Mark Grange - Licensed Level 3 British Cycling  Coach will be providing a 1 hour input on

‘Setting Your Benchmarks’

How to set discipline specific benchmarks.

How cyclists can track their progress and what tests they can do to see if they are getting fitter and faster

Finally what training equipment can be used to get the best out of each and every ride.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (2) Posts

I nearly phoned Jackie, Lorraine and Nick to tell them not to bother, but figured I’d at least drive around the course first. There were a LOT of big puddles. Then the weather suddenly improved. The rain stopped, the clouds parted like at the start of The Simpsons, and the sun came out.

I still wasn’t sure whether to run it. There were puddles from verge to verge in places. As a few people had already turned up, I decided to go around again and put the signs out. In just 15 minutes, the tide had already started to go out on the puddles, and the crown of the road was clear. Race on!

Right after the rain, the air was almost still. A float night? No. A breeze got up in the west before we actually started.

Nick took up position on the dodgy corner, while Lorraine, Jackie, and Bob the dog did start and finish duties.

There were only 8 riders - no great surprise given the downpour from about 5.30-6.00. Chapeau to Rob Powell for riding out in it.

The race went fine. We all got very soggy from wheelspray, and Barrie lost his chain when he hit a pothole hard and jolted it off. Otherwise, no problems.

Kevern Stafford went under 30 minutes for the first time, an average speed of over 20mph, while Jeff Francis improved by over half a minue on his last ride on the course. Paul Marr is still warming up, although he had the right idea with a rear mudguard on his bike. Rob Powell was a bit off his usual pace, and was caught by Jeff, Barrie, and finally, not far from the line, me. ‘Oh, f***ing hell,’ he muttered, sitting up. I was chuffed, because I’d caught Rob for three minutes and got my fastest time on this course.

There were three Paragon riders - young Ben Sixsmith, who was just 9 second behind Rob, Dave Priestman, and Barrie Cappleman, who came second despite losing his chain.

The results on actual time were:

1 Dan Joyce (RCC) 24:56

2 Barrie Cappleman (SPCC) 25:41

3 Jeff Francis (RCC) 25:53

4 Rob Powell (RCC/MW) 28:05

5 Ben Sixsmith (SPCC) 28:14

6 Dave Priestman (SPCC) 28:17

7 Kevern Stafford (RCC) 29:54

8 Paul Marr (RCC) 30:54

The Richardsons riders all picked up points in the handicap competition. As the handicapper, I’m slightly embarrassed to pick up 5 points this week, but my predictions (and hence handicaps) are based on your previous ride on the course. So anyone who goes quicker than usual will pick up points. Don’t forget that only your best five handicapped rides count, so there’s lots of opportunity to pick up points yet.

The handicap results

1 Dan Joyce 23:26  5 points

2 Jeff Francis 23:53  4 points

3 Kevern Stafford 23:54  3 points

4 Paul Marr 25:24  2 points

5 Rob Powell 25:35  1 point

Many thanks to the three helpers (and Bob): Nick, who is recovering from a cracked rib; and Lorraine and Jackie, who gave up their Thursday night mountain bike ride so that this event could go ahead. Thanks again.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

McCains Sports Ground, Scarborough

A fantastic entry of 27 riders entered the second round of Richardsons Cycle Club run Scarborough Youth Mountain Bike series considering the Met office weather warning that Morning for rain and gales.

The course at Osgodby, McCains sports ground was laid out to provide a challenge to the riders with small hills and drops and due to the previous days heavy rain a lake had developed but this wasn’t going to deter the riders!

Riders from Holmfirth, Pickering, York as well as locals from Filey, Scarborough and Hunmanby signed on for the three races.

Racing commenced at 10:15 with the under 8s being so close it was a joint first place win for the unstoppable Francis Hirzel and Oska Stringer with Ryan Bailey third and Reighton girl Millie Jarvis first girl on her Kona bike on her first ever event.

