We held our annual awards dinner at Box End Lake in Kempston on January 21, 2012. Here are a few photos and a brief report from what was a lovely night again!
Thanks to everyone who attended, especially our guest of honour , British Cycling Commissaire Trevor Hughes. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
We will be running our ever-popular reliability rides on the 5th and 19th February, from the ClubRoom in Cardington.
What are reliability rides? They are not races, but are simply intended to help you determine and improve your fitness before the competitive season starts.
They pass through some beautiful countryside and pretty villages, and attract plenty of interest. We had 104 riders on one of the rides last year!
So, do it at your own pace, or in the company of riders with similar pace, boost your fitness, and join in the fun. Free tea and cake when you get back to the clubhouse!
Sunday 5th Feb - choice of a 59 or 44 mile ride covering North Bedfordshire. CANCELLED 44 mile Route (opens in new window) 59 mile Route (opens in new window)
Sunday 19th Feb - choice of a 70 or 51 mile ride covering Central Beds, a bit of Bucks, Northants and then North Beds. 51 mile Route (opens in new window) 70 mile Route (opens in new window)
For both rides, you can sign on between 8am and 9.30am, and can set off when you want.
£2 for each ride.
Beds Road GoRide ranked 3rd in UK!
Beds Road Cycling Club's GoRide initiative is aimed at introducing young riders from 6 to 16 to the sport of competitive cycling.
We have just learned from British Cycling that the scheme run by Beds Road CC has been ranked 3rd out of 124 registered GoRide clubs!
The ranking is based on the number of competitive 'opportunities', as BC call it, the club provided to young cyclists during the year.
Congratulations must go to Mark Anstee, Paul Holmes and Brian Hill for their enthusiasm and commitment in providing regular, well attended GoRide training sessions on Saturday mornings at Robert Bloomfield Middle School in Shefford. Well done chaps!
And thanks to all the children who regularly attend in all weathers - their enthusiasm and progress helps enormously to provide the motivation for Mark, Paul and Brian to give up their time for the benefit of others.
If your children would be interested in taking part in this scheme, please see here and get in touch!
New Year's Day ride 2012
Many thanks to everyone who took part or came along to socialise in the ride, or vote in the EGM - we had 68 competing riders and around 20 non-riding guests, with rider ages ranging from 6 to 'very experienced'. This level of enthusiasm is a great sign for the New Year!
The results are available here. Particular thanks go to our sponsors for the event, ByerCycles of Clifton, who donated the prizes, to Terry Bush who organised the event and to Colin Buxton who logged people in and out.
The 4 event prize winners were the riders whose times were closest to their secret target, + and -, and the riders whose times were furthest from their secret target, + and -.
Rick Fisher was spot on his target time.
Jamie Fullen was next closest to his target time - negative 25 seconds.
Steve James was furthest from his target time - negative 1643 seconds.
Ray Crane was furthest from his target time - positive 1552 seconds.
The event was then followed by an EGM to elect the committee for 2012, which was swiftly completed, thank you everyone who has agreed to serve the club for the coming year.
Our next cycling events from the clubhouse are the reliability rides in February - we look forward to welcoming you all back then!
Hitchin Nomads Boxing Day TT
4 Beds Road CC riders entered the annual Hitchin Nomads Boxing Day 10 mile TT, held around the lanes of Old Warden.
The weather was a big improvement on the previous 2 years, which were plagued by ice. However, the course this year was still tricky, with plenty of loose gravel to temper the speeds around corners.
The event encourages entries from riders on veteran machines, and the results for this class were...
First - Tim Dawson - 1911 machine - Handicap time of 27:23!
Second - Clifford Tremayne - 1942 machine - Handicap time 32:00
Third - Mike & Tom ? - 1923 machine - Handicap time 34:21
Fourth - Martin Badham - 1936 machine - Handicap time 34:27
Well done to Tim Davies for coming first overall on a modern machine.
There were 38 entrants in total and the good folks of HNCC afterwards put on a super spread of food for all the participants and guests, in the Old Warden village hall.
Many thanks to HNCC for a fun event - full results are available here.
Final CycloCross event in Central League
Sunday 11 December saw the final event of the Central League CycloCross series, which was held at Hillingdon Cycle Centre.
Thanks to 'Cyclevidcrazy' for the video!
