Saturday 14th ride report

Andy the club captain sends in this report form Saturday's club run

Good run out today 5 brave souls ventured out into the showers and wind. Myself, Crawford, Lewie, Stevie from Livingston and Neil on his Holdsworth. Headed over to Torphican, Bathgate, back roads to Armadale, Blackridge, Harthill, and over the hill to Fauldhouse. From there went minor roads to Blackburn via Stoneyburn area and home. Weather wasn't as bad as it seemed a few showers and gusts and the odd flood across the road which was quite refreshing. Good to see riders coming out regardless of the weather.

All the rides details on our website: www.westlothianclarion.co.uk/clubruns

This weekend's ALL NEW Saturday rides

Women's group
Our first Women's ride starts from the Linlithgow Leisure Centre at 9.00am on Saturday. Kerstin will lead the social group over a 15 mile circuit at about 12mph. If the ride proves popular it will become a regular feature on the Clarion rides calander, so come along and give it your support. For more details contact Kerstin on: kbonau[AT]mail.com

Linlithgow 'Social' and 'Active' groups
Also Leaving the Linlithgow Leisure Centre at 9.00am are the two regular 'Social' and 'Active' groups following a slightly longer 40 mile route: riding up to Torphichen, Bathgate, Blackridge, Forth, and back to Linlithgow via Bathgate and Torphichen.
More details form Andy Weaving on: macclarkson[AT]aol.com

East Calder 'Social' ride
For this Saturday's run out of East Calder (Meet East Calder Leisure Centre at 8.30am) Calum MacArthur and Neil Lovett have worked up a 40 miler that will travel anti-clockwise taking in Ratho/Kirkliston/Sth Queensferry/Hopetoun House/Linlithgow/Little Ochiltree/Broxburn/East Calder.
More details from Neil Greer on: ngreer[AT]qedms.com

For the last 2 week-ends we have managed up to 18 riders on the Linlithgow runs and 7 or 8 riders on the East Calder run. Forecast looks good, so why not come along and join us, have a blether and a lovely morning out on West Lothian's country lanes.

All the the ride details on our website: www.westlothianclarion.co.uk/clubruns.html

All you need to know about preparing for a club run: www.westlothianclarion.co.uk/preparation.html

Introducing another new Clarionista

Keir Bradie
Originally uploaded by westlothianclarion

Welcome to Keir Bradie, who has been riding the East Calder Saturday rides and joined up this week. The 42 year old ex-rugby front row forward now rides to keep fit, socialise and lose weight and is married with one exceptionally energetic 7 year old boy called Angus.

He coaches rugby at Currie Rugby Club, working with the younger kids and teenagers there.

Keir says "I've been cycling now for just about two years encouraged onto the road bike by the guys in Kirknewton Village where I live. Since I retired from rugby I have been struggling over the years to find an active hobby to replace rugby that I enjoy. Cycling is perfect for me, quality exercise without stud marks down your back the morning after!

"I would like to use this opportunity to thank now fellow members Neil, Rob and DD for relentless encouragement when I started, you were right guys, and all these month later I am indeed hooked."

"Moved up to a Van Nicholas Euro this year from my 'entry level' Allez. Love the bike and it suits my style of riding. Never felt that I possessed the bodily aerodynamics for a carbon flyer but there is always time. The 'Van' is now a firm friend and the titanium frame gives a big guy like me a load of confidence."

"My aims are to continue to improve, 12 months ago I would have laughed at anyone suggesting I ride 30 miles non-stop, now doing twice that quite comfortably. Very much enjoy the social side of the rides out of Kirknewton and delighted to have formalised as a Social ride under the Clarion banner, this move has already brought us some new faces, long may it continue. (Saturday morning’s East Calder Sport Centre- 8:30am)"

"I still have not ridden an event, had to call out of the Et-'tack' Caledonia 2009 last minute this year as my retina detached and needed a quick bit of eye-surgery. Have my good eye fixed firmly on doing it in 2010."

"I look forward to meeting more of you as time goes on, my thanks for the welcome to the club."

