AGM

The Annual General Meeting of Southdown Velo will occur on the first Sunday in November, 4th November at 7:30pm. Venue is the restaraunt of the Waverley Public House on the Bognor/Aldwick sea front. Don't get excited they don't do food on a Sunday night.

I'm sure Eugene will wish me to point out that subscriptions are due at the AGM for the forthcoming year.

I will be paying out entry fees for the past season to the parents of youth riders at the AGM.

Marine Drive West, Aldwick, Bognor Regis, West Sussex. PO21 2QA

Multimap location.

Clothing order

Pete McGuiness will be taking a clothing order on the night of the AGM. This will be your last chance to place an order.

Surrey League prize presentation

The Surrey League prize presentation is on Tuesday, 13 November at 6:30 for 7:00pm in Burgess Hill. It would be great if we can provide some support to Toby Neave and Chris Burningham who will be receiving trophies for the overall wins.

Full details on the League website.

Hill climb

The annual Inter-club hill climb is on Sunday 4 November at 11:00am. Just turn up and ride (entry £2).

Our aim is to win first place and the team (of three) prize. Mike Marchant is our link man and he writes ... "The cost is £2. First rider is off at 11.01. The race HQ is the triangle car park at the top of the hill by the Goodwood horse race course - that is by the start of the first descent (where you turned right) if you rode the Bognor Hilly last w/e. Some people have suggested meeting up at the shop at 09.30 as usual and riding there."

Cross at Ringwood Sunday

There is a cross race at Close Farm, Crow near Ringwood on Sunday. 1pm start for seniors, juniors and veterans. Make sure you sign-on by 12:30pm. As I recall it is down an unmade track and the signs they put out are tiny and say "CX". You have to have eyes like a hawk to spot them.

Bognor Hilly

Well done to our winning teams and indeed everyone who rode on Sunday in the Bognor Hilly 28. Toby was second overall, we had four riders in the top ten and we won the best team and best veterans team.

Full results at Bognor Hilly results.

Toby Neave was 2nd, Mark Staden 5th, Mark Trevis 7th (best team).

Mike Marchant 8th, Mark Dinwiddy 22nd, Peter McGuiness 23rd (best vets. team).

Lee Hodges 24th, Jonathan Lewis 30th.

Shaun Smart snapped a chain and Tom Spreckley was snoozing in bed.

Racing round-up

Simon Pattinson took part in his first cyclo-cross at Newbury. A race that caused controversy because there were so many entries (see important news below). The officials decided there were too many entrants for them to be able to judge so they restricted the field to 75 which meant some did not get a ride.

Simon seemed to have enjoyed himself, he writes ... "Well, interesting sums up the experience of my first cyclocross.
Good "interesting" but nonetheless not quite what I had expected.
Somebody told me it was a flat field. Well about 1/3 of it was, while the other 1/3 was wet and muddy single track with some wicked turns and bumps. When the whistle went I wasn't really ready for a mad charge across the field, but having arrived somewhere close to the back I could see why. The first series of ditches and bumps meant all but the first 10 riders got badly held up in a bike pile up not dissimilar to a scrum. Anyway, when I eventually untangled myself from the muddy bike love in I set myself a modest target of staying ahead of a man from a South Wales club who looked like he had eaten most of it on the way. Needless to say it was a great day and I will be back for more, although having run into the same gate twice and down into a steep ditch once I was lucky to escape unscathed. I think by the time I finished even the tea tent had packed up. Looking forward to the next muddy endeavour."

Important Wessex League information

The next Wessex League cyclo-cross has been moved to 28th October. Still at Crow Farm near Ringwood.

It has been decided for future Wessex League events that affiliated members (that's us) will get priority as long as you sign-on 30 minutes before the event. So as Sir Fred Pontin would have said ... "Book early to avoid disappointment!".

