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MEMBERS NEWS
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CEBAR 2007 For the latest CEBAR 2007 rankings Click here |
| AGM Minutes 2008 Click here for AGM Minutes 2008
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Rules of the Club Click here
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RDFCC Trip to the Alps - 23rd - 29th May 2008
Barry Spink's account......The evening of Saturday May 24th saw six
RDFCC club members set out in 2 vehicles for the Channel Tunnel terminal in atrocious weather conditions, the old Severn bridge closed
due to high winds meant a detour to the new crossing, then driving rain all the way to Dover. A short wait before proceeding to
board our train. "Bloody hell Ali, them barriers look low" (Bang). This seemed like an ideal time to remove the roofbars I'd forgotten
about from my van... using the height limit barriers!! Never had the keys anyway!! OOps, No damage done, on with the journey. A 13 hour
journey (cheers Colin, hee hee) through France saw us arrive at the hotel Le Florentin in Bourg D'Oisan at the foot of Alp D'Huez.
Day 1: Saw a split in the group as it was "persistently" raining,
Andrew, Colin, Dave and John heading towards the Galibier, Alistair and Barry waited 2 hours and rode Alp D'Huez and over the back to
the Col D'Sarenne... 4 returned wet with frostbite, 2 returned with sunburn....
Day 2: All six headed out of Bourg, up and over the Col d Ornon, taking a
scenic route through the glorious French countryside, constantly surrounded by breathtaking mountain veiws, via the outskirts of
Grenoble, then up the Chamrousse, which sapped the energy of all the riders who already had seventy miles in their legs, a slippery
descent and 10 miles up the valley to Bourg.
Day 3: A glorious sunny day saw the group head for Alp D'Huez, half way
up, a right turn then steady climbing with sheer drops to the right and stunning views of Bourg D'Oisan and the valley below, a fast
descent back to the valley then a short climb through the tunnel to the foot of the Deux Alps, climbing legs on and a well deserved lunch at the top and of course the reward of even more stunning views of the snow capped Alps.
Then a very fast descent and a fast blast back to Bourg. (Almost a French old-lady and Colin interface!).
Day 4: Out of Bourg in the sunshine, a short haul up the valley to the
foot of the Glandon, and once again magnificent scenery, waterfalls, the remains of avalanche, sheep, cows, goats, all with bells on!
(No Nuns) all the way to the top of the "loonnng" climb, where the road was "Ferme" for the Glandon descent...The weather then dropped
in and a quick decision was made to top out the Croix de Fer, then a wet, cold and very fast descent back to the valley, and a sprint
back into Bourg.
Day 5: A 1 kilometre warm up (ouch) to the back of Bourg D'Oisan then
1 and a half hours climbing through tunnels, with vertical drops to our left. Once again "scenery overload" ensued. At the top
an "unmade" road for 1 kilometre made a pleasant stroll and broke the front off my cleat.....A fantastic descent through a geologists
dreamscape to midway on the Ornon, made an interesting end to the day for 2 riders, one with tired legs the other with tired everything
and a broken cleat. The other 4 continued for a second ascent of the Ornon and a circular route back to base.
The rest of the day was spent packing up our trusty steeds for the journey back
home Saturday, (which was 12 hours Colin, Ha Ha). A little longer to wait at the tunnel terminal, which allowed some "duty free" time,
then back to the bumpy roads and expensive diesel of Blighty. The Hotel Le Florentin was a great base for our daily trips.
The facilities for drying kit, maintaining bikes and storage of the same was excellent. A damn fine meal was laid before us every
evening with large (cyclist size) helpings of every course. Many thanks to Monsieur Nervo and his staff, with special thanks to
"Stella" & "Genopie"...LOL. Also many thanks to my fellow club members that made the trip so enjoyable. Already planning next years!!
