Racing round up

Liam Terry continues to show excellent form placing seventh at Chertsey in the elite race. Liam seems to be improving with each race. Mark Trevis finished 21st which was a good ride given he has not spent much time on the bike recently with work commitments.
Richard Bevan was equal 17th in a field of over 70 riders in the 4th category race. A crash free race apart from the winner who managed to crash after the line.
Shaun Smart was 23rd in a very full 3rd cat race.
At the Bognor CC club 10 on Thursday Pete McGuiness finished 2nd in 24:34, one second behind the winner, Paul O'Donovan was 4th, Mark Dinwiddy 7th, Alistair Mallett 14th, whilst Richard Bevan was unfortunately a DNF.
At tonight's Hants RC 10 at Funtington we again had strong representation with Shaun Smart getting the better this time of Liam to finish 4th in 24:33 with Liam 5th, Mike Marchant 6th, Pete McGuiness 9th and Mark Holland 10th. Mark making, I think, his first competitive outing of the year. Our riders seem to enjoy this course, which despite being "slow", has the advantage that it does not retrace its route at all and finishes outside the HQ.

Youth racing

A reminder that the Angmering Youth series starts on 21st April.

One to watch

It's the Norman Halewood memorial race on Sunday at Rowlands Castle. I'm not sure if we have any riders. It uses the Stansted circuit and thus passes near the Cafe at Rowlands each lap. Start at 09:30.

Racing round up

Liam Terry has been demonstrating some fine form of late. He has been riding very impressively at Portsmouth with a seventh and eighth placing. On both occasions he made the split into the front group that lapped the field.
Shaun Smart and Mark Warrington both finished =18th in the latest one and Shaun had a 17th the week before.
Jamie Ford, riding in the under 16/14 race has had a 4th and 9th. Full results on the South BC site.
We had a healthy contingent in the Hampshire Road Club's first time trial of the year. Liam shot round the ten mile course in 24:24 on his road bike, with Shaun close behind on 24:39, Mike Marchant in 25:31 and Pete McGuiness with 26:21.
Mark Trevis (2nd), Paul O'Donovan (9th), Pete McGuiness (12th), Dave Lack (13th) and Alistair Mallett (14th) all rode the Bognor 25 at the end of March. Results here.

Events page

The events page has been moved to the members' only area.
Details of how to access this can be found here.

Races to enter

- Track racing commences at Preston Park, near Brighton on Wednesday, 23 April. Details here. Note this is for fixed gear bikes.

- The Friday night Hove Park series start on the 25 April with races for 4th cats and 2/3 cats. Details here. A course to improve your bike handling.
- Entries are still be taken for the Les Ingham Memorial race on 27 April for E123 riders. Detail here.
- Mark Trevis and Mark Holland ride the Roy Ludford Tour of the Milbury's for 2nd, 3rd and 4th categories on 10 May. Entries close this weekend. Details here.

- The Tour of Sussex on 25 May is run as a one day event this year with separate junior and third category races. Details here.
Mike Marchant advises not to enter the Catford CC 10 on the Q10/19 in Kent on 26th April. See why here.
Further event details can be found on our website on the events page.

Leisure rides

- Round the Island (IOW) randonee on 4 May 2008. Is free to enter and you can start from any of the checkpoints. There are two distances. 100Km for the toughies and 55Km which is flater and suitable for fit youths. Details here. Just turn up, enter and ride. Free certificates to all finishers.

- Trail Breaks 100 Km Enduro, Duncton on 10 May 2008. Details here.
- Trail Breaks Big Wight - Isle of Wight MTB Festival - 23-26 May 2008. Details here.
- The Tour of Wessex cyclosportive 24-26 May is a three day sportive in beautiful Somerset. Ok, I'm biased because we used to live there. Porlock hill? Details here.
Further event details can be found on our website on the events page.

Comings and goings

Welcome back to Paul Jeffery from Bognor who has rejoined us. We say farewell, however, to Tom Spreckley who has been asked to join the In Gear Development squad. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I wish him success.

Tyre order

Shaun Smart is doing a tyre order. Post a message on the Bulletin Board or contact Shaun. Details on the Members' page.

Website update

I have added an about page to the website. Actually most of the content was already there, but it was hidden. It provide archive photos, news, results, a bit of history and tributes to JP. If anyone out there has any photos they can lend me to scan in I would like to hear from them.

Photos from the Bognor CC 10 on Thursday

I am indebted to Richard Parker (no, not our one) for supplying me with copies of these excellent photos. If anyone would like the originals please let me know.

Phil Phillips

Pete McGuiness

Paul O'Dononvan - I want those wheels for my cross bike!

I'm afraid I can't work out who these three are - ideas?

Congratulations

My apologies for not including this in the last post to Cafe Velo ...
Congratulations to Jonathan Lewis who has become a father again to Henry Edward David who weighed in at 8lbs 3oz.
I understand he has the build of a climber.

Feedback from the club questionnaire

I finally got round to analysing the questionnaire responses people very kindly sent me. I have identified your "average" Southdown Velo member ... come on down Mr Southdown Velo ...

Mr average Southdown Velo

- He (yes we are very male orientated at the moment) is between 35 to 45 years old.
- Shops at Tescos
- Reads a quality paper (e.g. Daily Telegraph, Times)
- Listens to Radio 1, 2, 4 or local radio.
- Works in an office or at home.
- Rides at least twice a week...
...and has been interested in cycling for over twenty years, but may have only been a member of a club for a much shorter period of time.
Obviously not everyone fits that mould exactly, but it gives me an idea of current members. Personally I'd like to attract a greater mix of youths and females.
What I did find was that those people who had not been members of a club for very long (less than five years) were generally more interested in getting involved in "organised" events. I suppose this makes sense because that's probably why they joined a club.
If anyone has not taken part in the questionnaire and would like to do so please get in contact with me.

What next?

This information will help me to re-design the website and identify the sort of content that should be on the site. Up until now it has been rather haphazard and just my guess work.
The next step is seek people's opinions as to the sort of club we want Southdown Velo to be.
Those with long memories will recall that when Southdown Velo was formed in 1980 by John "JP" Pendleton (pictured) he advertised in the local paper for serious road racers, "Testers need not apply" he wrote. We have come quite a long way since then and we are now, by accident more than by design, a much more inclusive club. Personally I think that is a positive change. If we had tried to stay still I think the club would have wound up. We have kept some of JP's influences. He was involved towards the end of his life in the youth racing and that is something I have tried to support, but we don't (for example) make riders ride home anymore if they fail to finish a race.
My ultimate aim is to provide a website that attempts to meet the wishes of the club members. I'll be sending out another questionnaire in the coming weeks to seek your opinions.

Sites worth visiting - how about this one which has recipes for Belgian food?