Congleton Cycling Club

Montage by Adrian Pennington

Just three seconds separated to top two in this weeks Evening TT on the Holmes Chapel Road. Alex Royle (Manchester Bicycle Club) just beat our own Ben Norbury 20:57 to 21:00. They were a long way in front of the rest. Third place went to Pete Kirby (Holmes Chapel Velo in 23:04.  The second Congleton Rider was Jake Dooley on a road bike in 23:18, and third was recent new member Darren Johnson in 23:33(PB). Jake was best on a  road bike.

Aaron Mansell was top junior with 25:48, also on a road bike.

Claire Harrison (Pro Vision) won the ladies race in 24:39, with Lucy Rogers 25:24, taking maximum club league points from Alison Stephenson 31:59 and Lesley Norbury 32:42. Jo Lawrence (unattached) split the Congleton riders in 29:33 for third place.

Managing the effort was key, on a sunny evening with a tail wind out to the turn. Some died into the headwind on the return leg. Never the less many reported doing PB’s

Full Result HERE

Steve Smith 25:44

After last weeks cancellation forced by roadworks at Chelford, this weeks event went without a hitch. Many riders said that they were doing PB’s on a cold night with a headwind on the return leg. It was very fast to the turn though. Ben Norbury was fastest with 20:52, followed by Philip Gleave with a new PB of 21:44. Third spot was taken by Pete Kirby (Holmes Chapel Velo) in 23:13. Third placed Congleton rider was David Farrington in 23:34.

The road bike category is proving popular with fastest being Rob Howson (Leek C.C. in 24:05. Leek had nominated this event as their 10 mile championship, which Rob also won. The next two places in the road bikes went to Mick Mansell (Pro Vision R.T.) 24:17 and Jon Leigh 25:23. Gavin Brooks (25:44) and Stephen Kane 27:46 were the next best Congleton riders on road bikes.

Claire Harrison (Pro Vision R.T.), also on a road bike was quickest of the ladies in 25:48 from Lucy Rogers (26:09), Leslie Norbury (31:32) and Kerry Gleave (32:10), who was also second road bike.

Aaron Mansell was fastest junior riding a road bike in 26:12.

See Full Result HERE

See Video from Adrian Pennington HERE

CCC riders

Forty riders competed on a decent night, albeit with an east wind which kept the temperature down a bit and the times up a bit.
Some still went fast though. Alex Royle (Manchester Bicycle Club) recorded 20:43. We questioned whether this was a course record, but have been informed that Andy Tennant might have got under 20 minutes in the past. Ben Norbury was fastest Congleton rider with 21:19 for second place,  Philip Gleave was 3rd in 22:31 and David Farrington 3rd best CCC rider in 24:25.

Lucy Rogers was best lady in 26:16. followed by  Lesley Norbury, Alison Stephenson and Kerry Gleave.

Junior honours went to Aaron Mansell (Pro Visio RT) 26:26 and the new Road Bike classification went to dad Mick Mansell (Pro Vision CC) 24:53. Best CCC riders were John Leigh, 25:45, Gavin Brooks (26:38) and best lady Kerry Gleave 33:20.

Full result  can be seen HERE . Video from the event HERE (Thanks Adrian Pennington)
Thanks as always to all the marshals and other helpers.

The first evening TT promotion was the 9.2 mile hilly, (over 1000 ft of climbing), around The Cloud from Bosley, took place on April 16th.

Ben Norbury

CCC Riders

Ben Norbury was quickest in 23 minutes and 23 seconds on his TT bike. Jake Dooley was second in 24:59 on a road bike followed by another TT bike ridden by Philip Gleave in 25:03. Lucy Rogers was fastest lady in 32:29 ahead of Lesley Norbury.
There was a cold wind which was behind the riders on the 3 mile dash to the finish. The roads were dry following earlier rain.

Video HERE  (Photos and Video by Adrian Pennington)

FULL RESULT HERE Note. This year we have added a road bike competition. Road bikes are shown in results as RB, Time Trial Bikes as TT.

 We are postponing the 100 mile Reliability Trial until the following Sunday, March 17th

There is a yellow warning for snow across Cheshire East, Staffordshire and Shropshire over night and tomorrow morning. Added to that there are 40 mph winds from the west forecast from mid morning onwards. 