Alistair Willis's account... The Alp trip was a total success with
everybody having a good time, hotel was exceptional looking after us as if we were at home with our wives. A few down sides were the
weather for one as down in the valley floor the temp was a balmy 25 deg and dampish most days but as with every big climb the weather
worsened with altitude, the Col du Glandon (6,256 feet above sea level) was the worst with temps of around 7deg, pouring down with a
howling gale. As we boarded the train for the Tunnel, Barry's roof bars detached themselves sharpish and with a loud bang as we
passed under the height restricting bars, no damage though.Excellent scenery as you would expect and major climbs everyday with Alp
Du Huez, Coix Du Fuer, Deux Alps, Glandon, Chamrousse, Col Du Ornon and the Col du Serrenne.... we also did a climb from Bourg
to a village called Ville de Notre Dame which I renamed The Village of the Dammed, a horrendous climb up a single track road with
blind tunnels the road turning into a track with a signpost saying " danger of death at your own risk", excellent views of the
Alp du Huez from here.
We had to endure snow, avalanches and rock falls as most of the major passes
were closed, the Serrenne was the worst with a 200m walk through snow and a rock the half the size of a car cart wheeling at 40mph
down the mountain as we descended, but we saw the Marmots which made it worth while. In a nutshell a brilliant holiday with damm good
company.
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COLIN PARRY
Colin's exploits on his bike have been reported in Actuary Magazine.
For a link to that article Click here
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Benefits of Membership of RDFCC
On production of a membership card members can usually hope for up to
10% off at the following Stores:
DAVE EVANS CYCLES in Cannop adjacent to Pedalabikeaway
CHELTENHAM CYCLES in Cheltenham 01242 255414 www.cheltenhamcycles.co.uk
WILLIAMS CYCLES in Cheltenham 01242 512291 www.williams-cycles.co.uk
LEISURE LAKES in Cheltenham 01242 251505 www.leisurelakesbikes.com
CYCLES CLEMENTS in Ledbury 01531 632213
CLIMB ON BIKES in Hereford 01432 261211
REVOLUTIONS in Ross on Wye 01989 562639 www.revolutionsatross.co.uk
BRIDGE CYCLES in Monmouth 01600 719942
WINNER BIKES in Cinderford 01594 829805 www.winnerbikes.com
J & L INSALL, Sports Masseurs, Popes Hill are offering an introductory offer
of 3 sessions for the price of 2. Telephone on 01452 760758
BCF BRITISH CYCLING FEDERATION are offering FREE 12 months Bronze membership -
see Graham Carter for an application form
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C2C - Andy Lock
During September 2007, Club member, Andy Lock, along with Laurence Daly
and his brother Francis Daly set off on the C2C.
The C2C cycle route runs across the north of England from Whitehaven
on the Cumbrian coast to Sunderland on the North Sea coast.
For Andy's report Click here
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Majorca Training Camp - 2007
The RDFCC annaul cycle training camp took place in Majorca, Spain once again.
Club members Colin and Bob Parry, Andrew Jones, John Linden, Ian Spencer, Martin Newman and Dave McDonald spent six hard days riding
the classic mountain routes up to a height of 900 metres and a total distance of 350 miles.
The weather was not the best, with the first days ride spent battling gale
force winds and horizontal rain along the Alcdia coast road on route to the accommodation in the traditional Majorcan village of Llubi.
Over the remaining days the weather improved allowing all the planned routes to be completed with no major mishap except for a crash
for Andrew on a low speed hairpin descent which resulted in ripped shorts, superficial grazes and dented pride!
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2006 Merida 100 Mountain Bike Series
The first in the series was held from Builth Wells on 9th April 2006. RDFCC's John Linden was the
only Club member to ride but will be joined by others for subsequent events, depending on fitness and ability.
There was a choice of 25/50/75/100k courses which are ridden not as a race but as a challenge and there was even a
night ride for the ultimate challenge. Here follows John's report..........
Exceeded all my expectations.........quite spectacular.........
