OUR RIDERS DIARY'S

PAOLO COPPO - Web site link to Paolo s climbs website

http://ridewithugo.xtreemhost.com/ / Follow this link to the Paolo web site of Italian and French climbs

ANDREW - Blenheim Bike TT

5.00am - and the alarm goes off; the alarm that makes such a terrible noise that I only use it when I really can't afford to oversleep; an alarm so loud that it wakes Adam, a man renowned for being able to sleep through anything, in the next room, which is ok because he has foolishly agreed to be the other member of the advance party leaving Nicola and Liz to enjoy an extra hour of sleep. I look out of the window - no sign of that fog they forecast.

5.45am - the car is loaded, 2 bikes in the back and 2 on the roof, and we can barely see the bonnet of the car through the fog. The journey is a nightmare with visibility reduced to almost nothing but not to worry because the forecast is better for the Oxford area.

6.30am - and we've made it to Blenheim Palace. The fog is no better here than in Aylesbury and the car is kindly informing me that it's 3°C outside. We make our way to the signing on tent, retrieve our numbers and retreat to the car where we do our part for global warming by putting the heater on.

7.10am - and I'm starting to think I should warm up a bit for my 7.33 start but it's still only 4°C outside and Adam, topless and trying to pin numbers to his shirt, complains bitterly every time I open the door so I stay inside and enjoy the warmth for a couple more minutes. After hurriedly putting the bike together we make our way over to the start where, unable to find the designated warm-up area in the fog, I make do with 2 or 3 lengths of the 50 metre stretch of road near the start. At this point Allan Simmonds rides out of the fog - he's managed to brave the cold and get out to test the course. His advice is to take it easy due to the technical nature of the course and the weather. He also mentions a 'slight climb'. By this time it is 7.31 and time to line up at the start.

7.32.30am - and I have a minute to go. A bit of banter with the push-off man, reset the computer and the timekeeper calls 30 seconds. I get into the pedals, settle down on the saddle and decide to ignore Allan's advice about taking it easy. 5... Hope I remembered to find a sensible gear. 4... 3... 2... 1... GO - and I'm off. The starting straight joins the circuit after about 50 metres but as the 7th rider off I don't need to worry about riders coming from my left. A right and left combination take me round what I know to be the palace though I can't see it through the fog and then it's right onto the wide drive down to the Grand Bridge. Crossing the bridge, though in this weather I can't see what it's a bridge over, a slight left takes me on to a gently undulating section. I look down - 24mph - that'll do. The signs before the next turn say Caution and Slow Down so despite knowing they are intended for the afternoon leisure rides I heed their advice and take it easy through the technical downhill left hand turn before flying across the cattle grid at the bottom and onto an uphill slope. This must be Allan's climb - oh well, it can't be that bad. A minute later I'm out of the saddle, grinding my way up what seems to be a never-ending hill. I look down - 12mph - this isn't good but I can see 2 riders ahead of me so I've got a target now. Finally I reach the top and, in a rare occurence, there is the kind of downhill you long for after a hard climb, long and fast. Descending at speeds above 35mph the two riders in my view are not going to stay ahead of me for long and as I come out of the woods the sun finally puts in an appearance and provides the inspiration to catch both guys before the narrow bridge that takes you back to the palace side of the estate. Just as I’m feeling like my ride can't get any better I turn into the long finish straight and find 2 more riders within reach. By the time I cross the finish line for the first of my three laps I have caught 4 of the 6 riders who started ahead of me and though Adam, Liz and Nicola are nowhere to be seen I take great encouragement from the woman who shouts ‘Don’t stop’ as I go through. Halfway around lap two I’m down to 10mph up the climb, having learned nothing about finding the correct gear since lap one, but I have another rider who started ahead of me in sight. The course is getting quite crowded now and riders who are on lap one occasionally pass on my right but that single digit number on the rider 150 metres ahead keeps me focused. Coming out of the woods for the second time there is less fog, more sun and I can almost feel my fingers – things are on the up. As I cross the finish line for the second time my fan club have showed up and give me the encouragement to keep the power on as I enter the final lap. Halfway round lap three I’m down to 8mph on the hill and wondering why I didn’t think about the gears before it was too late – oh well, just keep going now. As I cross the narrow bridge with about a mile to go I remember to find the right gear for the small rise and maintain 21mph in to the final straight. I cross the finish line, hand my numbers over and collect my well-earned bottle of Lemon Gatorade and out-of-date CTT handbook. 37 minutes and 48 seconds – slower than I expected but the course was so much harder than I thought it would be. Allan Simmonds – obviously taking it easy – comes in 10 minutes later to record 33.47 – maybe it was too much to ask that he really did take it easy.