Calendar of events

The main website now has a calendar which will get updated with club events over the coming year, there are already a few items posted on it.

Take a look at: http://www.westlothianclarion.co.uk/westlothianclard.html

New Members

Michelle Gregory joined up this week after coming along on the Saturday run. You'll recognise New Zealand born Michelle as the winner of the women's open hill climb in October. That was the first race for this prolific sportive rider who rode for the Ribble Valley CC in Lancashire before moving north of the border

Also joining this week in Lynda who stays in Stirling. She bought a road bike about a year ago and didn't really use it until recently. After cycling 20-30 mile rides on her tod she has upped her milage on longer rides with her brother, who has introduced her to he joys of riding up hill, they even completed a Dunning Glen 60-miler in the Autumn.

Lynda owns a GT series 5 but intends to buy a new bike at the start of next year, She says "hopefully one that goes a bit faster! My aim is to keep building the miles and try some speed training. I also want to do the Trossachs Ton in June."

New Member

79 year old Alex Keys has ridden for the Clarion all his life and joins us from the West of Scotland section. He says he'd like to help out at club events and I'm sure we'll benefit from his considerable experience.

Alex was a keen time trailer before he hung up the wheels of his Higgins bike, which had tapered tubes to the bottom bracket. During his racing career he finished the Tour of the Trossachs in 1 hour 12 minutes, and knocked out a 1 hour 6 minutes for a 25 TT.

Welcome to the club Alex!

Saturday 7th Ride reports

All 14 riders who met at the Linlithgow Sport Centre on Saturday chose the 'social' group and rode the classic route to Slammanan via Loan, Standburn, Avon Bridge and Back via Longriggend, Limerigg, Westfield, Torphichen past the Korean War memorial and then the fast descent down Preston Road to Linlithgow. The distance was about 35 miles with an average of about 13mph over a tougher route than last week's ride to the Dalmeny Estate.

The group was made up of Lesley, Matt, Graham, Dave, Andy, Tobias, Donald, Melwin, Denise, Steven (in yet another cracking retro jersey!) and Neil with Michelle (our open hill climb winner) Stewart and John (from Pedal Power) out for the first time. We enjoyed the lovely autumnal weather and rode together as group pretty consistently, stopping to regroup for mechanicals and for riders to catch up. Steve and Bill briefly swelled the group to 16 at Avon Bridge and we spotted a few other roadies out, taking in the sunshine.

Melwin said "Today’s ride was great, I really enjoyed it, but got a bit tired near the end". Michelle said "Thanks for the ride on Saturday. It was a great route and a nice social pace. It was especially good to be able to join a local club ride, rather than lug the bike on the train or car to get to a club."

Keir Sends in this report about Saturday's East calder Club run:

Six riders congregated at 8:30 at the East Calder Sports Centre, we were all surprised to see Neil there in his car to see us off, even in ill health! There were some jokes about whether he was going to follow the peleton with a boot full of spare wheels, handing out gels etc. but alas no!

The six became seven at Murieston where we picked up Calum. We tracked the back lanes towards Carnwarth on the newly resurfaced roads. The weather was superb as the cold receded, turning into a fantastic sunny, even warm day.

The group buzzed along and after Woolfords we crossed the A70 ahead of Carnwarth and rode down to Newbigging on some wonderful back roads, moving in a 'Biggarly' direction.
We turned back towards Carnwarth on the B7016 and arrived in town on the 'Rue Du Apple Pie', navigating directly to our favourite cake stop at exactly 30 miles gone.

In a flurry of caramel slices, yum-yums, latte's and hot chocolates we were gone, taking the direct route back towards Kirknewton on the Lang Wang. We dropped three of our party as they veered off at the Harburn turn, the rest of us carrying on until the Kirknewton Airfield, to complete the circuit.

50 miles, average 14mph, total climbing 870m and a time of three and a half hours PLUS cake stop. Just a superb day out for the East Calder bunch. We look forward to Neil's full recovery for next week.

