DLN Oct 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

What a sad day to see a "For Sale "sign outside of the club room. A lot of hard work was put into the building of our club room by our members. It was a dream members had many years ago to build a club and dedicate it to our members who fell in the two world wars.

I hope by the time you read this you will have attended the special general meeting and agreed for your committee to put into operation the disposal of the club room or let out the property. This is because the club room is not being used and is gradually deteriorating.

Life moves on and the club room situation does not reflect on us as a club. We have members all over the place but not all in the Peckham area. I try to attend most of our functions, be it social or racing, to report back to you, so believe me when I say we are very much alive and kicking.

You have a good committee who are so enthusiastic to make things work, but it is a situation of so few working for so many. We could do with more help in this department.

On the bright side, we will have a trial run by having a club night at Herne Hill track on Thursday the 5th September. (This was a committee Meeting). Most of our lads will be training on the track so will have no excuses for not attending the club room night (Bill, I do hope the bar is open) Once you get members to gather under one roof, you start nattering and out come the entry forms and you start the ball rolling. You cannot do this by telephone or the web. It is just not the same. I will let you know how we get on.

Just back from the 'OMA 10' held on the Dorking road. Not a big turn out but what quality. Alan Rowe who is our new Time Trial Sec put on a good event. Due to the lack of enthusiasm for time trials this year, this was is the first club time trial to be held.

A big thank you to John Dods, Brian Saxton and especially Jeremy Briggs, who came down from Norwich to help out. Our new 10 mile 'crumbly' champion is Brian Dacey with a + 5.23 min ride (if you know what that means?)

After the event it was down to the Little Chef for breakfast. Alan wanted to know if it was true that Brian had a birthday on the 14th of August, as this gave him a few seconds advantage and beat him into second place. Next year Alan you must run the 'OMA 10' on the 7th of October!

I have just come back from our first committee meeting at Herne Hill. Guess what? Half way through the meeting a guy comes in and asked who he could talk to with regards to joining the club? Cliff Steel grabbed him by his wallet straight away.

If you remember last month, I told you that James Peckham came up with a good idea. He would take intended new members and club members to Richmond Park which has a 4 mile traffic-free circuit, not to race but just ride a bike.

From what I have heard, it was a success; we had 9 riders which included four new riders, which included two ladies. The turn out looked good as the majority were wearing the new De Laune strip. You will always get someone to spoil it. Peter Harris had clip-on braces over his new De Laune vest. The pace was not fast but it was rumoured that Peter had a job hanging on the back. It was something to do with loose clip on braces! By the way, two new members who have signed on the doted line are Jayne Wadsworth and Jonathan Corbett, a big welcome to both of you.

James, and Cliff Steel, will be sharing the Club Run Captains job to get members out on the road but they still need help. These guys do race as well. I think after a few weeks going around the park they will get giddy so it will be great to see large groups of De Laune riders in the club strip attending say the Catford and Beck and club hill climbs, which are all coming up soon, and not forgetting the down hill at Godstone. In my day we never rode in club strip unless we were racing. How things have changed for the best.

What a great picture on the front of our mag last month. This was Rachel, Judith and Adam at the summit of the Tourmalet (With De Laune Vests) The climb to the top was dedicated to Charlie who we lost this year. The climb raised over £2,000 for charity, Rachel it is nice to know you are still enthusiastic about cycling, especially after Charlie's accident.

Talking of pictures, we get some good shots of our club members in the DLN but in black and white. (Mark you will have to buy a colour printer!) But if you look at our web site (although I know most of you do not have computers) you will see the same pictures in glorious colour and very impressive. We had a couple of the lads riding in a mountain bike race and it could have been on the moon especially the one of Cliff Steel coming down a steep rocky hill with a look of terror on his face.

Did you know we had an offer for our members to appear in a film as extras? They wanted a group of young, mean and fit people to appear as racing cyclists. Brian Saxton and I had to decline as our equipment is not up to scratch!

STOP PRESS. Thursday the 19th Sep. Just back from the Special General Meeting held at the club headquarters. To keep this report simple, as a member you will know that we had three propositions to vote for. 1. To dispose of the club room. 2. To let the club room. 3. To relocate to Herne Hill Velodrome. We voted to sell the club room and move to Herne Hill. The proposition to let the club room was defeated. I hope a full report of the meeting will appear in this or the next DLN.

The meeting was chaired by Alric who kept things flowing and insisted that all questions went through the Chairman. The propositions were explained and put forward to our members by our secretary Peter Harris. I must admit that Peter had done his homework and gave us the good and bad points of each proposition. Well done Peter, Alaric and Rachel Hedley who stepped in at the last moment to take the minutes...