I baulked at riding the single speed cos my knees were playing up...so dusted off the full sus (binding worn pivot with plummers teflon tape stopped the clunking
but there was no cure for the worn out rear derailleur other than regular grinding of teeth (both mine and the bikes)).
That said I'm very glad I had gears and suspension....a young lad on singlespeed was regretting it by the last hill.
You know that it is a serious event when 20 yards away on the campsite
there is the British Cycling team support van and mechanics sprucing up top of the range factory specials and estate cars painted
in the team colours ferrying around unlikely looking scrawny kids.
The sun was shining but snow was forcast making the most important decision that of picking the right layers. The ride
wound up into the mountains on fairly steep minor roads allowing the field to break up before the rough stuff. Next a long section of open wet grassland
- hard work back in the field as the boggy sections were well churned up. The ride then spent sometime weaving about the woods
on single track where hard won "Forest" skills with wet roots and mud gave a boost past the 25km feed station. More open grass
land followed and then a steep and slippery descent through dead bracken into the Wye valley and so over the old suspension
bridge at Llanstephan.
The section up the Wye on Sustrans Route 8 should have been easy... but not
with a strong northerly headwind and knobbly tyres - a relief then to reach the 50km feed station. A couple of swift cups
of energy drink for the climb out of the Wye valley followed by an absolutely spectacular ride between the cliffs of Aberedw
Rocks. A flying descent and then the last and hardest 300m climb onto Aberedw Hill forced me (and the rest of the group I was with) off the bike.
On the top the snow started to fall and I was glad I had made enough time to be clear if the weather got worse.
With 300m in hand the event planners didn't need to work hard but the route they found was breath taking as it slashed diagonally down the hill side barely 6 inches
in places. Back on Route 8 for the 5km to the finish felt much longer - more calories would have helped!
A smashing ride.
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Majorca Training Camp - 2006
The RDFCC spring training camp has just taken place in Majorca - Alan & Andrew Jones, John Linden, Ian Spencer, Trevor Hyde, Graham Carter & guest Chris Banning enjoyed five days riding the classic training routes in dry, fairly warm conditions.
After leaving Palma airport on the first day, a broken chain on Alan's brand new unridden Italian Pinarello needed emergency treatment prior to riding the 38 miles across the island to our accommodation, in the traditional village of Llubi. The first full day involved a 70 mile ride along the spectacular Formentor peninsuala which terminated in the usual sprint - easily won by young Andrew Jones from veteran Ian Spencer
Day Two involved a 55 mile ride south to the Santa Margaretha monastry, perched high on a rocky peak, with a climb of 1000 feet and a couple of dozen hairpin bends - again Andrew the clear winner!
The following day involved the 2,500 feet 8 mile ascent from Soller into snow covered mountains, which turned out to be a real endurance ride, (I don't think Graham enjoyed this one!) with riders taking shelter at the summit in a tin shack before the high speed ride off the mountains.
The final day was a superb 45 mile ride into the remote upland valley above Alaro with spectacular scenery and amazing hairpin descents.
Great camp with lots of good food, drink and good company - roll on next year!
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National Hill Climb Championship 30th October 2005
The Lancashire Road Club were hosts to this years National Hill Climb held on the punishing Rake course near Bury, Lancashire. The event attracted 150 of the country's top anti-gravity specialists including last years male and female champions, Jonthan Dayus and Ann Bowditch, both keen to defend their titles.
The course is 947 yards long with an average gradient of 1 in 5.
The gruelling event attracted a top quality field including this years British Best All Rounder, Northern Ireland's prolific Michael Hutchinson, who currently holds the national title for 10, 25, 50 and 100 miles and the 12 hour championship. Also present was hill climb specialist, Jim Henderson, winner on the Rake a record six times (would have been seven but for a puncture in 2000) and a strong contender for this years title.
