Club magazine

 

Now that's a Bike Lock, found this photo on Facebook and the womens lib saying is..."A woman needs a man like a Snake needs a bicycle " :-D looks like she might after all :-D

The Tour of Britain 2012

Yes it takes allsorts, even Health and Safety Nuts




Colin found time to give the media the slip from his well, and bombs, oh and Ness too come and see the Tour :-)) well done Colin !!!!



Louise out sprinting Jackie for the summit, shame they weren't riding their bikes :-(




Three lovely smiling ladies :-)




Hywel was upset cos he couldn't put a flag in his pony tail :-D



Cav going by



Sian thinking about "how am I going to get this silly flag out of my Hair ?"



or the oil of my Leg !!!!



Rogere` and Doreen after the race had gone through :-)



Everyone had a great DAY ! thank you Tour of Britain :-D :-D made my day :-D

 Greetings from Bretagne :-}

I'm afraid it's a well long overdue rebonjour to all of you Budo boy's and girl's. I thought it was about time I bought you up to date with my bike related experiences over here in France, whether you want to hear them or not.
First though, I saw on the SBCC website pictures of Colins JOGLE. Then I heard he hasn't been well. Congrats on the first bit Col, hell of an achievement, as for the other, well I hope you are on the mend. Also on the jungle telegraph that John Jane is back on his bike after two hip replacement's.. ( and is going very well..ed)
Roger Turner and the lovely Dorothy are now out riding, Rogere` after a Quadruple heart bypass and Dorothy after that nasty crash..you can't keep agreat couple down.....

My own riding hasn't involved anything out of the ordinary, really. Its gone in fits and starts. One month I get a good few kilometres in and raise the old fitness levels, then , for various reasons such as visitors, colds, trips away, bad weather, mostly bad weather, I lose it again.

I took part in a sportif last Sunday, the Coeur de Bretagne which was agood day out. I signed up for the 130km circuit, which gave people in the club a laugh. Turns out that its a virtual road race, contested by the local talent who normally do it at 40 kph. Needless to say I change my entry for a more sedate 98km course, which was a figure 8 course sround Malestroit. I finished about half way down the field,  at an average 28kph, which I was quite pleased with. No stops, not even for a piddle, fuelled only by a banana, 4 dried apricots, and half a jam sandwich.


Julio Jimenez

It was a good experience, riding in quite big groupson clear roads. There is little traffic around on Sunday mornings anyway, but there are marshals stopping cars and waving us through at every turn, motorbike outriders keeping ahead of the big groups here and there, and even a car with spare wheels on. After reading Mike blog about the traffic in Plymouth it makes you think.....
There was coffee and cake at the start, and afterwards a sitdown meal for hundreds in a vast hall, wine on the table, prizegiving and a huge raffle, all included in the 15 euro fee. It lasted as long as the ride..

And the rain held of ...for a change. I went out for a couple of hours this morning, got in just as it started again, and it ain't stopped allday..{ same here :-( }  Thats been the the story for afew months now, though I probably don't need to remind you { no you don't have to Rich }  Anyway nothing to do but watch David Millar add to the growing tally of British success. Havn't there been some brilliant stage finishes so far ?   , well if your not Austrailian....
The La Gacilly cycling clubs end of year is abit different too. There's two branches. The cyclos, agroup of about 20 social rider, to which I belong, and the cyclistes who are the racing wing. The dinner is their presentaion evening really, but with family and guests. There were well over 100 people there. It too went on for hours. There where four courses, with the intervals between them taken up by races around the hall on scooters, skateboards and kids trikes. Prizes were given out by tour legend Cyrille Guimard, who live near by.

On the suject of legends....we went a while back to an old Glories day at Pipriac, about 15 miles away. Its an annual thing, with memorobilia on show and a race around a 2kms circuit. To tell the truth I hadn't heard of alot of the riders.  One shows the still competitive Bernard Hinault, who didn't win as it happens, and the other is amore laid back Julio Jimenez, who abandoned after three laps, and spent the rest of the afternoon chatting to spectators, from the comfort of his handle bars....
The Pipriac club has a junior section, each of the youngsters rode the first lap with one of the old glories. All the kids had ajunior road bike and full club strip. Quite a set up for a village of 3000 people.