The under 10s were dominated by Holmfirth brothers Joe and Sam Barrens who led and won several of their races with Edward Hopper and Fileys Megan Simpson chasing them hard for third place.

Fighting for honours in the under 12s was Caven Walker and Richardsons Club member Bailey Thornton with Callum Sutherland taking the Race 2 sprint race for the McDonalds Vouchers and Jasmine Roper top girl in the U12s

Sam Cooper proved quickest in the under 14s followed by Yorks Jasper Wood and a really determined ride by Fay Debenham. The under 16s racing was as competitive as ever between Scalby teenager Callum Norris and Gristhorpes Marcus Archer who won the sprint event after taking full advantage of Callums handicapped start due to him being on a cyclo cross bike. The other 2 races on the slightly more technical course were won closely by Callum Norris.

Watch the video of the action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLF9rbMmQ5c

The next event will be on Sunday 20^th May at St Augustines School, Scarborough

For anyone wanting to enter see www.richardsonscc.co.uk club web site

Lights are recommended, if only to ride home with afterwards.

You don’t need any previous racing experience and you can take part on any roadworthy bike except a recumbent or one with electrical assistance. The route goes through Ayton to the roundabout at Irton, which you circle before retracing your outward route.

You must observe normal traffic laws, although there will be numerous large ‘cycle event’ signs to tell motorists that we’re there. You won’t need lights unless you’re planning to ride out to Brompton and back from Scarborough - and maybe not even then. But it’s not a bad idea to have a blinky LED on your bike to make you even more visible while you’re racing.

Look forward to seeing you there. If you’ve got any questions, post them on the forum or ask me (Dan).

Timekeepers for this event will be me, Dan Joyce, and Kevern Stafford. I’m still looking for three volunteers to help with the next event at Snainton on 10 May. If you can spare an hour or so to hold and read a stopwatch, please let me or Debbie know. It really is very easy. Thanks.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (4) Posts

Fifteen riders turned up, including new members Brian Wallace (who joined on the night), and Frank Strickland (whom I haven’t met before). And there were plenty of familiar faces.

I think the ride of the night was Callum’s: he’s around two minutes quicker than he used to be on this course, and he’s deservedly leading the handicap competition. Paul Lane was closest to him. Frank Strickland went under 30 minutes in his first event, while Kevern Stafford and Paul Schofield were just outside it. Brian Wallace had the bike but is still finding his racing legs after years away from racing, while Dave Myers has a good target to aim at next time. Pete Macauley punctured after a couple of miles – bad luck.

Non-club members finding form were Dave Thompson and Mike and Lewis Scott – Mike took a minute off me for the first, but probably not last, time.

Next event is in two weeks at Brompton. I’ll post more details for that closer to the time. I’m looking for one helper for that, to assist Kevern Stafford who has already volunteered.

Thanks to the Adam, Chris Tedman, and Anne Blood, who did the setting off, time keeping and marshalling. Adam helped me put up and take down the signs too. Thanks too to Simon Norris, who volunteered on arriving to marshal. And well done to everyone who took part.

A note on the handicap competition: I’ve assigned points for the first five places. The points are in one point increments for two reasons: one, it’ll limit the skewing effect if I’m ever slightly off with the handicapping; two, it’ll keep things more open as the series goes on, and will reward those who turn up regularly and do well. Your best five handicapped races will count at the end of the year. (Handicapped races will include the five Snainton events - the Run What You Brung event won’t count for this - and the four interclub events that Bridlington are running at Burton Fleming. If there’s a tie break (which I doubt), it’ll be based on the person who, over those five events, beat the scratch times by the biggest cumulative amount.

