DLN June 2003

Brian Dacey sweeps the board at the 2003 National Masters championships at Herne Hill.

1st 500mt Time Trial, 1st 10 Laps Points Race, 1st Individual Pursuit, 1st 10k Scratch Race, 1st Sprint

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	CLUB NIGHT Third Thursday of each month HERNE HILL STADIUM Burbage Road London SE24 9HE

Sunday the 18th of May and another well-organised OMA lunch at Brighton. Thanks to our ladies Pat Burns and Dot Fuller. What would we do without you?

The only problem we had was with our members getting lost once they got to Brighton. The lunch was held at the Brighton and Hove golf course, which is on the top of a hill by Devil's Dyke. You come up to a lot of roundabouts and if you miss your turn-off you could find yourself on the motorway flying down to, for instance, Eastbourne, which I think a lot did!

I said to Alan Rowe, 'Knowing you Alan, you're bound to get lost. Follow me, I know the way'. Guess what! I went flying down to Worthing. I know Alan will never let me forget that.

The meeting was our normal format of meeting old friends over a drink a good meal and cross-toasting. This year Brian Saxton decided to do something different and walked up and down the aisle modelling our latest casual and racing gear and, guess what, he sold a lot of the new racing vests and the new Fred Perry-type shirts with De Laune on the front. He sold out of our racing hats. Well-done Brian.

In my Presidents speech I mentioned the length of unbroken service some of our living members have had with the club. Four of the top five we had at the lunch.

1. Monty Watkins Joined 28th Jan. 1937 66 years (who is in Australia)
2. Bill Miles Joined 4th March 1937 66 years
3. George Wood Joined 7th Aug. 1938 65 years
4. Ken Fuller Joined 13th Nov. 1947 55 years
5. Don White Joined 18th Dec. 1947 55 years

I know that Dot will be giving you a full report of the event but I would like to thank George Wood (the Godfather of the Brighton Mafia) for supplying the wine. Thanks George.

What other news have I got for you? Did you remember I said that Roy Savery was making a big come back, well he went to Spain for two weeks for special hot weather training and in his first 25 mile time trial this year he won £20. Unfortunately it was the prize for the slowest rider. Bless him. I always say that if you have got news we can use for the DLN or the web, please let Mark, Mike or me know, be it race results, races we should look out for, social events, births or deaths. Let us know.

We have two new members I would like to welcome to the club. Harry Corbett (no not the Harry Corbett) and Rupert Walsh. Both are interested in triathlons. I had a nice letter from Harry telling me all about a triathlon they both rode at Hampton Court and out of 237 starters Rupert was 118th and Harry was 151st. Well done!

Harry went on to tell me about more triathlons our members might be interested in. How nice to get a letter from a new member. How about some results from our other racing members i.e. Alan, Malcolm. Not a sausage from Brian D who I know has had a few wins this year.

Stop Press. I have just come back from the National Masters track championships at Herne Hill. We had two riders Brian Dacey and Peter Jenn. Peter only rode one event, the 10k scratch race and due to not feeling too good all week, did not get a place this year. But guess what! Brian rode five events and won five events.

1st 500mt Time Trial
1st 10 Laps Points race
1st Individual Pursuit
1st 10k Scratch Race
1st Sprint

Five national vests. Well done Brian we are all proud of you. The opposition was very tough this year. Ask our old mate Roly Crayford from the San Fairy Ann, who is a Masters World Champion but could only manage to get three silvers this year, thanks to Brian.

In the final Brian came up against Dave Hanley. Those who remember, Dave was the British National sprint champion many times in the 1960's. In fact Dave was the last English rider to win a sprint medal (bronze) in the World Championships.

I've just joined De Laune CC. I normally do 3 or 4 laps training around Richmond Park on Saturday and/or Sunday mornings (as I'm quite new to road cycling and so have not yet started racing). I'm not sure whether or not the 9am meeting on Sundays at Roehampton Gate (which I've not been able to get down to since I joined) is still going on. In any case, I'd be keen to meet up with any members for a session.

If so, my contact details, for anyone interested, are: Work: 0207 456 3278 Home: 0208 673 6967 Mobile: 07799 77 2749 e-mail: nick.butler@linklaters.com

Actually that's the Eastern Counties, well Norfolk to be precise, not the Far East that John Darroch keeps us informed of.

