Like any voluntary organisation, we can only put on events if we get support from all our members. Past examples like the RadTour, the 10 TT series, the hill climb and the prize giving night show that we can organise even biggish events if we get volunteers who are prepared to help out.
This year is not different and here is a short list of upcoming events for which we still need volunteers:
Bike jumble (28 February) Tasks: Tea/coffee making Washing up/clearing up Baking cakes for the day
RadTour (14 March) Tasks: Baking cakes/prepare other healthy and nourishing snacks
Open TT (16 May) A co-organiser is still needed to support me in the planning on the event and be available on the day Tasks: Marshalling the Cambusbarron course Help with the running the race HQ at Cambusbarron Hall Preparing food/drinks
10 TT series (Thursdays 13th May to 5th August) Tasks: Pushing off Time keeping
Please do not rely on others to come forward. We need your help, too. It is your club after all.
If you would like to help out email club President, Tobias on: bauert[AT]tiscali.co.uk
The 115th Easter meet will be held in Eastbourne, possibly the finest large English seaside town, in a perfect position on the South Coast, sitting at the foot of the South Downs in Sussex.
The meet Headquarters will be at the Cumberland Hotel which has a wonderful position on the seafront, with many spacious sea view rooms. Organisers Bob and Colette Harber can assure you of the excellent cuisine and friendly, helpful, efficient staff.
The manager of the hotel is a road-racer with Crawley CC and is very keen to ensure the Easter Meet will be memorable. Entertainments and complimentary afternoon tea for residents are included.
Cycling and Social Activities include: • Leisure Ride 25 miles on Sustrans trail • Club ride over the famed Beachy Head (bus alternative!) • Audax ride 110km (70 miles) or 70km (44 miles) • 23 mile 2-up TT (East Sussex Cycling Association) • Social Events • Annual Dinner and Prize presentation • and much more.
Book your accommodation at the Cumberland NOW. The best rooms go to early bookers.
BOOKINGS: The Cumberland Hotel, Grand Parade, Eastbourne BN21 3YT Tel: 01323 730342
Price per person per night £48.00 (includes breakfast and complimentary afternoon tea) No single room supplement. Children sharing family room: 0-3yrs free, over 3yrs £12 each per night.
BIKE HIRE: If you are flying into Gatwick (direct train every 30 minutes to Eastbourne), or otherwise need a bike for the Meet, Bob can provide road racing bikes, for adults and young persons, from his local Go-Ride club.
CONTACT THE ORGANISER FOR MORE INFORMATION: Bob Harber on 01903 879598 or 07979 836259. Email: bikerider@phonecoop.coop
The slippery roads and inclement weather meant more people made it to the first social on Monday in Mid Calder than managed to get out on a club run at the weekend.
Twelve people braved the freezing night to have a great time in the Black Bull. There was a lot of discussion about events in 2010, with many planning ways to hook up. The upcoming RadTour was a popular topic of conversation, as was the latest kit order and the benefits of Borax for cleaning jerseys was hotly debated!
Tobias's illegal front light both amazed and blinded onlookers and the Theakstons XB on tap went down well after being highly recommended by Andy Weaving who was already at the bar when everyone arrived, having ridden out after finishing work. Great to see everyone and have a chin-wag after our enforced hibernation.
See the Calendar for the next Social in Linlithgow on 1st February.
Next Social in Linlithgow 8.30pm The Four Marys on Linlithgow Hight Street Starting Monday 1st February and repeated the first Monday of the month
CLUB RUNS
Just two hardy riders were out on the Saturday run in Linlithgow, Lesley said "Myself and Melwin were the only ones out in the unpleasant weather. We stuck to the B roads to avoid the ice which remained on the more minor roads. We headed out to Slammannan then on to Limerigg then back via Westfield. It was good to see some tarmac again after the extended snowy period over Christmas and New Year".
On Sunday only Allan managed to make it to the Cross for 9.00am. Allan has consistently been getting out on a Sunday, but has had to set off from Linlithgow on his own on more than one occasion. He wonders whether a later start time might encourage people to come out on their bikes, and says "Changing the time we meet to to 9.30 or 10.00am might be more popular" If you have any views please email Andy Weaving on: macclarkson[AT]aol.com?
There would have been one more at the cross but Neil Hayes came off on black ice as he rode to the start, he limped home with a scuffed bike but intact body.
Organiser Graham Foster has announced the The club's season opener, our spring reliability trial or Rad Tour, will be on Sunday 14th March.
Meet up for 8.45am wearing our club kit for the 2010 group photo and then set off at 9.00am
Ever noticed how many castles you pass on the County's best back roads? Well, starting from Linlithgow, the Tour will join the dots, passing seven of them. Although the route is still to be finalised it's looking like being an anti-clockwise round of just over 60 miles.
