Glasgow-Edinburgh ride

Six Clarionistas have already signed up for the Pedal for Scotland Ride on Sunday 13th September

Follow our forum thread here for advice and a bit of local knowledge. Check out http://www.pedalforscotland.org/ for more details

Craig says "I took part last year and really enjoyed it. I received my event number in the post yesterday so thats me ready to go. The whole spectrum of cyclists ride the event, from families with young children through to the more serious road cyclist. There will be thousands entering!"

Tom says "I'm Doing this along with my 13 year old daughter so the pace will be somewhat relaxed (thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

weekend rides

Even though 12 members were over in Glasgow to ride the Scottish TTT champs, four riders still made it up the the Korean War Memorial on Saturday. Tobias says: We headed out on a dry and sunny (if windy) morning: Neil, Jamie, Simon and my good self went to Caldercruix via Bathgate and Blackridge and back over the moors to Avonbridge and on to Linlithgow (Neil and I anyway) . Didn't quite make it to Slamannan, I am afraid. I left my bike computer at home but imagine we did about 35 enjoyable miles."

The TTT champs had to be cancelled because the council brought forward road works on the course making the route too dangerous to ride. Many thanks to the organisers for putting on the event, they must have been more disappointed than anyone after all the hard work they put in.

New Member!

Tom Beattie
Originally uploaded by westlothianclarion

44 year old Prison officer, Tom Beattie, from East Calder joined up at the club TT a couple of weeks ago and is already knocking out short 29 minute rides for 10 miles

Tom says " My cycling highlights so far was riding up the Col du Lauteret with two of my children aged 11 + 9 to watch the TDF come down off the Galibier, the encouragement my kids got in all languges brought a tear to my eye!

I normally cycle alone or occasional organised longer rides so thought I'd try a club and particularily fancied time trialling, despite the suffering, and I did, I think the quest for a few seconds (minutes?) could become addictive!"

From September our next year's membership starts so all new Clarionistas will get 4 months free and won't have to rejoin until December 2010

Club 10 TT Champions

Graham sends in his Final TT report of the year: Okay, thats the club's first TT series over for this year. Or at least the individual league, with a special end-of-term, one-off, 2-up TT taking place on the final week - Thursday 27th August.

First of all, my thanks to all the participants, and there were over 40, and everyone who gave up their time to help with marshalling and make the whole thing possible. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

I'll pop up a thread on how the TT series can be improved/changed next summer. Ross has shown the can-do attitude of a champion and offered to run next year's series! Many thanks Ross.

The results:
Overall league champion: Ross Dewar 270 points
Women's Cup Champion: Julie Dominguez 81 points
Fastest man: Matt Ball 23 min 37 seconds
Fastest woman: Julie Dominguez 28 min 32 seconds
Fastest Junior: B Campbell 32 min 53 seconds

Congratulations! Prizes will be awarded at the club Christmas social. Full league and PB listings are below.

My own experience. Loved it. Hard work, mind. At the start of the season my target was to beat 30 minutes and on a rolling course I thought this was achieveable, just about. So I was well chuffed to go get solidly under 29 in week 8 (and pass someone at last ).

So.....how was it for you?!

Full results
R Dewar 270
M Ball 236
J McComisky 232
D Campbell 160
C Sinclair 153
A McCrimmon 153
S Fraser 127
G Foster 114
G Gilhooly 110
G Thomson 110
T Bauer 105
B Young 96
A Brown 90
N Fraser 90
J Dominguez 81
S Mir 71.5
M Muir 63
M Paul 57
M Ewing 55.5
S McDowall 55
D McTurk 50
R Simpson 49
D Hamill 48
A Hemingway 48
M Ewart 43
A Richards 41
T Beattie 41
A Black 36
A McCann 36
A Gallie 33
D Schofield 31
A Weaving 29
J Bird 29
J McDonald 29
D Middleton 25
K O'Hara 16
C Marshall 15
N Heyes 14
M McMeechan 13
M Antony 12
S Waldron 11
B Campbell 8
R Duffy 7
A Robson 5