Well since our move here in September 2000, and my moving to the Norfolk Constabulary 2 years ago. I've managed to become more involved with the local cycling scene. I regularly ride with the CC Breckland, in their mid-week tens, and on occasions with the Diss and District Wheelers and the Godric CC. A member of the Godric always asks about Pete Jenn, sadly I can't remember his name.

Some of you may remember that the CC Breckland was a prominent time trial club in the 70's and early 80's with riders like Martin Pyne, Richard Bradley and Simon Warren who set a team competition time record for 25 miles way back in 1981. Martin Pyne has remained a multi-time trial winner, season in and out for the last 25 years. Richard Bradley is in his comeback season and already winning open events after a gap of fifteen years, whilst Simon Warren drives a Police Car with me and struggles to maintain 17 mph on his occasional rides to work. I know that feeling all too well.

The 2002 season saw Cliffe Steele come up to visit us with Carol. I had told him to bring a bike; fortunately he'd brought a road bike, as I hadn't told him I had entered him in the CC Breckland 4 up 50k time trial. He rose to the occasion wonderfully and with three of my colleagues put in a good ride. The De-Laune had already been seen on the Norfolk start sheets when Matt Goodes won the end of season "Gas Hill Gasp" Hill climb at the end of the 2001 season. I had also "conned" John 0' into racing a 25 in Suffolk earlier that season when he had visited with Tracey, so the De-Laune strip had been seen regularly in Norfolk & Suffolk for some time.

Season 2002 found me trying to ride the BBAR Qualifying distance events on very limited mileage, as myself and Christine tried to organise our wedding for 150 people, 135 miles away from our home in September. A 5.42.36 '100' in June and a 185 mile 12 hour on the hottest day of the year (July 29th) made up the basis of my BBAR rides. I'm sure that neither of these rides had Gethin Butler or Kevin Dawson quaking in their shoes. For those of you who don't know the BBAR British all rounder is a time trial competition with your average speed over distances of 50 and 100 miles and 12 hours. Anyone with an average speed of over 22 mph gets a certificate and the likes of Butler & Dawson contest the title with averages around the 27mph mark. On this occasion Kevin Dawson prevailed. My 2.40.11 for a September 50 mile gave me an average over ten mile per hour slower and some 301 paces behind, third from last. A sort of Scunthorpe United comparison with Manchester United in a footballing sense but perhaps that's a little unfair on Scunthorpe.

Consolation was that my 185 miles in the 12 hour got me 9th place, (there were only 23 starters) and a mention in "Cycling". (12 finished, the heat caused a high rate of attrition?) in fact this was one of the two mentions in Cycling as I finished 9th in the "Gas Hill Gasp" hill climb in October, 39 seconds slower that Matts 55 second record of 2001 though, but with only 14 starters I saw my name mentioned in the same magazine as Lance Armstrong and that's as close as I'll get. A cadence of 120 rpm plays a cadence of 35 rpm on a good day.

Season 2003 sees me with similar ambitions and I will be riding the BBAR Qualifying Distances, having read the obituary of Ron (Oscar) Hoare in the April 2002 D.L.N, I too would love to finish in the top 150, although as the competition has declined in stature this is probably easier today than in Ron's day. But if I do I will make the January trip to the Assembly rooms in Derby for the Road Time Trials Councils Annual Prize giving and bean feast.

So far this season I've failed to break evens in a ten or twenty five although the ten saw me within four minutes of Martyn Pyne on a hard day on a tough course. The 25 mile Diss & District Medium gear 72 inches saw me finish well and truly last. For anyone who doesn't know 72 inches is the amount the bike moves forward for each crank revolution, and in these days of huge gears it meant a lot of spinning. I rode to a 1.20.18 whilst the winner Glenn Taylor of API Resprays glided to a 58 minutes on a perfect morning. The Previous year's winner of the event was Zak Carr also of API Resprays with a 55 minute ride in a gale. Zak is a multi time trial and road race champion and he and his wife Beverley are friends of ours. Despite what you may have read about him in Cycling, Zak is always very helpful and regularly gives advice and help to those of us (lets face it, that's the majority of us) with less talent. Despite my hopeless performances Zak regularly comes up with positive points. During this years CC Breckland 50K 4 up, when I had been dropped by my colleagues within the first mile, I was caught by the API a team for 33 minutes as they rode to an incredible 1.05. My greatest consolation was that the other 3 API riders behind Zak looked just as bad as I felt. The worst of this was that I'd only had to ride as Cliffe Steel had injured his arm. (That's what Cliffe said, but probably he wasn't... .been had over again!!!)

