DLN Sep 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

I have just finished reading last months DLN and at first I thought I was reading a report of the Catford 24 with De Laune riders taking part. No, I thought, that cannot be. Then I read on and it was all about The Red Bull 24 hr Mountain Mayhem.

I thought, does Alan Rowe know about this event and who are these people riding in De Laune vests and doing the club proud?

I was reading about 'LeMans style run to the bikes' 'Rolling drop-offs' 'Technical descents' 'Jumps and berms' and 'Getting air off the whoops' this is a new to me. I have just got to get the bike out again.

Out of 188 teams entered, the De Laune came second. Well done lads. If this is the way of cycle racing on closed circuits, with fields of 1700 riders, so be it. I know that Bill Wright, who is involved in mountain bike racing at Eastway, gets over 200 riders entering on the line each week. I know a lot of us older members will say that it is not like our day, the roads are dangerous. Well this could be the answer. I do not care if the rider is on a track bike, mountain bike, road bike or single wheel trick bike; as long as he is wearing a De Laune vest it is OK by me.

As we know, it was agreed at the last special AGM for your committee to put our club room out to tender and this we have done. It is very sad to see a 'For Sale' sign outside of the club. We have all agreed that the club room was not being used and dose not warrant the bills that go with it. Your committee can tart the place up for special occasions like social evenings etc., but when intended members come down to the club room they see a lack of people and a club room that needs an urgent face lift, hence we never see them again.

Your committee has agreed that this has got to stop if we are going to survive as a cycling club. Believe me we are getting people through the web but are we keeping them?

As from Thursday the 5th of September we are going to try our club night at Herne Hill Cycle Track. We will be using the social room complete with canteen and bar (I hope) Members should have no problems parking and bikes should be safe. To encourage new members we are offering advice on training, bike handling etc. Another idea to encourage new and old members to come to the new track club room is free Derny Pacing on the track until the end of the year (while the evenings are light on the track)

Another problem we have is that some intended new members are new to riding a bike and when they do come out with the club lads they get shot of the back and we do not see them again! James Peckham came up with a great idea. He would take novice riders and club members for a ride to Richmond Park which has a 4 mile traffic free circuit. This is not a race but just riding a bike. I will let you know how he gets on.

Talking of races, poor old Malcolm Adams could not win. Malcolm was running the Fred Peachey open 25 on the 7th July. First of all he took a lot of time getting Kent riders to ride the open. The course was at Chilham. You could say it is a sporting course and not a drag strip so you have to encourage good riders with a good prize list.

Days before the event, he was informed that the road would be closed due to road repairs after he had sent out the start sheets and booked the village hall. Not to be out done our hero organised the event on the Ashford road with changing rooms at the Harrietsham. Guess what? They put road works on this course at the last minute. Again our hero would not be out done. He made it a 16 mile event. It could have been worse Malcolm; we could have ended up with an open free wheel contest.

On Friday the 25th of October your committee will be presenting 'The Belgium Night' the format will be the same as last year. A three course meal, cooked by our own Cliff Steel, lots of free wine (if you are not driving) and roller racing and all for about £10. Cliff informs me that he can manage about 40 places so it will be first come first served. Remember it was a sell out last year and it could be the last time we use the club room for a social. Please contact me for tickets.

We had another successful OMA lunch at Brighton on Sunday the 11th August, thanks to Dot Fuller and Pat Burns. I know that Dot will have a report in this issue but again, thanks ladies.

By the time you read this you should have had your notification of the Special AGM at the club room on the 19th of September. Hope to see you all there.

It seems that every time I promote this event, road works appear. Therefore, I was not surprised when I overheard about road works on the Ashford road. Several phone calls and plenty of time to arrange an alternative course, thank God no last minute panic. I should have known better and on the Thursday evening before the event, I had a phone call from Graham Strugnell (of Tekno Fuel fame) telling me about the temporary lights at Lenham. Now I'm panicking!!! Thanks, Tony (Peachey) for ascertaining the situation the next morning. A decision was made and the event was run, starting and finishing the other side of the traffic lights, reducing the distance to 16 miles.