Every rider's pb for the course
M Ball 23.37
S McDowall 24.47
M Ewing 24.55
S Mir 25.09
R Dewar 25.19
G Gilhooly 25.43
C Sinclair 26.25
B Young 26.30
J McComisky 26.31
R Simpson 26.34
N Fraser 26.51
T Bauer 26.56
A Hemingway 27.04
A McCrimmon 27.12
M Muir 27.23
M Ewart 27.26
M Paul 27.53
D Campbell 27.55
A Gallie 28.01
G Thomson 28.03
K O'Hara 28.11
A Weaving 28.22
D McTurk 28.25
J Dominguez 28.32
G Foster 28.46
D Hamill 28.52
T Beattie 29.08
A Brown 29.12
N Heyes 29.15
J Bird 29.19
S Fraser 29.20
R Duffy 29.42
D Middleton 29.50
J McDonald 29.56
M McMeechan 30.16
D Schofield 30.21
S Waldron 30.33
A Robson 31.31
B Campbell 32.53
M Antony 34.23
A Richards 35.24

Pusher off wanted for thursday's TT

We still need a pusher off for Thursday's 2-up TT. The pusher off is necessary not only to push off riders put to help the timekeeper at the finish line.

If we don't have the necessary volunteers the race will have to be cancelled which would be a shame as the 2-up format is proving popular and it's the last race of the series.

Please email me at secretary@westlothianclarion.co.uk

Easter meet 2010

Thought I'd start the ball rolling early so you can get the dates in your diary!

Friday 2nd - Monday 5th April

The Clarion's 115th Easter meet will be in Eastbourne on the English south coast - you couldn't get any further away from West Lothian! Eastbourne is next to Brighton and surrounded by exceptional cycling countryside.

Jez and I rode to the Meet last year and we are planning to do the same in 2010, not on fixed this time and we're not cycling back! A good way to get some miles in the legs before the season really gets under way. I reckon we're favourites to win the milage trophy again!

It sounds like there is going to be a load of great activities, races for all ages and of course plenty of opportunity to bounderise!

If you fancy making the trip either by bike or other from of transport let me know, we had a fabulous time last year and your really get an idea of what the Clarion is all about.

We are looking at two options for the ride down, for the first we ride 120 miles a day over 4 days at a speed of about 15mph, stopping in the Newcastle, Nottingham and Oxford regions before arriving at Eastbourne. BUT the option is to ride to Newcastle or Hull, getting the Ferry over to the Netherlands, cycling to Dieppe and then getting the ferry back across the channel to Newhaven before a short ride to Eastboure, still taking 4 days...

Already some interest and debate on our forum

www.clarioncc.org/easter_meets.html

Wanted: new club 10 TT coordinator

Graham has been a fantastic coordinator for our first 10 TT series this year, a role he also combined with club treasurer. With the arrival of Alexander he's going to have his hands full in 2010 so we are looking for a new 10TT coordinator.

Graham has done most of the hard work by setting up a template for how it should be run. He also took on the role without having ever ridden a TT or organised a race before. Thanks to Foz, the TT series has been one of the highlights of the year, with over 40 riders taking part, many racing for the first time. Thanks Foz!

So we are looking for a new TT coordinator.

Graham says "Each week of the series I have:
1.Set up a forum thread announcing arrangements & asking for volunteers
2. Put out reminders when we've had no volunteer & then issued guidance to the volunteers
3. Recorded the time and league points in a spreadsheet (all set up!) and
4. Made sure money collected is recorded

There might also be a bit of fire-fighting when things go a bit awry like the road works in July. But overall I found it wasn't too onerous once you get into a routine with it and the willingness of club members to muck in was alwasy really encouraging. Thanks folks! "

I'd encourage you all to consider volunteering for this - no reason why a couple of people couldn't share it - odd weeks and even maybe? And I'll always be happy to give advice."

The role is not a committee role but it would be good if the new coordinator comes along to our next committee meeting on the 1st September so we can review what worked and what didn't this year, so we can plan for 2010.

Fancy the job? then drop me an email on secretary@westlothianclarion.co.uk

Up coming Audaxes

Super-Audaxer Neil Fraser has highlighted a couple of local Audaxes which look like really great rides and might appeal to a lot of club members.