Ben Norbury, Mat Stephenson, Lesley Norbury, Stephen Sladin, Lee Wood, Polly Wilding.

The last act of the 2018 time trial season took place on Jan 27th 2019 at the Middlewich Masonic Hall. The Manchester and District Time Trial Association Awards Luncheon was attended by 21 members and friends of the club, there to support our award winners.
Ben Norbury took the awards for Best All Rounder and Middle Distance All Rounder as well as the 12 hour championship ( Alex Rea Trophy)and silver medals in the 50 mile and 100 mile championships. Polly Wilding won the Ladies 12 hour championship (Edith Massey Trophy).
These two, supported by Mat Stephenson, Stephen Sladin and Lee Wood also took the BAR team championship (ABC Centreville Shield), the 12 hour Championship Team ( LH Brooks Cup) and second place in the Middle Distance BAR team championships. Lesley Norbury was guest of honour and presented the prizes.
The club group today were also the largest group amongst the 100 or so present at the awards ceremony.

The club performances in Cheshire TT’s throughout the  season also meant that the club was the best performing team in the 20 event Cheshire Points TT Series. Ben Norbury was the individual champion, and the club were top team. Polly Wilding was second lady behind Claire Harrison (Vision Racing), and in the 50 – 60 year old category Mat Stephenson and Stephen Sladin took second and third places behind Adrian Hughes of Seamons C.C.  Now for 2019.

See All Prize winners HERE

The Club had its annual Christmas meal at the Astbury Golf Club venue, to socialise, reflect and celebrate the achievements of the more athletic minded members of the cycling club. John Jervis as chair of the club welcomed members and guests from Leek and the town’s very own Madam Mayor Suzy Ackers- Smith who also has the equally esteemed role as Vice President of the Club.

The trophies were dominated by Ben Norbury, it is hard to know where to start with Ben in describing his successes, you soon run out of superlatives. Probably the most impressive result was his winning the Manchester and District 12-hour time trial back in August. Ben achieved the mind-boggling distance of 283.5miles at an average speed of 23.6 mph. This average speed includes times for natural breaks and stops for refreshments, so actual riding speed would be higher again.

Of the 29 trophies awarded, Ben won 8 of them including fastest mileage for 10, 25, 50, 100, 12-hour, Senior British all-rounder (BAR) and the Club’s evening time trial league. This list does not include all achievements of Ben in addition to the trophies, he won a further 8 awards.

Ben was not the only club member to take on the 12-hour time trial. We produced 5 of the 68 competitors. From this event, we not only won the aforementioned MDTTA Men’s championship but Polly Wilding also won the Ladies’ 12 hr championship at her first ever attempt. Moreover, club also became the 12-hour team champions. Mat Stephenson at a mileage of 245.42, Stephen Sladin at 230.72 miles and Lee Wood at 221.75 miles backed up Ben Norbury to win this award.

The need for brevity, does not permit me to list all awards given out, so will pick out a few notable areas.

Mark Allen won the Beartown trophy road race and he achieved a number of top 10 finishes, with a best placing of 3^rd in a round of the March Tracks Summer Series on the Rhyl circuit. He has amassed 22 BC road race points with a third category licence.

Matt Stephenson, who made an excellent speech on behalf of the award winners won 4 trophies and 11 other awards including, evening time trial league, the veteran’s BAR and handicap, veteran’s club events and Stephen Sladin won 11 awards of which two were trophies.

To touring John Jervis won the men’s touring trophy and Jill Jervis won the women’s touring trophy with Steve Smith winning the Audax trophy.

Last mention should go to Roy Hayhurst who rightly won Club Person of the Year for his ongoing support to the riders taking part in the Club’s time trials. He turns out in rain, hail or shine and if you pardon the pun, especially went the extra mile in the support given at the 12-hour time trial. Matt when giving his speech on behalf the riders, gave tribute not just to Roy but to all the members who gave up their spare time to support the Club.

It has been a while since an article from the Club was posted, so some of the significant news is from a few months ago, but it is worth the wait.

We start with more recent events, 3 members of the club took part in a 100km fundraising ride for the Children’s Adventure Farm Trust (CAFT). This charity has been supported by the Club many times in the past few years, so it was good to turn out for what has now become an annual event for the Club. All the Congleton club riders took part in the longer ride out option, through Delamere Forest. The Santa suits were picked up from CAFT HQ at Millington and worn for the last few miles of the ride back into the finish at Altrincham Football Club’s stadium. The donning of the Santa suits proved to be quite a spectacle, as 200 hundred cycling Santas received toots from cars and waves from well-wishers. In total £6632 was raised by all participants.