ACTUAL TIMES

1 Dave Thompson (Paragon) 23:22

2 Lewis Scott (Team Swift) 24:34

3 Mike Scott (Team Swift) 24:38

4 Dan Joyce (Richardsons) 25:44

5 Paul Lane (Richardsons) 26:57

6 Barrie Cappleman (Paragon) 27:15

7 Rob Powell (Malton/Richardsons) 27:25

8 Andy McLellan (Paragon) 28:10

9 Frank Strickland (Richardsons) 29.19

10 Callum Norris (Richardsons) 29:52

11 Kevern Stafford (Richardsons) 30:16

12 Paul Schofield (Richardsons) 30:18

13 Brian Wallace (Richardsons) 31:39

14 Dave Myers (Richardsons) 34:38

DNF Pete Macauley (Richardsons)

HANDICAP TIMES (Richardsons only)

1 Callum Norris 21:52 (HC 8:00) 5 points

2 Paul Lane 22:57 (HC 4:00) 4pts

3 Kevern Stafford 23:16 (HC 7:00) 3pts

4 Paul Schofield 23:18 (HC 7:00) 2pts

5 Frank Strickland 23:19 (HC 6:00) 1pt

6 Dan Joyce 24:14 (HC 1:30)

7 Rob Powell 24:25 (HC 3:00)

8 Dave Myers 25:38 (HC 9:00)

9 Brian Wallace 26:39 (HC 5:00)

Join the forum discussion on this post - (4) Posts

You don’t need any previous racing experience and you can take part on any roadworthy bike except a recumbent or one with electrical assistance. So yes, you can have a blast round on your mountain bike. It’d be easier with slicks, of course, but it’s up to you. The route is essentially two circuits of the ‘Yedingham triangle’ (see PDF below). If you’ve not ridden it before, it’s worth driving or riding around it once beforehand so that you don’t go off course during the race. (You can do one circuit in 20-25 minutes, easily - maybe less than that.)

Riders set off at one-minute intervals and hammer around the course at top speed. No tactics as such: it’s all about how fast you can ride. That’s why time trialling gets called ‘the race of truth’. Want to find out if you’re fitter than your riding buddies in the club? This is the acid test!

You must observe normal traffic laws, although there will be numerous large ‘cycle event’ signs to tell motorists that we’re there. The first event is earlier than most to give us plenty of daylight. You won’t need lights unless you’re planning to ride out to Snainton and back from Scarborough. But it’s not a bad idea to have a blinky LED on your bike to make you even more visible while you’re racing.

Look forward to seeing you there. If you’ve got any questions, post them on the forum or ask me (Dan).

Also: I have helpers for this first event, but I’m still looking for volunteers to assist with others. Could you help out at one of them? If you can spare an hour or so to hold and read a stopwatch, please let me or Debbie know.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (4) Posts

It always felt like we were not meant to get to Italy with obstacles constantly cropping up, first was the unannounced cancellation of the flights in Feb by Ryanair their decision to stop all flights from Liverpool to Rimini which of course we had booked several months before. We hastily rebooked another flight from Stansted to Rimini but a day earlier. Getting near to our day of departure we learned that baggage handlers were due to strike at Stansted.

Finally we did arrive at the airport yesterday only to find one bag was overweight and we had to redistribute the contents of our bags …all done in front of the check in desk with 250 angry Italians waiting to check in behind us!

Anyway despite all this arrive we did in Riccione on the East coast. Lorraine, Gill also from Scarborough arriving with us on the same flight. Already booked in was Sam Roper and his dad Michael. The other 5 riders due to arrive tomorrow.

The first days ride was a gentle introduction to the Italian countryside. Mark and Michael were out with Ivano on an 80 km ride to Verucchio. Sam was on the 100 km ride with Roberto. As both rides were due to be hilly with around 900 m of ascent the hotel laid on a bespoke ride for the ladies – a nice 50 km with no hills – a rarity in this part of the world! The groups were small, largest was ten, which means less drafting behind other riders. All groups reconvened back at the hotel for a bike buffet at 2 pm with only Sam getting caught in the afternoon showers. After the buffet comes the usual mid afternoon book read and snooze. Evening meal was gorgeous with the free wine being a bonus – seconds and thirds were in order! There were tales from the road especially the ladies group led by Georgio who led the ladies even though he was on a mountain bike and at 78 years old was on and off the kerbs like a 16 year old! His current training is 100 km a day – puts us to shame.