No 24 hours this year due to family commitments, and that despite the nice things that Arthur Howe said after my last try. I hope to have one more go in 2004 if there's still an event for me to ride.

Finally as this is my tenth year of De-Laune membership I finally qualify as an old member. I'd just like to explain why as someone with no talent for the sport I still love cycling and cycle racing. I grew up in a small town Immingham in North Lincolnshire, such a small place had few claims to fame. But from my school came a great cycling champion, some of you may remember the name Steve Lawrence. Steve was twice National Amateur road race champion, was a 1982 Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist in the 100k team time trial with Malcolm Elliot (in the news at present), Bob Downes and Joe Waugh, he was 4th in the 1982 Commonwealth Games Road Race behind Malcolm Elliot and Steve Bauer (both went on to successful professional careers) He won the GP Of Essex, Lincoln GP, Manx Classic,, Commonwealth Bank Classic (Australia), rode the milk race and. in 1979 in Lincolnshire he finished runner up to a Robert Miller in a hotly contested sprint at the end of the National Road Race Championship the first road race I ever saw. As Steve worked as a carpenter in a chemical factory where my father also worked, he became something of a hero and this led me to take up cycling. In the early 1980's I rode road races and time trials in the colours of Brocklesby CC and later in the colours of Lindsey R.C (A Grimsby Club). I got a junior BBAR certificate signed by Frank Minto and finished 2nd in the Lincs RRA hill climb (yes there are hills in Lincolnshire and I was a lot lighter) and rode the track at Scunthorpe. When I left to go to University in Manchester my cycling days sadly stopped, and did not resume until I took to general cycling for commuting and met Rod Smith (remember him?) in a bike shop in Annerley and he told me of the De-Laune CC and brought me to Choumert Road one Thursday night, where I met the great Ken Hill, back in 1993.

Last spring I discovered that Steve Lawrence lived just over the border from us in Suffolk and after some organising I went to see him. Still as slim and athletic as in this racing days I talked about his cycling career, the successes and the near misses (the 4th in the Commonwealth Games Road Race and the 2nd in the 1979 National) each had stories attached and Steve spoke with clarity and passion that peeled back the years. He told a great story of training with the English track team at Calshot, in those days Mark Swinnerton was a rising star, and they were joined in a serious training session by a young Irish rider over with an Irish squad. This young rider was dressed in long football socks and a floppy track suit, but despite this he and Steve soon lost Swinnnerton as they lapped flat out for half an hour, this was of course a very young Sean Kelly. He also related to me the huge influence of the late Eddie Soens and his fantastic input into the 1982 Commonwealth Games team which won the 100km 4up TTT and the road race. Sadly Steve no longer cycles, his successful building business, beautiful wife and two children filling his time. Steve clearly had great memories of his rides as do I. I asked Steve why he never turned pro and he talked dispassionately of what that might have required and how advice from Vin Denson (team mate of the late Tom Simpson) had made him realise that it was not something he could do and a vivid recollection of the great French cyclist Bernard Thevenet reduced to a shattered wreck in a Worlds road race convinced Steve that he could not hope to compete honestly at that level. Steve clearly had no regrets although I did try to talk him into a comeback to try for an age related vets world title, something he could surely be in contention for? At the end of my conversation with Steve the hours had seemed like minutes and for that time I'd felt 20 years younger. All from a passion for cycling, and as I look back over my 10 years with the De- Laune I think of the friendships, competitions, good times and bad that make up the club and I cherish them all.

Thanks to the De-Laune CC, for helping me revive my love of cycling. Best wishes to all this summer.

Thank Jeremy, great to hear from you I am sure that Norfolk is now a better place with you plodding the beat! Ed.

A G M 26th JUNE

The Fred Cowley road race is the 3rd in the elite southern area road race series sponsored by Evans Cycles. At 160km it is a testing race and the windy conditions made it even more testing. The race is run over 3 circuits fortunately on the whole fairly flat, which meant fast. The initial break went very early and contained all the main protagonists, Colin Roshier (Quest), Gary Dodd (Sigma Sport), Dave Berkley(Sigma) et al. Those to miss RT) and Tony Gibb (PCA Orbea) and of course yours truly. After 40 km of hard riding feeling a little perky I joined the elites through and off at 50km/hr at the front lasted about 10km before deciding that I really should not play with the big boys and rejoined the rest in the main bunch.