Heading south first via Bathgate, taking in Cairns Castle, on (we think...) the highest stretch of road in West Lothian, the route will then swing north featuring such Forth Valley favourites as Duntarvie & Ochiltree with a final swooping descent back to the start point.
The Rad Tour is open to all club members and entries will be accepted on the day. Further details will follow but for now, get the date in your diary and some miles in those legs.
The club will hold a bike jumble on Sunday 28 February, from 10am to 2pm at Chalmers Hall, Linlithgow Bridge, Linlithgow.
Whether you'd like to sell those rusty old pedals that have been sitting in your garage for ages or your brand-new carbon TT bike. Just bring it along and see whether you can find a buyer for it.
Because it is the first ever bike jumble, we don't charge for entry or stalls this time. All we ask for is a donation toward the cost of the hall hire and a few pennies for the club kitty. Refreshments will be available.
Open to all except commercial sellers. It is recommended you book a space beforehand, for more details email the organiser Tobias Bauer on bauert[AT]tiscali.co.uk
We're going to start meeting up for a drink on the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month. come along and chat about the weekend's riding, swap dvds and books and plan your next big event. The first Social will be this Monday the 18th in the Black Bull, Mid Calder.
The Black Bitch pub was packed with Clarionistas on Friday celebrating the best of cycling and fellowship in 2009. The evening began with a welcome from club President, Tobias Bauer who thanked everyone who had helped out and volunteered through out the year. Special mentions of thanks were made to:
Jimmy Harris who has donated a number of trophies from the West of Scotland Clarion and his advice and time has been invaluable in training up time keepers for the TT series.
Grant's work on last February's RadTour and the spectacular spread of food at the refuelling stop.
Out going president, Bill Young's, commitment to the club, being a stalwart of the Saturday runs, organising the club and open hill climbs, last winter's 'Hangar of anger' and coordinating two kit orders.
Graham for setting up the TT series and managing it effectively through out the year, even after the arrival of little Alexander.
Neil Greer for setting up and championing the East Calder Saturday run
The evening continued with West Lothian's ONLY cycling quiz with our very own quiz master, Matt Muir, setting 30 very challenging questions. The competition was narrowly won by the team of Sadiq, Neil and Graham. They each received a cycling biography and a book about the history of the Clarion.
After a bite the awards ceremony began, with the following members presented with trophies, medals or certificates:
Men's TT champion: Ross Dewar Women's TT champion: Julie Domiguez Junior TT champion: Blair Campbell Best All Rounder Champion: Bob Simpson Tour of the Trossachs Trophy: Matthew Ball Women's Hill climb champion: Denise Schofield Men's Hill Climb champion: Graham Gillooly Freewheel Champion: Tom Beattie Sea to Sky record breakers: Matthew Ball, Steve McCaw, Craig Marshall Ride of the year: Night Time Ride to Berwick upon Tweed 10, 25, 50 Club TT records: Matthew Ball
A big thank you goes to everybody who donated prizes for the raffle and bought tickets. It would be an understatement to say that sadiq was happy with the prizes he won, our first President and honorary member did very well for himself, celebrating each lucky draw as if scoring a winning cup final goal!
Many thanks to everyone who came along and enjoyed the evening,especially Matt Muir for planning the Quiz and Tobias for sorting out the trophy engraving and cleaning but a very special thank you goes to Bob Simpson who organised the night and then ran errands to make sure we had everything we needed.
The club is going to have it's summer social on Sunday 26th July at the Black Bitch in Linlithgow. The last day of the Tour will be on the big screen downstairs and food and drinks will be upstairs. If you want to come let me know! closing date to get tickets will be the week before - Friday 17th July family and friends are welcome, more details soon...
Last Saturday Five riders set off under bruising skies to begin the club's first nocturnal ride to Berwick upon Tweed. Kerstin, Tobias, Matt, Melwin and Andy had panniers packed with warm clothes and mid-night snacks to keep them going all the way to England. The raiders were sent on their way by cheering Clarionistas at the Black Bitch pub in Linlithgow at around 10.30pm and headed off towards Kirkliston following Tobias's route. Disaster almost struck near Crammond Bridge when Melwin gave Tobias a rear end shunt which summersaulted Herr Bauer spectacularly into a 3 foot ditch. Luckily neither of them were injured and after a few fixes to Tobias's land cruiser the group got going again. Our next stop was a quick snifter in Leith for last orders, after which we headed into the East Lothians. The roads were deserted and apart from a few hollars from drunks on their way home, we saw very few people. The coastal road and path to Longniddry had street lights which meant we were only in full darkness for a couple of hours later on in the night. We stopped for a picknick at about 1.00am and scoffed cakes, pies, sandwiches and coffee lit by torches in the pitch black. Between Longniddry and Haddington Tobias took us along an offroad path which criss-crossed fields and we saw baby foxes playing and other assorted night time wildlife.
