28th April

STEVENS SUPREME

After several near-misses, St Ives Cycling Club rider Gary Stevens finally won an event this season. In last weekend’s Northampton and District Hilly 31 mile time trial Gary was clear winner, both overall and in the veterans section with a time of 1 hour 16 minutes 7 seconds. Neil Houldey came almost five minutes slower to finish sixth but unfortunately St Ives had no third rider to compete for the team win.

Gary also turned up at the Club evening time trial on Wednesday to win that as well, not just fastest time but also fastest veteran and best on age standard. Surprisingly on such a miserable, cold, wet evening, fourteen riders actually took part. Less surprisingly times were rather slower than usual with a vicious headwind on the outward leg.

Luckily for we lesser mortals, Gary is on late shift next week so someone else has a chance of tasting temporary glory.

Times :- G.Stevens, the 10 miles in 24 minutes 9 seconds, N.Houldey 24.47, P.Rennie 25.03, M.Nockolds 26.57, J.Batchelor 26.59, C.Penney 27.59, R.Keeler 28.07, D.Whitehead 28.29, I.Bentley 29.34, P.Taylor 30.20, D.Nelson 30.58, P.Phillips 32.07, R.Smith 32.57. Paul Veitch failed to finish.

On 12th May, non-club riders are invited to ride the course in the annual Come-and-Try-It event. Just turn up (with bike!) at Sawtry Village Hall at about 6.45pm for 10 miles of pure bliss. Entry is free but riders under 18 yrs must have a consent form from their parent. Contact John Batchelor on 01480 830463.

21st Apr

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

St Ives Cycling Club members are noted for their optimism. Why else, on Wednesday evening, when rain was coming down in sheets and the wind was howling, would twelve of them turn up at Sawtry for the start of the Club Evening 10 mile time trial under the delusion that conditions would improve. And improve it did. The rain ceased and whilst the wind was still strong at least it was drying out the road surface though the slower riders, who started first, needed to take the roundabouts with some caution. Indeed, by the time the first riders were returning to event HQ, the sun had peeped out beneath the clouds confirming that someone up there is keen bike racing.With the return leg about 5mph slower than the outward trip, times were around a minute slower than last week but Neil Houldey, on his non-aero training bike was still fast enough to win by a few seconds from Paul Rennie. Ralph Keeler was the fastest veteran rider and Dave Nelson best on age standard.

Times - N.Houldey 24 minutes 25 seconds, P.Rennie 24.44, P.Veitch 26.52, D.Whitehead 27.14, R.Keeler 27.53, R.Southall and C.Penney both 27.55, I.Bentley 28.55, D.Nelson 29.52, T.Gray 29.59, J.Robey 30.36 and R.Smith 32.01.

Gary Stevens was the only St Ives rider who actually competed over the weekend, notching up a third place in a 25 mile event based at Barton.

2nd Apr 04

GOOD RESULTS FOR ST IVES CYCLISTS

St Ives Cycling Club members took part in a several events last weekend with, generally good results.

In the Rudy Project (a sponsors name not an indictable offence!) 25 mile time trial Gary Stevens burnt rubber to finish in 58 minutes, two minutes ahead of the pretender to the throne of top-dog, Neil Houldey with John Batchelor recording 1 hour 4 minutes and Paul Rennie, claiming to be suffering from a hangover, two minutes slower.

Five members rode the Milton Keynes Bowl Road Race, one hour plus five laps. Hugo Hocknell came 3rd, Paul Connor 8th and John McVey 12th having been forced on to the grass in the final sprint due to a rider ahead losing control. Matt Nockolds was also in the lead group for much of the race but lost contact towards the finish and pulled out with cramp. Graham Temple missed the breakaway and came in with the second group a lap behind.

Paul Veitch arrived late for the start of the Stevenage Audax event, not really a race, more a group ride to a schedule. He had to panic ride over the first 15 miles before the first time check closed and later was chased by a goose. (We should assure readers that this is not a normal feature of such events.) Paul was in the saddle for 9 hours to cover 139 miles. Adrian Carroll rode the shorter 64 Km Audax and finished in 2.5 hours.

22nd Feb 04

CYCLE RACING, THE McVEY WAY

One of St Ives Cycling Club’s new members, John McVey, has had good results in circuit races at Eastway, North London. Two weeks ago, in a field of elite and first category riders John was well up with the leaders throughout the event and maybe put too much effort into the short climbs since he tailed off slightly at the end to finish 15th. Last week was the Simon Hook memorial 35-lap race, again for elite riders. This started in cold conditions, turning into snow, and John, initially, had to struggle to match the pace but managed to fight his way into the leading group. With about 3 laps to go it began to snow heavily and John, in a handy sixth place but riding slick tyres, had to ease off slightly on the last bend, dropping to 20th in the sprint finish.

