DLN Jun 2002

OFFICIALS
PRESIDENT JOHN KAVANAGH 40 Beverley Road Barming Maidstone Kent ME16 9JP 01622 726959	SECRETARY PETE HARRIS 91 Ashbourne Road Ealing London W5 3DH 020 8997 7852	TREASURER JAMES LETT 102 Park Road Kingston Surrey KT2 5JZ

As I am off to France this month for a couple of weeks (walking and cycling), so my report is short.

Each month I look at what has happened in the club which might be worth reporting:

I know that Roy Savery is back on two wheels again after his skiing accident and is getting the miles in. Look out for fast times from Roy!

Brian Dacey, another one who has problems stopping upright, is on the move again!

On the 9th June we have the National Vets Championships at Herne Hill, so we have got to get there in numbers to give support to our lads. How much longer we have got Herne Hill for we do not know.

At the Old Members supper last month I gave out a few medals and cups. If you were there you would have noticed how long it took our winners to get our of their chairs to get to me. Terry Deeley had a limp; Brian Dacey was holding his back; Alan Rowe (one of the bewildered) did not know what he was going up for in the first place!

Our young members Bill Wright and Cliff Steel must have thought 'is this what it comes down to?'

Thanks Ben for your articles and reports in the DLN each month. I look forward to them. I notice you give us a full report of bike races on Eurosport. This channel has been a god-send to us and has kept us in touch with what is happening on the other side of the channel.

Thank you for mentioning the bods who helped out in your road race, but who is Lily Savage? You forgot to mention Tich Shambrook who was marshalling. I must admit that Tich is small but you could not have missed him. He was on the first corner, sitting on the kerb, dangling his legs.

I would like to thank members who gave donations to the club. In February I reported in the DLN the death of our longest serving member Ron Hoare who had been in the club for 69 years. Ron wished that on his death his estate would donate £200.00 to the De Laune. Where ever you are Ron, thanks mate.

We are getting new members through the Web. Welcome to Dermot Kealey and Peter Sheppard. However, I believe Peter Sheppard was in the club back in the 50's (I will have to check with our Club Historian) welcome lads. What with Cliff Steel, Dermot Kealey, Kavanagh and Geoghegan, I think the Irish are taking over the club!

I met one of our new members riding up at Crystal Palace the other evening - Jack Oscini. Jack has come from Australia to race. He was sporting one of our vests. You looked 'beaute' mate. After waiting some months he has just received his bike from Australia. However, I think we have got to put your saddle up a bit.

What about this for a laugh - at our last committee meeting, James Peckham was saying that, due to new members we need some new racing clothing. He then went on to say that he had ordered new racing caps that had come up a bit on the large side. Well, he put one on and it covered his ears! He then said that he had a few pairs of racing shorts left but only small sizes and also cut on the small side. If anyone knows potential members with big heads and short legs, please let us know. Congratulations by the way to James and his lady on the birth of their new baby.

ps - The Mountain Bike section of the club is keeping the name of De Laune up front. Well done to Steve Price who won the South East Mountain Bike section.

How about a link to the web pages of members who are now overseas. I''ll start the ball rolling with my Cal club

There is a page on the club sire specifically for the race team. See a porky version of Gazza

Garry J. Birch Fremont Freewheelers Race Team Skipper and Directeur Sportif De Laune CC (London, UK) glbirch@attbi.com and gbirch@irelandeng.com (925) 556-1564

MAX DODS

MEMORIAL RUN & BBQ

SUNDAY 28^th JULY

Further details contact Malcolm Adams

01227 373045

Thought you might be interested in a graph of our 'web readers' - taken at 09:00, 7 May. Shows Visitor Time Zones for the last 100 visits. We are not alone...

DON’T FORGET THE AGM THURSDAY 20^th JUNE 20.30

Please accept my attempts at copy writing. I am one of the new members and although I ride on the road I concentrate on MTB. Having just got back from travelling Australia for a month and having only three weeks training under my belt I was extremely pleased to get such a good result. Hopefully there is plenty more success to come.

