CYCLE CLUB BEXLEY

Wednesday 23rd. April.

A good start to the series with 16 riders turning out plus one tandem pair on a sunny evening. A bit of a chill wind was blowing from the east which was making itself felt as the setting sun lost its power, but riders soon warmed up once they got going. Nobody found the going easy, but while trundling my trike through Kingsdown appearing to be racing about 7 riders passed me within a couple of hundred yards. This later presented Anne with a bit of a massed-start finish. No riders were missed however and my trike was timed in just in front of the tandem.

As ever, please mail me with any corrections except anything concerning times!! On that the timekeepers decision is final no matter how fast you think you were going

Wednesday 30th. April.

Another good week with 18 riders turning up but, oh, what a change in the weather. A chilly, blustery, cloudy evening with always the threat of a shower. We could not decide which would be the hard direction before the start but many agreed at the finish that every direction was hard. It was a particularly difficult grind to the first turn however, and the finish along the Eynsford road would have probably been much harder if not for the shelter of the trees. At least the rain did keep away though.

A special congratulations to our new young rider Wayne Herron who was riding his first event. It was not so long ago that a 10 mile ride would have been a marathon to him. Let's hope that in a few years he will be our "fast man".

Times were a little down reflecting the hard conditions but it hardly seemed to affect some riders

Wednesday 7th. May.

Apologies for being over a week late in getting these results up on the website. I am getting a bit overwhelmed with jobs at the moment. I have almost forgotten what the conditions were like but I seem to remember that it was dry but still a bit windy with a hard grind to the turn. Things did not seem better on the way back, but it never is with that road surface. You really feel it on a trike. The only way to reduce the discomfort is to go faster so you can float over the rough surface. My poor old legs do not seem to respond however!

A good field again with 24 riders this time. We are really grateful for this support. Chris Parlett took No 1 again with his club, the Gemini BC taking the first 3 places. Well done chaps! Wayne Herron, our young newcomer, made a great improvement in his second race. Have we a new champion in the making?

Wednesday 14th. May.

A terrible change in the weather this week with numbers down just to prove it. At the time we were in the middle of a squally period but the met office promised us a reasonable Wednesday afternoon/evening and Thursday morning. Although the wind had dropped by the evening, a black cloud gathered over us at the start and just stuck there menacing us. It decided to empty its contents just as No 1 started thus ensuring everyone was greeted with a cold soaking on reaching Kingsdown. A thoroughly wet and cold ride with lots of surface water to worry about until about a mile from the finish after which there was not, and had not been, much rain.

Some good rides however with G. Bryant winning who together with P. Elms pushed C. Partlett into third place this week. However, Chris arrived at the start with one minute to spare after rushing from work at Charlton. Nineteen miles in 47 minutes is claimed. He was reported as saying "I was nackered". Never mind Chris, you can't win them all! Wayne again improved. We will have to keep an eye on him!

I rode back to the clubroom, as usual, to open up. (in fact in the area of our clubroom there had been no rain at all) All were then treated with the perfume of my drying socks over the gas fire set at a temperature close to sock ignition point in order to have a reasonably comfortable ride home after we closed up!

Wednesday 21st. May.

Yours truly did not ride out this evening as I had picked up a dose of food poisoning the day before after a day trip to France. I understand that the light was bad and the rain started to fall, thus making things a bit dangerous, so the event was called off. I myself knew none of this as, if I was not groaning away in bed, I spend most of my waking time sitting on the lavatory.

Wednesday 28th. May.

Ah!! Summer at last, at least for this evening however. A bright warm evening with a bit of a headwind breeze out to the turn, but not too much to grovel against. Some new riders tonight who are still in time to gain one of our promotional coffee mugs if they are not put off by the pot holes round the course.

Some good rides tonight and I am pleased that, at last, I cracked evens on the trike. Did not expect this as I still felt weak through lack of food over the past week due to my bug. That Wayne Herron is creeping up! Can't let him catch me, not at least until he has a racing bike.

Wednesday 4th. June.

Another warm evening, although not as promising as last week. After a morning of persistant rain the weather cleared up in the early afternoon and the course had dried out by the start of the event. Clouds did appear, but they eventually rolled away and left us with a dry evening.