First off - "Midnight Madness!" on Friday 4th September. This is a 200km ride that starts from Biggar at 9pm, goes over the Beeftub to Moffat then down the old A74 to Longtown. Then comes all the way back again. It's an easy 200 and the only event in the calendar that runs at night. If you've not done a night ride before I'd really recommend it - there is no traffic on the roads, the riders pretty much all stick together and it's a really fun ride. You can get into Annandale and Gretna services on the way down and the way back so there's plenty stopping for coffee and snacks and the cafe in Biggar opens at 7am so that everyone meets for a full cooked breakfast at the finish. Last year the highlight of the ride was starting the climb of the Beeftub in total darkness and reaching the top just as daylight dawned. Magical. I'm gutted that I'll miss this year's ride 'cos I'm away on holiday.

Sunday 20th September is the date for the "Three Glens Explorer". This is a 160km (100 mile!) ride and ideal for anyone thinking of trying a "century" ride for the first time. The start is in Dalmeny church hall and the route goes over the bridge and due North all the way to Milnathort. It then takes the Path of Condie road down to Dunning, doubles back by Common of Dunning to Yetts O' Muckart then goes over Glendevon to Auchterarder. That's the three Glens! From Auchterarder the route goes via Dunblane to Bridge of Allan then back along the Fife side of the Forth. At the finish you can look forward to some excellent soup, cakes, tea, coffee and possibly even wine. All for your £5.50 entry fee.

If you want to enter any audax go to www.aukweb.net/cal/index.htm set the Region Filter to Scotland and you'll find all the info.

Join the Veteran's TT Association

A few of us in the Clarion are, ehm, getting on a bit! If you are 40 or over, you might be interested in joining the Veterans Time Trialling Association (VTTA) which organises time trials for anyone over 40.

The VTTA was established in 1943 with the aim of providing realistic competition in time trials for older racing cyclists, so they would be encouraged to continue in the sport. Races are won not by your actual time but by times calculated using a set of 'standards' according to age.

The standards, which are either times for set distances, or distances for set times begin at the age of 40 and become more generous with each passing year. Standards for women are similar to those for men but there is a phased shift to reflect physiological differences.

If you are interested in finding out more go to www.vtta.org.uk

Or visit the Scottish VTTA website to find out more about the racing north of the border here

The fella in the photo is Tim Norton who knocked out his best TT times in his 40s, and managed 54 minute ride for a 25TT! So there is hope for us oldsters yet!

Introducing another member

Michael McNeechan
Originally uploaded by westlothianclarion

Michael McNeechan from Boness joined up earlier in the summer so he could try out our Thursday club 10. In his first race he narrowly missed going under 30 minutes, a really creditable time for a first go at racing. Welcome to the club Michael!

New Member

Kevin O'Hara Joined up a couple of weeks ago at our Thursday night TT. Kevin says "I enjoyed the TT but found it hard! I work as a prison officer at Edinburgh prison, I also work for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue service as a watch manager at Broxburn fire station. I currently have a Cannondale caad 09 and an Edinburgh coop road bike. I rode the Etape Caladonia and after doing that I wanted to get involved with a club. I've been out a few times now and enjoyed the guys company so now I just want to get out as much as possible."<

New National Clarion Jersey

The National Clarion have an updated jersey design and will be using Endura to produce the gear. If you fancy adding to your jersey collection (or chose a design similar to this when we voted on our club jersey!) then email National Secretary Ian Clarke at bike@clarioncc.org by 10th September.

You can get hold of the Endura Catalogue to chose your clothing here: tinyurl.com/nva3r5

For new members, this isn't our West Lothian section jersey it's the jersey of our parent club, which we are all automatically members of.

More details here www.clarioncc.org/

Season's last individual TT

The club's first TT season has been a great success over with 40 riders taking part with many racing for the first time and regularly lowering their personal best times. Graham has organised the series brilliantly but it couldn't have happened without all the people who volunteered their time to push off and time keep.

