesterday. CTT have not updated their advice, which still says there will be no TTs until after June 30th. 
BC advice today

• You may exercise outdoors as many times each day as you wish. 
• You can only exercise alone, with those you live with or with up to one person from outside your household. Gatherings of more than two people from different households are not allowed at this time. 
• You should maintain a two-metre distance from anyone you meet from outside your household while out riding, stopping and waiting for people to pass at a safe distance when necessary. This is particularly important when riding on narrow paths and trails. 
• You can sit and rest outside before, during and after your ride. 
• You may drive to outdoor publicly accessible open spaces irrespective of distance, but should follow social distancing guidance while you are there. 
• In line with UK Government guidance, those aged over 70 should continue to take particular care to minimise contact with others outside their household.
• When cycling in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, you should follow the guidance and regulations issued by the relevant devolved administration. 
• If you are showing coronavirus symptoms, or if you or any of your household are self-isolating, you should stay at home. 

CUK advice today 

• There will be no limit on duration or frequency of exercise; however official advice remains that you should stay at home ‘as much as possible’
• You will be able to travel any distance in order to exercise
• You will be able to meet and exercise with one person who is not a member of your household, provided you maintain social distancing of at least two metres.

In other parts of the UK, it is still not permitted to ride with anyone who is not a member of your household.

Following the government’s recent announcements and advice from British Cycling and Cycling UK, all organised club activities will be cancelled until at least the end of April.

This means that the remaining reliability rides will be cancelled, as will Club social events, time trials and official club rides. CTT have stopped all club and open TT’s until at least June.

Where possible, all are encouraged to maintain their own personal fitness and keep active during this time, while following government guidelines about safe distance and safe exercise environments.

This year, we have a 20 event evening TT programme, counting towards the clubs evening TT league. There are trophy competitions for the fastest man and fastest woman on both TT and Road bikes, the best veteran on Veterans Standard, and best on handicap.  The program consist of fourteen ten mile TT’s, one hilly 9.2 miles, three 25 mile TT’s and a hillclimb up the Cat and Fiddle (Macclesfield Wheelers event). There is also a 10 mile Team Time Trial (2 up), which does not count towards the league competitions. A riders best 12 events will count in the competitions.

The event schedule can be found HERE

What’s the best thing to have when you are leading a ride but the last thing you want when you come to write it up? An incident free ride. Six went to Beeston and had a good time. Actually less time than normal because our average speed was the highest I can remember for a Sunday ride, being a bit over 25kph (or even more over 15mph). It was a flat ride and we did have excellent conditions especially very little wind. The main problem today was either not freezing to death at the start or overheating at the end; it had been 5°C overnight and hadn’t warmed up a great deal when we set off at 9:30. But we got more cloud than the forecast had indicated so we were fine.

Food at the Beeston Lockgate Café was excellent despite the fact that they were very busy; beans, eggs and toast in various combinations seemed popular. 3 of us were trying out new shoes; maybe that’s why we went so fast – to rush back home before we got any blisters.

Karl Austin July 2010

Every year the club competes with Macclesfield Wheelers over a two leg time trial in remembrance of Karl Austin, who was killed in a TT accident in 2011. Usually it is over two 25 mile TT’s but this year both legs were cut to 10 mile TT’s on the J2/1 Monks Heath course because of roadworks.

The first leg, promoted by ourselves was in very bad weather. On June 4th, it had rained all day, although it did stop for the event. Macclesfield were handicapped by only having four starters. With the best 6 to count, they were forced to take a penalty, with the time of our 6th counting rider counting for both of their missing riders. Since our 6th counter fell off on a patch of diesel at the turn, this was a 29:01, meaning that we came away with a lead 2:28:09 to 2:37:43, and carried a 9:34 lead into the second leg.

Leg 1 FULL RESULT

The second leg, promoted by Macclesfield wheelers on June 25th had a much better turn out in much better weather. Our top 6 time this time round were all inside 24 minutes with the top 3 under 22 minutes with a winning time of 20:37 from ben Norbury, meant another win for us 2:15:08 to 2:25:34, a difference of 10:26. This gave an aggregate over the two legs of exactly 20 minutes, meaning that we retain the shield for the fourth year in succession.