We thought we would be short of numbers as the Gemini BC were holding a Massed Start event around the Brands Hatch circuit. Many riders passed us by, presumably on their way to ride or watch the event, but we did end up with a good field of 22 riders.

It was not an easy evening with the air rather warm and heavy. There seemed to be a bit of a headwind to the turn and again on the Eynsford road on the last mile, but there did not appear to be a helping wind. Congratulations to P. Elms on his win tonight. Wayne would have made another improvement had he not shipped his chain. His first frustration in a time trial!

Wednesday 11th. June.

A pleasant warm and sunny evening to welcome 19 riders to our evening 10 tonight. It was a bit breezy but not windy. Enough wind to ensure it was not a "float" evening. It seemed to retard me on the way back from the turn than it has in other weeks, but maybe it's my poor old legs protesting!

Congratulations to Chris Parlett with a well deserved win with a repeat fastest time this year. (He did a 22 min 02 sec on 7th. May) Congratulations to Pete Holbrough also for registering his first plus this year. Unfortunately J. Knight punctured and did not finish.

Wednesday 18th. June.

Rather an overcast evening this evening with a bit of a strong breeze. There was much discussion over which way it was blowing, but as it turned out we seemed to face it in all directions. It was hard to the turn and was in the face along the Eynsford road so it was probably a bit of a South Easterly. The rain did keep off however and it was chilly, but not cold.

Congratulations to Reg Smith on his win tonight pushing Chris into second place. Reg did not beat Chris's series best time of 22 min 02 sec for this year however.

Don't forget that there is no event next week, whatever the weather. We shall all be at our clubroom tucking in to some good nosh and wine at our bar-be-cue. For a contribution of £4.00 you will be welcome to come and join us. It will help us to plan if you can advise in advance if you are likely to come along.

Wednesday 2nd July.

Rather a disappointing evening. Although still very humid and a lot of cloud and rain about during the day it seemed that we might have been ok for the evening. There was a violent storm crossing from London to Kent at around 6:00 to 7:00 pm however which left the roads wet with no clearing skies giving no confidence that another storm will not follow. Five keen riders did turn up however and we did decide to chance the event. It remained dry although there was a lot of surface water to contend with.

Wednesday 9th. July.

Probably the best evening in the series so far, and many times reflected this. A warm day with the sun shining for most of the time. A cloud cover was in place during the event which may have threatened rain if the forcast was not so confident that it would stay dry. It did stay dry, the cloud serving only to provide some welcome shade in the windless conditions.

I cannot recall if there was a fire in SE London just after 7:30 on Wednesday evening, but I suspect our two London Fire Brigade riders were in a hurry to get back for something seeing as they took the first two places. Well done chaps. Don't forget you can still win a league placing and medal (CC Bexley riders) or one of our super teamugs with our logo emblazened on it (non-CC Bexley riders) if you have not ridden eight but at least two events. If you have not yet ridden two we would still welcome you ride any of those remaining for the sheer exhilarating fun of it!

Wednesday 16th. July.

The recent heat wave started to come to an end today, but it did not end as dramatically for us as was predicted by the Met. Office. After a sunny start to the day it soon became cloudy and rained for much of the day, although without the thunderstorms that were predicted. The clouds then rolled away and by the start of the event it turned out to be a fine, warm, sunny evening with only the odd puddle around. There was a bit of a headwind to the turn however, which made the hard leg of the course even harder.

Despite the inviting evening only 11 people turned out for the event. No doubt the holiday season is under way and many, we know, are visiting the Tour of France. It was good to see Richard Goodchild, one of our founder members, out to see us and having a go at a "10" while he has a few days off work. Hope to see you again soon Richard. Wayne Herron entered on a borrowed bike, but punctured on his "warm up". As the bike was borrowed he did not have the means to repair so he could not start. He gained a point on his entry however. Well done Chris on your win and well done Peter on being the first to qualify for our sensational promotional teamug!

Wednesday 23rd. July.

Despite the forecast of a wet afternoon and evening it remained dry but rather cloudy for tonight's event. It was warm, but a stiff south westerly breeze was blowing which slowed some but left others unaffected.

Congratulations to Chris on winning this evening, and well done Wayne Herron for a pb. Only 29 seconds off evens and still only 14. Yours Truly shipped my chain less than a mile after the start. Was giving the first but slight downhill stretch just past Brands some real welly in top gear when I hit a rough patch on the road and found myself in a 0 inch gear. Lots of messing around and lowering gears probably cost me a 29 and maybe a pb as I went well afterwards. Don't know what happened to Pete Holbrough though but at least he got one point.