It was good to see a lot of the old faces again at the meeting; I had not seen Burt Collins for years. He turned up wanting to know whether he is too small to appear in the DLN photos. Burt is on the small side, and he is the only person who has a full length photo in his passport!

More house news - Congratulations to Mat and Michelle Goods for producing a little girl, Jessica Mia. (Mat, you have made your mum happy)

Congratulations to Jeremy Briggs and Christine Hosking who get married on Saturday the 28th of Sep. Christine, being married to Jeremy can only be a bundle of laughs.

I must remind you, we have the club hill climb on Titsey Hill on Sunday the 6th of October at 11am. All down to the pub at Tatsfield after the event where I know that Roy Savery (the pub is his local) would like to buy you a drink!

And last. Do not for get to order your 'Belgium Night' tickets from me. The event is to be held at our club room (Choumert Road) on Friday the 25th of October 2002. You get a three course meal, free wine and roller racing for £10.00. We have only got 40 places and I sold 20 at the special AGM.

MORE GOOD NEWS: Brian Dacey has come back from the Worlds Vets track championships with two bronze medals. One in the pursuit and one in the point's race. Well, there is life in the old dog yet!!!

The Grand Raid Cristalp is probably the world's most famous MTB race and with this year being it's 13th edition, it probably counts as the classic enduro event. The numbers are stupendous, 131k across six Alpine valleys, 5000 metres of elevation gain in 66k of climbing, 4000 competitors and a maximum height of 2800 metres. Cliff Steele and myself decided to enter this year's event in March and put the miles in on the road in preparation for a very long day. The course consists of lots of fire roads as well as some lovely single track sections through the forests and the odd section of road but along the route there are people cheering you on the whole way, having picnics and making a day of it.

Race day in Verbier saw us lining up with 1500 riders (2500 do the shorter 76k version of the race) in the dark at 6.15 for the 6.45 start. There were 51 British riders in this years event and the ones that had done the race before were full of warnings about what lay ahead whilst we Cristalp virgins talked up our chances of doing it in under 9 or 10 hours. The opening climb was 7k long and led straight through Verbier to a fire road that led over the summit. I went off steadily and managed to get to the top in 41 mins with the leading pros doing it in about 30 mins. Cliff went through at 50 mins. We then went down (a very long way) and up (a very long way) through the most beautiful Alpine meadows and villages and I reached the 55k mark in three hours feeling fine.

We had been warned about the second part of the race being by far the hardest and this definitely turned out to be the case. The main aim was to eat regularly at the feed stations and spare some energy for the last climb. Just after half way came a 22km climb that just went on and on and it was here that I began to cramp, feel sick and get passed by all and sundry. It was just a case of pushing through this inevitable bad patch and keeping the pedals turning.

I was eating energy gels every hour, stuffing my face with kiwi fruit, drinking the bouillon (a salty vegetable soup) and drinking about a litre of water per hour. I reached the last climb feeling better and started to overtake people as I hoped a time of less than 9 hours was possible. This dream rapidly evaporated as I reached the last feed station and saw the mother of all climbs. The problem was that it was about 3k of unrideable mountainside. We'd been warned about this final pushing section but it was much worse than I'd imagined. You would have had a hard time walking up it without a bike, let alone after hours of racing trying to push or carry 25 pounds of metal and rubber up it. I think everyone went through their own private hell up there but it was just a case of counting your steps and reaching the top. The kick in the tail when you made it was another climb, only 4k this time but it really was the last straw. The course then hurtled down past glaciers, beautiful lakes and little streams to the finish in Grimmentz but I've never been so glad for a descent to end. It was 15k of torture and I could barely grip the bars as I tore down the last boulder field!

I reached the finish in 9.21, outside my target of less than 9 hours but it was much tougher than I'd imagined. Cliff did fantastically well and came through in 11.28 having come close to mental breakdown on the slopes of Pas De Lona! 500 of the starters from Verbier had either dropped out or failed to make the time cut-offs so even to finish the event is a major achievement. The winner did it in 6.08, a new course record that beggar's belief. He must have virtually sprinted the entire race! The top British finisher did it in 7.40 and I was the sixth Brit to finish. Cliff and I are already planning our race for 2003 and I'm seriously considering basing my entire years training around it, it was that good. I'm sure I can take an hour off of my time; all I have to do is find a 22k climb to do hill intervals on! ????????????????

In the 1950's I used to go regularly to Herne Hill cycle track. One of my first boyfriends was a member of your club. His name is Brian Dacey. I often wondered if he is still cycling and now I have seen his photo on your website I have the answer. Would you be kind enough to pass my greetings and good wishes to him?