Beds Road had a very successful season, having put in riders from a wide range of age groups. Full results will be available soon, but we know of a few noteworthy contestants, as follows:-
Congratulations to Manishka, Annabelle and Toby.
The organisers gave out these final results after completion of all events in the series, at the race on Sunday 11 Dec.
Annabelle 1st U12-G
Manishka 3rd U12-G
Toby 3rd U14-B
Alison Cooper 4th-Womens
Rowly Wallbank - 6th - Vets
Chris Stuart-Leach - 6th - Seniors
Mark Anstee - 8th -Vets
Mark Cook - 9th - Vets
Steve James - 10th - Vets
Geoff Cooper - 13th- Vets
Cathy Johnson - 14th - Womens
Paul Holmes - 16th - Seniors
Adrian Wain -21st - Seniors
David Olney - 32nd - Vets
Matt Bowmer - 45th - Vets
David Course - 55th - Vets
Richard Piron - 62nd - Vets
Not bad, for these are positions in the whole of the Central Region, and it was most of our riders' 1st season of CX! Well done!
BRCC at Reading Cyclo-Cross 27 Nov.
Geoff Cooper skillfully flies over the hurdles...
This Sunday, Beds Road CC cyclo-cross team ventured to Sonning Common, near Reading for round 9 of the Central region Cyclo-Cross league.
The weather was bright, but the wind was brisk, making parts of the course a real struggle into wind, on stodgy ground.
David Olney holding off stiff competition.
Chris Start-Leach closing in through the wooded section...
Alison Cooper clearly enjoying herself!
Steve James back in action after his fall last week...
We entered members into the U14, novice, senior and Vets groups, and hope to have results to share with you soon.
Many thanks to Sam James for the photos!
Beds Road CC Cyclo-Cross event a big hit!
Bedfordshire Road CC hosted their first cyclocross race on Sunday 20 November for Round 8 of the Central Cyclocross League, at Box End Park, Kempston.
The gloomy start soon brightened up...
The early fog for the youth events gave way to misty sunshine for the seniors, with the race held around the water ski lake.
The damp course was a tough test, with some sharp climbs, and where the course was flat the going was far from smooth - both sapping the energy out of the riders' legs.
24 year old Nick Jones from Milton Keynes, mastered the course and finished ahead of his Team Corley Cycles team-mate Greg Simcock, while Paul Robertson (Sportstest) was third. That victory was the third in a row for Jones, and his fourth overall in the seven league races so far, and is a reversal of the result from Round Four when Simcock pipped Jones to the win.
In the race for first lady Delia Beddis (Vicious Velo) took the win in a photo finish from Katie Symcock (Team Hope Factory Racing). Beddis' Vicious Velo team mate Kevin Knox was a couple of minutes clear of local rider Gavin Rumbles (CC Luton) to take the first veteran prize.
Earlier in the day, Zinzan Heap from Team MK took the sprint for the line, narrowly outfoxing Welwyn Wheelers' Luke Morgan to take the U16/14/Novices race.
Beds Road CC had 29 riders taking part across all age groups, with many making their 'cross debuts. Notable performances were from Darcy Crowther in the U16s race finishing in 9th and 6 year old Harry Layton who finished 6th in the U10s race, beating many riders a few years older than him.
Chris Stuart-Leach was first home for the seniors in 23rd.
Many thanks to Mark Anstee for organising the event, to British Cycling for their valued support and to ALL the Beds Road helpers who turned out in force to help ensure the success of this fantastic event!
Thanks to Mark Gray for the photos above.
More photos from Terry Sykes available here and
here
11th November 10 Essential checks before you ride
18th November Tyre and tube repalcement and puncture repair
25th November Bearing lubrication and adjustment
2nd December Cable care, replacement and adjustment
9th December Gear set up
All sessions will start at 7.30 and will last between half an hour and an hour at the Club House in Cardington.
Every session will be a 'Bring your Bike' so that an assessment of its condition and serviceability can be carried out. Please confirm with me if you want to attend by text to 07771 804468 and whether you will be bringing your bike along. If there are any specific maintenance requirements, let me know so that I can bring along the appropriate tools.
Spring almost arrived, for our 2nd SPOCO event, on Sunday 13 March. The sun was out from time to time and temperatures were into double figures. Riders from 5 local clubs were competing ...
Despite the cold wind and treacherous potholes, a good turnout of hardy riders, not afraid of a challenge, signed on to get the Club's 2011 TT season off to a flying start...