Well thats about it on the cycling front. We're still ticking along otherwise, and there's always alot to do. We spent aweek on the Ile de RE recently, and could thoroughly recommend it for a sea side holiday. It's just of La Rochelle and has long sandy beaches, pretty villages and miles of cycle paths. Not roady country but great lesurely sightseeing.

Well the weather must pick up soon, so if anyone is planning atrip over here , don't forget to look us up.m We'ed love to see you and it's always good toi ride along side someone with whom I can have a full conversation with...Salut Rich    { well we'er on our way Rich, 21 to 29th August see you soon :-))) }

 Australian Cycling Magazines.

With a country so large and with a great cycling infrastructure, there has to be a way of spreading the Words of Cycling, and there is. Yes they can import magazines,  but very expensive, so they write quite a few.
Some are specialist like " Australian Cyclist " costing $7.95 of which I have two issues January/February and March/April this mag is produced in Melbourne Victoria,.
It covers the usual bikes, kit and rides around Oz plus Europe.
Road rides for charity, road races, Audax's









In the top issue children are catered for, as with all sports children are encouraged to take part.

All these magazines are not just aimed at men but the whole family, there are lost of ladie cyclist in Australia riding there bikes compared with the few brave ladies who ride here.
 
Bicycling Australia is another magazine costing $11.95 but it is amuch larger magazine, catering for road and track, plus stories from around the world, this one has a tale of Morocco. This one comes from New South Wales. It has a very interesting story of dehydration, lack of water. A very painful tale indeed.



Yes its got Mark on the cover, he's not an Ozzy. Cadel Evans is....:-)

Now we come to a very special magazine, its for cyclists who don't wear lycra, but there everyday cloths when out riding. Its called Treadlie, which I believe is Ozzy slang for a bicycle.
A very trendy magazine produced in Melbourne, for $8.95 worth every cent. So unusual to find such interesting stories of the non racey form of cycling.


As you can see from the front cover STYLE.


Following in the same sort of foot steps is a magazine called The Wheeler seriously aficionado. You pick it up from certain outlets and its FREE, it covers all forms of cycling from Penny Farthings to what ever bike you want to ride. It campaigns for cycling issues, well written, great photo's 




They certainly know how to have a great time writing these very interesting magazines.

Adelaide South Australia
The city where cycling is SO GOOD !!!
The city is laid out in a grid system of roads, roads are wide, cycle lanes are wide. Lots of people ride bikes, LOTS. all ages, from nippers to golden oldies. They have the weather, they have a council that is way ahead of Plymouth. They advocate cycling as a sustainable mode of transport. They see the health benefits, seeing Australia is second in the World for Obeseity after the US. I hear you say, but they are all sporty types. A lot are but more are not as you can see from the photo below.


As you can see, and he isn't alone.
In a city the size of Adelaide which is famous for its festivals, the Wine, the beach, the city centre which is set in the middle of parkland, the Tour Down Under the first in the cycling calendar, they have Olympic venues, from rowing which is amazing, Every weekend some form of racing going on.


This is the starting boat, with bike. Its a very long lake.
They also have rowing clubs in the city centre, training on the Lake in the park. The Velodrome was from Neil's house, up to the first roundabout (7 miles approx) turn right, ride along , over 2 railway bridges, and at the traffic lights bear right then turn first right (8 miles) Straight, as you can see..


this was riding home after seeing this....

and this..

closed to me...

but I know where it is now !

I did attend a cyclo cross race one evening, it was amazingly well supported. It was held in one of the parks that surround the city centre. The host club was the Port Adelaide Cycling Club, where Stuart O'Grady started his cycling career...
Now unlike English cyclo X..it was DRY, no mud. It was FLAT, except the Mound/hill, only one, attact three times, from differant sides. Sunny, hot, mud free, just some quick sand and lots of enthusiastic cyclists of all ages and abilities. 
First race, the childeren, all ages upto 10 years  old. Alot where very young, on a short coarse.

ready get set...

mum lends a hand...

 
no mum......

start area....


proud mum....

there was a man on a uni cycle, racing!

pushed it up...


but rode it down....


he even managed the quick sand....race time was just 20 minutes. It was hot..
I will continue with more tales of Cycle Adelaide.

Note: Thomas Colliers time of 35.19 is a new course record, beating Nigel Polkinghornes 36.11 in 1998.

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