Junior Andrew Jones represented the Royal Dean Forest CC and, having won the Lancashire Youth and Junior Championships on the Rake in 2003 and 2004 was hoping to maintain his podium finishes. Andrew was selected to start the punishing climb one minute behind Michael Hutchinson.
The early starters had to contend with heavy rin but the spectator lined course kept spirits high. Ben Greenwood proved to be the strongest and broke Jim Henderson's winning streak by the narrow margin of 3 tenths of a second in 2:26.5. Jim Henderson finished second (2:26.8) with David Clark third (2:31.9). Ann Bowditch retained her title finishing 111th in a time of 3:34.6.
Andrew did not ride quite as well as hoped but finished 7th in his age group in a time of 3:26.1 just 39 seconds behind the first seventeen year old.
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DON WOODMAN MEMORIAL OPEN 25 mile TIME TRIAL 2005
Forest riders figured in the results of the Ross-on-Wye Don Woodman memorial Open 25 mile Time Trial. Held in good conditions, Jonathan Batts, Lindsay Venner and Andrew Jones (Junior) all put in excellent rides in the face of very stiff competition which put the Forest men down the results.
However, 17 year old Andrew Jones's 28th place made him the first junior proving his promise for the future.
Results for the Forest Men as follows:-
1st - George Richardson, Ritchey / Cycleops 53:32
2nd - Jason Bohin, Sodbury Cycle Sport 55:55
3rd - Michael Portlock, Merthyr CC 57:19
21st - Jonathan Batts, RDFCC 61:51
28th - Andrew Jones, RDFCC 62:44 (PB)
32nd - Lindsay Venner, RDFCC 63:50
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L'ETAPE DU TOUR 2005
Two RDFCC members made their way down to the south of France to take part in this years L'Etape du Tour run by the French "Velo" cycle magazine.
The event follows exactly the course of one stage of Le Tour De France over a distance of 113 miles and is run on closed roads just a few days before the pro cyclists do the stage. This year there were 8000 entries for the event known as a cyclo sportif.
This year the route folloed Stage 16 of Le Tour from Mourenx to Pau in the Pyrenees taking in the climbs to the Cols of I'shere, Marie Blanc, Solour and the mighty Aubisque
Lindsay Venner stormed the route in a fantastic 6 hours 22 minutes to gain a gold medal, whilst Trevor Hyde continuing his run of bad luck this year, failed to complete the course with a mechanical breakdown after 60 miles and was scooped up by the "broom wagon" having maintained a promising speed to that point.
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Ross CC Open Hilly 25mile TT - 21st May 2005
Jonathan Batts figured highly in the Ross CC open hilly 25 mile time trial. This event attracted competitors from all over the country and was won by Science in Sport's Stuart Dangerfield in a time of 60:07 minutes.
Jonathan's time was 72:24 for an unbelievable 6th place. Jonathan said he was both suprised and pleased by his performance.
He also spoke of the potential of Club junior, 17 year old Andrew Jones, who came 16th in the event. Given time and some controlled agression Jonathan said Andrew will prove a tough opponent.
Other Forest Riders:
13th Leyton Fleet - Gloucester City CC
20th Lindsay Venner - RDFCC
21st Kerry Trigg - RDFCC
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HELL OF THE NORTH COTSWOLDS 2005
The 21st "Hell of the North" Cotswolds reliability off road cycling event was held last weekend from Winchcombe and excellently organised jointly by Cheltenham & County and Winchcombe Cycling Clubs. The weather was kind indeed albeit a little chilly when the 1000 cyclists began assembling at 8am onwards anticipating with trepidation the start at 9am.
Five riders had entered from the Forest of which 3, Andrew Jones, Martin Green and Leighton Fleet, were first timers whilst Lindsay Venner had ridden once before some 12 years previously and Ian Spencer was a veteran of the event in more than one sense! Interestingly Lindsay chose to ride the same old faithful road bike he rode 12 years previously by adding knobbly tyres for grip off road and an ingenious frame protection scheme of wrapping old inner tubes around all the frame!! The boys all chose to ride the 100k event rather than the shorter 50k version.