9.00 – 50 minutes have passed and it’s almost warm enough to feel my feet. The bike is safely back in the car and it’s time to watch Adam and Nicola set off. Neither has ever taken part in a time trial before which has given them the benefit of a far more reasonable start time. Starting a minute apart Adam’s biggest worry is getting caught by Nicola. Liz and I take the time to take photos and shout abuse as they set off and then it’s over to the finish line to watch them come through. At the end of lap one Adam has taken about four minutes from Nicola; lap two and the gap isn’t really growing. At the finish line Adam clocks 45.28 and Nicola gets 53.22 so everyone is happy to have set a respectable time and nobody’s been embarrassed by getting beaten unexpectedly.

10.30 – and we’re waiting for the result of Michael Hutchinson’s ride. Having watched him across the finish line my chances that he wouldn’t try so I could beat him are not looking good and soon it’s confirmed as he sets 26.51.

The rest of the day is spent watching the road race that is won by David Clarke of Team Lacuna whose break with Matthew Stephens of Sigma Sport stays away to the finish. Then it’s the Brompton World Championships. The event itself is a little dull given that they have to stagger the start and use transponders to record the times but the start is a real spectacle with hundreds of riders in shirt, tie and jacket rushing across a muddy field to assemble their bikes before setting off. Finally came the leisure ride and, as expected, the course is filled with riders and bikes of every shape and size. After one lap of avoiding children who stop in the middle of the road and groups riding four abreast Liz announces that 6.5km is enough cycling for her and we head to the cars and home.

In all it was a fantastic event with something for everyone to enjoy. The routes were all well signed and marshaled for both competition and the leisure rides. My only criticism would be the size of the time trial field, which made the course quite crowded at times, but no-one I spoke to felt that this had affected their time.

If they run another next year, and I hope they will, I will be there and I hope we can see a good turnout of competing Amersham RCC members.

Andrew Cowburn

SIMON - Circuit of kent sportive

Well the early start and trek around the M25 gave a good indicator of how many Sportives were being run on the 14th September. Plenty of cars, laden with bikes peeling off for the A3 and the Southern Sportive, (well done all of you who completed it, a good result and turn-out by the club).

Continuing east the sky cleared and there were still a few cars with road-bikes aloft as I drove into Sevenoaks at 8:00am. I rode the 140Km Circuit of Kent for the first time, last year. Having grown up in the south eastern suburbs of London, this area of the Weald and North Downs is very much my old stomping ground when I used to ride & race back in my late teens. Not too dissimilar to the Chilterns, the North Downs has a good selection of short tough climbs but the Weald is vast and very varied but has some gorgeous cycling countryside.

The team of Rotary Club members were out in force as usual at the Godden Green School, ensuring everything went to plan and by 9:05am we were off. The first few miles were pretty chilly and we had the added obstacles of a bunch of mini Triathlon riders riding part of our course in reverse and all looking very determined. By 10-miles or so we'd warmed up and were tackling the first of the climbs and were out of the tri-bar traffic. Fortunately we'd recovered from the climb and were bowling along on the flat when a rider from the Addiscombe C.C. snapped his chain right in front of me and deposited it just to the right of my front wheel. I don't want to experience that again.

The hills of the Weald beckoned and we got into a good rhythm, slowly heading further up through the field until we made contact with a mixed group of 4 other riders from Sevenoaks who were all working well together. Latching on to this group from about the 25mile mark we made good progress at a steady 20mph all doing turns, with the size of the group occasionally changing as others joined and dropped away. The countryside was busy with farming machinery, the Farmers making the most of the good weather and harvesting for all they were worth. After the first massive tractor appeared at speed round the bend of a country lane everyone stayed very aware.