Riding through deserted towns at 3.00am was a thrill, we had the streets to ourselves but every now and again we'd get a waft of fresh coffee or toast being made but mainly the air smelled fresh and clean with the daytime pollution filtered out. Dawn finally broke at 4.00am, by which time we had reached the village of Spott south of Dunbar. For me this was the highlight of the ride, we watched the sun come up and then disappear behind low cloud over the North Sea, it was a wonderful moment. The coastal roads had been left behind and Tobias's route now started to take in meandering lanes and climbs that seemed to gradually get steeper the closer we got to Berwick Upon Tweed. At Cockburnspath we dropped down the the sea again and back up a long, steep and winding climb which split the group for the first time. After a quick snack at the top the rain started and we wore our waterproofs for the next couple of hours. It was now 5.00am and I was struggling to stay awake, east of Eyemouth I almost came a cropper. I lost concentration and suddenly found myself bumping along the edge of the road as we descended a long shallow climb. It was, ehm, a wake up call but a few Proplus and a coke seemed to do the trick and I managed to make my way to Berwick without further incident. The undulating lanes around Berwick were the best of the trip, at the top of every rise we'd catch a glimpse of the North Sea. We finally arrived at about 9.30am, much later than expected but we hadn't been rushing, pub stops, map reading and picknicks meant we were never going to break any records on this adventure. We decided to give Lindisfarne a miss and spent the morning relaxing in a couple of cafes and sightseeing before making our way home by train.
The highlights for me were the great banter and sense of camaraderie we had all night; seeing the dawn come up south of Dunbar; not seeing a car for 6 hours; the strangeness of riding through deserted towns; night time picknicks; the beautiful country side around Berwick and the world smelling lovely and fresh at dawn!
Andy and Melwin put in a great ride, you wouldn't have thought either hadn't ridden any major distance before the start of the year. Kerstin frequently beat Tobias up the hills, although Herr Bauer did have a 3rd wheel contraption attached to the back of his bike.
Andy said "It really was something special, I am sure the overnight aspect of it had something to do with that. Cycling through the dark, all of us at some point I am sure went through some kind of 'zone'. Mine was on some of the climbs, particularly coming out of Pease bay and again out of Ayton. Matt's may have been on the gentle decent that had him momentarily nod off, Melwin's may well have been in the rain without full waterproofs, Tobias and Kerstin will have had their moments too. Perhaps like me it was whilst spinning up one of the many hills. I know for all of the 'in the zone' moments there were many moments that would wake me in an instant . Deer jumping across the road a few feet away, riding through the fords, seeing the young foxes, the sound of waves breaking against an unseen shore, lighthouses flashing in the distance, the scale of the powerstations in the middle of nowhere, the sudden rain and of course the sunrise that we accidentally had a great view of. The feeling of having acheived something that I probably won't do very often as we coasted into Berwick is some thing else that will stay with me for a long time. Above all though It's the people that took part that made it what it was and that's not something that's lost on me and I thank you all for that. I cannot forget all those that saw us off, both online and in the Black Bitch. I know you all wanted to come along too! So here is to next time, It will never be the same but without doubt it will be just as special"
Pictures on flickr here And we didn't do this! (thanks Dave)
Foz send in this weeks's report: Matt smashed through the 24 mark, Stevie MacDowall lead the select chasing bunch trying to break 25 having knocked 1.44 off his previous best. Graham Gilhooly and David Hamill also stand out for knocking big chunks out of their previous benchmarks, Denise is getting close to 30 and well done to Blair for his effort in his first ride in the club's series, which has now had 29 Club members taking part. Excellent stuff, see you there next week.