The last individual race will be this Thursday (2oth), why not come out and give it a go, six riders improved their times last week and this week's race will be your last chance to register a personal best. Sign on at Bridgend at 6.45pm

Next week on the 27th August the final club time trail will be a 2-up event, find a partner to as ride as team, see details here

Club hill climb & freewheel champs

We now have a marshal for the club hill climb but still need 4 more volunteers if the event is going to go ahead. On the day we hope to be able to rotate the marshals so that everyone gets a chance to ride up Kingscavil. So please let me know if you can help out on the day or if you want to race. secretary@westlothianclarion.co.uk

Diary date:
Hill climb and Freewheel champs is on Sunday 6th September at 9.00am

The race will be FREE to enter

Forum thread here

The new club captain

Andy Weaving
Originally uploaded by westlothianclarion

Andy Weaving is coming onto the committee as the new club captain and will be your main point of contact regarding the club runs. Andy now lives in Bathgate but comes from Northern Ireland and has been cycling for a good few years with experience in touring, audaxing, tandeming and time trialing.

Get your kit

Out to dry
Originally uploaded by westlothianclarion

If you haven't already picked up your kit, you can do so from Sadiq's house over in Whitburn, he has the remaining items still to be collected. You can contact him at sdqmr@aol.com

Thursday night TT results

A plethora of PBs at the club 10 this week. Well done all and especially to Ross and Julie who, with a week to go of individual TTs, both have unassailable league leads. Though Matt and Julie's season's best times are still there to be shot at one last time, next Thursday folks!

1. M Ball 23.58
2 R Dewar 25.19
3. C.Sinclair 26.29
4. J.McComisky 26.31
5. M.Muir 27.23
6. M.Ewart 27.26
7. A.McCrimmon 27.55
8. D.Campbell 28.26
9. J.Dominguez 28.32
10. T.Beattie 29.08
11. G.Thomson 29.57

Many thanks to Allan and Angus for timekeeping and pushing off.

Accessorise!

socks!
Originally uploaded by westlothianclarion

Allan found these socks on the Prendas website, why not add that finishing touch to your club kit and get hold of a pair for £5.95 plus postage!

Ride tonight's 10 TT!

Matt Muir
Originally uploaded by westlothianclarion

A nice, calm, sunny evening is forecast, perfect conditions for riding a time trail. There are only two individual events left this season - this week's (13th), Next Thursday (20th) followed by a 2-up TT on (27th) so why not give the event a go and try and improve your PB before the season closes?

We are still looking for a timekeeper and marshal for the 20th and 27th. please volunteer here

Edinburgh Sportive report

A few riders entered this local Sportive at the weekend

Steve said: "What a great day out, excellent weather, nice quiet roads, and quite well organised and signed. Will definitely do it again next year. It had 5000 feet of climbing and you think - where? But there really isn't a flat bit on the route but nothing seriously steep either. Thanks for showing me the Sportive ropes Craig!"

Craig said "Superb day and pretty much perfect conditions for a sportive although there was a quite strong headwind on the way down to Innerleithen. Like Steve says, there wasn't a flat section to be found on the route and my legs felt like it as well by the end of it. Steve was excellent company and I would like to say a huge thank you to him for letting me take his slipstream on the more hilly middle section. It was good Steve enjoyed his first sportive, although I think I learned more from him than he did from me. His experience and strength were greatly appreciated."

Mid Scotland 50 TT champs

Two Clarionistas, Neil and John entered this local 50 event last weekend and came 6th and 9th respectively. And they've now managed to complete one of the qualifying event's for the club's BAR championship. There is another 50 coming up plus a gaggle of 25s, why not take the plunge and give them a go for a chance of winning the club's most prestigious trophy?

Here is Neil's report:

A grand day out! Good (flat) route, well marshalled (cheers Grant) and after thick mist on the drive up to Doune the weather turned out damn-near perfect. Damp and cloudy at the start, but the skies cleared and the roads dried in the first hour. Some slippery roads early on and a few riders went down at the Fire Station roundabout in Stirling, but no serious damage done.

As this was my first time at a 50 I was second off, at 7.02am. Caught my minute man after about 12 miles, but he caught me again a few miles later. Caught him and got passed again a couple of more times and ended up finishing a few yards behind him. Certainly helped having someone to compete against, as most of the guys that caught me later were going way too fast for me to do anything about it.