The roll out at 9am was very sedate led by the local constabulary through the streets of Winchcombe but once out of the town the hammer went down at the front of the field as the riders charged off towards Cleeve Hill. The ride up onto Cleeve Common proved very interesting as 1000 riders suddenly funnelled into a steep, stony track only 2 bikes wide at Postlip Mill. Once up on the Common the vistas off towards the Malverns, the Forest and distant Wesh Hills were magnificent and well worth the effort albeit one had to concentrate hard on this the only real technical section of the 100k ride.
After Cleeve Common was covered the ride settled into a mixture of roads,lanes, bridleways and footpaths including the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, Windrush and Warden Ways (long distance footpaths).The views at all times were stunning.
The halfway point was at Giuting Village Hall to hydrate on tea, coffee or squash and carbo-hydrate on currant buns and stupendous bread pudding. It was at this point Ian Spencer, Martin Green and Andrew Jones re-grouped and decided to ride the second half together with Martin taking responsibility for navigating.
The second half was memorable for the number of fords that had to be
crossed, the number of tired riders beginning to fall by the wayside and the navigational errors of now tired riders. With just 11 kilometres to go the trio of RDFCC boys encountered a long descent where the instruction was to take a left before the frog sculptures! The descent was so good several of the group the 3 were riding with went straight on including Andrew and Ian who didn't hear the cries of "left or you've gone wrong" with the wind whistling in their ears! Martin pressed on only to learn later the track the lads had gone down turned into a steep single track for some way only to be ridden back up again when the possee learnt of their error (known as sods law)!!
Meanwhile Lindsay and Leighton had pushed on all day taking very little time at the lunch stop and checkpoints. Lindsay was back home first finishing in the top 20 in 4 hours 48 minutes closely followed by Leighton in 5 hours 8 minutes made all the more remarkable as he had struggled along harbouring a virus! Some time later Martin pedalled home in 6hours 36 minutes with Andrew and Ian in hot pursuit after their detour in 6hours 45 minutes. The whole day could be summed in the immortal word of Ian Spencer "superb"!! and hopefully more RDFCC members will take up the Challenge in 2006 especially as the ride wasn't as technical as some us feared and there was more road than expected to get the average speed up.
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Andrew Jones does it again!" - The Rake National Hill Climb 2004
Andrew Jones, 16, riding for the Royal Dean Forest CC. competed in the infamous Rake hill climb near Ramsbotham in Lancashire. The event was promoted by the Lancashire Road Club and run on a fine but cool Sunday afternoon.
This event has included such illustrious competitors as Chris Boardman and Graeme O’Bree, current and former one hour world record holders and Stuart Dangerfield, 10 and 25 miles time trials champion and representative at this years Olympics.
Favourite this time was reigning National hill climb champion Jim Henderson, a winner of this event 5 times to date.
The 947 yards course starts on a slope of 1 in 20, increases to 1 in 12 and then steepens to 1 in 6 to the base of the Rake. Then the going becomes tough, climbing at an average of 1 in 5 before a maximum lung bursting stretch of 1 in 4. It then eases to 1 in 7 for the final 89 yards.
This was Andrews second outing on the course having won the Juvenile title last year. This year was always going to be a tougher challenge as Andrew has moved up into the Junior age group and is competing against cyclists up to three years older. However, Andrew rose to the challenge and won his age group by the slender margin of 0.4 of a second. Andrew recorded 3:28.
Overall Senior winner was Jim Henderson.
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Skyline at Afan - Sunday 17th October 2004
13 riders took on the challenge of the new Skyline route at Afan on Sunday 17th October. A mixture of RDFCC riders, friends and Ross CC. Skyline is the new all weather trail and is approximately 38 miles in length. It takes in some fantastic single track climbs and descents with stunning vies from the tops.