At the half-way stage the average speed had been 41km/hr with a constant stream of attack and counter attack. After 2.5 hrs racing it the lead group where still at 1 min and things where getting really lively, again feeling frisky I started joining in with the attacks going out with Tony Gibb and Mark Daly in a constant attack re-group counter period. As we joined the final circuit the hammer went down hard a split occurred after a counter with Tony Gibb, Dominic Hill, Mark Daly and 1 or 2 others driving off the front, I tried to jump taking Guy Pearson (Pearson Cycles) with me in an attempt to bridge riding Guy off my wheel I still could not make it stranded in no mans land before being re-caught.

Well that was it really, the next 2 hrs racing was a little more like a slog I tried going on a couple of occasion as did various groups non of which where strong enough after 140km racing. Into the last lap a couple of small breaks occurred and into the finish I got 6th in the sprint for 33rd overall. Not bad I felt for a 3rd cat in an elite race after 160km racing.

Already round 6 of the SERRL race series, scary, just where has this season gone! This was the first long one of the series and was back on the Benenden circuit, an interesting rolling circuit with a few testing climbs thrown in. I was joined by James Peckham, who was looking forward to this after a strong performance in the 160k Fred Cowley Memorial race.

The usual suspects lined up with the exception of the Gemini boys who were hosting the event. There were a number of attempts to get away early, however it was a strong field and the bunch was in no mood to let anyone gain too much time. Both myself and James P were feeling strong, however we resisted the temptation to get carried away early on and sat in for the first lap.

On Lap two Mark Powell (VC Deal) and Chris Millets (London Fire Brigade) got out of sight quickly on the long flat section. A lap later three more rolled off and soon joined to make it five, they were Kevin Tye (Posh Bikes), Ashley Holding (GB Cycles) and Ray Palin (Kingsnorth International).

At this point we were both looking to get into breaks, and managed to get into some very useful looking ones, only for them to be pulled back as no-one wanted to work. We thought it was very negative riding at times as people were happy to chase wheels and close gaps, but when they got the gap, they were unwilling to commit. This was a bit frustrating, however it did have the effect of speeding up the bunch, particularly when James P managed to get clear with another rider for a while and the effect was to keep the breakaway at about 30 - 40 seconds.

Eventually with two laps to go it was finally reeled in on the hill to Rolvenden. Andy Meilak (Posh Bikes), Nick Cheetham (Dulwich) and Julian Clark (private) made a number of short lived attacks and at three quarters of a lap to go it was altogether still with about 35 riders.

With many tired legs now suffering, it was again Mark Powell (VC Deal) who attacked on the steep flick around the back and Andy Meilak went with him. The bunch didn't respond much with one or two trying but failing to get over to Meilak and Powell, including Palin. On the long stretch the bunch really slowed down with 5-6 miles to go and the two escapees were nearly out of site. It was then that Hill (Arctic) attacked from the back of the bunch to get an instant gap. I found myself at the front of the bunch and was surprised to see that I had drifted off the front. It was at this point that I decided to also attack and I set off after Mark Hiill Hill caught Palin and I then caught both of them on one of the climbs after chasing for about a mile. I went straight to the front and shelled out Palin and then began to work with Hill to try and stay away. As the road flicked up for the undulating ride to Rolvenden, I dropped Mark Hill and found myself out on my own. Mark started coming back on the flater section and I decided to wait for him as it was going to be tight to stay away. With about 200 metres to go, I put a big turn in and managed to drop Mark and ended up finishing 3rd, about 100 metres short of the two original breakaways. Just to round off another good SERRL race for De Laune, James Peckham got 7th in the bunch sprint and claimed 11th place. I now have 45 points as a second cat after 6 races. Although I am still a long way off the 100 points required for a first cat licence, I am pleased with my progress and feel as if I am riding well. It is a shame that I have not been able to do any more racing but just too many commitments these days. There is plenty more racing to come though as Mountain bike racing every Wednesday night returns and there is the 24 hour Reb Bull race and L'etape to keep me focused.

DON'T FORGET THE A G M

Once more Master men saw a titanic battle in this highly competitive category. Gavin Rumbles (CC Luton) set the pace hovering only seconds ahead of a 3 way fight that allowed Rumbles some latitude. James Lett (De Laune/Evans/Specialized), Paul Douglas (CC Luton) and Ross Fryer (De Laune/Evans/Specialized) made little of the conditions as they swapped positions.

Fryer fell back to 4th in the later stages while Douglas was boxed in and Lett saw his chance to get away to take 2nd.