Continuing the Charity theme, the Club would like to reflect on an epic adventure by Stephanie Cooke, that was completed at the start of September. Stephanie set off from Istanbul and meandered throughout Europe, covering 4725km on her bike. She raised £1863 for Marie Curie whilst doing so. For the reason why she took on such a major life event, she explains that “All of us face multiple challenges in our lives. We face them, we struggle, we fall and we get up again. At the end of life, and near the end, I want Marie Curie to be there for me, and for you and your families.”

Stephanie certainly lives up to her own philosophy, she took 19 weeks to complete the journey, though of these only 13 were cycling. The other 6 weeks were spent performing various jobs to ingratiate into and learn and live with the local cultures she met on the route home. With regards to the cycling, Stephanie travelled through Ukraine, Transylvania and onto the countries of North Western Europe. Stephanie will be regaling tales of her voyage in greater detail, at a soon to be arranged event at the Rugby Club, so one for the diary. The Club has nothing but the highest respect for the courage and perseverance exhibited by Stephanie. As us cyclists say, chapeau.

The club’s hill climb champions have been decided for another year. A damp road and a cold wind greeted the riders. The overall champion is Ben Norbury in 5:27.9. This was a fraction of a second behind his own championship record of 5:27.2, although he recorded 5:22 in training. Top lady was Sue Blake in 9:17.7. Junior Champ is Harrison Ainsworth 9:19.9, Juvenile Champ is 12 year old Sam Williams 9:09.9 which is an under 13 club record for the climb. Veterans Champion is Lee Wood 7:27.5. Best espoir (under 23) and second best CCC rider was Jake Dooley. For Jake and Ben this was a warm up for the Withington Wheelers Open event on Peaslows Hill near Chapel en le Frith , later in the day.

Ben later reported that he had finished the Withington event in a time of 2:43, with Jake recording 2:50.

For a full result of the club hill climb click RESULT

For video of the club hill climb click VIDEO Thanks to Adrian Pennington.

The West Cheshire 12 hour TT took place on Sunday 19^th August. This event incorporated the Manchester and District Time Trial Association 12 hour championship. The Club had 5 riders amongst the 68 competitors. The club now has the Men’s and Ladies 12 hr champions and the 12 hour team champions. These performances have also propelled the club to top spot in the season long 20 event, Cheshire TT Points league (with two events remaining)On a difficult windy day Ben Norbury produced a stunning 283.5 mile ride to win the Championship. Polly Wilding in her first ever attempt at the distance won the Ladies Championship with 195.12 miles and Mat Stephenson 245.42, Stephen Sladin 230.72 miles and Lee Wood 221.75 miles backed up Ben Norbury to win the Team Championship. They also won the team prize for the open event.

Ben, pushed eventual winner Andy Jackson (Aerocoach) all the way, finishing only a mile behind but Jackson’s team is not affiliated to the Manchester and District Time Trial association so Ben won the title. His closest rival for the championship was Adrian Hughes (Seamons C.C.) who finished 11 miles behind. 

For a full result see HERE.

On July 31st we are trying a new hilly TT course at Bosley, especially for the hill lovers. The course is based on the old J8/9, which can no longer be used because of the road narrowing past the old Bosley Wood Treatment works.

The new course can be seen HERE

The HQ for the event will be the Harrington Arms car park at Bosley SK11 0PH. Unfortunately the pub will be closed, so there is no access to toilets, or perhaps more importantly for a drink after the event.

First rider will be off at 19:01 hrs with signing on at the HQ from 18:15.

Four riders were inside 22 minutes in the club TT on the Holmes Chapel Road at Congleton on May 29th. It was very windy.
Joe Dobson (Manchester Bicycle Club was under 21 mins with 20:40, beating Ben Norbury into a rare second place with 21:11. Jamie Willetts was 3rd in 21:52. Second and third in the CCC league event, were Steve Sladin in 23:17 and Mat Stephenson 23:22.
Alice Taylor (Marple Spinners) was fastest lady in 28:04 ahead of Kerry Gleave (unattached) 31:53. There was a very close race amongst the Congleton ladies. Lesley Norbury won this with 30:48 beating Gill Armstrong and Alison Stephenson who dead heated in 32:12. Geraldine Masson (Sandbach Sunday Cyclists) rode a flat barred “hybrid” bike to a very creditable 32:44 in her first ever TT.
No juniors this week, but two juveniles. Joel Ackers (Innovation Trek) achieved an excellent time of 23:23 whist the younger Arron Mansell (Pro Vision) got round in also excellent 26:25.

