Congleton Cycling Club

“The Cloud” (or Bosley Cloud) with Dane Valley Rail Viaduct, taken on a sunny 26th July 2013, from North Rode – just west of church.

We still have more local views in mind.

The “podium” in this weeks 10 was filled by our own club riders with Pete Smith 22:19 first, Pete Tatton 23:01 second and Ben Norbury 23:26 third. Pete Tatton maintained his lead in the seasons Bob Job points competition, which has settled into a 3 way fight between himself, Pete Smith and long time leader Wayne Powell.  On a warm, humid evening with a headwind finish, the event attracted 35 riders 23 Congleton and 12 visitors. The junior battle was won by Mark Allen 28:04 and best lady was Helen Evans 28:17.

The evening TT program has now had participation from 45 club members this season, and if visitors are counted, the number is over a hundred individuals. Feedback from visitors is always welcome. Last night a visiting rider from Coalville Whs (Leicestershire) simply said “Thanks, nice club”

For full result see here.

Just a reminder….

Joe Langford

30 riders lined up for this weeks Tuesday evening 10 on the j2/1 course starting at Monks Heath. 25 of these were Congleton C.C. riders. In muggy and deceptively tough conditions, the event winner was Pete Smith in 22:59 with Pete Tatton (getting closer), 2nd in 23:08 and Ben Norbury 3rd in 23:45. Best Junior this week was Joe Langford 28:09 with best lady Beth Eardley in 31:51.
As ever the event was well marshalled, and on behalf of the club, we thank all those who help at the events each week, particularly those who are not members.
Full results can be seen here

Pete Tatton

This week’s club 25 on Tuesday took place on the J8/15 course starting near the Chain & Gate pub. Twenty members and six guests started in warm weather with light winds. The outright winner was Philip Knupfer of Manchester Wheelers (58:59). For the club points competition Jamie Willets (1:01:55) took the maximum 10 points, but Pete Tatton (1:02:28) on 9 points moved into the competition lead. Nick Dekker (1:02:38) took the 8 points. Mark Allen (1:16:08) was fastest junior, and fastest lady was Helen Evans (1:16:25). See full result here .

In case you have not heard already, Bob Norton has had a nasty accident whilst riding with Georgina (minor accident) last Thursday, up Barr Hill from Madeley. Bob rode over a strip of metal which flicked into his spokes and jammed in the front fork, causing him to dive over the handlebars. He has a broken collar bone, sore head and neck, bloody cheek and black eye – but has a good excuse to watch the TdF all day – but had to cancel their trip to Paris to see it “live”!

His helmet was smashed but Bob reckons that his injuries would have been much worse – so he will keep wearing a helmet.

All Club-Night attendees were shocked to get this news and sent their Best Wishes to Georgina and Bob for a speedy recovery!

Saturdays

From this month, we have added a second Saturday Short Club Run each month, at least for the rest of the summer. In addition to the third Saturday of the month there will now be a ride on the first Saturday of the month. This initiative actually started last Saturday (July 6th ) These rides will continue to start from the Unicorn, West Heath at 10:00 a.m.

Sundays

There appears to be interest amongst some members for a club ride at a somewhat brisker pace on Sunday rides.

The Club Committee is happy for two groups each Sunday, whenever there are sufficient riders for this to take place. We propose to operate a pilot for the rest of the summer. If the demand is confirmed, we will make it a permanent feature of the club run program.

From this Sunday (July 14th ), we will offer two rides on Sundays.

‘A’ Ride. The intended pace is perhaps 2 mph faster than the traditional club ride at 15 – 17 mph average for a flat Cheshire Plain ride, slower for hilly rides..
‘B’ Ride. This will continue at the current pace which is 13 – 15 mph average on flat terrain.
The idea is simple: The Runs list, café destination will apply to both rides and normally on a similar route with an extra loop of say 4-5 miles for the ‘A’ ride.

Both rides will meet at 09:30 with the ‘A’ ride going off a couple of minutes ahead.