LEG 2 FULL RESULT

The counting Congleton riders over the two legs were Ben Norbury, Philip Gleave, Matt Stephenson, Stephen Sladin, Jake Dooley, Stephen Kane, Darren Johnson, and David Farrington. Well done to them and all of our riders.

Video of the second event HERE (Thanks Adrian Pennington)

The club was out in force on Sunday morning the National Team Time Trial Championships at Cranage. We had two teams of three riding and another large group in the “Congleton CC Fanzone” at Allostock. The team of Ben Norbury, Phil Gleave and Jake Dooley rode the 31 mile course in 1:07:06 to finish 16th of 43 of the best teams in the country. Our veterans team of Stephen Sladin, Mat Stephenson and Dave Farrington finishes in 1:13:59 for 29th place. Some team members still sore legs from yesterday’s Dukinfield 50. Who knows what they might have done if they were rested like most other teams! TTT photos from Adrian Pennington.

David, Stephen and Mat

Ben, Phil and Jake

Job Done.

A wet TT.

Only the brave turned out in yesterday evenings atrocious wet weather in the first leg of the annual challenge for the Karl Austin Memorial Shield. It was run as a 10 instead of the scheduled 25, because of roadworks. Even though the rain actually stopped for the event, the roads were very wet.
The format is that the best 6 times on aggregate count over the two legs. Congleton took a big stride towards retaining the shield with the best 6 aggregate of 2:28:09 for the 10 miles. Unfortunately Macclesfield Wheelers only had 4 riders, so had to take a penalty of two times of our slowest counting rider, giving them an aggregate of 2:37:43.
The second leg will be on June 25th. Let’s hope we can run the full distance 25 miles.

Hard luck Philip Gleave, who fell victim to diesel spilled at the turn, and limped back. We recorded a time for him as Congleton’s 6th counting rider!
The full result and the Congleton League Tables can be seen HERE

The counting times.

Lucy Rogers

The Holmes Chapel Road JC/27 course was used for the third week in succession for tonight’s evening league 10 mile TT. Every week is different though. Tonight was characterised by cool bright conditions with a lot of traffic.
The top two times were to Congleton riders. Ben Norbury showed no ill effects from the Anfield 100 a day earlier, (in which he did a PB 3:52:06), recording 21:07. Philip Gleave was second in 22:24 and Joe Molineux (Leek CC/CCC 2nd claim) third in 22:28. Third place league points went to David Farrington in 23:26.

Lucy Rogers topped the ladies from Gail Lowe (Lyme R.C.) 27:16, and Alison Stephenson 30:54, with Kerry Gleave third Congleton rider with 31:12.

The Road bike race was won by Andrew Gibson (unattached) in 24:44. Gavin Brookes was second in  25:24 and is also running away with the Road Bike League. Mick Hutchens (unattached) was third in 25:28, with Roger Evans 29:25 and Tony Meredith 29:36, taking the second and third club league places.

See the full result and league tables HERE

Alison Stephenson 5,4,3,2,1,Go.

Roadworks on J2/3 meant we returned to the Congleton-Holmes Chapel JC/27 course again this week. It was again a bright sunny evening but this week it was a headwind out to the turn with a tail wind back, which was the opposite of the previous week. Many riders were a bit slower this week, so well done to anyone who was quicker.

Ben Norbury headed the field again with 21:06, from Jamie Willetts (Team JMC) 21:45 and Philip Gleave 22:06. David Farrington was third placed Congleton rider in 23:52. Jamie complained last week that he had left his legs on the course. He found them this week because that was a near 3 minute improvement!

Claire Harrison (Pro Vision) was fastest of seven ladies in 24:56, beating Lucy Rogers 25:29 and newcomer Gail Lowe (Lyme R.C.) 27:50. The other Congleton ladies had a very close battle with Lesley Norbury 31:32 just pipping Kerry Gleave 31:34 and Alison Stephenson 32:04.

Road bikes were  headed by Mick Mansell 24:42 from David Bratt 25:02 (both Pro Vision) and Gavin Brookes 25:38. Tony Meredith was next best Congleton rider on a road bike in 30:02.

Louis Evans (Innovation Trek R.T.)23:13, beat Aaron Mansell (Pro Vision) who recorded 26:21 on a road bike.

Full result and club league tables can be seen HERE