Phil Gleave, Stephen Kane, Lee Wood (by A Pennington)

The biggest field of the year competed in the evening TT event at Congleton this week. It was windy and warm, and many riders achieved either personal, seasons, or course best times.
Two beat 22 minutes with Ben Norbury leading in 21:21 from Jamie Willetts 21:55. Third spot again went to Jack Green (Velotik RT) 22:13. Mark Allan was next Congleton rider and best road bike in 23:25, with David Farrington 23:33 third in the league event.
The Congleton ladies were led home by Lesley Norbury in 30:54 from Alison Stephenson 32:16 and Gill Armstrong 32:54. The fastest ladies were Claire Swaboda (VC St. Raphael) 24:41, Sandra Griffiths (Vision Racing) 27:46 and novice Alice Taylor (SK6 Spinners) 28:13
The under 18’s were all from Pro Vision with Alex Coates 23:43 beating Andrew Burgess 24:01 and Aaron Mansell 27:13
Full result. Click HERE.

For Video of the event Click HERE (thanks to Adrian Pennington)

There were some great times on in this weeks Tuesday evening TT, one of our slower courses. There was a wind but it was in a favourable direction.

The top 2 places went to CCC riders with Ben Norbury taking the victory in 21:52 from Jack Scofield 22:13. Jack Green (Velotik RT) was third in 22:52. Third place league points went to Mat Stephenson with 23:52

The ladies race was won by Sandra Griffiths (Vision Racing) 30:12 followed by our own Gill Armstong 33:12 and Lesley Norbury 34:14. The Junior/Juvenile fastest were Pro Vision teenagers Alex Coates 24:32 and Aaron Mansell 26:50

For full result click HERE.

The photo (by Adrian Pennington) shows the club members who competed. In the centre, is new member, Paul Nicholls, on his way to 29:27 just 2 days after running a marathon! Paul has done over 80 marathons and is aiming for 100.

Adrian made a video which can be viewed HERE

Thanks AP and all the event volunteers.

Decent weather for a change for this week’s evening TT. Earlier  rain did not stop a good field of 38 riders from achieving a number of personal and seasons best times.

Fastest again this week, Ben Norbury  recorded 21 minutes and 21 seconds, to win from Phillip Gleave 23:11 and Jamie Willetts (Team JMC) 23:18. Third best Congleton rider  was Mark Allen 24:11 on his road bike.

Maximum ladies league points were take by Gill Armstrong in 34:38 from Lesley Norbury in 34:34. Top junior was Andrew Burgess (Pro Vision) who recorded 25:01 with two 14 year olds next. Aaron Mansell (Pro Vision) finished in 26:22 and Ross Hooley (Innovation Trek), riding his first ever 10 mile TT in 28:47.

The club welcomed 3 new members riding. Warren Jackson (formerly Macclesfield Wheelers) was timed in 24:49, Paul Nicholls 28:12 and Steve Guard 29:15.

The event was used by Leek Cyclists Club as their 2018 10 mile championship. This was won by regular visitor Richard Coates in 24:35

See Full Result HERE

Montage by Adrian Pennington

A stiff and cold south westerly wind made it a hard ride to the turn on the Monks Heath to Boothes Hall and back route this week. Never the less some excellent times were recorded by the 28 riders who faced the time keeper.

Quickest of all was Ben Norbury in 21 minutes and 15 seconds, followed by Mike Cuming (Madison Genesis) 21:42 and Jamie Willetts (Team JMC) 22:31. Philip Gleave 22:32 and Steve Sladin 24:09 completed the Congleton C.C. “podium”

Fastest lady was Marquessa Jalbert (Macclesfield Wheelers) with 27:22. This included an off course excursion at Chelford Island on the outbound leg. The Congleton Ladies were led by Polly Wilding with 29:03 from Sue Blake with 30:04.