First round of the new South East Mountain bike series held at Deer's Leap Park in East Grinstead (my home town). Despite a disastrous start I took the lead at the beginning of the second lap and held off a strong challenge from some bloke from Crawley Pedal-Power, dropped him on the only real climb on the last lap. Things are looking good, still I should not get carried away it was very small (approx 30 masters). The good news was that this series was like a summer cross race/Beastway type affair so if anyone fancies doing another round it deserves to be supported, they even had a BBQ going and it was only £8 to enter.

Bill, Cliff and the new guy Graham also turned up, (very nice guy and hungry for information, he thought his eight pounds was the best he has ever spent! even though he suffered like a dog.)

Chalet de l'Ange is a new and modern chalet situated in the village of Montriond just 3km outside of the 'Tour de France' famous town of Morzine in the French Alps. This beautiful area of the Alps, close to Lake Geneva, also known as the 'Portes du Soleil' is a winter haven for skiers from December through to April. When the snow disappears the area is home to some of the most spectacular road biking in the whole of Europe.

From the middle of June through to October Chalet de l'Ange is open to cyclists of all levels who would like to ride the roads and experience the very climbs that Armstrong and Ullrich have battled over.

We offer either B&B or half-board accommodation for up to 12 people in 6 rooms, and cater for families too. We have detailed routes to follow and offer a guided service to get the most from your riding.

For those who do not want to ride everyday there are numerous other activities to try from golf to white water rafting, from hiking to sunbathing by the lakes!

We offer pick-ups from Geneva airport - handy for those flights by Easyjet, or off the Bike Express which stops in Geneva, and this is just 1 1/4 hours drive away. We are also easily accessible from the UK by car; roughly 10 hours by autoroute.

This year the Tour de France passes just 30km away with a stage finish in Cluses at the foot of the mighty Col de Colombiere which we shall be taking our guests to watch. We are already full for this week, however we do have another race - The Dauphine Libere - coming to Morzine on the 15th and 16th June.

On June 15th the race is on stage 5 which comes from Albertville over to Morzine for the stage finish via the Col de Joux Plane. The riders and teams shall stay the night in Morzine and then ride from Morzine to Geneva on the 16th. Teams confirmed are Cofidis, Credit Agricole, US Postal Service, Team CSC Tiscali, Lotto-Adecco, La Francaise des Jeux, Kelme-Costa Blanca, Bonjour, Domo-Farm Frites, AGR2R Prevoyance, IBanesto.com and Jean Delatour.

If you have a mountain bike department at your club, we would also be of interest to them with doorstop access to the world famous Portes du Soleil lift network which takes you deep into the mountains for some unequalled riding.

I myself am a very keen cyclist and ride the mountains daily. From my knowledge there are not many companies offering this type of holiday/experience in the Alps. Obviously riding up mountains is not everybody's idea of a holiday as it does require a pretty good level of fitness! For the keen club rider though this really is one of the ultimate experiences in cycling. We aim to offer an un-competitve feel to the riding with the emphasis being on enjoyment and personal goals. Those who wish to train hard and seriously here are also very welcome though!

If you think that any of your club members would be interested in staying at Chalet de l'Ange please contact me and I can send you some leaflets and posters for your club notice board.

As requested earlier this year by our President (and the back seat passenger on many tandem rides!) I am penning a few lines on how I became a member of this Club.

At the start of WWII my parents and I were living in Scotland and shortly afterwards circumstances made us move back to London where we stayed with friends in Earls Court above a butcher's shop where he was the manager.

It was here that I learned to ride a bicycle, which was a standard delivery type with a small front wheel that was necessary to allow space for a large basket. These delivery cycles were a common sight at the time as they were used extensively by all members of retail businesses for delivering small goods readers may remember the one used by Granville (David Jason) in 'Open All Hours' Early in 1941 I went to Guildford to study mechanical engineering at the Wandsworth Technical Institute (now called South Thames College) which had been evacuated there. To enable me to get around my parents very kindly bought me my first cycle -a Hercules- from Currys in Swan Lane. Subsequently I was called up for service in the Royal Engineers and when I was stationed in Blackburn came into contact, through the local NAAFI, with the secretary of the Blackburn Eagles Cycling Club who was a volunteer helper there. I was invited to go on a Sunday club run and as I didn't have my bike with me her brother lent me one of his. This is how I became hooked on club cycling and in fact whilst a member of that club rode my first time trial -a 25-mile event- in which, surprisingly, I won first handicap and a silver medal, which I still possess.