Results Week 5 1 M Ball 23.37 2 S McDowall 25.04 3 G Gilhooly 25.43 4 R Simpson 26.34 5 A Hemingway 27.04 6 B Young 27.09 7 M Paul 27.53 8 D Campbell 28.35 9 J McComisky 28.37 10 D Hamill 28.52 11 S Fraser 29.38 12 D Schofield 30.21 13 B Campbell 32.53
League placings Men & women are now in the same league, Ladies Cup to the highest placed woman. M Ball 98 J McComisky 77 G Gilhooly 74 B Young 62 T Bauer 53 R Dewar 47 G Foster 44 G Thomson 43 J Dominguez 40 (W) M Paul 40 D McTurk 39 D Hamill 38 S Mir 37.5 D Campbell 37 M Ewing 36.5 S McDowall 36 R Simpson 34 A Brown 34 S Fraser 31 A Hemingway 31 M Ewart 28 C Sinclair 22 D Schofield 19 A Richards 11 S Waldron 11 M Muir 10 B Campbell 8 R Duffy 7 A Robson 5
The MTB ride will meet at 6pm on Saturday the 13th at the Balvormie Car Park (which the one by the play park). Should last 1.5 to 2 hrs. See here for more details
Tobias has finalised the route to Berwick upon Tweed and then onto Holy Island for those that have the stamina. Tobias's route provides ample time for a bit of bounderising along the way and we should get to the East coast with time to see the sun rise.
The ride is leaving from the Black Bitch in Linlithgow at 9.00pm with participants collecting for a drink beforehand. If you aren't riding why not come and cheers off!
Details: Start: Saturday 6th June, 9pm, Black Bitch Finish: Berwick Upon Tweed (130km) and then on to Holy Island (150 km) Return: by train (first one leaves Berwick at 11.02am and costs £24) or ride back Holy island tides: are out 6.10am to 1.35pm Speed: this is a social ride at about 12mph, any faster and we wont be able to bounderise properly! Bring: Warm reflective clothing, adequate lights, food, tools, spares, hot drink, map Route: here on bikely If you are riding please email secretary@westlothianclarion You can follow the ehm ride planning on the forum
A few members are planning to ride the Clarion's 10 TT championship this year. The event takes place on Saturday July 25th near Peterborough. If you are interested, make a post so we know how many want people want to go and we can organise transport.
Closing date for entries is 14 July. Event details here There is a thread on the forum about the race here If you need more information.
There has been talk of stying overnight and riding another event the next day, Fenland Clarion are organisng a 25TT the following day see here for more details
Organiser Graham sent in this report "Best night of the three so far, bright with a bit of a bustling westerly chasing the heavy daytime showers over the horizon. Turnout was exellent again - 18 - and we must be pretty close to half of the club's membership having come along to take part, which is what WLC is all about. A few firsts tonight: a few first rides, our first sub 25 by Matt Ball (with Sadiq Mir being well within range of that same breakthrough) and, I think, our first fixie attempt at the course by new member Matt Muir. Add to that a wide range of PB's and other great efforts all round."
The women's competition is hotting up, with only 1 point separating the leaders and Denise is getting stronger each week, smashing her PB by 30 seconds last night.
New member Matt Muir said "Was great to be out on the road again tonight. Hadn't realised I was the first to record a time on fixed (Does this count as a club record then? just kidding!)." Ross said "That was a good night tonight. Great that we got some better weather. Thanks to Foz and JMC for there much appreciated help. Also thanks to Matt for his words of encouragement out on the course."
Week 3 results 1 Matt Ball 24.18 2 Sadiq Mir 25.09 3 Mark Ewing 25.39 4 Steve McDowall 26.48 5 Ross Dewar 27.15 6 Mike Ewart 27.36 7 Bill Young 28.02 8 Grant Thomson 28.03 9 Mark Paul 28.09 10 Dave McTurk 28.25 11 Matt Muir 28.42 12 Dean Campbell 28.58 13 John McComisky 29.20 14 Andy Brown 29.38 15 Dick Duffy 29.42 16 Dave Hamill 30.26 17 Steve Fraser 30.44 18 Denise Schofield 30.56
Men's league positions after 3 events Matt Ball 57 John McComisky 51 Ross Dewar 48 Bill Young 47 Graham Foster 45 Sadiq Mir 37.5 Graham Gilhooly 37 Mark Ewing 36.5 Dave Hamill 29 Mike Ewart 28 Mark Paul 26 Grant Thomson 26 Dave McTurk 23 Tobias Bauer 19 Andy Brown 18 Steve McDowall 17 Bob Simpson 17 Andy Hemingway 15 Andy Richards 12 Craig Sinclair 11 Steve Fraser 11 Matt Muir 10 Dean Campbell 9 Anth Robson 7 Dick Duffy 7
Women's league positions after 3 events J Dominguez 40 D Schofield 39
The start for our night time ride has been decided by an online poll. The romantics won out so the event will start in Linlithgow (as opposed to Holy Island) and head east to see the sun rise.
We'll be Starting at the Black Bitch on Saturday 6th June. If you don't fancy the ride why not come and have a beer beforehand and cheer us off!
