more sportivs

[huw williams]

Just a quick reminder of the remaining sportivs that I'll be doing for Cycling Weekly this year. If anyone can make any of these let me know in advance so I can get some contributions for the stories and pictures of you on the day.

21st August - BikeWales - Newport - 103 miles very hilly (Load of ACC girls already lined up for this one)
http://www.bikewales.org

28th August - Holme Moss - Stage of the Tour of Britain route, goes over Holme Moss and Snake Pass - 90 miles very hilly
http://www.bcrides.co.uk

3rd October - Autumn Epic - Knighton, Welsh Marches - 85 miles very hilly
http://www.cyclosportives.co.uk

All three feature electronic timing, instant results, feed stations, broom wagons, tech back-up and most importantly of all great signage and marshalling so no need to map read. Highly reccomended for anyone considering next year's etape or golden bike rides.

[Simon C Izoard]

Huw your a nutter!

I think I'll have to join you for the Welsh one in October! as a send off for the numerous weekends in the Dolomites coming my way!

Does the pain include driving down the same morning or do you usually stay the night before?

I'm registering now....

I'll pm you with my contact number

[Maria David]

Hi Huw,

Re Bike Wales :
Tamar, Jackie and I are marshalling at the Women's World Cup race on the Saturday, then we'll do the Wales ride on the Sunday. Abi Armstrong from London Phoenix is also doing it - we're gonna tackle the 103mile ride.

Re Yorkshire Tour :
We will be in the Peak District for a women's road race on Saturday 27th Aug, so what the hell - why not throw in an 87mile bike ride the following day ! Tamar is considering it too.

Re the other Wales ride 2nd Oct :
I will have raced every weekend between now and then - I might just be ready for the knackers yard, so can't pronounce anything at this stage !

[Brett P]

Maria,
Sophie & I are keen on doing the same too. She's very much looking forward to 'guesting' for ACC & also doing the very hilly ride the following day.
I'm seeing if I can get a start in the mens race the same day as the womans.

[Marek]

Max and I will be at the Autumn epic on the 2nd October. Should be a good laugh.

Cheers

Marek...

[Maria David]

Hey Brett,

The Yorkshire ride should be a good craic. It doesn't just go through the Peak District - they seem to have thrown in a few Pennine climbs for good measure !
Yeah, I'm up for the ride - we've got a nice farmhouse lined up to stay in at Buxton. Should be a good w/e.

Are you doing the Wales ride this Sunday as well ? It's at 9am from Celtic Manor (Newport).

[Brett P]

Cool, sound good Maria.

About this w.end, Sophie & I are racing the Roadmans at Herne Hill on Sat. & either Goodwood or Eastway on the Sunday. Wales is a bit too far for us to go as we've not got that many weekends left to organise our stuff & pack for Australia!

The fact that i've just bought a new set of wheels for track (zipp disc & 404 front) & a mini Ducati 50cc motor bike for my nephew, isn't making it any easier or less stressful!

Hey Rob, I can bring the mini moto to Hillingdon & we can do Derny racing.... it does 40mp/h

[Maria David]

Bike Wales Event

For those who just want the results :

Huw Williams - 5:03:11
David Steele (London Phoenix) - 5:53:06
Tamar Collis - 6:03:31
Maria David - 6:19:39
Abigail Armstrong (London Phoenix) - 6:19:52
Jackie Morgan Smith - 6:21:21

1st finisher - 4:50:21, 1st lady - 5:53:04, last finisher - 9:43:58

Ride was advertised as 103 miles - it was actually 97miles.

And now the report......

While many ACCers were getting their weekend fix of cycling in the South East at the road race or doing the TOSH, a few of us headed West to watch/marshall at the women's world cup event Celtic Manor, Newport (Wales) on Saturday and then ride the Bike Wales mass participation ride the following day.

Jackie MS, Tamar and I were assigned ideal marshalling posts - in the last 2km of the circuit which took the riders on a 17% climb up to the finish.
There was the added bonus for us that there were 2 pubs along this road where we could sit out and enjoy the sunny weather over a drink with the locals in between each passage of the race on the 3 one-hour long circuits.

Once the race came round there would be a mad flurry of police outriders (it seemed like all of the S.Wales constabulary had been deployed to this event !), media, mechanics, team cars etc then the peloton + an ever growing list of stragglers as the race shelled people off the pace. Then we'd be back to our pub places !
Nicole Cooke didn't manage to start, due to injury, so the British mantle was left to Rachel Heal, who finished in the bunch in around 20th place.
The race was won by German international, Judith Arndt.

Our cushy little job earned us the pleasure of doing the Bike Wales event the following day, for free.
We all opted for the advertised 103mile bike ride.
When we registered on Sunday morning, under a warm sunshine and saw the profile we knew we would be in for a tough haul. With rolling roads and climbs to negotiate in the Brecon Beacons, we knew we would not get bored !

The ride was fun, with lots of groups to jump in with. However, the main climb was about 4 miles long and went across the the SE section of the Brecon Beacons towards Blaenavon. That did alot of damage to the groups and it became each man/woman for themselves.

The lovely sweeping decents afterwards made the suffering worth while.
Then after Bryn Mawr it was a case of turn back south and head towards Usk, Caerleon and Celtic Manor.
It was a good run in with rolling roads that you could do on the big ring - but I didn't because I was battling against cramp, and so just spun my way home for the last 30miles.
The climb up to finish line, despite being familiar, was just as hard as ever, especially with 96 miles in my legs. It was tempting to stop for a breather at the pub, but I just kept spinning on, slower than my grandmother.

Jackie and Tamar enjoyed their rides - congrats in particular to Jackie who did her first ever 100miler (almost).
It was good to see that we finished ahead of a number of local ladies !

We then returned to London, after having done the photo opportunities, and post race binge.
A good w/e was had by all.

If you fancy one of these, there's the Yorkshire Tour this Sunday (Peak District/Pennines), and the Autumn Epic on October 2nd (North Wales).

[Grahame]

Good to see that Abi has recovered from her crash whilst guesting for Addiscombe at the last Beastway of the year.