Bognor Hilly

We have a record entry of ten riders in the Bognor Hilly 28 on Sunday, 14 October. Mark Dinwiddy, Jonathan Lewis, Mark Trevis, Toby Neave, Peter McGuiness, Mike Marchant, Tom Spreckley, Mark Staden, Shaun Smart and Lee Hodges. The latter guesting for us. Soon to be member Paul O'Donovan also rides.

Southdown Velo have never won this event, but we have won the team prize a few times. Full details at South DC website.

Thank you

A big thanks to all those who helped in JP's Sussex Border Race 2007 last Sunday. You may not realise that over 35 people are required to help and that doesn't include the kitchen crew. I was very impressed with the turn out from Southdown Velo with only a few people being unable to help. A full report on the race can be found on www.londoncyclesport.com with pictures.

Toby digs in over Westmardenberg

Racing round-up

Tom Spreckley rode his first ever cross at Cowley near Oxford and finished a creditable 18th. Details at London Cycle Sport. With Simon Pattinson having bought a cross bike and Pete McGuiness and Shaun Smart threatening to ride we could have quite a team. As we are now registered to the Wessex League we will score points in their races.

Mark Trevis finishes Jp's race

New members

Richard Broadribb from Tangmere, late of i-Team, has joined us. Welcome Richard.

Dave Pothecary, former VC Noviomagus rider, from Forestside will be joining us soon. Dave hopes to join us on our Sunday rides and take part in some time trials. Perhaps he has some old photos he can dig out and show us.

Mark Holland, from Bognor, maybe joining us. He is a former second category rider. Mark kindly helped out at JP's race.

Caption competition

What is Toby saying here as he finishes?

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

As summer's lease begins to expire, we merrily face the "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness". I wonder if Keats had cyclo-cross on his mind when he penned those famous words. A trifle fanciful perhaps? Did he not pen an ode to the P901/25? [Ed: No he didn't! What's wrong with this man?] Oh yes, as the last few remaining apples whither on the bow, as the leaves turn to scarlet, gold and brown, likewise do our thoughts turn to cyclo-cross.

Is it for me?

How do you fancy an hour of constant pain, leaping on and off your bike, getting covered in mud and getting lapped? Yes? Then this is just the sport for you.

Actually it's probably one of the most accessible disciplines within cycling. You don't have to be tremendously fit. There will always be someone even slower than you. You don't have to have a licence, but they'll charge you a bit more to ride. You can ride on just about any bike you like including mountain bikes. You don't have to have a cyclo-cross bike except at the big events like the national championships. Talking of those you can enter them and you'll get in. Under 12s ride for free. The races are an hour long so it's not an all day affair. People don't talk in strange riddles about 21:12 in 53 by 11 on the P901. They just talk to you.

Where are the events?

There are events all round the country, but locally we are sandwiched between the Wessex and London Leagues. There is also a mini-Sussex league incorporated within the London one. Here is a list of races:

Sunday, 14 October - Newbury Showground
Sunday 21 October - Ringwood (Crow Farm)
Sunday 11 November - Southampton Sports Centre
Saturday 17 November - Brighton
Sunday 18 November - Basingstoke
Sunday 25 November - Lancing
Sunday 25 November - Newbury Showground
Sunday 2 December - South area championships at Budleigh Salterton
Sunday 9 December - Brighton
Wednesday 26 December - Southampton Sports Centre
Sunday 30 December - Tatchbury Mount (West of Soton)
Saturday 5-6 January - National championships at Sutton Coldfield
Saturday 20 January - Reading

Things you might find useful

Practise jumping on and off your bike, running with you bike and running up steep banks with your bike.

Run your tyres really flat to get more grip.

Relax otherwise it will hurt when you fall off.

If you are trapped behind a slower rider just shout "on your left" and barge through. It's surprising how often it works.

If someone shouts "on your left", don't move over unless you're being lapped.

Take plenty of water to wash yourself off afterwards.

Where to go for more advice

Cycling News article on cyclo-cross
Article on cross training from Reading CC's website