The heat of the day meant we'd used all our bidons by the 60-mile marks and unfortunately we had to stop to refuel, leaving what remained of the group to head up the road without us. Despite the brief stop and much needed water, the remaining miles after the last feed station were tough without the shelter of the group. The miles rolled by, the combines harvested away with no sign at all of Ma or Pa Larkin! We started to focus on the clock, (& think about Catherine Zeta-Jones laying over straw bales. Easy now.).

Last year we missed Gold by 6-mins and were pretty determined not to fail this year, but it was looking tight and we had no illusions about the final climb, 3Km from the finish out of Underiver. Through Hadlow we went and climbed up out of the Medway flood plain back into lumpy stuff with 10-miles to go. A few riders started to pass us, (hang-on, this isn't supposed to happen) don't worry said Rob, we'll catch them all on Underiver. You're either taking the piss or feeling in good form today I thought, I said little and rode on, (please don't let anyone remotely resembling Miss Zeta-Jones walk out of a wheat field now).

We finally reached the foothills and the village sign of Underiver. GULP, nearly over, elapsed time? when did we start? what time is it now? The pain gradually increased. "Only a few minutes of pain" said Rob, Oh, so not as bad being balled out by the wife when I don't rinse the washing-up bowl out! Then, hold-on there's some of the fellas Rob said we'd catch. Satisfaction, we caught and passed them on the final climb even though we were in bottom gear, grovelling up this bastard of a climb in the blazing sun. Then the gradient increased.

The final 200m were hell, you think you're going to be sick but are just too exhausted.

Over the top we went, still riding side by side, egging one another on and within a few seconds into the big-ring. Got to get Gold. We tore down the final kilometre and back into the school grounds, straight under the finish line to be confronted with a 10-year old schoolgirl saying, "Have a rosette." I wanted to say, "I'm not a bloody horse even if I do smell like one." but I'd have been lynched by the hordes of Rotary Club members and forfeited my Country Vegetable Soup!

We did it, Rob was 29th in our category and I was 30th, (out of about 150 in the 40-49 age group) clocking 4-hours 9-mins and getting Gold with 9-mins to spare. The warm Kentish sun felt good at last.

Simon Long

BRIAN - In the Alps

I got so fed up with the miserable weather here at the end of August I took myself off to Venosc, a small mountain village about 10 miles from the foot of Alpe d’Huez for e few days. I often stay at Chalet Michelle, a cyclists chalet run by an English couple.

The weather was superb and I got in a few good rides. Day one took me up the winding roads through Villard Reculas and I eventually came out at turn 6 on Alpe d’Huez. It takes a day to get over the journey down and to get used to the effects of high altitude but there is nothing so bracing as flying down the 21 hairpin bends of the Alpe singing at the top of your voice!

Day two saw me tackle the monster of the Croix de Fer. It is 20 miles from bottom to top and goes over the top of the Col du Glandon on the way. It rises to 2000 metres with gradients of 12%. How those guys in the Tour fly up there at top speed I will never understand.On day 3 I rode Alpe d’Huez from bottom to top. My previous best time was 1 hour 19 minutes. Sadly I could only manage i.26 this time. Old age and too much red wine the night before were my downfall.

To overcome my disappointment I did a major ride on day 4. Leaving Bourg d’Oisans I rode up the Col du Lautaret to the bottom of Les Deux Alpes and then turned left up a 12% 15 mile climb to the Col de Sarenne at 2000 metres. This is actually behind Alpe d’Huez and you descend from Sarenne to the top of the Alpe. By the time I got there I really needed that Jambon sandwich!

On my last day the heavens opened and the roads flooded. As I could not ride my bike I did the next best thing and spent a few hours in the famous bike shop in Bourg d’Oisans. There goes next weeks pension!

What a wonderful place to visit. I would recommend it to anyone looking for some real challenges on their bike

Brian Chapman

DARREN - Silverstone Circuit / Macmillan charity night

"The old theme tune from BBC1’s Grand Prix coverage was running through my head as I lined up on the grid at Silverstone on Tuesday night; you know the one – dum, dum dum, etc

It was raining and the wind was blowing but I didn’t care as I set off down the pit straight. As I round Copse, BAM, the wind hits me straight in the face and I lose 10 kmh. There are a lot of people riding the circuit as I continue towards Maggots, ranging from families with toddlers, lots of hybrids/mountain bikes and lycra clad roadies like myself.