Only had one real problem on the ride - the left elbow/arm support on my tri-bars fell off after about 18 miles. I carried on riding in a slightly lop-sided style, right arm on a proper support, left arm on the bars. Felt good until about the 2 hour mark, on the last leg from Stirling to Blair Drummond I could feel my energy draining away. Finished in 2:16:42 which I'm pretty pleased about - respectable enough but plenty scope for improvement.

John said "I Want to re-iterate Neil's comments, a fabulous day for a race, some really nice bits of scenery along the. Thank you Grant for the encouragement, not many people get up at 6 in the morning to support and help at cycling events. On this course so there is plenty of room for improvement and a 10 will seem like a doodle to the shops now!"

Winner: James Cuisak 1.51.xx
Neil Fraser: 2.16.42
John McComisky:2.21.xx

Congratulations Graham and Kerry!

Graham and Kerry welcomed little Alexander William into the world on Saturday 8th.
Graham says "He was born by c-section, four fairly complex days since waters first broke, so Kerry's going to be staying with Alexander in hospital for a few days. But other than that, everyone is doing great and we're just over the moon."

Name: Alexander William Foster
Club membership: junior membership becomes an option on the 8th of August 2024
Preferred groupset: SRAM Red
Parents: knackered but over the moon

Take your partners...

The last club 10 TT of the year on 27th August will be a 2-up time trial.
Make up a team of two and give it a go, the time is taken on the last person crossing the line.

If there is enough interest we can go for a drink after the event to celebrate he season.

Usual time keeper and pusher off needed. Only the first rider will be pushed off.

You can make up any team you like, no restrictions apart from all riders have to be 1st claimers for insurance purposes.

WLCC Crit Circuit

WLCC Crit Circuit
Originally uploaded by westlothianclarion

Bill is gonna test out a new circuit on Tuesday for chaingang training and is looking for riders to coma along and have a go.

Date: Next Tuesday 11th at 6.45pm

Meet at the entrance to Steve Walkers body shop which is into the estate and turn left up the hill for about 300m.

See map for location for the circuit near Blackburn. click map for larger version

Bill says" The format will be 20 laps riding as a group and the pace steadily rising until everyone is happy, well kind of happy anyway ! For the first night it will be steady just to get everyone used to riding the circuit as a group and we will try to stay together most of the way until the last 2 laps where there will be a free for all.

If this is a succesful night then we will keep this in our events calendar for the rest of the season, at least until the dark nights. There is a possibility that we will hold a club crit race here if everyone enjoys the circuit.

Can I have a show of hands who will be coming along as it would be good to have a heads up.

See you on Tuesday night."

Club Hill Climb & Freewheel Champs

Craig on Kingskavil
Originally uploaded by westlothianclarion

Test your self up Kingskavil!
The club hill climb champs will be on Sunday 6th September at 9.00am.
Entry is FREE!
More details to follow.
After the hill climb we'll hold our freewheel championships down the hill opposite - how far can you get without peddling?

PLEASE VOLUNTEER
For the event to go ahead we need 5 people to help with the event - 2 timekeepers, 1 marshal, 1 time keeper's assistant and 1 pusher-off.
Please volunteer as soon as possible, we will try to rotate so that the volunteers can also take part in the race.

Another marshall wanted

On Sunday 9th it's the Mid Scotland 50TT champs, and the organisers are looking for 1 marshal to look after a turn in Thornhill.
The club is a member of the Mid Scotland Cycle association and we are expected to help out at the event along with other local cycling clubs, and a few of our members have also entered the event.

You'll need to be at the HQ at Blair drummond between 7.00am and 7.30am to get directions of where you should go.

If you can do it please let me know as soon as possible secretary@westlothianclarion.co.uk

URGENT: Timekeeper wanted for Thursday's TT

We don't have a timekeeper for Thursday's club 10. For the event to go ahead we need someone to volunteer.

Timekeeping isn't difficult and there will be people present to advise, so if you've not volunteered yet but have participated in the event now is your chance to help keep the series running.

Please go to the forum thread for the August 6th Event and put your name down.

Week 13 - July 30th 2009 Report
Foz send in his report for last week's 10: Week 13 really belonged to one of the stalwarts of this summer's series. McComisky seemed to be on a mission even at the warm up and he duly took his first 'stage win', knocking a whole 27 seconds off his previous best to set his first 26 on this course. He's also jumped 3 places in the PB leaderboard, lying a whole second ahead of Tobias 'von' Bauer. A great effort, especially given the difficulty of pacing in the windy conditions.