All our group were early to bed to hit the roads again for slightly longer and hilly rides tomorrow.

The hotel is fantastic and food is first class with secure bike storage, tools, water, energy drink and bananas available for the daily rides.

Photos are on our flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardsonscc/

route from Ivano’s group today: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/167033439

Day 2

The plan was for Sam and Mike to have an easy day with this being ride 3 for them. Lorraine, Hazel and Gill had planned to be out with Georgios younger brother a spritely 77 year old Graziano, who was also deaf. There were quite a few riders today waiting for their ride leaders. Mark and Sam were due to go with the middle group but at the last minute went with the fast group. This was due to be a 100km ride with 1200m of climbing whilst Mike was with Ivanos group another 90km ride. Graziano was leading his group to Verucchio. The day started off bad for Lorraine a change of bike yesterday for a sparkly Wilier Cento dealt got her a smaller bike but she discovered the seatpost did not drop enough and the post was too long so their group had a detour to the bike shop first.

The fast group was the largest group and had the German National TT champ – he was fast and told us his training involved 20,000km and 30,000metres of climbing per year. A man with a lot of time on his hands but it worked for him as he shot up the hills closely followed by Sam. Urbino was the destination for this ride and involved two large ascents. The guide Roberto split the group at Urbino declaring he was heading back to the hotel as planned and suggested the group could go onto Fano another 30km. Just three opted for the return journey with Roberto and were led all the way by our German champ. A fast ride back and first group home at 1.30pm. Meanwhile Hazel, Lorraine and Gill were being led on a longer and hillier ride than expected. All were surprised at the speed of Gill’s ascending as she found new legs from the evening pasta. A few too many A roads on the way out for this groups liking and a few close encounters with HGVs but the afternoon was a better route with quieter roads. Mike in his group was again amazed at group leaders Ivanos coffee choice with an expresso with a lump of ice cream.

It was great to meet the new arrivals at Tea with Ian, Toby, Ann, Triff and Tim all arriving at the hotel for the start of their week. The only thing is fresh legs can always put the group speed up!

Route from Robertas group: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/167325886

Day 3

Rain was the forecast to arrive in the area by midday. However first thing looked dull and whilst we were waiting at the front of the hotel for the ride guides it started to rain. As a result of the forecast only one guide appeared for the morning start both Ivano and Roberto opted to try for a midday start- we knew with the forecast it was unlikely they would show, we wanted to ride! Meanwhile the oldest and clearly toughest guide- Graciano the 77 year old was there so it was to be an all British ride out with him. Ann was on her first road bike and Toby had been off the bike for several months so a steady pace was called for. Graciano took us to a British War Cemetery to see the immaculately kept graves. As we set off Ian was in too high a gear and broke his chain…….The men jumped to action -how many men does it take to change a chain? See the photos on flickr for the answer.

We rode for a couple of hours to Mercatino Conca and after our coffee and croissants the group split. Mark was to take one group on a slightly longer route home with the help of a local map and Garmin. The map for the area is excellent and contains 20 routes which are all numbered and coloured which correspond with the same road signs for bikers on the roads but Garmin provided the necessary detail on junctions. The route home for Graciano was a direct route whilst the other group headed up and up over the ‘Panoramica’ route to Mondaino. Sam did point out that we had appeared to have found the biggest ascent in the area. Whilst on route the rain arrived which made descending a slow affair. We all got very wet some more than others Terry ‘Triff’ had only shorts with no leg warmers so particularly suffered.

We arrived back at the hotel after a couple of miles along the seafront. The group split on the front and Triff was hanging at the rear some way back…….Ian said Triff will be ok he cannot get lost from here…. 45 mins wait at the hotel and Triff had not arrived. The search started and eventually he was found …a puncture was at fault but Triff was to blame his cold hands for nipping and puncturing his only spare inner tube on the rim.