Will I promote this event again? Best ask my wife, Lyn, for whilst this was all going on she was trying to finalise the arrangements for our daughter's wedding the following Saturday. I had assured her that the promotion would not be a problem!!!… I'm still keeping my head low. Yes, the wedding was great, no last minute hitches.

I would like to thank all my helpers - Alan Rowe for arranging the neat row of cars at the HQ and for his recording and printing of the result board. To Brian Saxton for cleaning the trophies and ensuring we had numbers, signs, marshal jackets, etc, plus being pusher off. Roy Savery for assisting Brian in pushing off and rushing back to the HQ after I forgot the marshalling jackets. Marshals, Brian and Barbara Waller, Brian "Tich" Shambrook at Charing RAB, our President John "Kav" Kavanagh at Orchard Heights RAB.

Thanks Ron and Pam Ives (34 Nomads) for running the tea bar. Barbara, Pam, Jean (Rowe), Pat (Kav) and my mother-in-law (as Lyn had other things on her mind) for providing the cakes. To the Thanet RC for the loan of their tea urn. Dave Mastin (Thanet RC) for doing the photocopying. Tony Peachey for working out the revised age standards, thus saving me further aggravation.

The club made a loss of £30.00, which I feel a bit disappointed about as we only required some support from our own club riders (only Jeremy Briggs and Peter Jenn rode) to have broken even.

The winner was Ian Silvester (San Fairy Ann CC - Tony Peachey's son-in-law) in a time of 37 min 23sec (he holds the Fred Peachey Memorial Trophy for one year); Karl Strugnell (Jim Walker RT) won the junior award in a time of 37 min 59sec (he holds the Johnson Cup for one year). Tony Peachey was fastest Vet on age standard +8.10 (42 min 43 sec). Peter Jenn was 2nd on standard +7.26 (40 min 53sec). Jeremy didn't finish.

Congratulations to Lennie Brown (old member, now 2nd claim) for his 10th place with a total of 207.5 miles. He was also 3rd counter in the winning Gravesend CC team (and he only entered because he thought Alan, Terry and myself were riding again this year).

The Club Track Championships were held on Sunday 4 August, but, unfortunately were rained off following the Sprint Final and Minor Final. In winning the Final Alan Male demonstrated the subtle art of "hooking" in fending off Matt Goodes and Brian Dacey.

We are hoping to complete the Championships on Sunday 22 September at Herne Hill starting at 15.00 hrs and are sharing the venue with Bec CC, which means you will have a chance to catch your breath between races.

The remaining events will include 500m Handicap, Pursuit and 5mile Club Championship.

Please come along, bring a picnic and support the event, as pushers will be needed.

Russell Williams and Dave Creasey coach "kids and carers" on Friday evenings between 18.00 and 19.30 and track bikes are available to borrow.

The same coaching is available Saturdays between 9.30 and 10.30 but novices are also welcome, this is followed by the serious training which starts at 10.30.

CYCLING WEEKLY

It has been decided that the back numbers of Cycling Weekly, which I believe were collected by Ken Hill, are to be disposed of. They are from the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s, and are mostly in binders.

If anyone would like this collection, which, I must add, is a small vanload, please call me on 020 8290 1013.

If I have had no response by the end of this month, an advert will be placed in Cycling Weekly, after which, if they have not been off-loaded, the Boy Scouts of Maidstone will be given the opportunity of collecting some cash for re-cycling.

Brian Saxton Hon Club Archivist

We made it! The 18km climb to 2115 metres was completed in 1 hour and 50 minutes. The girls (Judith and Rachel) led all the way up to the top encouraged by the French in holiday mood shouting for Les Filles. Local rider Graham Gilbert, knowing what was to come, stopped for a recuperative drink just past Bareges. Gary and Jeannie had already made it to the top having given themselves a headstart on the peloton. Super domestiques Aidan and Adam caught Judith and Rachel with 5kms to go and handed up new supplies of water provided by top soigneur Gareth Glynn (also photographer and driver extraordinaire).

At 3kms from the top the relentless climbing started to bite and Judith cursed the climbs of England as mere molehills in comparison to the mighty Tourmalet. Rachel was muttering about "the things I do for you Charlie". Rachel found a bit of extra strength to sprint for the line once she had been told it was only a few feet round the corner and crossed it slightly ahead of her brother and the others. Claire, Alex, Naomi and Daniel were at the top cheering them on.

