Author: vcneditor

VC Norwich Newsletter June 2012

CC Breckland held their annual (and excellent) “Slowest 60” 10 mile TT on the 23 May and with half the field going under 24 minutes one wonders what the results of a “Fastest 60” would have been!

VCN Second claim rider Scott Davison (Velo Velocity.co.uk) was the fastest solo rider recording 21:37 with VCN’s Karl Read less than a minute behind in 13^th place. Sally Withey took the women’s prize for VCN with an excellent PB of 24:13 and Markos Janes came very close to going under 25 minutes; also a PB.

Thanks Breckland for another great event and sorting out a perfect evening weather-wise. Full results here.

Neil Vaughan and Will Bamber both rode the North Norfolk Wheelers 100 on Sunday 12^th May. Will’s time of 4:14:49 deserves special mention and secured 3^rd place on a challenging day and course.

Newsletter May12

The Spring club meeting is to be held on 30th April, 8pm at the the White Horse PH in Trowse. For this first meeting we have a very open and informal agenda aimed at getting our season off in the right direction… so please come whether you simply want advice on how get started in a new area of the sport; you have ideas on how to contribute to the club or you simply want a chance for a social drink and chat. New, Old or prospective members all welcome.  We will have a range of resources and information available on the night.

Scott Davidson’s first TT as an organiser was blessed with a 3 hour period of sunshine… which bearing in mind the weather that preceded and followed the event is amazing. We had in excess of 90 riders (only 6DNSs) and some very good times despite the headwind on the west bound leg. Peter Balls of West Suffolk Wheelers rode an excellent 53:29 to win overall but he was joined by 29 others who beat the hour. VCN’s honour was upheld by Neil Vaughan who took the vets’ competition with a time of 58:22. Full results here.

Thanks to all the VCN members who helped run the event, and thanks too to all the riders (and supporters) from the 30 local and not so local clubs who came along. Norwich ABC deserve special mention fielding 11 riders … for a rogues gallery of competitors go to Mark Cozen’s excellent website or the VCN Facebook page

Three intrepid riders set off for what had the potential to be a wet and windy evening club run. Much to our surprise the rain held off and the wind eased. The highlight of the evening (at least for Jen!) was watching two grown men do battle with the puncture fairies. 40 minutes, 2 punctures and 3 inner tubes later, a now very cold group set off but we managed 24 miles returning to Cringleford at 2030. Where did we go? No idea I just followed the others!

Four VC Norwich riders braved wind and cold on Good Friday for one of East Anglia’s traditional TT season openers, Great Yarmouth CC’s 10. Minus two degrees at seven in the morning and it didn’t seem to get any warmer as start time approached. The return leg promised to be a slog into a strong westerly wind on the journey back to Wortwell from Clay’s RAB on the Bungay bypass.

VCN new boy Karl Read posted 24 dead to finish 25th; Neil Vaughan clocked ten seconds more in 28th; Sally Withey and Markos Janes were both midfield with 26:57 and 27:29 respectively. A full field of 112 solo bikes and 4 tandem pairs were headed by Liam Gentry for Strada Sport in 21:40, beating local favourite Jim Burgess (Anglia Velo) by three seconds. Both did well to beat the highly-rated Ian Cammish into third. Laura Gambling topped the womens’ times at 24:58.

On Easter Sunday Will Dorsett made his debut ride for VC Norwich at the Haverhill Wheelers 20 mile Hilly TT which is the second round in the Rudy Project National Points Series. He chalked up a respectable 6th in the seniors with 46:26 but he was up against theUK’s No 1 TT rider Michael Hutchinson who whizzed round in 41:44… almost 29 mph.

So a good start to the 2012 calendar which includes VCN’s own 25 mile open event in a week’s time (22nd April) for which entries are now closed with 100 riders on the startsheet!

Victoria Williamson won the Womens Keirin at the Herne Hill Good Friday Meet, in her new VC Norwich kit. Mark Williamson her Dad writes… ” wins her first race first time she wears the kit , could be a good omen….” Well Done Victoria, let’s hope it’s the first of many!

The Cycling Post is a new magazine … launched initially on line.. it focuses on UK competition, UK riders racing abroad and the club scene. With a mix of news, race reports, race previews, interviews and feature articles it covers road racing, time trialling, cyclocross and track . It’s a bit slow to load and probably best suited to i-Pads or similar – but it’s a new slant that will hopefully cover UK cycling in the detail it deserves.