To be successful, each time two groups are formed; we will need a second ‘leader’ or navigator so it will help if members check the destination and envisage a route the day before. For the next 2 Sundays Bill Boynton has volunteered.

Club etiquette

The same rules apply to all Club Runs, so please read the attached “Rules and Etiquette of Club Runs” which were approved at the last committee meeting. In particular the principle of “pace of the slowest” will apply.

How will I know if there will be two groups on Sunday?

You won’t know in advance. We’ll see who turns up, and if there are no more than 8, then we’ll probably ride as one “slower” group If a bigger group shows up, we’ll quickly see whether we have enough members for two groups and have someone willing to lead a faster group.

Remember, this is not about training. The idea will be of benefit if it increases the total number of members turning out on club runs.

Tristan Roberts

This weeks club 10 on Tuesday took place in a very warm and somewhat airless conditions. Thirty nine riders took the start, twenty three from the club and sixteen visitors. Fastest time was 22:29 done by Ed Moss visiting from Beacon R.C.C. Ed was a club member back in the 80’s. He beat our own Pete Smith by 10 seconds in second place. Next club finishers were Pete Tatton 23:18 and Wayne Powell 23:22, continuing their battle in the season long Bob Job Point competition, which Pete Smith now leads.
Amongst the juniors, Tristan Roberts riding only his second 10 of the season improved to 28:28 beating Joe Langford by 3 seconds with Mark Allen 29:21 and Harry Akers Smith riding for the first time this year fourth.
See full result here

Bill Bradley Memorial.

Bill, Stephen, Bob, Mark

On Sunday 7th of July the scheduled club run started at Chipping in Lancashire and traveled via Slaidburn over Catlow Fell and Tatham Fell to High Bentham and on the Ingleton for lunch, where we were joined by Phil Allen. It awes an absolutely glorious day with temperatures in the mid 20’s.. The riders were Mark Allen, Bill Boynton, Stephen Kane and Bob Norton. After lunch a slightly flatter stretch took the group west though Wray before turning south at Quernmore to climb over to the Trough of Bowland. There were magnificent views over Morecombe Bay. We had a brief stop at the top of the pass on the way out of the Trough to pay homage to Bill Bradley, winner of the Tour of Britain in 1959 and 60, who has a memorial stone there. We arrived back in Chipping via Dunsop Bridge after a strenuous but enjoyable day of about 63 miles with about 5500 feet of vertical ascent. The photographs show the group on Tatham fell with a vista of North Yorkshires 3 peaks Ingleborough, Penygent and Whernside as a back drop.

Pete Tatton

This weeks club 10 on the J2/1 was a very wet one. The rain started soon after the first rider. The fastest time was set by sixteen year old Joe Evans, a visitor from Hargrove Cycles R.T. with 21:33. Joe is the current GHS schoolboy 10 mile champion. Once again Pete Smith took maximum points in the club competition with 23:38 to move level with Wayne Powell 24:43 in the season long series. Pete Tatton was 2nd club rider on the night with 24:25. and is now a close 3rd on points. Fastest of the club teenagers this week was Mark Allen who beat Joe Langford by a single second.
The poor conditions made for slippery roads and two riders slid off, with Ben Norbury and Paul Turner coming down at Booths Hall roundabout . Both got up to finish. Ben was on a new bike. Hope its OK!

See full result here.

The second leg of our inter club 25 mile TT with Macclesfield Wheelers took place yesterday, on a mild but overcast evening. The 25 had to be abandoned because of road works in Chelford. the event was switched to a 13.3 mile course from Monks Heath to Congleton and back. Macclesfield Wheelers were carrying lead of 14:42 from the first leg and once again came out on top, but this time the margin was only 3:59.

Individually the top two positions went to Macclesfield Wheelers with Adam Bailey recording 29:37 and Steve Burke 30:09. Pete Smith was our first counter in 31:30 for fourth place. The aggregate times for each clubs best 6 riders were Macclesfield Wheelers 3:11:51 with Congleton C.C 3:15:50. There was an excellent turn out of both riders and event volunteers. There were 38 competitors, 20 Congleton, 10 Macclesfield and 8 visitors.