The descent back to Luz St Saveur took Rachel and Judith 24 minutes. Adam descended like a demon and beat them all back. They arrived back in Gaillac to a fantastic party laid on by Alex and Claire with about 80 French and English locals, many of whom had read about the Charlie challenge in the local paper, Depeche du Midi. Thank you all for your support.

For those who haven't already paid their sponsorship money you can either wait to see Judith or Rachel, or send a cheque made payable to RoadPeace to: Rachel at 51 Therapia Road, London SE22 0SD or Judith at 55 Claverdale Road, London SW2 2DJ

Thank you.
Rachel Hedley
rachel@rhpost.demon.co.uk
Tel: 020 8291 3450 Fax: 0870 0513754 Mob: 07710 280757

There are now only a handful of members who will remember Geoff. He joined the club on April 4th 1940 and at that time was living at No 15 Stonehouse Street, Clapham, SW4. He was still a member when he lost his life on the 22nd May 1944 at the age of 22 whilst serving with the RAF.

You may remember a few months ago Kav mentioned in the DLN a Louis Michiels, who lives in Belgium and had been surfing the internet for the name of Hinde and, of course, found Geoff's name on the club website.

Various E-mails have been exchanged between Kav and Louis, one of which gave the name and address of Wing Commander Jack Harris (Ret'd) and details of a planned visit by him and members of 550 Squadron to the Schoonselhof Military Cemetery.

I wrote to Jack explaining that it was too short notice for members of the De Laune to join the visit but sent him a couple of copies of the Club History and two identical photographs of Geoff in RAF uniform. This photograph is the only one we have of him in the club photograph albums and was a result of Ken Hill getting as many members who were serving with the forces at that time to send a photograph of themselves in uniform to him for the records.

Many thanks for your letter and two books which arrived this morning. I have not had time to study the History in detail but I have skimmed through certain parts including the reference to the death of Geoff Hinde who was a Flight Sergeant pilot on 550 Squadron.

When I first looked at the front cover and the picture, I thought that De Laune might have been the make of a very early and very superior bicycle. I now realise that it was a very worthy young man's club that took up cycling and cycle racing seriously. I note the origins in S E London, was it Kennington and Peckham? I was born in Gillingham, Kent in 1920. When I was in the 10-14 age bracket, we used to walk each Sunday evening along Watling Street, which is the main A2 road from Chatham to Gillingham to Rainham and on to Sittingbourne, Faversham and the Kent coast. We used to see large groups of cyclists coming back towards London. It could not have been the easiest ride because a very steep Chatham Hill had to be negotiated. It could have been popular in that the Kent orchards were attractive and offered "scrumping" opportunities.

My wife and I go to Belgium on Friday 17 May and will be staying at the Hotel Geerts, Westerlo. I have not got the final detailed programme for our visit but the outline said that we would be going to the Schoonselhof Military Cemetery at Antwerp at 2 pm on Saturday, 18 May. I presume that Louis Michiels will meet me there and I will hand over to him the book and the photograph and the write up on Geoff Hinde. This raid on Duisberg was a bad one for 550 Squadron. 18 aircraft took off and 3 did not come back. All 21 air crew, 7 in each plane, were killed.

Geoff Hinde's Lancaster came down on a farm on the outskirts of Westerlo. There was a tremendous explosion, possibly one or more of the bombs were still on board, and the farmhouse was burned down. The family of the farmer whose house was destroyed gave a piece of land on which a Memorial Stone to the Flight Sergeant Hinde crew was built. Companies in the local area, the Town Council and individuals in Westerlo all contributed funds to enable the stone to be built and to invite about 20 people over from the UK for the Dedication Service in 1998. We go to Westerlo every two years and the Belgians come to our annual reunion at North Killingholme every July. We have not found any relative of F/Sgt Hinde but we are in contact with the daughter of the bomb aimer, Sgt Sharland. She never knew her father, as her mother was 4 or 5 months pregnant when her father was killed.

I was a Flight Lieutenant pilot on 550 from August 44 to Feb 45. I did 37 ops but life was a bit easier in that period compared to May 44.