Best Junior this week was Andrew Burgess in 24:13 .

Full Result HERE

Adrian Pennington was out again making a video at Chelford Island. Thanks AP.

See Video HERE

Steve Sladin

It was a wet evening on Tuesday this week. Five minutes before the start we were debating calling it off because of standing water on the roads, but we ran. In the event the rain subsided just as the first rider started. Only 12 riders signed on in the conditions.

Fastest was Jack Green (Velotik RT) with 23:31, with Keith Dutton (Will Wheels) second in 23:51 and our own Steve Sladin third in 24:21. Steve was persuaded to ride, having offered to marshal, but went away happy with maximum points in the club TT league. Philip Gleave was next best in 24:31 (road bike) and Mat Stephenson, third club member in 24:38.

Toby Edwards (Huddersfield Star Whs) was best junior in 24:51. Toby and Keith Dutton had ridden out from Stockport for the event, and then rode home afterwards. That’s hard core!

Full Result HERE

Video of event HERE Thanks Adrian Pennington.

Ben Norbury (library photo by Ken Norbury)

Riders in the evening TT league on April 17th had to contend with traffic as well a stiff SW wind. The traffic was the result of an M6 incident.

Several riders were stopped including Ben Norbury and Mike Cuming (Madison Genesis). This week the stopwatch gave Ben the verdict over Mike by 1 second, 22:07 to 22:08. Paul Whittaker (Stockport Clarion C.C.) was third in 23:21. Second and third in the CCC league were Philip Gleave, this week riding a road bike to 24:27 and Mat Stephenson in 24:55.

Best of the ladies was Marquessa Jalbert (Macclefield Wheelers) in 28:12, from Polly Wilding  31:03 and Sue Blake 31:33. Third Congleton lady was Gill Armstrong in 34:51

The juniors were headed by Alex Coates in 24:58 from Andrew Burgess 26:45. Both ride for Pro Vision.

For Full Result see HERE

The Club evening TT League for 2018 started this week on the Twemlow/Chelford/Twemlow course. A good field of 30 riders (15 from CCC) contested this opening event on a cold, overcast evening.

The event winner was Madison Genesis professional Mike Cuming with a time of 21 minutes and 52 seconds, riding a road bike with clip on tri bars. Second and third places were taken by our own club riders Ben Norbury (22:26) and Philip Gleave 23:33. Mark Allen 24:33 was third in the club league event.

Claire Harrison (Vision Racing) 25:36 was best lady from Janet Grintstein (Stockport Tri Club) 29:43 and Marquessa Jalbert (Macclesfield Wheelers) 29:50. The Congleton Ladies League was headed by Gill Armstrong 35:12 from Lesley Norbury 36:40.

Best Junior was Alex Coates (Pro Vision) 24:12.

Full Result HERE

Video from event HERE Thanks to Adrian Pennington. Video from two different cameras.

The club’s annual dinner and prize presentation took place last Saturday at Astbury Golf Club. After an excellent dinner, the club’s Vice Chairman Lee Wood welcomed the guests. The guest speaker was Hannah Bussey who is a writer for Cycling Weekly. She gave a very motivational account of her career path into cycling journalism. The club’s awards presentation was conducted by the racing secretary Steve Hulme, because Hannah had to leave to make a long trip to the South of England for another engagement. Enthusiastic applause accompanied each of the 17 award winners. The major winner was Ben Norbury who won all the men’s time trial trophies except those for veterans which were taken by Steve Sladin. Steve also won the Karl Austin Memorial Trophy for the most miles in TT’s with 1043 miles. The ladies TT championships were won by Sue Blake. Mark Allen was the club’s road race champion. Philip Gleave was judged the most improved rider having taken second place in the evening TT league. Other award’s were made for mens and ladies touring (Rob Waghorn and Mary Reid), club runs and overall club points (John Jervis). The Graham McCargo Memorial Audax trophy was won by Steve Smith, his achievements included The 1400 km London Edinburgh London event. Club person of the year was awarded to outgoing chairman Bob Norton, after which John Jervis presented a photographic tribute to Bob and Rob Waghorn who also retired this year after 10 yeas as Vice Chairman.

The formalities were closed by Steve Sladin, who raised a laugh whilst thanking the club and its volunteers on behalf of the award winners,
Click on the Dropbox link to see the photos.