These are both excellent performances against some of the best riders in the South East.

The Club also sent a team to ride the classic North Road hardriders 25- mile time trial on Sunday but the event had to be cancelled due to snow.

15th Feb 04

ST IVES CYCLISTS ARE TOP TEAM

In their first time trial of the season, St Ives Cycling Club won the team award in the Ely Hardriders 25 mile event based at Little Downham. Neil (trispokes) Houldey came fourth in a time of 1 hour 1 minute 55 seconds, backed up by Paul Rennie, 1.6.23 and John Batchelor 1.7.52. Both Neil and Paul had their feminine fan clubs to urge them on but poor John had to be content with passing the other members Club who had ridden out to cheer them on, not quite so encouraging!

Other St Ives riders took part in an Enduro MTB event in Thetford Forest and also performed rather well. 270 riders signed on when only 100 were expected so the course was a bit congested, especially in the dips where, on reaching the bottom, it was impossible to zoom up the other side due to the heaving mass of bodies.

Hugo Hocknell came 6th in the senior 4 lap event, on his dad’s bike, with Paul Connor, in his first such event for 4 years, 24th and Ian Hirst 45th. Grant Keir also rode but his result has not yet appeared in the results. In the 2 lap event for slightly more mature riders, Chris Penney finished in 7th place.

19th Nov

ST IVES CYCLISTS PEAK

St Ives Cycling Club members were active at different levels last weekend.

Six riders on mountain bikes spent their time in the Lake District. On a misty Saturday, their morning ride was the Skiddaw Loop skirting the mountain. They reached the base of the route up Skiddaw but, since even the lower slope was shrouded with cloud, sensibly decided that it was safer to remain at a lower altitude. Therefore, after refuelling on chocolate and Kendal Mint cake, they climbed 2.5 miles up Whinlatter Pass. On Sunday it was much less misty so they rode (and pushed in places) to the summit of Skiddaw to find that the view was still very limited but at least they had been there.

Four riders started the Club Ride from St Ives in better visibility that their colleagues to accomplish a somewhat less challenging route to Tesco at Royston (well everybody has to go somewhere and they do serve coffee and cakes!).

17th Oct

FAST RETURN FOR ST IVES CYCLIST

Phil Elliott marked his return to time trialling, after a lay-off for half the season, by recording a very respectable 1 hour 3 minutes 25 seconds in the Norlond Combine 25 at Tempsford. It was, to say the least, quite cool at the start and until he had warmed up his knees matched the blue on his St Ives Cycling Club race kit. After finishing, Phil rode off down the road to join other members of the St Ives Club on the Sunday Club Ride looping out to Thurleigh for their usual gastronomic stop at a tearoom.

Ian Hirst returned to Bury St Edmunds for the 4th round of the Eastern Cyclo Cross Championships at Nowton Park. This time the course was in the reverse direction and, as an added attraction, a two foot high fence had to be jumped. This might not seem much of an obstacle to an athlete, but is quite a challenge when you also have to carry a bike! Ian came in 33rd in a time about 6 minutes faster than last time.

11th Oct

HIRST BITES THE DUST

Ian Hirst, of the St Ives Cycling Club, improved on his last Cyclo Cross performance by coming 32nd in a strong field in the Spalding CC event at Bourne Wood. Despite muscles, still knotted from his triathlon effort the previous week, he pounded around a dusty course, which featured a 3 foot deep pit for riders to jump into and then, climb out at the other end. Being in shadow, some riders who were wearing dark shades to keep the dust out of their eyes (and also to look cool!) did not see the pit in time so rode into it.

The Sunday Club Ride went out to Oundle, but were greatly discomfited to find that they had arrived at the teashop just after pupils had been let out of chapel. This meant firstly a long wait in the queue and secondly that many of the stickiest cakes, so beloved of cyclists, had been scoffed.

2nd Oct

RETURN OF THE MUD-PLUGGERS

In the Sherwood Pines Mountain Bike Races, the fourth of the National Championship Series, St Ives Cycling Club Members Grant Keir and Chris Penney both came 15th, Keir in the Expert Class and Penney in the Grand Veteran Class. (In Mountain biking, riders are grouped on the basis of ability and age and all groups get these exotic titles). This year the weather has been such that their favourite pastime of ploughing through thick mud has been absent so they have had to be content with falling off on to hard ground. Good news if you have shares in sticking plaster suppliers.