I will bring back for you photos of the Memorial Stone in Westerlo and of the graves in the Antwerp Cemetery.

I am very much aware that younger members of the club may not find the above of great interest but, hopefully, some of the older members will.

A good number of members and friends attended our annual Brighton 'Do', on August 11th we all gathered first for our 'elevenses' at Pats p1ace where we were a1l made very welcome in her lovely new abode, at last we were lucky with the weather, and the sun shone on us !

Eventually we were all on the road again for the short journey to the Golf Club; from that point high on the Downs we were - for the first time - able to see the sea! We then met up with others who were unable to get to Pats place.

It was nice to see two young faces there - Claire & Ian Sylvester (Val & Tony's' daughter & son-in-law) they are members of the San - Fairy - Ann C.C., hope they enjoyed their day with the 'crumblies'. Two other guests came along with Beryl & Don, then were Diane & Malcolm Darroch - brother of John our member in Phuket, I hear that the four are off to John's Wedding in November have a great time, what an experience that will be, a little different than an English wedding I would think, you'll have to tell us all about it Beryl & Don when you return!

I think everyone enjoyed the Buffet Lunch and of course meeting up for a good old chat once more. We missed our 'Old Mate' Harry Thomas, who as you all know was due to come over for his first trip back here since he was a £10. POM in 1961. You will have read his letter in the August DLN explaining his reason for not being able to come over after all, we hope that next year will see him fit and healthy once more and able to make the journey, we all look forward to seeing Harry & Sylvia then.

Also good to read was Harry's 'How I came to join the DLN article, good to see his name appear on an article in the DLN again, I know that he used to write often in the 1950's, having held various official jobs in the Club. Any more interesting stories Harry! We raised our glasses to your health Harry (our glasses were kindly filled with wine - provided by George w.) Cheers George - again.

Advance notice - ANNUAL REMEMBERANCE SERVICE AT NEWHAM - 17thNOVEMBER and afterwards lunch at The George - as usual. So, I will need to know the numbers to book our room, phone me early November, unless you want to chat to me before that!! Wel1 - that's all F0LKS, Bye. DOT. 01689 851241

Since I cannot be with you today I am hoping that someone will volunteer to read this short message.

Thailand I believe is seven hours in time ahead of England. I am estimating that you will be commencing your luncheon at around 1-PM so that makes the time here 8-PM in the evening. I will be sitting with a nice glass of something to toast you all. Firstly Jead and I still think of that party Don and Beryl put on at their house last September, it was really a most memorable occasion and great to see so many friends in person once again.

I was not intending to mention names today lest I forget someone, however I would like to mention just two. First it was great to see Bill Miles again, now ninety, what a great old gentleman, "Cheers" Bill. Secondly I would like to mention our President, Kav, from what everyone has told me and from what I read in the DLN he is doing a simply fantastic job, well done Mr President, you are a great guy. Kav and I correspond fairly frequently so I know quite a bit of what is going on in the Club and it sounds very good indeed.

I am often asked what it is like living in Phuket so am taking this opportunity to try and describe our way of life for you. I would ask that you close your eyes, relax and visualize what I am about to describe. Imagine a picture postcard tropical island, covered with lush green vegetation. Imagine some hills about 200 metres in height; these hills are covered in thick green jungle foliage. From a small lane you walk along a narrow pathway and up a slope, soon you see a clearing. In the centre of this clearing stands a house, single story and built on stilts. The main construction is using large bamboo poles; the walls are woven bamboo strips ingeniously sewn together to form panels. The roof is Thai style and made of thatched palm leaves carefully lashed together using reeds from the river. A short ladder/staircase is also made of bamboo and leads to a veranda and the front door. We call our house "green" for all materials are taken from the surrounding jungle, there are no artificial materials used, we are very environmentally conscientious.

Under the house pigs grunt as they forage for food, chickens cluck as they strut about, a mule is tethered to one of the main house supports. Close by two buffalo graze under the shade of coconut palms. On mounting the steps to the Veranda and looking in at the front door you will see are two rooms, a bedroom and a living room, both about 3 metres square. Furniture can best be described as "simple" coconut mats on a woven bamboo floor, a rickety bamboo table and some neatly folded blankets. Electricity is by way of a small pedal generator located in one corner of the living room. Jead pedals this generator as she says that she wants to stay slim and healthy.