Organiser, Graham Foster sends in the event report: Another great night, with 17 taking part. Conditions were significantly better than last week, bright and a little warmer with a bustling easterly, which led to a few week-old PBs being beaten and some newbies setting their own initial benchmarks. Myself included - 30 minutes dead was a bit frustrating but it's all experience and I give myself credit for not boaking into a hedge at the end Anyway - down to the times - I'll post up the league position when I have more time. First of all - Andy Brown and Craig Sinclair - your times were adjusted after a second look at the timesheet highlighted a wee error. You were actually both under 30 - good effort! Big congratulations to Graham Gilhooly for knocking a minute off last week's time to claim top points this week. Tobias 'Technik' Bauer played Jan to his Lance on his new Planet X bling. But even further down the order, the buzz suggested that there were a lot of personal performances to be proud of tonight and perhaps a lot of targets for the season being set?
1 Graham Gilhooly 27.02 2 Tobias Bauer 27.19 3 John McComisky 27.22 4 Bob Simpson 27.39 5 Bill Young 27.45 6 Andy Hemingway 28.03 7 Mark Paul 28.08 8 Mike Ewart 28.26 9 Julie Dominguez 28.50 10 Dave McTurk 28.58 11 Craig Sinclair 29.45 12 Andy Brown 29.49 13 Graham Foster 30.00 14 Dave Hamill 30.38 15 Denise Schofield 31.25 16 Anthony Robson 31.31 17 Steven Fraser 31.42
Men's league Matthew Ball 37 Graham Gilhooly 37 John McComisky 34 Bill Young 33 Ross Dewar 32 Graham Foster 27 Dave Hamill 23 Tobias Bauer 19 Mark Ewing 18.5 Sadiq Mir 18.5 Bob Simpson 17 Andy Hemingway 15 Mark Paul 14 Grant Thomson 13 Mike Ewart 13 Andy Richards 12 Dave McTurk 12 Craig Sinclair 11 Andy Brown 10 Anth Robson 7 Steve Fraser 6
Women's league Julie Dominguez 40 Denise Schofield 19
Loads of opinion and comment on the thread for this week's race More Pictures of the night on Flickr Event details and instructions here Sign up for marshalling duties here - select a week and add your name
The National Clarion have a full programme of events this year, last year I road the Clarion track champs in Manchester which was incredible. The Clarion trophies are worth winning, they go back yonks, so why not be part of history and enter some of these races. Our faster riders would have a cracking chance of capturing the 50 trophy (50's don't attract such a big field). I'll be at the track champs and probably the 50TT if someone wants to share a lift.
JUNE 20/21ST CTC YORK RALLY Clarion stall & Cycling & Camping
Holy Island Only a month to go before we embark on the Border raid... DETALS 80 miles to Berwick Upon Tweed (possible extension to the Holy Isle: 95 miles) Date: 6 June 2009 Entry: Free Start: Meet at 8pm for 9pm start Entries on the day: No Start location: Black Bitch public house, Linlithgow Route details will get posted soon...
This week we got together at Blackness Castle to get a quick photo of the club with our two trophies (Tom Groom and milage) that we won at the Easter Meet in Ramsbottom.
On Easter Sunday the dining hall of the hotel, (Easter Meet HQ) was the venue for celebrating the past year's achievements and it was packed! After the delicious meal came the cross toasting where anyone can stand up and propose a toast to anything they wish. Seven year old Alex even stood up on a chair and was cheered when he proposed a Toast to "people who support the cyclists" Andy Horner from Bury Clarion was up and down like a yo-yo, accepting numerous competitive trophies for himself and his son. The main Awards of the evening were: Clubgirl: Emmy Hoyes, Stockport (central to all activities in Stockport and helping novices and young riders) Clubman: Derek Hodgins, Stockport (the clubman's clubman...say no more) Most meritorious Junior: Simon Jacklin, Fenland (attendance in many National & Fenland Clarion events in 2008) Tom Groom Trophy for Most meritorious section: West Lothian Clarion (grown from zero to 49 members in just over 1 year).
I'll publish the Clarion championship events in a few weeks, its worth entering them, just to be part of history, if you can make the journey. Some of our riders are good enough to get their name on a trophy.
Next Year's easter Meet will be Held on the South Coast at Eastbourne - so I guess we've got a good chance of winning the milage trophy again!
Many thanks to Peter Roscoe for organising such a great weekend that was thoroughly enjoyed by both the Hastings and Ball families who made the trip down from Scotland.
The club is based in the county of West Lothian, Scotland and was founded in 2008. It caters for cyclists who enjoy club runs, Sportives, Audax, TTs, Road racing and Cyclo Cross . The club hopes to encourage cycling locally and like all Clarion sections promotes "good fellowship".
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