We managed to lose 2 riders halfway round due to mechnical problems which meant they free wheeled off the mountain together only to end up near Treherbert - approximately 10 miles from the car park where the rest of us finished!
We all had a wonderful day, with the fitness of some proving better than others. Lots of spills and laughs and highly recommended to the averagely fit rider. We took nearly six and a half hours.
We will be returning in the spring - so look out for dates. Regards Matthew Heaman |
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Welsh 12 Hour Time Trial Championships - 6th September 2004
Two members of RDFCC took part in the Welsh 12 hour time trial in South Wales based on a circuit around Abergavenny. The hot weather took its toll on the day and consequently no records fell but some terrific distances were recorded.
Aided by a loyal support crew, Forest Club member John Moth, the boss at Forest Scaffolding, recorded a solid performance with 230 miles - an average speed of more tha 19mph - placing him 4th novice and 14th overall. Whilst the other Forest fast man Lindsay Venner recorded a creditable 218 miles.
The Mens Champion was Sean Childs of the Royal Navy & Royal Marines CA, who recorded 259 miles in the 12 hours. The Ladies Champion was Anne Learmouth of Swansea Wheelers recording 225 miles.
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Lindsay
is first Forest Rider home in Paris to London Road Race - 2004
Two Royal Dean
Forest cyclists were in the first 14 British rider home in the recent
Paris to London road race. Lindsay Venner worked hard on day one, as
the race left Paris on a glorious French autumn day, to stay with the
front of the race and this tactic appears to have paid dividends as the
weather turned to a traditional British drizzle when the race crossed the
channel for the second day of racing.
Dave Evans took the
option to ride at a relatively easier pace on day one and ride harder on
the second day in Kent as the race wound its way up via Dover, Ashford and
Rochester on its way to London. In the autumn drizzle conditions
were more demanding with slippery conditions on descents and corners,
leading to some spills. Dave crossed the line in a sprint finish in
the front of the race but the die was cast in the French sunshine on the
first day with Lindsay finishing 34th overall in a time of 4h 34m 35s with
Dave 46th, 2mins 23secs behind. The overall winner was Frenchman
Eric Leblacher in 4h 25mins with Welsh professional, Nicole Cook, just
29seconds behind in 4th place.
Third Forest rider,
Leyton Fleet (Oldcroft), riding for Gloucester City finished a very
creditable 48th just yards behind Dave Evans with a time of 4h 37m 27s.
Although the race
was over as the riders rolled over the cobbles by Traitors Gate at the
Tower of London, celebrations went on into the night with a dinner in City
Hall for riders and guests. It was at this dinner the London's
mayor, Ken Livingstone, made the official bid, to stage the start of the
Tour de France 2007 in London, to officials of le Tour who were also at
the dinner.
The race was
organised by Amaury Sports Organisation of Tour de France fame as
part of the Franco-British Entente Cordiale celebrations. Riders were
selected because of their outstanding performance in this years amateur
Etape du Tour where 7000 cyclists took part. |
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L'Etape du Tour (Limoges to St Flour) - 11th July 2004
Three RDFCC members and another local cyclist took their machines to ride the amateur stage of the Tour de France. With a total entry of 8000 riders and covering a gruelling 237km the route crossed nine mountains ranging in difficulty from 4th to leg busting 1st category.
Lindsay Venner led the way home in 8:09:58 (430th place), Leyton Fleet followed in 8:28:30, Dave Evans in 8:42:49 and Jon Moth in 10:21:16, all well within the maximum time limit of 12 hours.
The pro riders rode exactly the same stage four days later, when Richard Virenque won in a time of 6:00:24. To give a comparison, Alain Prost, took 8:10:57 and Richard Krajicek, a former Wimbledon Champion took 11:07:32. On a sad note, Tony Doyle, the former double world professional pursuit champion crashed on L'Etape breaking 4 ribs, his scapula and clavicle.
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