Ian Hirst rides Cyclo-Cross. In these events the course is such that you don’t have to wait to fall off since most of it is unrideable anyway! In the Newton Park event, near Bury St Edmunds, Ian ran, and occasionally rode, for just over 2 hours to come 42nd. But this was merely a warm-up for a major effort in the country’s’ premier Ironman triathlon in Dorset. Here he swam 1.2 miles, cycled 56 miles and then ran a half-marathon all in 5 hours 28 minutes. Whilst this was 1.5 hours slower than the Danish winner, it was over 3 hours faster than some finishers and Ian was comfortably in the top third of the field.

3rd Aug

RENNIE IN YELLOW JERSEY

Paul Rennie stretched his lead in the St Ives Cycling Club evening time trial series when arch-rival Neil Houldey opted to ride as a two-up team with John Batchelor as training for a triathlon. Rennie’s winning time of 24 minutes 20 seconds for the 10 miles was actually 11 seconds faster than the Batchelor/Houldey combo, who seemed to spend a lot of time shouting at each other ! Chris Penney came second, both overall and on veterans age standard, being beaten in the age related event by the venerable Dave Nelson.

Full results :- P.Rennie 24.20, C.Penney 25.21, I.Bentley 26.56, T.Gray 27.18, E.Wells 28.10, D.Nelson 28.18, A.Carroll 32.45. Visitors G.Simcock 23.43, T.Cook 27.32.

On Saturday, Dave Nelson failed to win a veterans age standard medal by 22 seconds when he recorded 1 hour 8 minutes 56 seconds in the Sherwood CC 25 mile time trial on the A1 North of Grantham.

18th June

HOULDEY’S TRI-SPOKE TRIUMPH

Paul Rennie and Neil Houldey have battled for first place in the St Ives Cycling Club evening time trial series each Wednesday since mid-April with Rennie winning most times. However Houldey decided that he needed a bit more applied technology to go faster so raided his piggy bank for a pair of tri-spoke carbon fibre wheels. Fewer spokes means less drag as the wheels spin through the air.
On this occasion the investment paid off as he hurtled over the 10 miles in 24 minutes and 5 seconds, 8 seconds faster than Rennie. However, like Baldrick in Blackadder, Rennie has a cunning plan to cover the spokes of his rear wheel with fibreglass so that it becomes a disc wheel. A disc can be a bit tricky in a strong crosswind but, in other conditions has the least drag and can even act as a sail with a following wind. We await the next instalment of this gripping drama next week. Watch this space.
Visitor Greg Simcock was third fastest in 24.37 and Hugo Hocknell, riding solo for once did 24.58, all good times on a windy evening.
Full results : N.Houldey 24.08, P Rennie 24.13, H.Hocknell 24.58, G Keir 25.35, C Penney 26.15, R Keeler 27.07, E Wells 28.08,I Bentley 29.01, D Nelson 29.19.
Visitors : S.Shawcross/H Hancock (2-up) 22.53, G Simcock 24.37.
In the Whitewebbs CC 25 mile time trial on Sunday morning, two riders who are second-claim members of St Ives (ie they are also members of another club) rode. Dominic Whitehead, in the colours of the 29th Wheelers managed 1 hour 9 minutes 4 seconds despite a pinched nerve in his back. Dave Jones riding for Cambridge CC managed 1.11.06 whilst Dave Nelson, who can only afford to belong to one club, came home for St Ives in 1.11.23. There was a blustery wind to contend with which slowed riders for the first half but the return leg was extremely fast.

11th June

THEY CAME AND TRIED

 Eighteen riders turned up for the St Ives Cycling Club ‘Come and Try It’ 10 mile time trial on the B1043 between Sawtry and Stilton roundabouts. Since they included local superstar Stuart Shawcross, we suspected that most of them were regular speedmen out for a jolly.  However Ian Bentley, from Leighton Bromswold, assured us that he had not raced for over 20 years.
Shawcross massacred the rest of the field by recording 21 minutes 21 seconds over 2 minutes faster than Greg Simcock with Paul Rennie the fastest St Ives rider.
Full results S.Shawcross 21.21, G.Simcock 23.59, P Rennie 24.23, P. Elliott 26.05, N Porter 26.11, R Keeler 26.26, H Dhanji 26.30, S Pidduck 26.33, D Whitehead 26.43, E Wells 27.52, P Thompson 28.09, D Nelson 28.16, I Bentley 29.24, A Carroll 31.52.
Riding as pairs, H Hocknell and M Carless recorded 24.20 and C Penney and G Temple 25.40 confusing timekeeper George Arnot by finishing alongside single riders!