Big thanks to Ross and Andy H for doing the marshalling, always very much approeciated. Can I remind folks that, at the moment, we have no volunteer to timekeep next week.

1 J McComisky 26.55
2 C Sinclair 27.16
3 N Fraser 27.55
4 A McCrimmon 28.07
5 D Campbell 28.59
6 G Foster 29.08
7 N Heyes 29.15
8 S Fraser 30.03
9 D Schofield 30.24
10 A Brown 30.57

National Clarion 25 Champs

Nottingham Clarion are hosting this year's 25 TT championship on 16th August, the organiser's telephone number is 0115 9819817

If you fancy testing yourself against the best in the Clarion why not make your way to the event. Closing date for entries is tomorrow Tuesday 4th August, so you'll need to act quickly!

The event is organises by the CTT so you'll need to use a CTT entry form, email me on secretary@westlothianclarion.co.uk to get a copy.

All the details can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/m5jeqn

A guide to entering open events here:

Sadiq on the Road

Sadiq sends in his report from the Tour of Madderty:

I headed up to Crieff the TLI road race on Sunday with heavy legs and a sense of the unknown as I had no knowledge on the circuit other than it was over 50 miles. It was APR format with the first group having about 30 including some very strong vets who had entered this championship race, and a scratch group of about 10-15.

It turned out to be a pretty tough course although a stinging climb was only used on the first of two laps around a larger circuit, with the race finishing after another 5 laps of a smaller circuit.

After a fast start the first group settled down a bit with several attacks reeled back. Conscious that the tail end of the bunch wasn't a good place to hang about with extra work needed to hang on to the bunch after corners I knew I should have moved up the bunch although this was difficult to do in the wind and with some strong riders forcing the pace on the front chasing a breakaway of 6 or 7 riders.

I felt strong on the climbs but the effort required to spring out of the corners was wearing me down and with 2 laps to go 5 or 6 scratch riders joined the group and forced the pace beyond what I could cope with and I was out the back, riding home with another 3 riders. Happy enough with how it went, it is a nice feeling to have a race in the legs after not having done any competitive stuff for a while.

Sunday Run

Neil Heyes sends in this report for the Sunday run:

Jim, Mike and Neil met at the Cross at 9am for the Sunday ride. It was a good day, breezy but sunny and dry, a pleasant change from recent drenching. We took the two bridges route, going to Queensferry first.

The Fife stretch was hard work into the wind. We only maintained a reasonable pace by forming a “slow chain gang”. However it paid off with a pleasurable ride back from the New Kincardine bridge with the wind on our backs. Taking the route along the ridge from Grangemouth up to West Lothian golf club put a sting into the tail of the ride. In total 43 miles at 16.5 mph.

Saturday Run

14 riders came along on the Saturday run at the weekend and tested their legs on one of the President's magical mystery tours which culminated in a self timed ride up the club hill climb course so that we could test out the route.

Bill continues the report: "The run before the hill climb was excellent with Sparky winning sprints galore and I managed to win a wee uphill one to! The route was a new one today taking in lots of climbs here there and everywhere and the group managed to remain intact most of the way.
At Kingscavil I measured the distance between the two points of the hill climb and it is exactly 900m. The starting point is the hump back bridge sign, right hand side, on the south side of the bridge. The finishing point is the stone wall on the left hand side about 75 meters from the T junction at the top.
Well done to everyone who took part, Stevie put in a 2 mins 54 secs which was a decent starter"

The times so far are (more to follow when riders post their times

Steve 2.54
Allan 3.23
Angus 3.25
Alan 3.43
Jamie 3.44
Craig 3.48
Donald 4.13

The proper club hill climb Champs will take place on Sunday 6th September at 9.00am
Entry fee is £2
Location: Kingskavil

The first even on the day will be the race up Kingskavil followed by a competition to see who can freewheel the furthest down the hill opposite.

Please can you volunteer to marshalling at the club event - you'll still be able to ride if we rotate people. Go to the forum to sign up

Our open even will take place on Sunday October 11th