All the ride details can be found on the website www.westlothianclarion.co.uk/clubruns.html

Group test

The club promoted it's first group skills workshop on Sunday. Four riders participated, Tobias, Kerstin, Angus and Matt Muir, who rode up from Edinburgh. The hour long session was designed to boost riders' confidence and technique when riding in groups, sportives and road races.

The riders followed simple drills to help them get used to riding closely and get a better understanding of the dynamics of a group.

As a way of loosening up, we began with a 'follow the leader' and rode around Linlithgow Bridge's Mill Road Industrial Estate in close formation. During the next stage the riders cycled more closely next to each other in pairs and rested a hand on their partners shoulders, followed by touching elbows and leaning in on each other while on the move. These routines are a great way to show that close contact can be managed and in some instances elbows can be used to protect your 'space' and prevent anything catastrophic happening.

Next up, we passed a bidon up and down the line which got us more comfortable riding closely together and showed that by riding consistently a group can move along in close formation. Following on we practised singling out and front changeovers before finishing off with our most demanding challenge: touching the wheel of the rider in front.

This drill sums up the purpose of the workshop: to enable us to overcome nervousness and deal with potentially hazardous situations. We paired up and road around a car park forcing ourselves to touch the wheel in front, to find out what it felt like and how to deal with it.

Ultimately all the drills were devised to show that in a group, riders have to be consistent, communicate and look after themselves and others.

Matt Muir. said "The session went well and I think all agreed that it had been useful and would be very good for other club members if they are at all nervous about group riding. Even as an experienced rider I feel a bit more practice at riding extremely close (i.e. touching elbows) to other riders was still useful."

If there is enough interest the club will run the workshop again in a month.

New T-shirt order

I'm going to order more T-shirts. If you want one, let me know by Wednesday 11th November via email, including the size you want to order.

T shirts will be around £11

email: secretary[AT]westlothianclation.co.uk

'Fraid the design isn't new, if you want to get an original go here

Thanks Bill, thanks Tobias

Bill has had to step down as club President because of a promotion which brings extra work and travel commitments.

On behalf of the club I'd like to say a massive 'thankyou' to Bill for putting in so much work this year. Not only has he been a club run stalwart but he has organised key events, including our first Open event, coordinated the kit orders, and hosted last year's turbo sessions.

While Bill has been President he has seen the club grow rapidly and he has played a major part in shaping what the club is today.

The club's Constitution allows the committee to co-opt appointments to vacant posts. Bill proposed that Tobias take over as President and the committee was pleased to support this proposal unanimously. Tobias will continue to carry out his existing responsibilities as the club's race secretary. There will be the usual election of all club officers at the club AGM in January 2010.

Congratulations Tobias!

Saturday rides details

This week's social ride from East Calder will most likely be the 40 mile loop via Murieston/Woolfords/Carnwath/Lang Wang/Kirknewton with the cumpulsory cake stop at the Apple Pie Bakery in Carnwath (23 miles).

Neil - and all his family - have got some sort of flu bug, and won't be riding so Keir will be co-ordinating - thanks Keir. However, feel free to contact Neil if you have any questions ngreer[AT]qedms.com

The 'Social' and 'Active' rides leave the Linlithgow Leisure Centre at 9.00am and will follow the same 'classic' route to Slamannan and back

See map for details: www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Linlithgow-Slammanan

If you have any questions about the Linlithgow runs email Andy on macclarkson[AT]aol.com

All the rides details can be found on the website here

Before you come on a ride please read all the ride guidelines here

Vote for ride of the year 2009

It has been very difficult narrowing down the nominations, but we have a very strong shortlist for Ride of the Year 2009, as voted by you. Please email me your vote from the shortlist below (each entry has a link to the story behind the nomination)

Email your choice to me at mball@matthewball.co.uk

Only votes emailed to me will count and only West Lothian Clarion members get to vote.

Deadline is Friday 2oth November.