On Saturday evening veteran Dave Nelson managed 1 hour 22 minutes 52 seconds in the North Notts Olympic 30 mile time trial to win his first age standard medal of the season.  This was, surprisingly considering his recent form, his best-ever time at this distance.

15th May

IT’S A TIE FOR ST IVES CYCLISTS

 After 24 hours of regular drenching rain and hailstorms only eight optimistic (or foolhardy) riders turned up for the St Ives Cycling Club evening 10 mile time trial this week.  Whilst a few black clouds still lurked on the horizon, conditions seemed not too bad with less wind than we have been used to of late, though it was quite chilly.  This might have been the reason why most of the competitors were disappointed with their times but it did not stop this season’s great rivals Neil Houldey and Paul Rennie having another ding-dong battle. In fact, timekeeper George Arnot recorded the same time, 24 minutes 26 seconds, for both riders with Chris Penney third with 26.01.  New member Grant Keir rode a full-suspension mountain bike round in 29.47 and tricyclist Jim Elsegood managed 30.07.  Full results  N.Houldey and P.Rennie 24.26, C.Penney 26.01, D.Whitehead 27.43, D.Nelson 29.29, G.Keir 29.47, J.Elsegood 30.07.  Visitor M.Carless 28.11.
On the previous Saturday, Dave Nelson rode the Crescent CC Centenary 25 mile event. (If only to pay tribute to a club that was even older than he was). There was a £20 prize for the slowest finisher, something that, on current form, he expected to win easily, but, as usual, he botched it and despite another snail-like performance of 1 hour 16 minutes 45 seconds, four riders, at least, performed worse so it was baked beans for dinner that evening instead of a lavish takeaway.  

1st May

RENNIE MAKES IT TWO IN A ROW

St Ives cycling club member Paul Rennie made it two in a row in this week’s 10-mile cycling time trial. Dodging the thundery showers on Wednesday evening he road the Sawtry course in 24min 52 seconds, 30 seconds down on his winning time of the previous week, demonstrating how tough the wind can be. His archrival, Neil Houldey, although still having the quickest time for this season, could only manage second place with 25min 9seconds, as his early season good form seemed to slip away. Jim Elsegood showed that two wheels may not be as quick as three with his time of 29min 38 seconds, but he always wins the award for the most thoroughly prepared machine, riding his immaculate classic tricycle.

With the race season now well under way, the Sunday morning club runs have taken a new twist, headed up by long serving club member, Gary Stephens. During the winter, what was once a pleasant ride through the countryside has now become full on race training. Gary, still fresh from his 300km Audax of the week before, set a blistering pace as six of the clubs best racers struggled to stay in contact. Reinforcing his reputation as club hard man, the Paris-Brest-Paris veteran showed the young pretenders what real staying power was as he led the group around Ely. By the end of their 55mile route, despite getting tangled with a convoy of vintage tractors, they averaged 20mph in very windy conditions and all riders were pleased to see the welcoming sign of St Ives.

1st January 2003

Thetford Forest Cyclocross Race

A cyclocross race on New Years Day is just what you need to get the blood pumping and chase that hangover away. St Ives Cycling Club mountain biking regular, Chris Penney took cyclocross novice, John Batchelor, to Thetford Forest for a gruelling 1-hour race. Unfortunately, weather over night had been so bad, the course was declared unsafe and the race was abandoned. St Ives cyclists, however, are made of sterner stuff and decided to have a couple of hour’s mountain biking anyway. After getting thoroughly covered in dirt and after only 2 crashes, they decided perhaps conditions were a little treacherous, but still good enough to have fun in. By the time they got home their hangovers had indeed gone, which was just as well, as they still had all their kit to clean.

27th December 2002 MBC

A perfect antidote to Christmas over indulgence was the Cats Mountain Bike Club Christmas Trailquest. Raising money for charity and billed as being a non-competitive event, it seemed an ideal introduction to bike racing for my 7 year old daughter, Lauren, on her trailer bike.

The weather on race day was particularly unkind, with torrential rain and near freezing conditions, which meant after just 1 hour, of what was a 3-hour event, moral was already beginning to waiver. Just as despair struck we came across our own version of Jerusalem’s stable: McDonalds. After sheltering for a further hour and consuming copious quantities of hot chocolate, we returned to race headquarters to indulge in even more yuletide goodies.

The race was won by a pair dressed as Batman and Robin and I think we were probably nearly last. Lauren did, however, receive the accolade of being the youngest competitor and once we’d thawed out everyone agreed it was great fun and vowed to be back next year, hoping for better weather.