After demobilization in 1948 I was living in Souhfields and wanted to buy a hand built bike so decided on one from F.W.Evans in Kennington Road - and now they are one of our sponsors. My next aim was to join a local cycling club and in those days, just after the war, paper was in short supply and therefore magazines and other publications were very scarce so each week I would go to the library in Wandsworth and read 'Cycling'. It was here, in the classified section, that I saw advertisements from clubs wanting new members. I made a note of three or four south of the river and wrote off for more information. One I never heard from at all, others just sent a letter but from the De Laune came what I can only describe in today's parlance as a sales pack. A most comprehensive explanatory letter from Chip (who was then Secretary and Treasure) accompanied a club handbook, a runs list and other items. I well remember that the final part of the letter said 'Although this letter is stereotyped there is nothing stereotyped about the club' and went on to invite me to the Club HQ in the Trafalgar Institute in Trafalgar Street off the Walworth Road. How could anyone interested in joining a cycling club not respond to such an invitation and especially as I was born in Trafagar Avenue off the Old Kent Road!

I duly went along one Thursday evening and asked for Chip who immediately made me feel at home and introduced me to a large number of members present, many who have become life long friends. Alas many have, regretfully, passed on and some like Les Saunders and Eddie Sharp have disappeared from the club scene altogether. I have enjoyed being a member for the past 53 years and taking part in so many things that the Club had to offer. I was also very glad to have had the opportunity to be a Club official in various capacities when I was living closer to activities and I found the experiences gained have proved very useful in life. Finally, to all of my contemporaries, may I say a very big 'Thank You' for all the fun, competition and friendship I have enjoyed.

Mountain Bike Reports and Results – Ross Fryer

The second race in the National Points Series took place in the grounds of Catton Hall in Leicestershire on a deceptive course that wound up and down an escarpment. The climbs were short but steep and the shorter than usual lap distance (5.25 miles) meant that all the races had an extra lap to do. I lined up for the Masters race in the warm sunshine and managed to get a good start, passing numerous riders up the opening steep climb. I soon settled into a good rhythm locked onto the wheel of another rider and paced myself around for the first two laps, making up loads of places. After a small mistake on the third lap that saw me put my foot into my front wheel, bending a couple of spokes, I found myself in no-man's land. I managed to hold onto my position and came into the finish in 10th place, 13 places better than the first round of the NPS. It was a great result for me and means that I am in a very strong position in the series with one more counting round left. The next NPS race is at Reading in June and I will be lining up with Steve Price and James Lett in the Masters race which should see De Laune get three good results.

The Expert race was over 5 laps of the course and started up a grass climb to thin the field out somewhat before the first singletrack downhill section. I got a reasonable start although there was the usual argy bargy bit at the start as a field 12 riders wide tried to get through a gap that was only 5 riders wide. I found myself about 40th out of the 50 starters and quickly worked my way up into the middle of the field. As the pack started to thin out, I hooked up with a rider of similar ability to me and we worked well together for a while. By the second lap, I'd settled into a good rhythm and was halfway round the third lap when I pulled a muscle in my back as I went up the steepest of the climbs on the course. The rest of the race got progressively worse as the pain set in until it was all I could do to pedal…my back was effectively locked in one position. I began losing places and from then on my race was a damage limitation exercise to avoid losing too many places. I ended up coming 35th in a time of 2.02.27 although I'd been well up inside the top 30 for the first half of the race. Disappointing but there's always the next round at Reading to look forward to. Southern Area Mountain Bike Series 1 - Erlestoke, Wilthshire

Steve Price, Cliff Steele and myself all made the trip down to Wiltshire for the first round of the SAMS to race up and down the chalk escarpment on the edge of Salisbury Plain. We all lined up for the Masters race with the usual large field of 80 or so people. The race went straight up a pig of a climb and then down through an initially unrideable greasy descent. The laps were very short but enjoyable with some good singletrack through the bluebell woods and the usual drag around the edge of a very bumpy field. I went well on the main climb but lost lots of time each lap on the technical descent. Wrong tyre choice and all that (actually, I was just rubbish!). Steve went away from me and seemed to be going well and eventually finished in a very good 12th place with me four places and 42secs back in 16th. Cliff finished a creditable 37th but had had his fair share of problems in the slime.