The hotel were again fantastic as they kept the food coming and the kitchen open to feed the stray rider and search party.  Pizzas, pasta, vegetables and Easter eggs on the menu.

The forecast looks grim for tomorrow.

Route for the day: http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard?cid=1957864

Day 4

Grim it was – the weather that is! All rides cancelled and the decision made to head off to Ravenna for some culture. The hotel as ever, was brilliant, and loaned us the hotel mini-bus. Ian was in charge and off we went. The rain followed us to Ravenna and whilst some enjoyed the culture others simply partook of cakes, coffee and a more cakes! The hotel laid on a little pre-dinner drinks session with nibbles and Prosecco – very nice! All in all a quiet day.

Day 5

After 24 hrs the rain had stopped and the sun was out. Mark and Tim headed off with Roberto who was as usual late after a lay-in. This was due to be a local but hilly ride however after 25 miles Roberto punctured his tubeless tyres and Tim and Mark struck out on their own heading off to Urbino and clocking up 120 km with 4,000 metres of ascent in the process. Toby, Ann, Triff and Ian headed off with Graziano – Ian nursing jumping gears. The girls headed off with Ivano to Santarcangelo for a fantastic 77 km ride. The cobbled streets of the town were a challenge but the views on the ride were just wonderful. Ivano went from one quiet back road to another and the group even went to see a tiger in a garden! .

Marks Gramin route:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/168341742

Day 6

Unfortunately the weather was poor again this morning so the group headed off to Rimini old town which was really beautiful. Rides were scheduled for the afternoon to take account of the improving forecast and three groups headed out at 2.30.

The afternoon brightened up a bit so two groups went out for a local ride but both were caught in the afternoon storms and had to shelter.

The evening turned into a spending spree as the group bought bike clothing at the hotel which turned out to be extremely cheap -even beating Debbies prices : ). The hotel was so impressed they threw in a free bottle of Prosecco.

Day 7

Last day for Gill, Lorraine, Hazel and Mark and a complete change in the weather so sunshine again. Tim and Roberto requested a ride to San Marino so Roberto added this to the route. San Marino was fantastic with view across the region and back to Riccione. Roberto pointed out the afternoon route it looked and it was – 1650 metres of climbing in 65 miles. Tim managed to snap his chain on this ride so after a roadside repair another trip to the bike shop for an 11 speed chain.

Hazel, Toby and Ann went with Graciano for a 45 mile ride to Sadulecio another beautiful old Italian Town.

Gill, Lorraine, Ian and Triff were out with Graciano on a hilly ride across to Mercatino Conca. Ian’s gears working perfectly after a new cassette was fitted. The local bike shop were doing well off our groups regular mechnicals!

Robertos group - Marks Garmin route:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/169357521

The evening meal our group were presented with a group photo and medals from the hotel. A 5 min drive to the airport and the group of 4 were ready for our flight back home.

All agreed that it was a great hotel to stay in Riccione – hospitality was excellent, food superb. No long transfers from the airport. The roads were a bit potholed in places but for training extremely good as there were plenty of hills to improve your fitness.

The price was including flights and spending money –around £450 per person so great value.

]]> http://richardsonscc.co.uk/2012/04/italy-blog-next-week/feed/ http://richardsonscc.co.uk/2012/03/time-trials-starting-soon/ http://richardsonscc.co.uk/2012/03/time-trials-starting-soon/#comments Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:20:09 +0000 Dan Joyce http://richardsonscc.co.uk/?p=2525 Get your race face on: Richardsons CC’s time trial season kicks off in a couple of weeks. The first event is on Thursday 12 April, and then they’re every fortnight after that – so on alternate Thursdays.

There are three courses: the Yedingham triangle at Snainton; the road between Brompton, Ayton and the roundabout at Irton; and the Malton-Pickering road, between the Black Bull pub and the roundabout above the A64. They’re all 10 miles as that’s been the most popular distance.