The club must thank 13 volunteers who helped the event run smoothly and safely.

The full result can be found here

Wayne Powell. Points Comp Leader

Tuesday June 18th was another good one for a fast 10 mile TT on the JC5 course. Thirty two riders riders participated of whom 21 were Congleton Club members. The fastest club rider was once again Pete Smith in 22:34, with Wayne Powell 23:20 just beating Pete Tatton and Mike Jones who both recorded 23:22 to second place. The fastest time set was 21:58 by Steve Burke of Macclesfield Wheelers. A lot of riders returned PB’s on a still, but rather warm and humid evening. Mark Allen was the fastest junior with a PB time of 27:27 ahead of Sam French and Joe Langford, both doing PB’s as well.
See full result here.

Next Tuesday (June 25th) is the second leg of the Karl Austin Inter Club 25 with Macclesfield Wheelers. They are carrying a lead from the first leg, so we need all of our fast riders to compete this time.

This weeks club 10 was on the Gawsworth course (JC5). The evening was bright with a southerly breeze, which helped on the way back from the Congleton turn. Thirty seven riders faced the timekeeper with the fastest being Scott Burns of the Manchester Wheelers Club in 20:46. Many riders returned either personal bests or seasons or course best times in the good conditions. Steve Hulme was quickest Congleton rider in 22:06 but was hard pressed by Pete Smith who improved his PB to 22:10, following his PB 50 mile TT in a VTTA event (promoted by Peter Hayhurst), at the weekend where he beat 2 hours with 1:59:46. The third home finisher in the 10 was Pete Tatton in 23:25 closely followed by Wayne Powell 23:31 and Charlie Evans in 23:39.

See full result here

Hi everyone. Due to a clash on the Chelford course for next week (18th June), we have had to swap the course with the Gawsworth event which was on 2nd July.

18/06/13  now GAWSWORTH 10

02/07/13 now CHELFORD 10

Please pass this information on to other TT riders you may see.

Mow Cop from layby on A34, between Moreton and Scholar Green, on 2nd June 2013

This is an annual event on the Chelford / Knutsford / Cranage Circuit

Fantastic times were achieved and many P.B.’s were broken with a field of 44 riders in this Macclesfield Wheelers promotion. Fastest overall was Steve Burke, Macclesfield Wheelers, with 55:44.

The times of our Club Members were: Pete Smith, 58:59; Pete Tatton, 1:00:45; Jamie Willetts, 1:01:56; Wayne Powell, 1:02:33; Mike Jones, 1:02:34: Kelvin Milward, 1:03:08; Steve Jackson, 1:03:42; Jim Stringer, 1:05:00; Ben Norbury, 1:05:23; Mike Line, 1:07:14; Nick Decker, 1:10:09; Andy Farr, 1:15:55; Paul Turner, 1:17:02; Sue Blake, 1:18:07; Sam French, 1:18:10; John Broadhurst, 1:18:54; Dave Hurst, 1:24:36; Joe Langford, 1:24:43.

See also full results.

A remarkable 11 members and 6 guests turned out in unseasonably  cool and wet weather for the 10 mile Gawsworth event. Fastest was guest Will Thomas (Velocity WD40) in 22:31. Pete Tatton took maximum points as fastest member in 23:59. Fastest club junior was, once again, Sam French in 29:23.
See full results

Ken Norbury (Ben’s father) has been taking some excellent pictures of riders in action during our recent club TT events. He has kindly given us permission to link to his master album containing a set of albums for each event, starting with the Gawsworth 10 mile on 30 April and (to date) also covering the next three events.

I have put a link to Ken’s Album system in the Photos-2013 tab for future access, but for immediate viewing, just click on the following: Ken Norbury’s Congleton CC Time Trial Album .

I’m sure all our TT riders join me in passing our thanks to Ken for his fine work and kind permission to link the pictures.