Ahead I spy a guy on a white Planet X time trial machine – time for some competition. I hit the drops, up the cadence and in no time I’m passing him on the outside as we round Becketts through Chapel and on to Hangar Straight.

Fighting the fierce headwind crouched as low as can be I make the corner at Stowe and am rewarded with a tailwind now. In the distance I recognise a Wycombe jersey – my next victim. Time to put the hammer down again. With the aid of the tail wind I’m soon cruising at 44 kmh around Vale and Club, catching him before we reach Abbey.

I keep the speed up down the Farm straight and around Bridge to the technical combination of left, left and right around Priory, Brooklands and Luffield. I keep the power on entering the final bend of Woodcote and cross the line in a little over 11 minutes.

Victory is mine!"

Darren Mills

PAOLO - ARCC Weekend away / Stow on the wold

Where should I start? Oh yes, it all fell apart after just 4 miles, when Andy Lane suffered a puncture and nobody bothered to stop and wait for him. We all agreed instead to slow the pace and decided to stop and wait after about 25 miles, just before a scheduled coffee stop, as it appeared to make more sense this way. Perhaps we were all fearing the usual cascade of punctures which regularly affect every single Sunday ride, but no, it was pretty much the only one of the day (I’ve said pretty much, Sam!).

But probably I should start from the start. We all met well on time as agreed in Great Missenden and left on schedule, as the sun was nearly shining after seven days of uninterrupted shades of grey… then after 4 miles… have I said about the puncture bit already?

Oh well, then we arrived somewhere along the way, at a farm to be more precise, where we had a cup of coffee and an injection of solid calories, as kids were picking strawberries from the fields. We were instead more interested in their mothers daring cleavages.

A few more pedal revs and we were again eating, at a corner shop in "Whateverville". After lunch the inevitable happened: the dreaded hill materialised, a 5% drag that for British Standards went on forever. On top we had enough time to pick some berries for dessert, as we were waiting for the chairman to appear, in an already sweat drenched club kit, shame nobody thought of taking cream.

This was where we decided to sort the men from the boys and the former continued through the hills to land in Bourton on the Water. For the occasion even the sun came out and we joined kids and dogs in a paddle in the river, much to the disappointment of the locals.

A few more hills, namely the Tourmalet and the Hautacam and we finally made it to Stow on the Wold, where we were cheered by the Chairman, who was already sipping his second lager of the day.

Checked in the rather pleasant youth hostel, which had little to do with my reminiscence of youth hostels around Europe, where the most likely memories you could take away with you were verrucas or sexually transmitted diseases, or both.

To make things easier, our excellent ride organiser (one of the many Andrews) had booked dinner at the local pub, a few inches away from the hostel. We had a pleasant enough meal, with Italian food cooked by a Turkish chef and served by a polish waitress, almost a cliché these days. All this while the village fool was dancing his way through the night.

The stony town had little to offer for the night and only Darren managed to get back late and drunk. We had a couple of drinks enjoying an improvised beer garden facing the main road and went to bed after realising that the much promised late BBQ was not going to be.

After a value for money breakfast at the hostel, we set off without the chairman, cheered by an almost immediate summery shower followed by the usual summery miserable day.

W.ith the country roads made slippery by the rain, we had a bit of rodeo fun and Andy Lane had a bit too much fun and ended knocked out in Amir Khan’s fashion at a nasty corner. As he wasn’t bleeding too badly, we set off after lunch without him, leaving his doom in the hands of Divine providence and made our speedy way back in a crescendo of speed and competitiveness

We got back to Great Missenden just before a river dam collapsed over Buckinghamshire.

The good news is, we’ll do it again next year, because it was fun!