The winner will be announced at the Christmas Social and annual prize giving

1. The night time ride to Berwick upon Tweed
http://westlothianclarion.blogspot.com/2009/06/border-reivers-nocturnal-border-raid.html

2. Silver for Julie Dominguez
http://westlothianclarion.blogspot.com/2009/07/silver-and-bronze-for-jules.html

3. Mandy and Andy Weaving ride the Vatterdun on a tandem
http://westlothianclarion.blogspot.com/2009/06/travellers-return.html

4. Simon Taylor rides the RAAM
http://westlothianclarion.blogspot.com/2009/06/clarionista-in-race-across-america.html

5. Matthew Ball and Jez Hastings ride to the Manchester Easter Meet on fixed
http://westlothianclarion.blogspot.com/2009/04/ride-to-easter-meet-or-raid-clarion.html

6. Craig Marshal smashes his PB for the Northern Rock Sportive
http://westlothianclarion.blogspot.com/2009/06/northern-rock-cyclone-report.html

7. Malcolm Wake, Mark, Jim MacDonald, Peter Buchan ride the Baeg in atrocious conditions
http://westlothianclarion.blogspot.com/2009/05/bealach-beag-report.html

Winter Duathlon Series

Edinburgh Road club are now taking entries for their Winter Duathlon Series at Kirkliston via www.entrycentral.com.
This year the series will run from December to February. For more info see the ERC news page

New Saturday ride format a success

Over a third of our members took part in a club run on Saturday. 11 riders made up the 'Active' group which set off first from the Linlithgow Leisure Centre, followed by 8 more in the 'Social' group. At East Calder Neil Greer lead another 8 riders on a 'Social' ride around the two bridges. Thanks to everyone who came out and supported the rides.

All the ride details: www.westlothianclarion.co.uk/clubruns

Graham on the Linlithgow 'Social' ride said:
"I was on the Social ride and it seemed to go really well. The weather helped and the group stayed together well I thought, always regrouping quickly if it did split for any reason. The route was fairly low-lying, out to Dalmeny House and back via Hopetoun, about 30 odd miles, and the general feel was relaxed and very, ummmmm, Social, with a few stops to chew the fat and an average, on the move, that stayed within the advertised 13-15mph.

Personally, I really enjoyed the ride and hope to make it back for more next week. Thanks to all in the group and Andy W for taking the lead. "

Sadiq on the 'Active' ride:
"Glad things went well with the social group, the active group certainly had a good workout, heading out to Dalmeny and back before venturing into the Alps via Bridgend for a wee slugfest. It was great to chat to a few people I hadn't really spoken to before. It looks like it was a great success. Hopefully we will continue to get solid numbers for both rides as the weather worsens. We saw a lot of people are out on their bikes on the stretch between linlithgow and Dalmeny on a nice saturday morning like that and we are always likely to attract new people to our club"

Neil on the East Calder 'Social' ride
we had 8 riders out for the inaugural run from East Calder on Sat. Set off west via the back roads through Livingston/Bathgate to Grangemouth/Skinflats, across the new Kincardine bridge then headed to Culross for the compulsory cake stop - as usual it didn't disappoint. With a tailwind we then made good progess along to Rosyth with the chain-gang bowling along comfortably at 25 mph. We then returned via Kirkliston/Newbridge and the back lanes to East Calder where one rider double punctured - 3 miles from home...Glorious sunshine for most of the route - felt like Spring! Overall about 60 miles in 4 hours or so..
Thanks to everyone who took part - truly memorable.

West Lothian toothpaste

Thoroughly enjoyed the 'Active;' ride on Saturday but managed to get a mouthful of 'West Lothian toothpaste' in the process.

West Lothian toothpaste is a particularly yucky mixture of water, muck and manure sprayed up off the road from the bike in front. The minor roads we tend to ride along can be covered in the stuff and on a dirty ride without mudguards, the group gets plastered in the sticky brown gloop.

So, In Winter, if you are coming on a Clarion club run please fit mudguards. They will protect your own kit and that of the grateful riders behind you.

If you've got a fancy carbon bike your Friendly LBS will sort you out with a descent pair of clip on mudguards.