More MTB Results: There should be a report on this from Steve Price somewhere in this issue but he managed the first MTB win of the season at the SIMBA race in East Grinstead. He was joined by Cliff Steele, Bill Wright and new member Graham Clark and apparently the racing, course and atmosphere were good and the series offers a great chance to race off-road in a local event.

Our riders have also been active in the Gorrick series with Steve Price notably getting a 2nd place in the race on May 12th, joined again by Cliff Steele.

Hopefully, the good results will keep coming as the MTB riders build for bigger and better things later in the season like the Red Bull 24 hour race, the Kona 100, the rest of the NPS rounds, the SAMS and the National Champs.

It will now be held on the Q25/20, which is the HARRIETSHAM course, start is still 7.00am. The headquarters will be at the CARDWELL PAVILLION HOLLINGBOURNE, to reach the hall from the A20, turn onto B2163 to Hollingbourne, continue through village to railway bridge, third right after bridge Greenway Court Road. From M20 take the slip road signposted Leeds Castle, Lenham.

A big thank you to the people who helped out at the presentation dinner on the 29th March - Katie Chown, James Lyon, James Urquart, who did a great clean up Peter Corkhill, Carol Steele, Alaric Lester, Brian Saxton, Paul Bowen, a big thank you from Quil and Cliff.

I would like to thank all the O.M.A. members at the supper on Saturday 20th April at the Blackheath Harriers Clubhouse, myself Cliff Steel and Bill Wright had a great time the food was great and by getting in some toasting practice, drink wine to I think that's how you say it. My wife Carol was to attend, but she was a bit under the weather, she missed a good night. Thanks for the invite John Kavanagh.

One more thank you to Quil for designing and printing the clubs membership cards.

The next date for your Diaries - as previously mentioned in the last DLN is:
SUNDAY - 11th AUGUST
BRIGHTON & HOVE GOLF CLUB
DEVILS DYKE, BRIGHTON.

This will be a Carvery Lunch, meet in the bar from 12.00 onwards for drinks and a chat, lunch will be at 13.30 approximately.

Hope to see a lot of you there, all members are very welcome, if you have not been before, do join us, we have a very happy day, you may be lucky and see the lovely sea views from the clubhouse - Patricia has ordered sunshine I believe! DOT

Greetings all. The season is now in full swing and there is even a rumour that Crystal Palace is up and running again on a Tuesday evening. Although the first week was a bit of a fiasco as no one had told the Park Wardens that the racing was on so the course was still strewn with rubble. Some racing did eventually take place on the small circuit but should now be on the full circuit. Sincerest apologies go out to Titch for missing him off the roll call of honour for the DeLaune CC promotion of an SERRL event and also to a Mr Savage for cruelly mistaking him as our very own Roy Savery. Congratulations go out this month to Matt and Michelle who are expecting to make an addition to the clubs youth policy. What was all that rubbish in the cycling press recently about the scrotal artery and impotence!!

Eurosport The first week of May was taken up by the Tour of Romandy where it just seemed to rain very heavily all the time but this was just a starter for the Giro d'Italia, and it has not disappointed. Yup, it's turned into the non-stop drug fest that we have come to know and love. Entire teams are at it (as usual!) with one rider just disappearing on the rest day (rrs note: must try that one!!) rather than face the music. Saeco have got it all wrong, you are supposed to hire Colombian climbers not Bolivian screamers. Administered by his dentist my foot, rolled up banknote more like. All very naughty behaviour, I'm sure you'll agree. Is our David really 71 or was Phil Anderson's wife just pulling our leg? She's a good commentator though. With all the main names almost gone for various reasons it's become one of the most open races for years. The pink jersey is currently being held by Hepner, another 'old-timer' at 37 but it will probably all change on Sunday (26th) at the ITT. The highlights for me so far have been Lombardi getting his wrists slapped for blocking McEwen (fancy naming your new son Ewen!) when McEwen looked to have Cippo beaten in the sprint, and David going mad with excitement as the camera closed in on Pantani when it looked like he was attacking off the front. David then had to eat humble pie when it proved that he was only jumping from dropped group to dropped group on a minor climb. I laughed so hard my leg/back went into relapse! (only joking). The circus continues………