Paolo Coppo

CAMERON - South Coast Classic Triathlon

Early Saturday morning standing barefoot on a shingle beach staring out to sea with another 160 rubber clad people waiting for the whistle and a dash into the surf - this is the start of the Olympic distance South Coast Classic Triathlon.
The 1500m open water swim has the added excitement of being in the sea with a noticeable current and a challenging swell. The 42km bike laps back and forth on a windswept promenade, the 10km run is next to the beach huts, martello tower and ice cream stalls.
I try to do at least one triathlon a year to mix up the bike training. The South Coast Classic is run at Seaford, I have done it 3 times now and it has always been friendly and well organised. The course is flat but exposed, as long as the weather is kind you can post some reasonable times. The sea swim is a great way of getting out of your comfort zone. Open water triathlon swimming is always a matter of jostling along with a shoal of other swimmers - unless you are Michael Phelps and going like a speed boat. In the sea you feel yourself adapting your stroke to the ebb and flow of the swell and trying to remember not to take a breath when the wave is coming at you, taking in salt water is pretty unpleasant.
The relief of completing the swim is tremendous; run into transition strip off the wet suit, onto the bike and back into more familiar territory. Keeping count on a 12 lap course as you try and blast out the miles is interesting. Not being allowed to draft into a strong headwind left me flying on the downwind leg, and then grinding the way back to the turn - wish I had put the tri bars back on the bike! Running comes as a real shock when you get off the bike, for the first 5 minutes your legs resist a normal running gait. The 10km always feels more like the latter stages of a marathon than a short sprint. At least the run is a flat 4 laps. For me just over 2 and a half hours exercise justifies a pub lunch with the family over looking the sea and the cliffs outside Newhaven. My wife completed the sprint course (750m, 21km & 5km).
From Seaford you can be back to Amersham in under 2 hours - all in all a great way to have a family day out at the seaside!

Cameron Jack

BRIAN - Majorca cycling holiday

Just to prove I could ride my bike in Majorca without falling off I went back a couple of weeks ago.

This time I stayed in Deia which is near Soller in the North of the island. I hired an Argon 18 Platinum which was excellent. The only problem was it came with Shimano gears.

Majorca is a superb place to ride your bike, the roads are in good shape and motorists are courteous. The north of the island is very hilly. To get in and out of Deia involves a long climb whichever way you leave.

The best ride was to Pollenca where we are planning to have our ARCC March 2009 training camp. The route goes over the Puig Major which, at around 3000 feet is the highest mountain on the island. In March we can perhaps do the ride from Pollenca to Soller in reverse. I was riding with Roger Batson, who upset me by pointing out that we had a combined age of 132 just as we reached the summit of the mountain!

Another good ride was to the south coast – about 80 miles. This was on a day when temperatures reached 35 degrees. It was noticeable that in the small villages there was no one about, not even a dog or cat, just two intrepid British cyclists. Its true what they say – "Mad dogs and Englishmen….."

I am looking forward to going to Majorca again in March and hope we can get up a good group from ARCC.

Brian Chapman

STEPHEN JONES - Arch 2 Arc training diary

So with my new Arch2Arc bling jersey – Thanks Andy – I have just 2 months to go before braving possibly the biggest challenge of my life so far. Currently I am doing 2 or 3 rides a week (including the commute) plus 3 or 4 swim sessions (including open water with no we suit) and 2 or 3 runs; totalling around 16hours of training which must be fitted around work, wife and daughter. Not easy. I spend a lot of my days feeling a combination of tired, hungry and a little bit sick.

Last week was a well deserved holiday in Portugal, didnt take any bikes, took the running shoes which stayed in the suitcase and swam in the sea - well untill the wind droped and i used that as an excuse to say ' its not rough enough and feels like a salty swimming pool - can i have a Cornetto and a beer please ?'

But this week it gets harder. Wednesday is a commute day so I took the geared bike (hear that Paulo?) 1hr18 for the 30 miles in. 30minutes for around 2k in the pool and that was before work! Then it’s a hop back on the bike for a 1h 28 back (traffic) and a 5k run. Closely followed by the shivers and that nausea feeling I mentioned earlier.

I am feeling fitter, and have an open water swim (3.5k) and two Olympic distance triathlons pencilled in for this month – so my appearance at any of the rides is looking unlikely. But I am tempted by a Monday cool down on the fixed……

Cheers

Stephen

ALAN NIXON - Dragon ride 08

PAOLO COPPO - Dragon ride