1. Gavin Rumbles CC Luton , 01:02:16 , 6 laps
2. James Lett De Laune/Evans/Specialized , 01:02:28 , 6 laps
3. Paul Douglas CC Luton , 01:03:18 , 6 laps

I'm not around much in June, Holiday and house moves taking precedence, here are the races the team should enter. As usual SERRL events entries to me ASAP, I shall send in 19th May 03. Others under your own steam. Remember to check out www.londoncyclesport.com for up to minute details. Loads of mid week races for all cats + Thursday club nights so plenty to do:

South East Cycling Division RR Championship - Alfold Village Hall
E.1.2.3.4.W 165km 11:00 £10.00 [£15.00]
Closing date: 11/5/03 Cheques to: Festival RC
David Matthews, 35 Farriers Road, Epsom, Surrey KT17 1LP

22nd June Red Bull, + SERRL Chilham 1,2,3, Evans Series Round 5 (should do this one as sponsored by Evans)
John Sargent Memorial Road Race - Dormansland Memorial Hall
E/1/2/3 145KM 1100 £10 (£13)
Peter Ansell, 1 Blueberry Gardens, Coulsdon, Surrey CR5 2SX
0208 668 5652 Chheques payable to P.Ansell

The Enduro 6 is now a well-established event on the MTB calendar, held every year in early May at Trentham Gardens in Staffordshire. Competitors can race either as a team of two or solo, around a set course of 7 miles, the winner being the one that completes the most number of laps in 6 hours. I was entered in the Mixed Pairs category with my partner Renell. Technically I was not racing for De Laune in this event but actually for Specialized, co-sponsors of the race. Renell was racing in the colours of her sponsor, Kona. We'd arrived on the Saturday and pre-ridden the course, which after a week of unending rain was very muddy and slippery. However, Sunday dawned bright and warm and the course began drying out remarkably quickly. The race started at 10am with a Le Mans style run to the bikes. The race organisers had told us it would be "about 600 metres" then once we were all on the start line they said "OK, you've got a 2km run to the bikes…"

Fortunately, I got a good start in the run and came through in the top 30 or so to pick up my bike from Renell and ride out onto the course. I started by doing a double lap, team tactics saying that the first changeover period would be very hectic. The course consisted of a lot of muddy singletrack, a bit of fireroad and two brutal climbs, the first of which was mostly unrideable due to the mud. I completed the two laps in 1hr10, which put us straight into the lead in the Mixed Pairs category. After that, Renell and I alternated laps, with me lapping in 40 minutes and Renell in about 43-44 minutes. After each lap, I had 40 minutes to eat, drink and wash the mud off the bike ready for my next stint. At about the half way mark we dropped into 2nd place, but then swapped back and forth between 1st and 2nd several times as the race progressed. With one hour left on the clock, I went out to do a second double lap, hoping to be able to hold our first place. The first lap went well; by now the course was mainly dry with only the occasional bit of sticky muddy singletrack to slow things down. At the start of my second lap, I was beginning to fade in spite of the energy gel I'd taken and half way round I was caught by the 2nd place rider. I held his wheel for as long as possible but knew then that it was a matter of me hanging on in there and trying to retain second place as the team in 3rd were also breathing down our necks.

The final climb proved too tough this lap and I pushed the bike up it before taking on the singletrack descent. 6 hours of mountain bikers riding this had churned up the wet, loose soil leaving exposed and dangerously slick roots. The ground in the last section of woodland had hardened to the consistency of plasticene making it energy sapping and slow but then I was through, out by the pond and onto the final grass slope to the finish. The bell had already rung to sound the end of the six hours and I came through the finish to record our team's final time of 6.23.21 for a total of 9 laps. I'd ridden 6 of those laps, a distance of 40 miles, which included some 5000ft of climbing.

I crossed the finish line and collapsed on the ground too tired to return the hug from a delighted Renell. A friend offered me a doughnut, which I accepted gratefully. "I thought you'd want one, it's always you elite boys that like doughnuts!" he said as he congratulated us on our result. I was given a clean jersey by Carole from Specialized "it'll look good on the podium" she said. Renell and I each won a Kahuna watch, a Kahuna courier bag and some biking kit from Karrimor. It was, as Renell said, a good start to the season!

From the 7th May the stock will be located at Herne Hill. If you require to purchase anything call/email in the usual manner or come up to Herne Hill on a Thursday evening. I would also like to take this opportunity to ask for a volunteer to take over as clothing secretary.

Founded 1889

A G M 26th JUNE

DON'T FORGET THE A G M