Race Diary Saturday: Surrey League 2/3/4 90k,Fairwarp,27/04/2002 by James Lett This was a big weekend for me as I hadn't raced for a month and I was desperate to pick up some points. I decided to race both days, but pinned most of my hopes on Sunday's race as it was on the trusty Brenchley circuit. I don't really like the Fairwarp course as it has a long fast narrow downhill section where the bunch spills far too easily onto the other side of the road. Plan was to stick in the bunch and try and pick up some points at the end. At about 30k into the race a break went clear of about 9 riders. I sensed that it was the winning move but was too far back in the bunch to do anything about it. Next lap we got within 100 metres of the break and I got twitchy. I was desperate to get across now, but was boxed in. By the time I managed to get out of the bunch, we had lost further ground. I then blew my racing plan to bits by burying myself to try and get across. Unfortunately the headwind proved to be too strong and I ran out of time before the descent made it easy for them to stretch it out again. Next lap another group of 5 riders went clear and I missed out on this as well. With 14 up the road, I figured that there was no chance of getting points and considered pulling out to save myself for Sunday. However I wanted to finish it so stuck in there. The finish to this race is off the main circuit and consists of a long gradual climb of about 3 miles, right into a headwind. As we made our way to the finish we started to pick up riders one by one. As we approached the finish, I made my way to the front and made by move, only to find that my cleat came out and I almost took a tumble. I got back into it though and took 3rd in the bunch sprint and to my surprise got 8th and 3 points.

Sunday: SERRL,2/3/4 90k,Brenchley,28/04/2002 by James Lett Having ridden his circuit earlier in the season proved to be a big advantage for this race. I was confident for this one and was pleased to see Alan Male sign on. What a refreshing change it was to see another De Laune rider. I am almost looking forward now to next season when everyone has recovered from injury! It makes a huge difference and we as a club should put more effort into ensuring that we have similar race programs. Anyway enough of that! I made sure that I was near the front on the big climb in the circuit and sure enough after 30k, 3 riders slipped off the front over the top. I knew this was the move and jumped across. Alan was going well and I expected him to come with me as I made my move. Unfortunately he hadn't ridden the circuit and was unaware just how important it was to make the move. However he played the perfect team-mate and sat up at the front of the bunch. The break was working well together and we pulled out a good gap early on. At about 60k, the bunch started closing and there was some anxiety in the break. Everyone was looking back but we figured that the climb was deceptive in that they always look a lot closer that they are. We started to pull out some more time and I was fairly confident that we had it in the bag. As we crossed the line for the penultimate time up the climb, someone attacked. It was Adam Brochard who has been riding well all season. He took one of the Gemini boys with him and I just didn't have the kick to get with them. Unfortunately I was left with the other Gemini rider who was unwilling to chase so effectively rode on my own for the last lap. It was now about 3rd or 4th and I was thinking how much I could do with the 10 points. He looked as though he had the better of me in the sprint up the climb but I dug deep and just took him in the last few metres. Alan finished strongly in the bunch, a good result considering his lack of racing. Well that's 25 points now, just 5 short of the 2nd cat licence. Can't wait to get it now and move on to my other objectives for the season; Beastway, Red Bull and L'etape-Plenty more work to do!!!

Well done James, and of course you are right. We as a club do need to function more as a team. Something I do intend to deal with once we have a full team fit and ready. We have had various riders out through injury but that situation should hopefully be changing over the coming weeks as James Peckham is now back on the road and should be racing again in early June. I'm still going to be a while on the Osteopath's table yet but am progressing well, at last. There are still riders out there who are obviously racing but not letting anyone else know or even reporting their races to me for inclusion in this column. Come on, this is a team sport and we want to know how you get on.

I already have a few volunteers for marshalling, ‘The Old Faithfulls’, I still need a few more please contact me ASAP if you can help.

THE LAST DAY FOR COPY TO BE INCLUDED IN THE NEXT ISSUE IS WEDNESDAY 26 June 2002

THIS SHOULD BE SENT TO:
MARK BALLAMY
41 MAYES CLOSE
WARLINGHAM
SURREY CR6 9LB

Phone & Fax 01883 627809 - e-mail mark.ballamy@virgin.net

Founded 1889