On the table is a radio, crystal type, runs off an accumulator. I spend hours in the evenings "tickling the crystal" to get some music which is a bit "crackly" Lighting is by way of large candles, we don't light these candles for too long once it is dark as they attract hordes of mosquito's. The bathroom/toilet is also basic, comprises a sentry box hut made from bamboo. At the appropriate time one crouches down inside over a neatly dug hole. Every week it is my task to move the hut to new ground, I usually try to accomplish this when the wind blows for if the air is "still" it is a bit "heavy"

Our kitchen comprises a metal bucket, a sort of Thai Habatchi bar-be-que. Fire is provided from chopped bamboo logs; Jead is able to cook some amazing meals on our "stove" Our water is "piped" via hollow bamboo poles from a little stream near the house, this water is fed into a tiny reservoir and used for washing and cooking.

Parked under the house is my road bike, the only item from modern civilization. I still ride my bike each morning to stay fit. We do occasionally have visitors but usually only once, for some reason they don't seem too enthusiastic to return. Maybe this is due to the pigs grunting at night; probably keep our guests awake for visitors sleep under the house, as we do not have a spare bedroom.

Some people talk behind my back, I have heard them say that I have "lost it" whatever that means. I can tell you one thing, my living now is very cheap, I could even manage on my Army pay of 28/- a week if I had to. In keeping with my surroundings I have decided to change my hair style again, something simple this time. I am leaning towards a "Mohegan cut" Jead suggested it should be coloured with orange on one side and black the other, I think this is too bright, favour something less flamboyant such as violet. Anyway for those coming out in November I will keep you guessing1

To close; Jead and I wish you all a very good lunch, lots of good conversation and above all a good laugh.

Hi,
I would be extremely grateful if you could pass the info attached to your club members about my forthcoming Derny Crits at RAF Wittering on Sunday 15th September 2002.As I am trying to get some interest going. For what will be a very exciting day of racing.

The last race in the MTB National Points Series took place at Trentham Gardens in Staffordshire on 11th August and James Lyon and myself made the journey to take part. To get an overall series position you have to start all four races in the series with your best three results to count. The course was fairly difficult due to the previous week or so of heavy rain but after a quick change of tyres I was ready for the off. I had a relatively good start and raced a cautious race until the last lap when I attacked to finish 19th on the day. This was enough to give me an overall position of 12th in the Masters category for the season which is encouraging for my first full season racing in the National Points Series and the aim next year has to be for a top ten position overall. James Lyon suffered a mid-race loss in form and retired but with three results in the bag all ready he ended up with a solid series position of 24th in the Expert category.

There is something about Beastway that sets it apart from any other race series I have participated in. Although it is fiercely competitive, it is also extremely social and it is great to see the same faces year in year out. The race series spans a 10-week period over the summer and takes place on Wednesday nights. With your 7 best results counting for the series, you have to be consistent and lucky to do well in the overall.

This year was my first in the masters category which is the largest category in the race and is very competitive. I was looking forward to racing with Ross and had high hopes going into the series.

In the first race, I had a mechanical after 300 metres and lost about two minutes, during which time the entire field of around 100 riders had passed me. Ross was absolutely motoring and was looking strong after a period of intense interval training. He was in the lead group of three which stayed together for the race, with Ross eventually finishing 3rd, a great start. I got 9th in the end, not the way to start my bid for overall victory.

From the second race onwards, however, I started to race well and felt particularly strong on the climbs. I had the confidence to attack people and was able to recover sufficiently. I was really enjoying the racing and being pushed to my max. What amazes me about Beastway is that it is one hour's worth of racing flat out, and I had average heart rates of around 175 (max of 187). There is simply no way of replicating this in training and I felt the benefit of this intensity in subsequent road races.

I came first for the next three weeks and was back into contention for the overall. Ross had an off-day in the second race but recovered with another two third places to put him in a good position. It was great to have Ross in the race and for the third round Steve Price joined us. It was looking like a De Laune 1/2/3, however we attacked each other too hard and had to settle for a De Laune win and a third.

Founded 1889