Wednesday 30th. July.

Another Wednesday where the forecast left us in doubt as to whether the event would be run. As it turned out it was cloudy and a few spots of rain came down, but no showers materialised. It was warm and there was no significant wind signifying a fast evening.

Gemini BC took the one, two and three positions tonight with some good rides. Well done everyone.

Please note that from next week the event starts at 7.00 pm. This was shown in error as 7:30 on our "Evening 10's" page until this week.

Wednesday 6th. August.

It really was a hot one today with, according to the news, Gravesend being the hottest place in the country recording 36.4 degrees C, 0.7 degree short of the highest temperature recorded in the UK at Cheltenham in 1990. We were about 10 miles away on the North Downs, with the power of the evening sun waning but the heat still high. It was a still evening, but the warm conditions made the heavy air hard to push against and everyone was sweating at the smallest effort.

A good field turned out however with some good rides. Yours truly shipped his chain again almost opposite to where I did the same two weeks ago on the outward leg. Must have a go at the DTI about the road surface on the A20 which is the root cause of this happening.

Wednesday 13th. August.

Apologies to all those waiting in anticipation for the results to appear on the web. My modem blew up after a lightning strike. I have now fitted a new modem, changed my charred clothing and straightened out my frizzled hair and am now catching up with the website.

It was a warm evening again with no threat of rain. Two other trikes joined me including new TA member Mark Vowels, who showed us how it should be done with an excellent 26 min 09 sec. (He was the Kent CA champion a few years back though. That's my excuse.) At least I beat Bill, which, even though he has 10 more years than me, is not usually the case.

Also joining us was a tandem and a recumbent. The recumbent was sent off No. 1 with me as No. 2 as Anne thought he would be slow! I did catch him before the turn but he came back down the Goss passing me like a rocket. Even 22 min man Mr. Fenton who passed me soon afterwards had trouble catching him. Only a fracow with traffic at the left turn prevented him beating me. Anne now has second thoughts on the speed of recumbents.

Congratulations to C. Millett for a good win and well done all riders for some good rides. Don't forget that next week is our last ride for this year.

Wednesday 20th. August.

Well! the good news is that at least part of the bad road surface along our course will be relaid for our series next year. The bad news is that they had to start this week. About 300 yards of road between "The Portabello" and the turn had been scraped away in both directions making the surface even rougher than normal with raised drain covers and ramps at either end to contend with. Apart from this it was a reletively warm dry evening with a slight wind helping us to the turn. In my opinion the best evening of the series as well as the last one. This produced a good field with some fast rides, half the field recording sub. 25 minute rides. (There appeared to be no 25 minute men this week however) Well done Chris for heading this group of fast men

Our new junior, Wayne Herron, just missed out on evens after riding his first event with his feet clamped to the pedals. Took the advice at last, pity he missed out by 5 seconds, but look out everyone next year!

No more 10s this year, but if you want to ride our hillclimb and freewheel contest next Wednesday evening you are welcome to come. This is a club event, but there will be no entry fees if you want to ride. Meet at Stanstead War Memorial ( OS ref. TQ 609623) by 7.00 pm.

It just remains for us to thank all riders who rode in the series this year, and to those who helped out by marshalling, timekeeping or just supporting. Good luck, happy cycling and hope to see you again next year.

Wednesday 27th. August.

No 10 tonight, but all were invited to ride our hillclimb on Stanstead Hill. No entry fee for this, riders could have this pleasure for nothing. Following the Hillclimb all were also invited to the freewheel contest. The object is to gather speed down the hill without pedalling and see how far you can go up the hill on the other side using the momentum aquired by the aforesaid, at the same time, trying to better Mick Morris.

We all struggled up the hill in the following times:-

Mick Morris won the Freewheel contest after a gentlemanly gesture by Chris Bramwell. Mick was held up on the way down the hill, thus being denied the necessary acceleration. Chris, the initial winner, did not want to profit from Mick's bad luck and offered to rerun the course against Mick. Second time down, Mick had no problems.

Could J Knight, G. Bryant and A. Beswetherick contact me to make arrangement to collect their coffee mugs.