I also remember very well Ken Hill. He was a very good friend to me when I was in my teens. I expect he has long since died as my memory of was not of a young man. Some of the names I was reading brought memories back. My father introduced me to cycle racing in the late 1940's when he used to take me to the Good Friday meetings. When I was older, 15 and 16 I used to go two or three times a week to the racing and the training. I eventually got a job working for the National Cyclists Union for a while.

Sorry to go on but I often wondered what happened to all the young boys (as they were then).

AT THE TIME OF WRITING I ONLY HAVE ALAN'S & MY TIMES. I KNOW PETER JENN HAS QUALIFYING TIMES & NO DOUBT PETER WELL CONTACT ME IN DUE COURSE IF ANY OTHER VET HAS RIDDEN TWO '10's' & TWO '25's' IN EITHER CLUB OR OPEN EVENTS , PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

NEITHER ALAN OR I HAVE HAD A PARTICULARLY GOOD SEASON & BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS THE TIME TRIAL SEASON WILL BE VIRTUALLY OVER. ALAN & I ONLY HAVE ONE '10' & ONE '25' LEFT IN WHICH TO IMPROVE.

CONGRATULATIONS, HOWEVER. TO ALAN FOR BREAKING A CLUB AGE RECORD AT 10 MILES (Peter Gunnell's 24.15 at age 64 was the target)

I HAVE HAD A 'STOP GO' SEASON' (fell off a chair whilst decorating, result, bruised ribs; slipped over in garden landing on low brick wall, result, cracked ribs; fell off bike at end of 10 TT landed on crash barrier, result, friction burns to face, chest, arms & legs plus bruising; & enforced layoff for a couple of weeks, by order of Lyn, before our daughters wedding, with my track record this year I can't blame her.) BUT I STILL MANAGED TO RIDE 30 PLUS EVENTS (only four '25s', the rest being 'l0s' & several 2 ups).

We meet in the Car Park of the 'George Inn' Newnham, which is opposite the Church at approx. 10.00.a.m. the Pub will be open for us to have coffee (and use of toilets). Then over we go to the Church for the 10.30. Service, after the service we gather in the churchyard by the De Laune Memorial Tablet, where our Pres. Kav will lay the wreath on behalf of the Club, for members lost in the two world wars, and their names will be read out.

We then go back into the Church, where the ladies of the Church kindly supply coffee, home made cakes & scones for us. After this we amble along to The George Inn, where we partake of lunch - we have part of the Pub reserved for us, so we can all be together. That means YOU have to phone me by the 11th November so that I can reserve the right number of places for lunch.

Apart from being a day in which we remember those club members who gave their lives, it is also a chance to get together again before the end of the year... See you there.

Menu
Roasted bell pepper soup garnished with gravad lax and sour cream
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Grilled cornfed chicken breast with balsamic marinated vegetables
Shallot whipped potato
Natural jus

Vegeterian option
Ravioli of roasted peppers and goat's cheese in a vine tomato infusion
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Brandy snap basket with seasonal wild berries and vanilla essence
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Baked Belgium cookies
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Belgium chocolate truffles

I was lucky enough to be in Manchester on the Thursday night of the World Masters Championships and saw Brian Dacey come 5th in the Sprint. Brian also won a bronze medal in the pursuit in a time of 2.37.374, relegating former world champion Roley Crayford into 4th place. He also came 6th in the 500m TT and won another bronze in the points race.

Pete Jenn came 5th in the sprint and achieved a PB of 2.33.01 in the pursuit coming 8th which set him up to destroy the field in the Club pursuit at Herne Hill on Sunday.

Brian is off to Australia soon to complete in some more World Championships and we are hoping he will bring back some more medals.

The remaining events of the Club Track Championships were held on Sunday 22nd September despite a downpour and the relentless wind. The results were:

500m Handicap
1. Alan Male
2. Matt Goodes
3. Pete Jenn
4. Jeremy White
5. Cliff Steel

Pursuit
1. Pete Jenn 5.46.64
2. Matt Goodes 5.50.53
3. Alan Male 5.52.98
4. Cliff Steel 6.33.35

5mile Club Championship.
1. Matts Goodes
2. Alan Male
3. Peter Jenn
4. Cliff Steel

Now that winter is coming the track is closed on Thursday & Friday nights however, it is available Saturdays between 9.30 and 10.30 and novices are welcome, this is followed by the serious training which starts at 10.30/11.00.

Finally if you want to keep abreast of the track news click on to www.trackcycling.co.uk
Jeremy White

THE LAST DAY FOR COPY TO BE INCLUDED IN THE NEXT ISSUE IS WEDNESDAY 23 October 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