There will be prizes at next year’s dinner for best improvers and for ‘best all rounder’, based on fastest times on each of the courses. I’ll probably also run a handicap competition based solely on events at Snainton and Burton Fleming - for those riders who would rather not compete on the faster A roads (Brompton and Malton courses). Maybe the handicap commpetition will be called The Sporting Course cup. I’ll discuss it with the committee anyway.

Richardsons CC aren’t running events ourselves at Burton Fleming this year, but we are invited to the four interclub events that Bridlington CC are running there later in the summer, and Scarborough Paragon are running a couple of events on that course in September specifically for beginners - and again, we’ve been specifically invited.

I’ve marked the Burton Fleming events in blue and orangey-pink on the Excel file so you can see the details. I’ve highlighted our own events in yellow. Note that you can enter ANY of the events on this list as a guest rider, not just the highlighted ones, so long as you’re a Richardsons CC member when the event takes place.

You can take part in any time trial on any road legal bike except a recumbent. To celebrate that, our last event of the season on 16 August is a Run What You Brung special. It’s a bit of fun and an opportunity for mountain bikers to ‘beat’ riders on full-on TT bikes, as I’ll deduct minutes from your actual time based on the bike you race on. I’ll publish the handicaps before the event takes place. I’m  still fine tuning (well, eyeballing) the amount of time to be deducted. This is what I’ve got so far:

0 minutes = proper fast TT bike

1 min = road bike with tri bars

2 = road bike without tri bars

3 = proper rapid fixie/road bike with mudguards

4 = touring bike with mudguards, fast hybrid

5 = MTB on skinnies, average hybrids

7 = MTB on knobblies, fast looking folders without mudguards

8 = normal folding bikes, like Bromptons

10 = MTB full sus with knobblies

11 = shopper

12 = shopper with wicker basket

13 = electric bike with flat battery

15 = absurdity (small child’s bike, bike with 6 inch wheels, etc.)

Tandems are worth three minutes less than whatever they are as solos. (So a TT tandem would have time added, not deducted!) Trikes are worth two minutes more than the bicycle equivalent.

If you’ve got any suggestions on tuning the list further, let me know. It ain’t science. There will be a prize for the winner, though.

I’ll publish more details about the events as they get closer. In the meantime, here’s the list of our 10 events.

12 April,  10 miles, Snainton, sign on by 18.15 for 18.30 start

26 April, 10 miles, Brompton, sign on by 18.30 for 18.45 start

10 May, 10 miles, Snainton, sign on by 18.45 for 19.00 start

24 May, 10 miles, V418, Malton, sign on by 18.45 for 19.00 start

7 June, 10 miles, Snainton, sign on by 18.45 for 19.00 start

21 June, 10 miles, Snainton, sign on by 18.45 for 19.00 start

5 July, 10 miles, Brompton, sign on by 18.45 for 19.00 start

19 July, 10 miles, Snainton, sign on by 18.45 for 19.00 start

2 August, 10 miles, V418, Malton, sign on by 18.45 for 19.00 start

16 August, 10 miles, Snainton, sign on by 18.30 for 18.45 start. Run what you brung.

Each event costs £3 per rider. (This is up from £2 this year due to increased levies to Cycling Time Trials.)

I’ll be organising the events - putting the signs out, sorting out race numbers and so on. However, I will need help with timekeeping and marshalling. Each event at Snainton will require a MINIMUM of three volunteers (time keeper, holder-upper/time keeper’s assistant, and one marshall). Each event at Brompton and Malton will require a minimum of two volunteers (no marshall required).

If you’re a Richardsons CC member and you’re planning to ride these events, can I ask that you try to be available to volunteer ONCE - or if you can’t make it yourself, to find someone to stand in for you? There are, I think, 26 volunteer slots to be filled here. Without volunteers, the races cannot happen. In terms of what it takes: you need to be available to wear a yellow bib for an hour or so on a Thursday night. That’s pretty much it. If you can read a stopwatch, hold a bike upright or see traffic, you have the necessary skills. If you can help, drop me a line at dan@danjoyce.plus.com telling me what dates you’re available. Thanks!

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts