The Pedal Club

October Lunch Report

https://www.velouk.net/2023/10/24/news-the-pedal-club-lunch-october/

I was away and missed the September meeting, so no report.

Ah, good to see someone talking about the 24hr :)

FYI: It's "Glocknerman" not "Glockerman".

Ah, good to see someone talking about the 24hr :)

24's (and 12's) deserve to be talked about. They make better material for journalism that the short events - what can be said about a 10, except who won it?

With the long distances things can go wrong but be overcome by the determination of the competitor. That can make a good story.

The same is true of spectating - there's really nothing much worth watching in short distance events, but 12's and 24's are a different matter, particularly in the closing stages.

They're potentially good for photography - the attached pic is from the 2011 championship which was in Sussex.

Yes Hippy, you're quite right about 'Glocknerman' .
I do try to get my spelling as accurate as possible, but I just didn't spot that one.

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Deffo. I almost beat Tops once when he punctured twice during a 12. I was also on a good day. I'm sure that was more fun than him being 20mi ahead like normal. Also the 24h I won was neck and neck for the entire race with Ultan. That was stressful for me and the teams must've been wetting themselves.

November Lunch Report

https://www.velouk.net/2023/11/26/the-pedal-club-with-fred-wright/

Sorry! I'd forgotten I hadn't posted this until I came to doing the December report.

There are a couple of news items relating to the club which will follow - watch this space!

I really like Fred Wright. His post race interviews are wort listening to.

January Lunch Report

https://www.velouk.net/2024/01/30/news-pedal-club-agm-lunch/

Cheers

March Lunch Report.

I couldn't report the February meeting because our speaker's subject matter was potentially too controversial, but here's March:

https://www.velouk.net/2024/04/06/news-pedal-club-lunch-march/

because our speaker's subject matter was potentially too controversial

You can't drop that one in then walk away!

As someone who has been racing LCCA events for the past 15 years, the growth in the number of competitors per league event has been very noticeable. Whilst a lot of older riders continue to race, we've seen an increase in the number of younger riders competing and have seen a number of them graduate to the World Tour. It looks like Joe Blackmore will be the next LCCA alumni to make this step.

You can't drop that one in then walk away!

You are correct, I should really have kept silent about the whole thing. The problem was that publicising his talk would have undermined what the speaker was trying to do.

There is a maxim in the club:'What is said in the club stays within the club'. Recently this has been modified - 'except for Chris's reports'. So I have to be careful - it was careless of me to mention that meeting at all! In the golden age (that is, from when you yourself were very young and as far back as you like) 'Cycling', the magazine, carried regular reports of Pedal Club meetings. This was not altogether surprising since H.H. England, a long standing editor of the magazine, was an active and leading member of the club, and I think his influence continued long after his tenure ended. So when I try to reproduce the standard of those reports I am standing on the shoulders of a giant.

The point that interested me about the older riders was that while 10 years ago the biggest vets group was the 40-49 range, it has now become the 50 -59 group. This looks worryingly like what has happened in time trials.

You are right about young riders coming out of cyclo cross into other disciplines - I think Fred Wright is another example, as is Hope Inglis on the womens side. This is very encouraging, but it's not a new thing: Roger Hammond started in CX, and a certain Jean Robic also had his first big success in the discipline.

Only saw this now, echoing what hippy said about Ray Kelly. His welcoming and encouraging enthusiasm in my early days of riding bikes very positively influenced the path I've taken. Last time I saw him was during the flying lap of the first edition of Partycross. He was walking in Colne Valley and saw him with a bemused look clocking us bunch of fixie skidders hammering it past him on a grassy path. Little did he know he the role he played in me ending up in the kind of 'racing' and riding I've done.

April Lunch Report

For me, the main interest in this report is Trhas Tesfay who seems to be an outstanding person. She must be very resilient - to have survived what she's been through and still to come up smiling is an achievement in itself. She is keen to race here - it remains to be seen how well she goes, but at a racing weight of 47 kilos she appears to be made for climbing.

Unless people think it's a bad idea, I propose to start a Trhas thread in Rides and Races. I'm in touch with her mentors, so I may well have further news.

Really sorry!

I forgot to include the link. Here it is:
https://www.velouk.net/2024/05/01/news-pedal-club-lunch-april/

May Lunch Report

This time I've remembered to include the link!

https://www.velouk.net/2024/05/19/news-pedal-club-lunch-may-2/

I recommend looking at Phil's archive which you should find by clicking on the link in the article.

I also recommend Maurice Burton's book. I have a copy and I'll review it when I've had a chance to read it a bit more thoroughly.

September Lunch Report

A long gap - I was away for the July and the August meetings, and June's meeting wasn't really reportable. Let's hope normal service can now be resumed.

https://www.velouk.net/2024/09/18/news-the-pedal-club-lunch-september-with-jez-cox/

Two for the price of one

I don't know why I failed to post October's report, but here it is, along with this month's, where the speaker was our own Oliver Schick:

https://www.velouk.net/2024/10/18/feature-the-pedal-club-lunch-october/

https://www.velouk.net/2024/11/26/news-the-pedal-club-lunch-november/